let the games begin



do you get as excited as i do about summer olympics???

the diving. the gymnastics. the beach volleyball. the synchronized swimming. and yes my friends and i did practice this event growing up. it's a lot harder than it looks folks.

i will be glued to my t.v. starting tonight. sweet jesus thank you for not pushing me to start with media month. amen.

but this summer games is different. i will be keeping my eye on one particular person this year.

john orozco.

have you heard of him?

he's a native from the bronx. he started his gymnastics career at age 8. but being from a low income family just struggling to make ends meet, he sometimes used the streets to train. using light poles to do pull-ups.

he received his first gymnastics medal at age 9. but he didn't keep that medal for long. he noticed another little boy crying from being teased for a bad performance and quickly handed the medal over to him, saying, one day you'll be better than i am, don't cry.  oh, there are no words. 

he got teased by all the other kids in his neighborhood. in the bronx, the cool thing was playing basketball or baseball, definitely not being a gymnast. but this was his dream and now it is his reality.

 his mother, who didn't just take him to every practice and drop him off, but stayed there with him to make sure he worked hard, says this:

"The person that he is, the heart that he has, the dreams that he has, he's a gold winner already so anything on top of that is just gravy," she says.

don't you just love that?

seven

7 by Jen Hatmaker

7 is the true story of how Jen (along with her husband and her children to varying degrees) took seven months, identified seven areas of excess, and made seven simple choices to fight back against the modern-day diseases of greed, materialism, and overindulgence.

Food. Clothes. Spending. Media. Possessions. Waste. Stress.

 They would spend thirty days on each topic, boiling it down to the number seven. Only eat seven foods, wear seven articles of clothing, and spend money in seven places. Eliminate use of seven media types, give away seven things each day for one month, adopt seven green habits, and observe “seven sacred pauses.” So, what’s the payoff from living a deeply reduced life? It’s the discovery of a greatly increased God—a call toward Christ-like simplicity and generosity that transcends social experiment to become a radically better existence.

that's it in a nutshell. but where my journey will take me will far exceed trying to fit in a nutshell. i'm certain of it.

i'm sure some who read this will think i'm crazy for taking this step. questions will be asked such as, "why would you want to do that?'

read what jen wrote in the book....

...i've developed something of an immunity to sermons. typing that is embarrassing: it makes me sound so unteachable. teaching by example, radical obedience, justice, mercy, activism, and sacrifice wholly inspire me. i'm at that place where "well done" trumps "well said."

i want to live my life how jesus taught us through his word.

i want to sing a worship song on sunday or any given day in my car or in my home and actually mean the words i'm singing.

i want to hear a sermon or do a bible study where my knowledge is put into motion. 

i want the excess of my life to become much smaller so jesus can become much bigger.

i live in a place where i have been blessed with so much. but some of these blessings ahem, a lot of these blessings have become distractions and are being abused, by me!!

my pantry is full but i can't decide what we're gonna eat.

my clothes addiction is insane but i never have anything to wear.

i know the latest happenings on facebook but we haven't talked about how our day was as a family.

if i want an item, within reason, i buy it. period.

if there are leftovers from dinner, 9 times out of 10 they will end up in the trash. i don't like leftovers.

at any given time, 4 televisions can be running simultaneously in our home.

excess.

 i've asked kevin to join me in this. but i don't want to dictate to him how he needs to go about it. my journey is my journey and his journey is his journey. the end. i will have my boys going through it as well. and yes some months will be harder than others, but i think we're all ready.

i've also joined a group on facebook of fifty or so committed people. we'll all share in our experiences together. it will be good to know there are other families and individuals struggling and persevering through this at the same time as me.

so on august 1st food month will begin.

7 foods for 31 days. that's it. no more. no less.

 i'm still narrowing down my foods.

first it was salmon, greek yogurt, strawberries, blueberries, and quinoa for sure. with spinach, broccoli and tomatoes up in the air. but now, i'm rethinking salmon just because it's not as accessible as say chicken would be. but i still have 5 days to make this decision and you can bet it won't be final till that 5th day is here!

so i hope you'll follow along as i journal my way through the next 7 months. or maybe even better, you'll start a journey of your own!

only eight summers left

i was cruising blogs the other day and ran across this post.

how many summers do i have left?

with ethan it's 6. i'm counting this summer and the one after his senior year.

with eli it's 8.

to me, that's not long. not long at all.

it's so easy for me to come home from a long day of work and want to retreat to my bedroom and completely shut off from the real world.

facebook...

pinterest...

blogs...

television...

all play a part during my isolation.

but i want the boys to remember their summers at home as a time where i was fully present. there are memories to be made and moments to treasure. i don't want to be remembered as a mom who never played outside or who always had her nose in her smart phone or the computer.

we've talked of camping...

we'll definitely make a trip to six flags...

i would love to take the boys to centennial park...

and swing by the georgia aquarium...

and i'm sure we'll catch one of these....

but most of all, i just want to spend time with them. i don't have much longer. i want every minute of every day to count. it's hard. it's hard to be intentional. it's hard to be fully present in every moment. and sometimes it just doesn't happen. but i'll give it my best. and i'll do it because i know it matters.

how many summers do you have left?