A Thursday

 

Living a Good Story Inspiration

::  What Makes a Person Memorable? From Storyline: “Be memorably kind.” YES.

Creative Inspiration

:: From popcorn elephant to pencil-shaving accordion—Goofy sketches incorporate everyday objects @ 22 Words (Positively delightful!!)

On the Beauty that Surrounds Us

::  What happens when you magnify sand 250 times? Magic. (See Gary Greenberg’s TED talk below.)

 

To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour.

~William Blake

 

On Words

:: Wednesday With Words @ Ordo Amoris. Some great C.S. Lewis quotes here—like this one:

"The unblushingly romantic has far less power to deceive than the apparently realistic. Adults are not deceived by science-fiction; they can be deceived by the stories in the women’s magazines."

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Still on Day 4 of the week of life-coaching.

“To attend: This means to focus on one thing until serious progress has been made.”

I’ve written down some “actionable steps” for my life roles. I’m using my “40 Days” this year to attend to some of my goals.

“To inhibit: This means there must be a strong ability to inhibit distractions from getting through.”

Ah, this one is much more difficult. I have to be careful not to think of my children as distractions. But it is difficult to focus on one thing other than children! Quiet time/Bible study and shower and evening routine are about all I get while children are asleep. I could sleep less, but I know my limitations. I am not a pleasant, productive, healthy person on less sleep.

Quit something. I’m not sure what to quit, because I am very, very careful about commitments. Ten recurring things on my schedule? I can’t even think of ten. Ha!! When I commit to something, I commit someone else to it as well. If it costs money, it comes out of the family budget. If I need focused time without parenting duties or need to leave the house without kids, my husband (who works the equivalent of three jobs) or my mom has to watch the kids. It is simply the reality of this season of parenting. And homeschooling is my primary job.

I need to keep a log of exactly where I spend my time. Much of it, admittedly, is spent on the computer. But usually what I do on the computer fits in with one of my life roles and can be done in snatches of time. Longer periods of focused time are simply not available.

At this point, other than teaching my children—which is a big, worthy commitment, I don’t have any big projects on my list of goals. I’m still wrestling with the idea of something big. Is this the season for that sort of goal? Am I just not brave? Or am I lazy? Or boring? I don’t know.

“A working memory: This means we need to be reminded throughout the day of what we are supposed to be working on.”

This is where the Storyline Productivity Schedule (SPS) fits in. Baby steps…

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I woke up to a sermon on the radio that is still foggy in my head, but seemed to say exactly what my quotes the past couple days have said. Open your eyes and see the wonder. And be full of gratitude.

And this worship song was playing at some point (again, I was half-asleep for a while) and has been going through my head all morning:

Bless the Lord O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name
The sun comes up
It's a new day dawning
It's time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes
Bless the Lord O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name
You're rich in love and You're slow to anger
Your name is great and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
10,000 reasons for my heart to find
Bless the Lord O my soul
O my soul
Worship his holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name
And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
10,000 years and then forever more
Bless the Lord O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name

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I went to bed too late last night, and, again, had a rough time waking up. Who am I kidding? I always have a hard time waking up…

But I was up by 6:30, showered, made tea, had quiet time, filled out my SPS…

Luke woke up and came into my office as I was working. We snuggled and listened to the above video and sang together. It was lovely. Lola came in a little later with her blankie and pillow, so I carried her to the couch and snuggled for a while. (And then I made a point of snuggling with both Levi and Leif after they got up.)

Luke and Lola grabbed books and curled up on the couch (with the laundry) for some morning time together. Luke helped himself to some of my tea. And, yes, he wears his coat in the house if he isn’t wrapped up in a blanket…

It was a normal, full of reality sort-of day. Lots of good moments. Lots of not-so-great moments.

The sun was shining on our little part of earth. The boys were itching to get outside. They grabbed a huge stack of blankets and transformed a flatbed trailer parked in the grass near our driveway into a “reading boat of awesomeness.” They even hoisted a “sail” made out of a big stick and more blankets. We sat in the sunshine, huddled due to the cold, while I read another chapter of Watership Down. Lola was running amok on the trailer in her swimming suit. I have no idea where her mother was, because it was not warm enough for swimming suits today.

Russ is home from his short work trip, and he has taken the boys to swim practice. It is my turn to be productive, so off I go.