Core Truths

I have three words for you: Let.   It.   Go. (Sorry if you’re twirling around now with your arms out singing at the top of your lungs…totally not my intention). I’m telling you to just let it go.   Let what go?   Whatever “it” is that you need to let go. Take for example Exhibit A: my kids' clearly mismatched socks. I decided years ago that I really do not like to take the time to match socks, so one day I just stopped matching socks.   All socks go in with all the other dirty clothes, they get washed like all other the other dirty clothes, then they get dried, then they are left there at the bottom of the basket after all other laundry is folded and put away.   Why?   I don’t know, one day I just got tired of sitting around matching socks, so I just stopped.   Now, when anyone needs a pair of socks, they just go to the basket and get some.   And when I say get some, I mean any two socks that you believe belong to you that ...

Here’s some truth—-you need friends! I am very serious and I am speaking this from the bottom of my heart.   It seems like this may go without saying, but I am saying it anyway.   And if nothing else, I need to be reminded of this myself! When I was younger, like when I was a kid, I LOVED making new friends.   And this was something that was easy and not easy for me.   It was easy because I was outgoing and eager to meet new people.   It was not easy because I was homeschooled and did not meet new people very often!   I still love making new friends, keeping up with old friends, but…. Here is the hard part…how often do we actually call on our friends?   I mean really reach out and connect, ask for advice, pour out our hearts, lean on them? I remember a day a couple of years ago.   I was having a rough time, just trying to sort through some things, dealing with adulting.   I had plans one day for a friend to come ove...

It is never my intention to complain.   It is always my intention to be truthful.   Here is my attempt at both. I am worn out.   I’m not going to lie.   This week and the weeks that will follow are and will be hectic!   There, I’ve said it.   But even though every day of every week is spoken for, that is not the hardest part. We have three kids all involved, heavily involved, in their schools and activities.   We have two more kids that are younger, that are involved in their own activities, and that are toted along to every event we attend.   And that’s great.   Really.   We love that our kids are active and feel called to serve and participate. But there’s another side to it.   The side of being the supportive, involved parent that has to pick and choose which of each kid’s events we will attend.   Our kids and what they do are the center of our daily routines.   We really love attending their e...

Man, I sure do love a good purging!   If you have talked to me for even five minutes, you have probably heard me talk about “The Great Purge of a Few Years Ago,” or how I throw stuff away the kids leave out, or maybe how I have been working to reduce my clothes into a simple capsule wardrobe.   I mean, I really like to not get stuff and to not keep stuff.   Now, if you walk into my house right this minute, I promise you will not think I am a Minimalist by any stretch of the imagination.   You may not even know that we’ve been purging our belongings steadily for the past three years, but if you knew me Pre-The Great Purge, then you would know, I’ve come a long way, baby! Like anything, I’ve learned that purging is about more than just purging.   So let’s back up. Pre-The Great Purge, I would get rid of things.   Like, I would get rid of some of my clothes if I had been shopping a lot and didn’t have enough hangers.   I would get rid of stuf...

You’ve heard this before, right? Marriage ain’t easy.   We say this because it is true.   It just isn’t easy. Worth it? Yes. Easy? No. The best thing that’s ever happened to me? Absolutely! There have been times in my marriage that I would relive over and over again.   Times that validate every ooey-gooey feeling I have ever had.   Moments that make me feel like I need to pinch myself as a reminder this is real life. And there are other times that you wish you could just close your eyes and it would be tomorrow already.   Times you look and search for the two people that said, “I do.”   I mean, even the best marriages are sometimes ugly. We have been through our fair share of ugly times. Thankfully, those times come and then they go, and I find myself in the middle of a fairy tale all over again. I had one of those precious real-life fairy tale moments recently.   A few weeks ago we decided to take the kids roller skat...