Beautiful Exchanges - Motherhood

I am a mom now... a MOM. And, despite having that title for seven weeks plus nine months, the revelation of that new title is only just beginning to set in. It is a rich and full title and one that I fully embrace and love. Christian and I have found parenting to be all about exchanges - the most beautiful exchanges really. We have exchanged sleep for cooing and cuddling a little one, exchanged freedom of schedule for a schedule based on every third hour when Allie needs to eat, energy and clarity of thought for a lovely sleepless overly-delighted in our daughter stupor by which we only semi function. It is the most wonderful thing in the world. Allie is now seven weeks old and we have discovered new rhythms as a family, a new beat, a new dance. It is truly beautiful. All of it.

I truly believe that so much of becoming a Momma or Daddy has to do with exchanges - beautiful, wonderful, gladly made exchanges. Our perspective regarding these exchanges shapes our transition, marks our identities and paves the way for our experience as parents to be full and rich. In fact, it is our perspective that influences our experience of all of life. Perspective is a BIG deal. We always have a choice - a choice to chose between two experiences, two interpretations - sometimes it is delight or frustration, kindness or impatience, gladness or bitterness, or many other combinations. This blog post - just to get to this point - has taken three hours. I could be frustrated because I was interrupted when she woke up ready to eat or when, after changing her diaper and getting her dressed again she blew out the new diaper and covered her outfit in poop. I could be impatient with her while she peed in the midst of putting on yet a new diaper. Or when she had too much snot in her nose to breathe well and I had to suck it out with the nasal aspirator and then hold her while she calmed down. I could be annoyed that rather than returning to finish this blog post during that next nap, I had to wash poop off clothes she wore for five minutes. OR, I can chose to delight in my daughter, laugh at the timing of the blow out and thank God for the opportunity to be a comfort to her and hold her. I can chose a blessed perspective, joy because I get Allie as a gift in my life, joy because changing diapers is a part of that gift, joy because a new timeline for my day allows me to practice the Presence of God in a whole new way, joy because I get to understand grace and the nature of God, the extraordinary in the mundane, and all the fullness He has for me as a Momma.

Perspective changes everything. Ladies - our perspective about our new bodies after babies - CHANGES everything. It really does. I chose to receive gladly the marks of motherhood on my body as a glorious blessing that marks me as a mother. We can look at our post baby bodies and discourage ourselves by comparison (comparison against others and against our own pre-baby body), negativity and judgement. But that isn't heaven's perspective! That's not God's intent for our mindset regarding our bodies! The post baby body is gloriously marked by the blessing of life, by the identity of motherhood - it is a most beautiful marking. As are the markings of age. Wrinkles, gray hair, thinned and not as tight skin - these are the marks of a life full of experience, a life lived fully, years of opportunity to gain insight, wisdom and experience. They are beautiful. Remarkable. Lovely in all they are. Let's call them such and not chose a negative perspective toward them like much of society does.  ; ) 

Let's enjoy our exchanges, chose joy-filled perspectives and love our experience of life ; )

Aren't these toes the cutest?

Releasing the Aroma of Christ

"But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere."

2 Corinthians 2: 14

Let's just read that again... "But thanks be to God, who in Christ ALWAYS leads us in TRIUMPHAL procession, and THROUGH US spreads the FRAGRANCE of the knowledge of him EVERYWHERE." 

As believers, we cannot separate from ourselves the releasing of the fragrance of the knowledge of him. This means that ALWAYS and EVERYWHERE, even when we aren't thinking about it - even when we aren't acting like it, the fragrance of the knowledge of Jesus is released! We don't have to do anything but believe that He is at work within us releasing His own aroma, His essence, out of us. The reality of this is staggering because of its implications for our lives. We no longer try to release His presence, or conjure up creative speech in hopes that a spiritual conversation will happen, but simply trust that everywhere we go, we and everyone we happen to pass by now has a higher capacity and likelihood of experiencing Him, having a thought of Him or an inspiration deep in their hearts to know Him. We get to live in this reality - that everywhere we go - we are releasing into all the realms of life - this beautiful essence of God. People simply pass through our lives and breathe in the intoxicating essence of God. 

Because Spring is somewhat here in Portland, trees are blooming and releasing an incredible aroma that lingers in the air everywhere. I cannot walk anywhere without inhaling in every breathe the fragrances released by the trees. The trees have done nothing but be deeply rooted in the ground, absorbing sunlight and water and nutrients as provided by God. And in season, they release their fragrance which precedes a beautiful blossoming of flowers and fruit. It struck me on a walk the other day that as believers we experience no wintering of heart. We are always in Spring and Summer - releasing the essence of God, the fruit of a life full of Him - simply because we are deeply rooted in Jesus and receive all we need from Him! 

And not only are we living life releasing His presence, but we are being LEAD in TRIUMPH. We walk in victory, triumph, extravagant celebration (because that's what happens when something is won), and joy. Victory is in our every step. Favor precedes us. Celebration is our experience. Yes - celebration can be our experience all the time because we are always lead in triumphal procession. We don't have to worry about everything turning out okay or wonder at the outcome of a situation - instead we can think, believe and move forward expectantly knowing that the journey is triumphal and the outcome celebration.

Laughter-full

Sometimes I just need a new blank space to be creative in. The old canvas feels a little to set to paint over and to add to it - just isn't what feels right. Hence, Laughter - Full, my new blog space. I need to get a few things out of the way to be able to feel free in this space - just a short little laundry list of sorts so here you go:

1. First and foremost, you must know that I am not a grammarian on paper. Yes, I do pick up on incorrect verbs usage and useless words when speaking and listening; but, when it comes to paper I honestly have no clue what all the rules are. If I stress myself out about that on here - I won't write. That said, feel free to let me know about my poor punctuation but don't expect me to get it right most of the time. ; )

2. Why Laughter - Full for the title? Great question! Thanks for asking. Over the years, through much encouragement from friends and Holy Spirit, I have realized that I am FULL of LAUGHTER. Not even just when I feel like it - sometimes I feel sad and have lots of tears - but deep down inside at the depth of my being, I am sourced in JOY. Fullness of Joy, Jesus, resides in me! My Strength is joy, my Source is joy, my Life is joy, I cannot escape joy - He is in me and entirely fills me so that I am Joy - Full. Therefore, always ready to overflow out of me is peaceful and delightful LAUGHTER. And therefore the title, Laughter - Full.

3. Another thing you need to know is that just because I believe I am sourced in joy and full of laughter does not mean that I do not experience sadness. It just means that amidst sadness and hard circumstances, I am going to chose joy. That said, there may be times where I write, ponder, wonder into non-joyful situations or thoughts. At the end of the day though - I believe there will be joy to be found in every situation - even if in the moment, I cannot name it. Gotta give myself space to be real. 

4. Life is a journey. Revelation deepens, expands, narrows, becomes more clear and sometimes outright changes from point a in life to point b. That said, I'm not a theologian. I am however, a woman full of God who hears Him and experiences His presence everywhere. As I write, I write from that perspective and experience - not a text book of references and definitions - though I do reference those and probably will use them! Just know that I haven't been to school for it and I may get it totally wrong as I dream and process with God. If I do - please tell me kindly and with tons of grace! I'm just writing about my journey and revelations from God. 

5. This blog doesn't have a main focus like photography, baking, or something like that - it is just whatever I feel like sharing and writing about. Just know - you'll never know what you're going to get when you take a peek into this space. 

That's it. Thanks for journeying with me!