Joy in the Journey

 My blog last week ended quite nicely, didn’t it? For those of you who didn’t read it, it was about my son's struggling against OCD keeping him from playing basketball. The story ended with him overcoming his fears and loving participating with the rest of the team. Happily ever after, a sweet victory, a little package with a bow on top. Almost like a cute little Disney movie. Except real life is not like a Disney movie... ESPN Open on week four of basketball season. My son runs out and participates with the rest of the team...for about 10 minutes. Then he is back on bleachers, crying and hiding under his hoodie. Sigh... The rotary basketball program depends on volunteers. Last week, the lady who was working with my son was the mother of one of his friends. Someone he sees at least a few times a month and has known a few years. So he was comfortable with that. This week, however, it was mostly boys from the high school team who were helping out (which I think is awesome). The big b

 My oldest son has been interested in playing basketball. We went through a whirl-wind of a basketball season with my  daughter right after soccer and before Christmas, but we had had a little break so I said I would sign him up. When I found out that it would only require one hour of commitment each Saturday I was thrilled. My son was thrilled that he would get a chance to play against kids his own age (his big sisters are 3 and 5 years older than him, so family basketball games were always a bit discouraging). But it didn’t exactly go as planned… My son has OCD. Often he gets very firm ideas in his head and it is very shocking to him when things don’t go as he has imagined they would. I know we all deal with this on some level, but it’s more challenging for his brain to adapt to quick changes. So when we walked into the big high school gym and he saw the bleachers of people (all the parents and kids from the previous grade that was finishing up their session AND all the parents and k

I feel like God has been whispering to me about the topic of fear a lot lately, so that is what I'm going to talk about again this week. Most of you know about my pain journey. If not, you can search "hernias" and "pain" up in this blog's search bar and the various articles I have written about it will pop up. Many kind people have encouraged me by saying I went through those incredibly hard years so bravely, but, me being me, I'm the only one who truly knows how very much I struggled with fear during that time.  Understandably so. It's pretty easy to be fearful when it feels like every single step you take is ripping you apart (it literally was!). The pregnancy I had with my fourth baby was one of the most painful experiences of my life. It's no wonder I was afraid to have another child when insurance was refusing to fix my two open hernias, and then later after the one hernia was botched. That botched surgery occurred when my fourth was only se

Seekers Chapel  Hey mamas! How in the world are we already 1.5 months into the new year? It seems like 2023 is already flying by.  How are you doing on your resolutions or goals for this year?  I don't have a scale, so I have no idea how much weight I have lost by prioritizing my exercise and nutrition this year (which I kind of like because I feel like I'm doing it more for the right reasons and less to achieve a number). I know I am making better choices for myself and my family, and that is the real goal.  My feelings towards my other resolution are a bit different.  I feel like decluttering and purging is so mentally exhausting! Do you agree? Going through my possessions and deciding what to keep and what to get rid of really works my brain and sometimes emotions. I’m a sucker for sentimentality, it makes it hard to keep a level head when downsizing. I’m also on a budget, and with things so expensive lately, I don’t want to get rid of something we might need in the future! 

 Hey mamas! I hope you had a lovely weekend. Ours was busy, busy, busy...as usual. I don't know about you, but my Mondays are usually pretty busy, too (maybe that's why I have such a hard time getting this blog up on a consistent basis?!?). Mondays are typically full of catching up on housework from the weekend and getting school started for the week. I try not to plan any trips or play dates that day of the week so I can make sure I get what I need to get done, done.  Sounds kind of boring, right? Well, I'm here to remind you, mamas, that it doesn't have to be! Just because we are being productive doesn't mean we need to be boooooring...we can add fun in our day, for ourselves and our kids. So what can you do differently in your day to make it a little fun?  We are Star Wars nerds around here, so a fun way to start our day is to make our breakfast in these Darth Vader and Grogu cast iron pancake molds we picked up at Ross this holiday season. I know its silly, but

Confession: I haven't been the nicest person lately.  Ok, I've been acting like a downright bully... The New York Times There is this person in my life that I just have a hard time treating kindly. It seems like it's so easy and natural to criticize and belittle her. I'm a witness to all her foolish mistakes and blunders. I can clearly see her faults and flaws and point them out to her quite often. I don't let her forget them and have a hard time forgiving her when she messes up. You've probably already guessed who this person is, but just in case you haven't and are about to call CPS on me, this person isn't one of my children or friends or a family member...this person is me. Why are we so mean to ourselves, mamas??? As I was writing this, my 3-year-old came up to me and looked at the picture and asked, "Mommy, why is her so tiny?" "Because those other girls are making her feel tiny." was my answer. Mamas, why do we make ourselves f