Circling Mountains

Deuteronomy 2:3 You have circled this mountain long enough; turn

northward.

I heard this verse preached recently. The pastor talked about

mountains we circle but need to “turn northward” and move on. The

“mountain of negative thinking” was the one that stopped me in my

tracks. I’ve worked hard to overcome the “mountain of fear” and do

fairly well with the “mountain of comparison” (at least I know it’s a

mountain!) but the “mountain of negative thinking”…hmmmmm, I was

not sure I wanted to deal with that one.

I listened to the rest of her brilliant sermon, knowing God was going to

convict me of circling that mountain but that conviction never came. I

was dead set on thinking I “deserved” to have negative thoughts. While

I know my life is blessed, there are some really hard days, “I didn’t sign

up for this” days and I kept thinking “I’m being authentic in my

thoughts and verbalizing those thoughts to my husband and my best

friend”. I couldn’t hear the conviction.

Then I remembered. I remembered that my thoughts become words.

Words have the power of life and death, my thoughts and words set

the tone in my home and I have five people who count on me to be

their biggest fan. I have told them “I am your biggest fan” many times.

How can I continue with my negative thoughts AND be a cheerleader,

an encourager? The truth is that I can’t. I must “turn northward” and

leave this mountain. I am choosing to replace those negative thoughts

when they come, and I know they’ll come, with praise and

encouragement, with joy and love. I am turning northward.

Much Love, 

Chrissie

Looking for Crayons

My mom, my aunt Judy, a close family friend, Nancy, and my niece Savanna all came for a visit a couple of months ago. It was an extraordinarily good time and they are just super fun people. We laughed a lot about silly things. They told a simple story of how, on their drive, Nancy almost ran off the side of road because she was “looking for crayons”. To be honest, I have no idea why that was so funny, but we laughed multiple times about it. For whatever reason, that phrase stuck with me for quite a while after they left. I realized that I find myself looking for crayons all the time. Being distracted from the path I’m on by a multitude of other things scattered around me. There is no doubt that I am a busy person and we are a busy family, but that busyness cannot be a distraction from my path of peace and joy in this life. To continue with my lovely metaphor, what are those crayons that keep me distracted?

Well last week there was that red crayon that resembled me rushing frantically to get one kid picked up from practice in time to make it to another kid’s game. It stole my joy to show up late at the exact moment he was being taken out of the game, but was there anything I could do about that? My life is full of time frames and expectations, but rushing and being upset because I missed a part of his game was just a distraction from the real goal of experiencing the joy that comes with watching my kid play ball.

Then, there is that blue crayon which represents the worry of having multiple teenagers in the home who need parenting, good parenting that requires being present and in the moment with them. It is exhausting, but let me be clear, the worry is the distraction and my teenagers are my work. I don’t always have peace because raising kids is hard, and sometimes my worry is a huge distraction from the big picture. I worry about kids driving. I worry about kids making poor choices. I worry about their grades in school. I worry about their health. I worry about their social skills, or lack thereof. I worry if I’m doing enough to help them become everything they are destined to become. My path is supposed to be seeking and living peace, but I keep looking for that stupid blue crayon.

I chose a yellow crayon to represent that dreaded term, expectations! Not necessarily my expectations, but those of everyone around me. That yellow crayon of expectation has been known to steal my joy as it determines whether my children and I are abreast of the latest school trends; it takes note of whether I am volunteering for every school event; and it comments about my ability to stay up-to-date on everyone’s dental hygiene. I mean come on! The expectations that everyone puts on me are outrageous at best. I say all of that with the knowledge that I do have a choice in the matter. I could just keep my eyes on the road and stop looking around me. I don’t have to accept other people’s expectations as my own, but it does serve as a mighty distraction to me.

Going down the road of life really has to be about always moving forward. I will admit that I tend to swerve a lot as I seek my peace and do my best to live in joy, but those distractions are real and the only thing I know to do is to pick up my crayons and create a beautiful life, full of color.

Many Blessings,
Lori

Mantras

Lately, I’ve been hearing the word “Mantra” thrown around a lot. One of my most favorite birthday presents this year was a “Mantra Band” with an intentional saying that is specific to me and my life. I’m not going to pretend that I know all of the background and purpose of mantra, but I do know that a mantra is a phrase that is spoken over and over again during meditation to help you be intentional about where you want your thoughts to go. I have also had the experience in my exercise or yoga classes, where the instructor says something like “set your intention for the class” and gives a mantra to think on for that period of time. My thoughts about allowing a mantra to set your intention has become very relevant as we have entered this New Year. I am one who can enjoy a little hype over a New Year’s Resolution or two, but this year feels different for me. Rather than making a list of promises that I might or might not keep, I am setting my intentions for what is ahead of me. The best part about this whole thing is that I have heard the exact same excitement in Chrissie, as we have been talking about our goals personally, as well as, for In the Moment. It doesn’t feel like a resolution because when you set your intention, you decide to step on a path and just move forward. It can be at any time of year or in the middle of any situation you find yourself in. So the New Year hype has gotten away from you and you haven’t done everything you had hoped you would by this second week of 2017, so what? Set your intention, find your mantra, and keep repeating it as you move forward.
When we decided to launch In the Moment, it was because we know that our lives were designed with purpose in mind. It is unthinkable to believe that we have had the experiences of marriage, friendship, raising umpteen kids, and just life in general to keep that all a secret. In the spirit of being vulnerable and “in the moment” we will share a bit about our individual mantras and we sure hope that it inspires and encourages all of you to go ahead and set your intention and keep moving forward, even if you missed that ever important New Year’s Day deadline.

Lori: 2017 is going to be all about “GO FOR BROKE”. I got the following quote from the clothing brand GoForBroke and I love its message so I’m stealing it. “Goforbroke symbolizes the mantra that when you want something, at times you have to go all in. You have to Go For Broke. Too many things in life are mediocre because we are afraid to strive for better. We cling on to what we have in fear of losing our small fortunes for something greater. Death Before Defeat!” There are several things that are floating around my brain where I know this applies to the trailhead that I recently stepped onto. A few weeks ago, McKenna was telling me about her memories of all the houses we have lived in and how she relates her childhood memories to where we lived at the time. She said that when she thinks of her dad, she sees him like he looked in our last house in Springfield. She said that when she thinks of me, she sees me the same, physically, but that I seem sadder and I don’t dance like I used to in our other houses. OUCH! She’s right. Where is that girl? I can’t wait to find her again. The things that I’ve been afraid of are looking me straight in the eyes and challenging me. Yes, I am afraid of failure if I try new things, but I’m also afraid of not dancing anymore. My favorite quote right now is “In order to have something you’ve never had before, you have to do something you’ve never done before”. I don’t know who said it, but it’s spot on!


Chrissie: Purpose. I think this is my word for 2017. I’m not sure I’m happy about it. In fact, I’m a little scared, but I’m learning that being scared can’t stop me from what I need to do. I am scared of failing so I don’t try things. My life motto is “do one thing every day that scares you” but recently a beloved of mine asked me if I really do that. Dang it, I don’t do that, because I’m scared!
I’m tired of being scared. I’m tired of playing catch up with my life. I’m tired of my own excuses. I used to walk with purpose but for the past few years I haven’t. I have all kinds of excuses. They’re legitimate excuses, too! We adopted our oldest child two years ago, he’s 15 now, teenage boys! We have a 13 year old who was adopted at 7 months old and is now dealing with her own adoption issues, teenage girls! I have two littles who are swirling in the storm of transition. All of our kids are busy with extra-curricular activities. My daddy passed away in 2015. I live far away from my family and even farther from my best friend. I am so tired of hearing my excuses, oh wait, did I already say that?
Time for a mental reset! 2017, my year of purpose!

Many Blessings,
Lori