On Tour

The time has come. Blog mission statement time. Remember this? Your sweet comments may keep me blogging forever.

A mission statement has proved to be very difficult for me, and I couldn't quite pin point why...until now. You see, I've wanted to wrap up my purpose for writing in 3-4 well written sentences. Clear and concise. Pretty little package. And therein lies the problem.

My purpose in writing varies, from day to day. I rarely plan ahead what a post will be. Usually, it involves me sitting down with a huge mug of coffee, asking God to show me what, in my daily life, is usable. Each day in my life is different. And each day at this blog is different. Mama Belle commented that it's kinda like what Forrest Gump said about life and a box of chocolates, "ya never know what you're gonna get" ...oh how right she is.

No matter what the content for the day may be, there are a few things that I do want present in every post....

Mission: Life in the Parsonage is about candidly walking through my daily life, in all the various roles I play, and finding significance in the insignificant. I want it to be refreshing, and real. I want to be transparent because I want those who read to say, "yep, I relate to that." I want people to leave with a smile, because no matter what may be going on in my day...God always, always gives me something to smile about. And although shoes and haircuts are mentioned profusely...the most important theme I hope sticks is an unmistakable desire to grow closer to my Jesus.

You can go to Becoming Me for more blog mission statements...what better way to find great blogs?!?

Pin It

A Tad Embarrassing...

Something has happened at my home (the parsonage.)
I thought about taking pictures of it, but in my head, I could hear your gasps of horror...and it was just too much.
The weeds have taken over.
It is so bad, that I am having to ask other people if certain things are a weed or a plant. Generally, the weeds are small, and the plants are larger...but not here.
They are the same size here.
Frightening.
Also embarrassing...but let's not discuss that.
I may go out and pull weeds/flowers today.
Unless is rains.
Please God, make it rain.

Happy Saturday Bloggy Friends!

Pin It

Smartness...

Just thought you should know what a fantastic writer I am...and how deeply I challenge your reading skills ...

Try not to be too impressed by my large vocabulary (of made up words) and complex (run-on) sentence structure. I can't help it...it is a gift. Beautiful writing giftedness...of a 13 to 14 year old.

Kudos to us and our smartness :)

Pin It

Another List...

Trying something new today. I'm joining in Thankful Thursday at Sting My Heart...in bullet-point form (of course!)


Today I am thankful:

• That last night at VBS we had somewhere between 40-50 kids...which considering all tiny town has endured recently is frankly, AMAZING!


• For a great week at VBS and still thankful it's coming to a close ;)


• That I do not have to work outside my home...because I could not do it without losing my mind...obviously, God knew that :)


• for Sponge Bob entertaining my kids long enough for me to enjoy a sweet reprise from the bickering! Oh the bickering...


• For the wonderful stuff you all come up with that totally encourages and makes me smile.
• And that ya'll actually come back to read my ramblings...and COMMENTS! I so love comments...I do, I do, I do.



• My coffee...Heavens sweet nectar...which I need to go to Starbucks and get some more of...brewed my last pot today.



• that although there are weeds all over my "flowers" and my house is a mess...I do not care. For now...
• Bullet points. Need I say more?
  
• For God's patience with me. That His love for me is not based on how I do...but just the fact that I am His.

Happy Thursday Friends!

Pin It

The Look...

Notice Jake's shirt before...

And a few hours later...

So goes life in the parsonage. My children are always dirty. I gave up trying to keep them clean a long, long time ago. In fact, I'm just so used to them being dirty, I hardly even notice it anymore.

Until the other day that is...I happened to take all of them to run some errands (very bad idea.) Our last stop was the grocery store. They were bugging each other and fighting over who got to ride in the "school bus cart"...I was trying to maintain my composure, and then I met her in the frozen food aisle.

She was cute, young and pregnant, probably with her first baby. She was strolling the aisles in peace and quiet (alone)...well, until she came upon us.

She gave me the look. I know this look...I too, once gave it to mothers with rowdy, dirty kids. It was the look of idealism. The look that says, "honestly, is it so hard to clean your kids up before you leave the house!?!"

I smiled and her...and I smiled all the way home...because someday, that cute little thing may have three little boys, that 5 minutes after a bath are somehow dirty again...because I know first hand, that's what happens to young ladies who give the look. *smiles*

Pin It

Realizations...

VBS went really, really well last night. In my 3&4 year old class we had 8 boys and 1 little girl...and they were so much fun! Thanks so much for your empathy and encouragement yesterday :)



Last night (after VBS) I had the opportunity to discover something about myself...stuff I've known (I think) but just never really thought about all that much. It has to deal with how I react/cope with life when busyness sets in.



I hate busyness. I do. I am constantly trying to keep life quieted. I like peace. I like routine. I like to have my family just hanging out together at home.



Our daily life is fairly full. I don't mention it much, but my husband also has a full-time job besides being full-time Pastor of our small church. (This is a whole other post in and of itself.) He is a "tent-making pastor" as they call it, and I can't explain it, because when I look at our life from the outside, I think "How on earth does that work? Impossible!" But, it does work...it works really, really well. It works, because it is what God has ordained for now and He supplies in all the areas we are lacking (and they are many, my friends.) Will it change? Hopefully...but if it doesn't, we're content with that too. God has created peacefulness in our home, even with the full schedule.



Anything extra on top of this full life of ours makes it start to feel busy to me. As I mentioned yesterday, with VBS this week, I find myself re-adjusting to the extra demands, and discovered two things about myself in the process.



1 - When life starts to feel like I can't keep up, I go quiet. Weird, I know. I am generally a friendly, outgoing person. I will talk your ear off...with hand gestures to boot. But when it starts to feel busy, I feel the need to quiet myself. To withdraw some...to hide-out for a little bit...just me and my Jesus. He "fills my cup" back up, just like the old hymn says, and then I can face life again.



2 - When the busyness seems like too much...I begin cleaning. I mean deep cleaning...organizing...and when my family doesn't cooperate with my cleaning agenda...not good, not good at all. It's a weird phenomena. Something very sad, tragic, life changing can happen, and you will most likely find me cleaning out closets and rearranging furniture. I've done this for as long back as I can remember...I've just never thought about WHY I do this...until last night.



Here's what God showed me: When life feels like it's out of my control (which it always is whether I feel it or not) I clean because I can fix it. I can work and see tangible results from my efforts. Control. I am a control freak, my friends. Last night, it's as if God was giving me a "heads up" on this issue. For my own good, He requires a change of heart on my part...the cleaning in and of itself, fine. The cleaning as a knee-jerk reaction for control...not fine. He wants my first reaction to be my knees in prayer, running to Him. Sounds easy...but for a control freak, it's not. Thankfully, I have Him to help me :)



Just some realizations. What about you? How do you deal with the busyness? Are you a freak too!?!? :)

Pin It

Realness...

Oh friends...a bloggy make-over is coming my way...FINALLY! I can't tell you the details, except that Shauna is working on it and I know I am gonna L-O-V-E it. I will try to stop talking/thinking about it now, but it. is. hard.


On a completely different subject: I do have a little secret that I need to share with you. I hope it won't cause you to look down on this little lowly Pastor's wife (*wink, wink*) but you deserve the truth....straight from the horse's mouth (we say things like that around here.)



It is VBS week, here at our church in tiny town.


The secret: VBS is not my first love. *Gasp* I know. I KNOW! JUST what you want your Pastor's wife to tell you...(now would be a good time to hit your knees and thank Him that I am not your PW...unless I actually am...then you should REALLY hit your knees ;)


VBS is exhausting. And I'm not even the one that organizes it. (God bless our sweet church friends that do...I can't thank them enough...but there is an excessive amount of pleading, on my part, that they never stop doing it. EVER.)


I am teaching the 3 & 4 year olds this year. By the way, I almost just heard you laugh. Since my arrival in tiny-town, I have been avoiding this age group like the plague. Mostly because this was the age group my own children were in...and frankly, I was already worn out from my own, why would I want to teach MORE?!? Last year I even volunteered for crafts, just to avoid them. I am not crafty my friends.


This is where the miracle comes in. This year, I wanted to teach them. Granted, my oldest two are now not in that class anymore...but still! I am actually really looking forward to it. God is seriously amazing! Because that did not happen all by itself!


Because of the flooding, we're not quite sure how many kids will be able to come, but the numbers do not matter...the hearts of the children do. I'm praying that each child that comes through our doors will leave knowing who God is, how much He loves them, and why that matters. Because it SO matters.

*UPDATE* Shauna finished my layout (super fast by the way) and I couldn't love it more!!! YAY! If you're in need of a new do, go check her out (little square on my side-bar.) With just a little info she totally figured out what I wanted...I think she may be a mind reader :) Thank-you Shauna!!!!

Happy Monday Friends!

Pin It