Fall Friday Letters

I used to do Friday letters as part of a link up forever ago.  It was one of my favorite things.  I don't know if the link up is still going on, but I shall continue on by myself.  I wanted to start last week Friday, but life with a baby--you know how that works...


Dear Freezer Meal Swap Group, I am so thankful for you, so I can provide my hubby with something besides fruity cheerios for dinner.  Eventually, I will post about how that all came about, how it works, and how it blesses me every month.  But since it takes me forever to do anything, you can also check out pinterest.  Dear library, I feel like you need a delivery service. I have put stuff on hold multiple times that eventually goes off hold because it takes me forever to get over there.  Never mind the fact that the library is less than 5 minutes down the road.  Dear gym, I impulsed bought a membership.  What was I thinking that I actually would make it over there? I would like to get out of it, but don't want to talk to anyone.  Dear pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, I have had all the supplies for weeks, and seriously what could be fall?  Except you know?  Cooler weather.  But naps when over cookies these days.  And cookies have always been a top priority.  Dear baby girl, It is amazing how far you can get around without actually crawling.  Dear subbing, you are kicking my booty.  I need like a full day recovering.


Till we meet again,

X Number of Things Not to Say to a female in _________stage of life (Fill in the Blank)

I can't count how many articles I have read recently of things NOT to say to other people.

X number of things NOT say to a mom of one child
X number of things NOT say to a single mom
X number of things NOT say to a pregnant lady
X number of things NOT say to a mom who just gave birth
X number of things NOT say to a single girl
X number of things NOT say to a mom of all girls or all boys
X number of things NOT say to a mom who had a boy and then a girl and then a boy

Seriously, it seems that every female in every stage of life now has a list of things that shouldn't be said to them by other people.  Maybe we should all just wear shirts that say, "Don't talk to me.  I am a female.  And more than likely I will be offended by what you have to say."

I recently read somewhere about how much more help a man would get flying with a baby than a female would.  How unfair is that?!?!  I have even thought I would hand off the babe to hubby for our upcoming plane trip.  But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the reason people are more likely to help my hubby with a baby than me is because he doesn't have a list.  The flight attendant would have to ascertain in what stage of life I was in before looking up the list of things she isn't supposed to say to me.  Gesh!  It would just be easier not to say anything at all.

And unfortunately, that's where we are--people don't want to talk to other people for fear of offending them.

When really, those people that touch your belly, ask you if you are going to pop right there in the store, offer unsolicited advice, tell you to cherish those sleepless nights, offer your screaming child a lollipop, warn you of the dangers of whatever, when really, I think, they are just looking to connect with another human in some way.

Instead of getting frustrated that maybe whatever they did or said didn't sit well with whatever hormonal swing we are on that particular day, put yourselves in their shoes.  More often than not, they are trying to connect with you.  Don't shut down a connection just because your female feathers got ruffled.

As females, we have to be in control of our hormones, no matter how raging they may be.  We can't expect everyone else we come in contact with to know our personal life stories and exactly where we are on our cycle to determine what is appropriate or not to say.

Who knows?  That elderly clerk who made the comment about you looking like you are ready to burst may go home that night and tell her husband about the lovely pregnant woman she saw today and reminisce over her pregnancies long ago.

Maybe the old man who bought your tantrum throwing two year old a sucker was just trying to help a young momma out, not rot his teeth or undermine your authority.

Maybe that woman in the parking lot that told you how unsafely you loaded your kids up had lost one of hers because she made a similar mistake.

Maybe the man at the restaurant who rubbed your belly has a daughter who is pregnant who lives far away and he will never be able to touch her growing belly.

Sure being a mom is hard, being a female is rough, but can we get rid of this attitude that everyone else is out to get us and they purposely make rude comments to upset us???

Let's change our perspective.

xoxo,
Angela

My baby is safest when...

Since I am no longer working and getting paid for it, I switched over from night Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) to morning BSF.  (If you do not have a current Bible study group, you need to check out one in your area.  It has been the greatest encouragement to me.  I wrote a post about it last year, and you can check it out here to get some more information.)


This year we are studying the life of Moses.  Today we talked about Moses's early life.  If you are unfamiliar with it or need a short recap, here goes: The Israelites were living in Egypt.  The Pharaoh was afraid of how numerous the Israelites were becoming.  He tried many attempts to try to stop the growth of that nation with one tactic being for the Hebrew mothers to throw all their newborn baby boys into the Nile River.  Moses's mother fixed a small basket for him and set it afloat on the river where he was later discovered and saved by Pharaoh's daughter.

How courageous was that momma?  Being a momma now, I can't imagine sending my daughter off on a river.  I can't imagine being asked to give up my baby.  Our leader reminded us that Moses was never safer than when he was in that basket.  Likewise, Eleanor will never be safer than when she is in God's hands.  That reminds of something else I have been told-We are immortal until God calls us home.  Both of those things are just sweet reminders of the Lord's plan and protection for us.  But also very convicting, have I trusted the Lord with my baby?  I can plan and prepare, just like Moses's mom, but ultimately I have to leave her in the Lord's hands.

Wow, so much to take away from BSF, and it is only week 2!

Be encouraged!

What I love about my hometown

I grew up in the DFW metroplex in a city called Colleyville.  It is pretty ritzy and fancy now, but that wasn't always the case.  When we first moved to Texas from Michigan, we lived in a pretty fancy house.  You know the kind with the high ceilings, the massive master bathroom and a powder room?? The nice thing about that neighborhood was that there were a lot of children close by to play with because the houses were so close together.

We moved to Colleyville when I was in Kindergarten.  The house was a lot older, and my parents and grandparents had several house renovations to do, but the yard was huge!

My dad put in a pool one summer, and we used it all the time.  My brothers and sister and I spent lots of time in the sand pit in our front yard, too.  Occasionally, after dark we would all play hide and go seek outside. It was so dark because there weren't many lights around, and we had to be careful because there was lots of critters out there-possums, raccoons, skunks.  It was an adventure!

The lot behind my parents did not have a house on it.  On rainy days we would all lace up our matching green and yellow rain boots and tromp around in the mud in the back lot.  We would lay out boards to walk across little lakes in the backyard.  I even remember burying a bag of coins back there.
Our chickens really enjoyed this extra space, too, as we would let them roam during the day, and they would find their way back to the hen house at night.

There isn't anything particular I like about my hometown like a restaurant or an annual event.  Really you could have taken our house and yard and put us in any town, and I think my childhood would have been pretty much the same.  It is amazing to me how entertained we all were with just a yard and some siblings to go crazy with.

Now, Denton has some things that I am pretty exciting about having Eleanor experience year after year that hopefully will help her remember her hometown fondly.

Sweet reader, what do you love about your hometown??