Lesson learned

My life has been running away from me. My four children are currently in two different schools and although I realize this is very normal for many families. I am apparently a big baby and am barely holding my life together these days. It's also an hour round trip of driving each morning and afternoon.

My oldest has an incredibly busy schedule with school sports and for some reason I am compelled to attend every game in its entirety. I just completely love watching her team grow and learn how to play together. I am blown away seeing their composure as they play volleyball and might have a bad hit or pass but immediately get ready for the next pass and not getting flustered. I remember volleyball as being the cause for a lot of self deprecating comments haha. I did play on my college team which is kind of hilarious since I was b.a.d. other than having a very consistent serve. Underhand. This grade 8 girls team that I have spent watching over the last two months are amazing--mostly doing killer overhand serves. And the excitement to watch them grows as they've continued to be undefeated all season (except for a silver at one fun tournament).

What I have observed in my life and that of my overscheduled child is how difficult it is to remember God in the moments of busyness. We had a very easy pace last school year. And what I had considered to be busy, is laughable now. We had such a chill summer. We love being home. Now it feels like we are barely home. It was easy for me to spend time studying God's word, going to my beloved Wednesday Bible study, Tuesday morning prayer at school and Friday morning chapel. That was my spiritual routine. All of those things have been cut out of my regular routine.

I have been pondering if that year of ease was preparation for what God had instore for us this year. How do I support my family in fulfilling God's call on their life now? We pray together before school. I encourage them to shine God's light, to be a blessing to those around them, to have good attitudes and good character. We are in the fire now. New schools. New relationships. Can we stand out or stand up for what we believe? I sure hope so.

I have been so encouraged by the coach. How she remembers to pray after each game with the girls. Her way of calling them out to be good examples when we stayed in Victoria by keeping clean rooms and being respectful of the hotel. Coaching can be really hard at times but she is so calm.

I really enjoy coaching and know that last year I would get so competitive that I would forget to pray with the team or that it would feel awkward because it wasn't a proper habit but randomly done. This year I am trying to learn and have been observing quality coaching and hoping to apply that when I get the chance.

I'm trying to soak up all the lessons God has for me in this busy season and figure out how I can minimize my commitments while still doing what I'm passionate and hopefully good at! I hope that all my children will attend the same school so I can cut my driving in half but until then, just trying to learn what God wants for me in this.

Cloudy Puddle

I've recently been going through some counselling and learning about Values Mapping. Its pretty fascinating to think that I have some innate values that cannot be changed and were not likely taught to me, but were a part of who I was in the beginning...

It takes some time and some discussion to figure out which values pop out and often its when we get offended that we can identify which value is being challenged or upset.

I have a value for being authentic, which is why "fake" people or passive aggressive people really trigger my authentic value.

I am seeing myself as a bit of a puzzle and trying to get myself put back together...if I ever was totally together!

The annoying thing about counselling is that its like stirring a puddle, and all the mud in the bottom gets disturbed and starts clouding the water. I'm definitely in the cloudy puddle phase right now.