A baseball, one single dress shoe, and my stew pot in the middle of the living room floor- we have a toddler in the house.

 Adele and puppies, of course. The basket was for carrying the puppies. Then it became a hat.  

 It's a little thing, but I love the bookmarks my daughters make for me. 

 

These Five Habits Have Changed My Life

I've been developing more healthy habits over the last few years and I came up with a list of five that I think have made the most difference in my life.

1. Eat your vegetables-
A few years ago, I may have eaten one day's worth of fresh vegetables in one week.  A year ago, I started eating more than a day's worth of vegetables everyday (and I cut out processed foods, refined sugar, etc.).  I lost seventy-one pounds in one year. Now I never get sick or tired.  Vegetables are so important. 

2.  Empty your sink-
I started doing Fly Lady's daily routine a few years ago and now I empty my sink at least once a day before I go to bed.  Most days, I empty it after every meal.  Emptying the sink leads to sweeping the floor which leads to wiping off the counters which leads to putting things back where they go... My house stays much cleaner and now I never have to stress before company comes.  No seriously.  My house stays clean enough for company most of the time.  It all starts with the kitchen sink.

3. Wash, dry, and fold one load of laundry-
This has been one of the most loving things I've ever done for my husband, one of the best things I've ever done for myself and my kids.  Every single day, I go down, open the dryer, and fold the load that's in there. Then I take the load of wet clothes that I did the day before out of the washer and dry them. The I start a new load of laundry. Some days, this is all I do. Other days, I can make it back down to fold, load, and wash another load.  But doing one load a day means I stay on top of my laundry.  I haven't had a huge pile in years.  This is another habit I learned from Fly Lady.

4.  Read your Bible-
My church encourages its congregants to read The One Year Bible.  I did this for a year, then skipped a year, and now I've started doing it again this year. I find that reading the Bible leads to prayer which leads to worship which leads to more prayer which leads to listening to sermons online... Reading the Bible everyday makes all the difference in my spiritual life and my spiritual health often makes all the difference in my everyday life.   

5.  Exercise-
I stopped watching crap on Hulu and started getting my sports bra and tennis shoes on instead.  I used to think I was "relaxing" during my free time, but I was wasting time doing meaningless things and wasting time on meaningless things just ended up making me more stressed out in the long run.  I have started exercising every afternoon once I am done doing lessons with the kids and before (or even while) I am making dinner. Some days, I teach a fitness classes at a local YMCA. On those days, I don't exercise at home.  But, exercising has made me physically stronger and much more clear headed. The biggest thing for me was forcing myself to make the most of my free time.  I used to think I didn't have time to exercise.  Really, I didn't have time to watch television and exercise.  I have started choosing exercise. I am always glad when I do. 

Diffuse Valor Essential Oil When You Study

Diffuse Valor Essential Oil When You Study

I've started diffusing Valor essential oil when we are doing our school work.  It makes the kids breathe deeper and relax and concentrate better. It calms me down when working with three kids at once can be stressful. These aromas are enhancing our lives in so many simple ways everyday!  

God's Mirth

I served in my four year old's class at Classical Conversations the other day.  As I was helping the little ones find their seats, stay in their seats, tie their shoes, get their snacks, wash their hands, get back to their seats, stay in their seats, hold their markers, etc., I found myself truly enjoying the little people.  They were beautiful to me and everything they did was charming, if not out right hysterical.  At times, my laughter over their antics was so loud that it made them turn their heads and look at me with confusion, so then I had to try and temper my laughter and just smile and chuckle over them to msyelf.

This isn't how I usually feel when I help the four year olds, to be honest. So I knew that the Holy Spirit was filling me. I sensed that God was trying to teach me something significant. So as I was helping the kids, I was also having a conversation with God in my head.

"Is this how it felt...? This is how it felt for the creator to be among those He created."

As soon as I had asked the question, it was as if the Holy Spirit answered it.

"Is this God's joy?" I wondered.

"God's mirth." The Spirit said.

God's mirth.

Mirth.

That word reminded me of something... What was it?

The last page of G.K. Chesteron's book Orthodoxy!

He said something about the mirth of God... What was it?

I didn't remember what the book said, but as soon as I got home, I felt compelled to look it up and see if the passage had anything to do with what was going on that day.

Here's the passage.

"Joy... is the gigantic secret of the Christian... The tremendous figure which fills the Gospels (Jesus) towers in this respect, as in every other, above all the thinkers who ever thought themselves tall. His pathos was natural, almost casual. The Stoics, ancient and modern, were proud of concealing their tears. He never concealed His tears; He showed them plainly on His open face at any daily sight, such as the far sight of His native city. Yet He concealed something. Solemn supermen and imperial diplomatists are proud of restraining their anger. He never restrained His anger. He flung furniture down the front steps of the Temple, and asked men how they expected to escape the damnation of Hell. Yet He restrained something. I say it with reverence; there was in that shattering personality a thread that must be called shyness. There was something that He hid from all men when He went up a mountain to pray. There was something that He covered constantly by abrupt silence or impetuous isolation. There was some one thing that was too great for God to show us when He walked upon our earth; and I have sometimes fancied that it was His mirth."

The passage fit perfectly! I think God was teaching me that Jesus, indeed, felt such great joy to be with us that He had to conceal it most of the time. He was a Creator who got to live among his created ones.  I can imagine what it might be like to write a story and then find myself in the book. What a delightful experience that must have been for Him, not because we are so delightful, but because of His great love for us. Just like I had to conceal my laughter so that the kids could focus on their work, I bet Jesus had to contain His great joy most of the time so He and His disciples could do the things they were supposed to do.  Filled up with love for the children, it was the most natural thing for me to put my hand on their head as I stood over them in line or at their table and wish them well from my heart.  That's probably why it was so easy and natural for Jesus to constantly reach out and bless, reach out and bless, and reach out and bless people like He did.  And that could be why they were constantly accusing Him of being a drunkard and a glutton.  Because when the work was done and Jesus had appropriate opportunities to relish in his own mirth, I imagine He had a great time.  I would have loved to have been at those parties!