Are You Organic?

Hello world! It feels as if with each stroke of the keyboard, life and Addisyn are changing. This week brings us into new challenges of motherhood, primarily teething. We have progressed in age to where I no longer know how many weeks old my daughter is on the spot, she is just over 5 months old, and we are still trying to figure out how that is possible. My advice to my soon to be mommy friends, take pictures! Lots of pictures, and when you’re done taking those…take more pictures! It is undeniably gratifying to go back to pictures taken several weeks and months ago and see how much your little one has changed. I can only imagine that as they grow, that feeling gets even sweeter.

This weekend, while talking to my grandmother, she asked about the family. She inquired about my husband’s upcoming back surgery, my sweet, cranky, teething daughter, and finally me. When I replied with the too honest, “I’m tired,” she kind of chuckled, reminding me that I had another 50 years or so more of tired if the Lord blessed me so. She’s right, the fatigue of motherhood does not end when your newborn begins sleeping through the night, nor when you make that first trip to the Kindergarten classroom, nor when you watch the flip of the tassel and begin college preparations.  In fact, the act of mothering never ends. No matter where you are in your journey to motherhood personally, you are still right there beside us all.  If you’re picking out paint colors, and preparing a baby room, you’re there with us. If you’re waking in the middle of the night to feed your newborn, searching the house endlessly for the match to the only pair of shoes that seem to fit the ever growing toddler feet, or spending hours filling out college applications… you’re there with us. And you know what? It’s a pretty sweet thing. Amidst the chaos and dark circles that cannot be hid beneath your eyes, there is a tiny pair of hands that hold on to you with just the right amount of tightness.  If those hands are older… that amount of tightness might be different. At times those hands might tug away, but there will always be moments where they need you closer… and you’ll be there.  Motherhood is a pretty sweet thing.

All too often in life, we are looking for satisfaction. In our incredibly busy lives we are ever in search of a milestone, a medal, a promotion, or an event. It as always as if that next tangible achievement we are in search of will allow us finally receive full satisfaction, but then…there’s another quest for glory. It is easy to fall victim of satisfying the flesh in this manner.  The problem is, that typically satisfying the flesh causes us to be less of the person Christ calls us to be. The journey that we take in order to receive these accolades can be costly. During the never ending chase of success we just might risk our integrity, character, relationships, opportunities, and more. Too much focus and expended energy on any one thing can be detrimental. Most likely…on the climb to the top…you will miss a few rungs. Don’t let the chaos of life cause you to miss out on what’s really important.  Take a minute, slow down, and appreciate where you are and what you’re doing. Invest time in your children, your family, your friendships, your hobbies, your work, and make time for God.  Take the time and just be you…be organic.

Have you ever read the list of ingredients on packaged processed food? Sure you might open that “brownie” as the label reads, but really the ingredients are full of things you cannot pronounce and do not recognize and even if you could decipher them, you wouldn’t want to know what they are anyway. We can become watered down in life amidst all the chaos just like the ingredients in some claimed “foods” can be. Before you know it…all the natural ingredients are gone…and deceitful, fraudulent chemicals are disguised in their place. At some point in time society has sold out for advancement and money over genuine, wholesome ingredients in their products…and so have we.  There’s something to be said for being organic.

Romans 12:12- “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”