Polishing Priorities

I know some women who get great joy and satisfaction out of cracking open a fresh bottle of bleach or lavender scented fabuloso and going to town on scrubbing the toilet. Or slapping on a pair of rubber gloves and washing and polishing their floors to a beautiful gleaming polish. "You could eat off my floor" they proudly think...not that they ever do. The soothing hum of a vacuum can be heard through their hallways 5-7 days a week.

I often envy those women. I mean, who doesn't love a clean, fresh, and tidy home? It's just the process of getting there that I don't love. Oh, to be able to whistle a happy tune while washing the dishes. I always thought that the gift of incessant cleaning would be in my genes. No such luck. My mom taught me well, though. I know all the secrets to making your home sparkle and shine. I was even taught at quite a young age that the only proper way to make a bed was with perfectly folded "hospital corners". Now I only do them if I am feeling quite peppy and my perfectionism takes over.

There are some people, who I know, who cannot have people over or any type of visitor or company unless the bathrooms have all been scrubbed and the floor has been mopped that day. The house must be supremely immaculate. I guess the point is: How can you have people over for dinner if you can't eat your dinner from every surface in the house...if you needed to for some reason? Surprisingly, I used to feel this way. Now, I'm over it. Otherwise, we'd never have company and if we did, then I'd probably fall asleep at the dinner table out of exhaustion and inhaling too much lavender scented fabuloso.

Now, in order to deal with my predicament of not having a spotless home 24/7 and also wanting to entertain guests and have company on a regular basis, I have a secret club. It used to be very exclusive...but is becoming somewhat more "open to the public". So if you are a member of my secret club, then you have at some point shown up to my house, or have maybe even been invited over, when it was kind of a mess. You probably walked in and thought, "She could have at least moved the laundry off the dining room table before we came over" or "Is that diapers I smell?" You'll know you've been initiated when you see three weeks worth of mail spread all over the counter and then spy some leftover cheerios and puffed rice under the highchair. Please don't feel offended, because it only means that I decided to hang with you in my somewhat (or sometimes very) messy home instead of not at all. Or maybe you just surprised us with a visit and we didn't have a choice.

I often think about what my cleaning habits will teach my daughter. Hopefully she'll someday recognize that although our bathtubs were not really clean enough to eat out of and our windows were always a bit smudgy, that we spent lots of time together. I sang "Pop goes the weasel" a hundred times instead of doing the dishes and read "Mr. Brown can Moo" twelve times with immense enthusiasm instead of vacuuming that day. And we always welcomed family and friends into our usually not so spotless home. I hope she learns to choose people over perfectly polished windows and floor. But, I will teach her how to make things sparkle and shine and maybe even give her a lesson on "hospital corners" because sometimes these things come in handy.

Here is a passage from Luke 10:38-42

38As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" 41"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42but only one thing is needed.^[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

I have great admiration for the women who can balance both spending time with family and friends and keeping track of their household duties. For me, it is a big challenge. For now, until someone gives me some pointers, I will keep initiating people into my secret club.


Sara

Profound Statements

As some of you may know, Justice has been out of town for a little over a month vising family in Delaware. Of course I have been anxiously awaiting his return and counted every day, minute and second until he came back. We spoke on the phone almost every day and I was fortunate enough (thanks to my mom) to be able to go up and visit him in the middle of the vacation; however, I was still pretty lonely without my little sidekick.

On Tuesday I picked him up from the airport, ran some errands then sat down on the couch to have some quality time with him. Out of nowhere he asked me if I had anyone to talk to while he was gone. I laughed a bit then told him I used most of my cell minutes on him and did not talk to anybody else very much. "You can talk to the Lord, you can always talk to the Lord." he said in a very matter of fact tone. Whoa! I was completely blown away by that. It was such and astute statement to come from a six year old, my six year old.

It was a proud moment for me; but, more than that it showed me that he really is listening and absorbing God's truth. I think sometimes as parents we have those days when it seems like our children do nothing but whine, argue and break the rules and we wonder if we are doing a good job....then we have days like my Tuesday where our children make profound statements and we undoubtedly know we are doing a great job.

Entry written by: Mary Gerber

It's time to FLOURISH!

Like many churches, ours has lots of moms. Lots of moms and many kids and babies. More babies by the day. I think there is something in our water. Anyways...It seemed I was often having the same conversation each week of how us moms should get together more often and how we could use more time to just have fun with each other and get our children together and so on. So along came our mom's group: Flourish. It's Vintage Worship Gathering's very own ministry for moms.

We all know that moms are pros at nurturing their children. Flourish seeks to provide opportunities for moms to connect with other moms and nurture each other. It is a group for women from all walks of motherhood and is where we can get together, build friendships, support, and encourage one another.

The idea behind the name Flourish is inspired by Psalm 52:8-9.

"But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love
for ever and ever. I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints."

I love that verse! It embodies the attitude and daily perspective that I strive for as a mom. The word flourish has many meanings, one of which is "to grow luxuriantly, or thrive in growth". Isn't that what we want to do as mothers and what we want for our children? We want our children to grow physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually each and every day. Only, we don't just want them to grow...We want them to thrive and flourish.

Welcome Moms!

So here's our new, amazing, exciting online space! We hope that this can be another outlet for us moms to connect with each other, express ourselves, and be heard. I know I like to gather insight and inspiration from other moms who may be dealing with some of my same issues and concerns. Please feel free to share your stories and day to day drama with us. This can be a place for us to offer/seek advice, post photos of our little angels, share prayer requests, and encourage one another in our daily lives and walk with Jesus Christ.