Power of Smell

If there's one sense I'd say I have mastered, it's SMELL. I'm sure my nose is not as keen as a dog or an ant, but I'm pretty decent at identifying scents. Especially, the difference between good and disgusting.

Ever since I was pregnant for the first time, my sense of smell has been awesome...and incredibly annoying. For some reason, smells find my nose and linger until either I can't take it anymore, or find a way to magically blend it into the rest of the air I'm breathing.

When you're pregnant, it's fairly likely that it's the repulsive smells that get the most attention. Walking into the house, and the garbage can has decided to become the air freshener. Yep. Going into the bathroom, I can tell right away if the toilet has not been flushed. Most often I am the first one to smell the toddler's dirty diaper... thanks bud.

It's kinda funny because Adam has almost no sense of smell. Yes, we are a good match. It only presents a problem when I am trying to determine the reason for the smell, and he can't even smell it.

But today, what presented me with this idea of a lovely, smelly blogpost is the laundry. Ever leave the clothes in the washer for, say an extra day? Yep. ME. All the time. Maybe because I have about a hundred thousand things I'm doing all day? There's a timer on the washer, but it doesn't do any good unless you're ready to transfer clothes at that very moment. So, often, they get left in. And if there is something my nose tells me it just can't handle, it's stinky been-in-the-washer-to-long clothes.

The big dilemma is, if they smell ok, but you know they've been left too long, do you dry them or re-wash them? Half the time if you dry them, they end up needing a re-wash anyway.

I deal. And I've learned some cool tricks for getting stink out of clothes. But tonight, I just wanted to curl up in a blanket on the couch. Pregnancy makes you tired too... and both my blankets were stinky.

So I get to practice visualizing beautiful. I'm learning to let these little things go. I can draw my rainbow, and find something beautiful. Like how amazing God made us with our five senses. Smell is a blessing.

Visualize Beautiful

Sometimes I forget to see the beautiful. The Bible says, "He will bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair" (Isaiah 61:3). So there's really no reason I shouldn't see the beauty in everyday life. It's a matter of perception and a willingness to visualize the beautiful.

It is so easy to soak in the sunshine--the big positive moments in life--and see the beautiful. It seems like everyone is re-energized after a day of sun and warmth. Myself included! I don't enjoy the cold and the rain, but I am continually reminded of the true beauty--the beauty for ashes.

You know, when you're driving down the gray road, staring at the gray clouds, and noticing the absence of color everywhere you look? That was me last week. Then the Lord saw fit to show me four rainbows in the course of the next few days! VisualizeBeautiful.

The trick is to see the beauty in the midst gray. To visualize the rainbows before they appear.

Sometimes I forget to see the beautiful. You know when the house is a mess, and the kid's diaper is stinky...when the bills are stacking up and all the energy has escaped the body...when there's a chorus of crying and joining in is tempting...VisualizeBeautiful. 

This is what Jesus has been teaching me. He gives beauty for ashes. Much of this world cries with a spirit of despair, yet God gives us a garment of praise. Lately, division in the world has been growing wider, but I'm choosing the oil of JOY, and the crown of BEAUTY.

For the world and for my life, I will VisualizeBeautiful.

Who I Am

Well, here goes! I've never blogged before, and it's rather daunting to me. But I am doing it because I believe there are important things I can do to help people. And in the process, I know I will learn and grow into a better person.

When I was asking my husband what I could write about on a blog, he listed some things for me that kind of depict who I am. 

I am:

• A Child of God
• A Wife to an amazing husband. I really love him.
• A mom. This feels like the biggest part of who I am right now because it consumes my day and night. I have three beautiful children that I am sure I will brag about later, and one more on the way.

I am:

• A singer, music is in my soul.
• A reader. This one's more difficult. I almost feel like a liar when I say I'm a reader. The truth is, I've only read a handful of books in the last five years. Why? When I used to spend every waking minute inside the pages of a novel. Well the truth is, kids take brain power, and time, and energy. While I am writing this, my 18 month old is screaming at my 3 1/2 year old, trying to get her mega blocks... See? If I was reading, my brain would've been snapped right out of my story and I would've enjoyed the same sentence 5 times until I realized I still didn't completely comprehend it. Side note: I am the wife of a high school english teacher and I almost just ended my sentence with a dangling modifier. He's actually NOT a grammar nazi, but I do absorb some things from him, and they pop into my head at very strange moments.
• A gardener... well I want to be a gardener. My mom is a Master gardener. We had a garden a few years ago when A (our oldest -- almost 6!) was 2. Since then, I've just dabbled in bucket growing, but I long for a full vegetable and flower garden.
• A lover of coffee shops and cafes, good conversation, and atmosphere. Problem is, going to these places doesn't happen often as I would like. Kids are difficult to take places, with all the squirminess and interrupting. 
• A leader and an entrepreneur--or maybe a momtrapreneur--making a way for our family while I stay home and care for our littles is my life. The goal is to help, inspire, and encourage as many people as I can, as quickly as I can. In the process, I gain depth, quality of character, and success for my family.

And the most important piece of who I am...

• A teacher. I have always been a teacher. I may have chosen to stay home for my family over having a classroom, but the teacher will never leave me. It is forever who I am.

So there you have it. A few things about me. I am simple, but complicated. Complicated, but simple. I love Jesus, my family, and have a heart for the children of the world.