How to be a Happier Mom

For Christmas my Mother in Law got me this book.....

It was one of the best books I've read in a LONG time. 

(I highly recommend you check it out)

And then I decided to follow the author on Twitter and follow her blog!

Yep, I pretty much became obsessed.

And then after a LONG day of temper tantrums by my daughter 

(followed by temper tantrums of grown men and women at work)

This blog post popped up.

HERE is the direct link.  

There is also a handy dandy little print out to hang on your fridge.

But this spoke to me and I want to share.

Ann VosKamp thank you for your beautiful words.

Enjoy Mama's!

10 Ways to be a Happier Mom 

1. Life is not an emergency.

Life’s a gift. 
Just. Slow. Down.

2. Now is not a forever grace but amazing grace.

Do whatever it takes to wake to wonder right here.

3. Sometimes the slowest way is the fastest way to joy.

Make time today, even a moment, to read Scripture and memorize it.

Without the lens of His Word, the world warps.

{Slowest=fastest to joy}

4. Laughter is the cheapest, holiest medicine.

Preschoolers laugh 300 times a day. Aim for double that. Tickle someone, (yourself!), if necessary. This is good!

5. Motherhood is a hallowed place because children aren’t commonplace.

Co-laboring over the sculpting of souls is a sacred vocation, a humbling privilege.

Never forget.

6. Homemaking is about making a home, not about makingperfection.

A perfect home is an authentic, creative, animated space where Peace and Christ and Beauty are embraced.

{Perfect does not equate to immaculate.}

7. A pail with a pinhole loses as much as the pail pushed right over.

A minute dawdled here, a minute scrolling here — they can add up to your life.  Write down your intentions for the day and prayerfully ive the intentions and spend your life well by paying attention to the moments — which pays thanks to God.

A whole life can be lost in minutes wasted, small moments missed.

8. Believe it: I have all I need for today.

The needs of our day are great but our God is greater and we call Him Providence because we believe: He is the One who always provides.

{And when God provides, He should be praised, and if God always provides, shouldn’t praise always be on the lips?}

9. Slow. Children at play.

The hurry hurts the kids.

Time’s this priceless currency and only the slow spend it wise enough to be rich.

If we had to actually buy our time, would we spend it more wisely — spend it more slowly?

{God’s Word never says Hurry Up. God words only whisper: Wake Up.}

10. Love is patient.

Parenting’s this gentle way of bending over in humility to help the scraped child up because we intimately know it takes a lifetime to learn how to walk with Him.

Patience. Love always begins with patience and patience is a willingness to suffer.

Bonus:

The art of really celebrating life isn’t about getting it right – but about receiving Grace.

The sinners and the sick, the broken, the discouraged, the wounded and burdened — we are the ones who get to celebrate grace!

Regardless of the mess of your life, if Christ is Lord of your life, than we are the celebrants out dancing in a wild rain of grace — because when it’s all done and finished, all is well and Christ already said it was finished.

Living Simply

My life feels a little chaotic at times.

I'm sure most people can relate.

Between being a wife, raising a child, and working.. those things alone keep me busy.  

Add in the day to day activities that come with living, and well I feel a little overwhelmed at times.

Last week we made a trip to Fort Collins to show off CSU to my brother.

I was taken back to how wonderful my life was then.  

Now don't get me wrong, my life is a million times greater now, but my life then was so, well, simple.

I worked, I walked my dog, I biked, and just enjoyed exploring Colorado up there.

I didn't have a TV for the longest time, so I did a lot of reading.

I spent a lot of time enjoying God and all He has done.

I lived in this modest little duplex.  It was perfect for my little life. 

Nothing spectacular but the perfect place for me at the time.

My front door

 Kitchen

 Bedroom

Back yard

Shia and my neighbors' dog Copper would sit in my recliner and stare outside for hours.

My faithful hiking partner, Shia.

The daily beauty I'd find... so much better than the TV.

I took some time to really thank God for that season in my life.

And in those moments of thanks I realized I could still have that life now.

A life with not as much distraction.

A life focused on my top three priorities.  

1. God

2. Caleb

3.  Blake

After that everything else will fall into place.

Granted a marriage and a child take a LOT of time and work, but how many times do I come home and flip on the TV?  

Probably a little to often.  How often do I find myself stuck in this lifestyle of busy?  

When I take a step back I realize that it's not necessary to have the materially perfect things that keep me busy and take me away from my 3 priorities.

(ie. clothes, home decor, accessories, electronics, etc)

I want to incorporate my old way of life into my new life and....

LIVE SIMPLY!

Enjoy the outdoors instead of Pinterest or the latest TV shows.

Not go crazy buying things that I'll just have to clean up and manage in my house.

I mean, let's be real, I have clothes I bought and have never worn. 

 They end up sitting in my closet until I realize I have to clean it out and give it to Good Will.

These things are nice, yes, but they sure do eventually complicate things.

I want to eat simply and enjoy the simplicity of fresh food.

The over processed food is delicious at times, but not good for you.

There is something so refreshing about living a life focused on the Lord.

So many times I get distracted by meaningless things.

His challenge to us might be hard at times but sure is simple.

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."

-Matthew 16:24

What do you do to live a simple life? 

 Do you find yourself more at peace when you live simply?

April Showers

I absolutely love the winter's in Colorado, really I love every season in Colorado.

Which I guess is why I love where I live.

But the changing of each season is my favorite.

As I write this right now, I'm giddy with excitement, because we have a full on thunderstorm.

It's much milder than the Oklahoma storms I'm used to, but I love it none the less.

 Here is a brief snapshot of how our days have gone lately at the Luallin household.

After eating breakfast and before getting dressed, Little Miss enjoys her no clothes time.

Yep, running around in her diaper is the highlight of her morning

And then of course, some gardening while she watches the dogs eat her breakfast

This is about the only time of the year where my plants are alive in the front yard...

So I pretend to know what I'm doing, I pull weeds, water, move rocks around, ya know, just try to make it look like I know what I'm doing, but really I have no clue.

And then we get some clothes on and play at parks or other places we decide to explore. 

And then I guess I find time for some work.... 

I've really enjoyed this part time working I've gotten to do this month.

(Husband doesn't like the money part, but I love it!)

Next month, I'll be working more full time, but April has been a gift.

A beautiful, restful gift.  I get to spend my days with my Little Miss and watching her grow and learn so many new things.

I've enjoyed every second.

Kony 2012

I woke up Wednesday morning to find this picture and link all over everything! 

All over Twitter and Facebook and I was immediately curious.

I started the video thinking I wouldn't watch all 30 minutes, but I couldn't stop watching.

If you have not heard about this yet, I highly recommend you check it out HERE !

Following the media tsunami that was caused by this video, there were a fair share of attacks on the organization and their mission.

I'm not going to address these controversies, but instead I wanted to point out the encouragement that I saw after this video went viral.

If anything this video caused people to look "outside the box".

That box, where everything is comfortable, where we don't have to worry.

This does not directly impact us in anyway, but to see millions upon millions of people actually stand up and care for something outside of their comfort zone was, for lack of a better word, encouraging.

I just hope and pray that this helps us to continue to live with our eyes open.

Yes, spread the word about Kony and pray for his capture, but always look at those people we pass every day.  Everyday there are people that need help, that need a smile, that need to know you care.

Put down your phone, live in the moment and see how else you can change your world.