Monday, March12, 2012 WOW-Zine

For those of you who pay attention to such things, yes, I'm later than usual with getting this out today. But that's because I was at an elders retreat in Netarts all weekend and just got home late this morning. So now it's time to turn my attention to you sweet ladies. 

Common Grounds is this Wednesday at 6:30 PM at the church. Maybe you think you can't come because you've never attended before. Wrong! We love to have new ladies join us at any time.We're going through the Bad Girls of the Bible, and this week we'll be taking a look at Tamar, as found in Genesis 38. Join us for a time of goodies and visiting, as well as opening God's word and finding how to apply this story to our lives. 


Zumba will only be meeting today this week. The Wednesday class is cancelled for this week. Because the schedule doesn't seem to be working well for women on Tuesday and Thursday, those classes will no longer meet. If you think of a better time, let me know and we'll see what we can work out. During the summer we'll be able to start meeting in the mornings again, which seemed to work better for more people. 

The SeaSide Escape retreat registration is open and going strong. The next tier of registration begins this Wednesday as we open it up to women who attend either Common Grounds or The Thursday Perk. Bring your checkbooks with you on Wednesday to pay your $80. Or you can mail the checks to me (made out to Wapato Valley Church) at:
Sherrie Ashcraft
Box 665
Gaston, OR 97119

The dates are Friday night through Sunday morning, April 13th through 15th, in Lincoln City. This is always the highlight of our yearly activities, and we want you to be a part of it!

Do you have it on your calendar yet? I'm talking about our second annual Feminini-Tea on Saturday, May 5th, beginning at 10 AM. We had a fantastic time last year, and this year we're even bringing in an outside speaker--Barb Boswell. I'll tell you more about her as the time gets closer. This is a free event for moms and daughters, aunts and nieces, etc. Once again, we're looking for women to volunteer to decorate and host a table. The church was filled with absolutely gorgeous tables last year. It was so much fun to see the different table settings. So please let me know if you'd be willing to help with that again (or for the first time) this year. We'll all bring tea-type snacks, and you can dress up. It will be a great way to kick off your May. 

My brain seems to be working in slow motion today after such a busy weekend, so this is all I can think of. I'm including an article that may be of encouragement, especially to those of you who still have kiddlywinks at home. I wasn't able to find the author's name--it seems she's just known as The Gypsy Mama. 

On surviving the crush of the morning rush

March 7, 2012

in Callings,Faith,family,Kids,Motherhood,Raising Boys

It occurs to me how much I miss on the days when I’m frustrated.
On the days when I hurry them through brushing teeth and climbing bunk bed ladders and demands for just one more sip of water. On evenings when I rush and mutter and long for the solace of bed and laptop and online. On mornings when I rush to find lost shoes, chug down honey nut Cheerios and pack lunches and stuffed bears.
How much does the rush cost me?
We want to be on time, yes. But on time and frayed around the edges, on time and in tears, on time and relieved to be parting ways is no one’s win-win.
The rush is all mine. I can choose to shelter them from it or not.
The clock is all mine. I can choose to dictate from it or not.
The rhythm is all mine. I can choose to dance to it or not.
Because the melody of any day ebbs and flows around a mother’s mood.
And if I can set my mood by the desire to send them off at peace and full of the knowing that they mattered then they will have a gift to unwrap the rest of the day.
Knowing that they mattered to their mother more than her to-dos.
And yes, I hear you saying that there are things we can’t actually be late for. And to-dos must be done sometime or lives will unravel. I agree, I do.
But I am learning to tell the difference between the rush of the doing vs. the gifting of the doing.
I am learning to spot the wonder in the ordinary. Because if it is all a gift to me from the Father who gives good things, why don’t I re-gift it to my kids before we rush out the door?
Time and again I have to reel my fast, wagging, frustrated tongue in and slow down the crazy that’s about to spill out of me. And because we do still need to be on time these are the things I’m trying out in order to get us there with tempers and kind words in tact:

This doesn’t make breakfast any more nutritious than a bowl of cereal or a bagel and cream cheese most mornings. But it does make us all feel filled up in the ways that matter most. Some mornings we still snap and no one brushes their teeth and car doors are slammed. But other mornings – more mornings these days – there is time factored in for slow. Time factored in for connecting before parting.
We don’t have big prayers or profound Bible readings – but we have the heart of the thing. The rhythm of secure kids and restrained parents. There is give and take. An episode of Mighty Machines if breakfast is eaten. Time with the hamster if teeth have first been brushed. A half hour of swashbuckling in the yard if they’re dressed in full ready-to-leave-from-the-yard-when-mom-calls clothes.
If I want our kids’ morning routine to work I have to work the hardest at keeping it together. Myself first. My tongue, my temper and my temptation to dish out blame for being late.
So I take a deep breath when I’m lying there listening to Zoe start to wake up, before I can will myself out of bed. I take a deep breath and picture the hand of the carpenter who lived over 2,000 years ago – rough and strong and tender – ready to lead me into the dance. There will be crazy and whining and bed head. There will be the same red cereal bowl and yellow spoon Micah’s used a hundred mornings before.
There will be trails of socks and cries that someone is out of undies. There will be missing library books and someone who insists on wearing his camouflage pants again. There will be a raggedy toy bear and a baby that trails around behind every body, unpacking everything.
But on the very best mornings, oh yes on the best mornings, there will also be dancing at our house.