ENCOURAGED IN HEART

Seeing my friend of 16 years get married to Mr. Right this weekend: A+++

Having a wonderful weekend away with my honey, while the offspring get spoiled by the King and Queen of Yes: A+++

Losing our camera one week before Stacey and Mick’s wedding: F

Having you pick my bridesmaid dress for the big day: A

Borrowing ear bling from Sarah to override my fashionista deficiency (and to save some moolah): A

Taking two pictures with my the camera on my phone: C to find that both pics are cloudy: D and my eyes were closed: F

Waking up Monday morning from A+++ weekend, stepping on Lucy realizing that I gained two pounds from the A+++ weekend: D. Realizing that it was worth it and that it wasn’t more…cause I ate like a queen: B+

This whole report card grading isn’t exactly what I do in my daily life, or is it? When I sat down to think and pray about it, I realized just how shewed my grading scale is. I’ll give you a couple of examples.

Taking the boys to a play date at the pool, good Mom report card: A

Going grocery shopping and buying fruits and veggies: A+ and Dove chocolates: D of which I shared one with the female shopping cart collector, and we compared our quotes and the chocolate melted in our mouths: B

After packing my groceries into my sexy minivan today, I scanned my receipt to applaud myself for spending $66.48 and “saving” (is it really saving if you’re spending money?) $28.81 . Today I told myself: B+ but have formerly graded myself an F when I’ve forgotten my coupons at home.

Then I come home to put away the bargain groceries and vacuumed my entire home: A but I didn’t get the non-carpeted floors: B or the stairs: C

I checked on my friend that works at Discovery Headquarters (thank God she’s not in the buliding!) scheduled a home repair and talked to a friend while making dinner. Triple tasking…that’s gotta get the A, right? Well I burned the dinner: C-, yelled at my kids for interrupting the phone conversation: D- and am still not showered…it’s 5pm people: F.

Then Scrabble with my kiddos: B+

I’m someone who struggles with a performance based acceptance of self. I am growing more and more grateful for this never-ending, difficult-to-capture, grace gift that God offers me every day. Not just on the days when I think I’m “making the grades”.

God loves you and me as we are, not by how many ministries we build, or how many coupons we clip, or how many people like us, or how many blog posts we publish, or how many times we’re class mother or how many good deeds we do.

God just loves me for being me. God just loves you for being you. He says so, “I have loved you with an everlasting love…” (Jeremiah 31:3) There’s no perfect performance to dazzle God with. He just plain ol’ loves you. It’s time again, that I put away my self-grading report card and accept God’s full love, grace, today.

Do you struggle with a performance based grading scale too? What areas to you seem to grade the most?

Today on EIH, I want to do something different, fun, exciting…I want you to be my guest!

I’d love to hear what’s in your heart and invite you to be a guest blogger here on EIH. The only requirements are that your 500 words or less writing is encouraging and has something to do with faith, family, fellowship, finance, fitness, food, friendship, funnies…or your Lucy. Any email received at steph@encouragedinheart.org by 1 Sep, will be considered for a guest post.

Can’t wait to hear from your heart!

Today, as I sat in my comfy private time chair and looked out my window, I reveled as the leaves on the tree outside swayed, in a gentle hula dance.

I thought, “I can’t wait until fall; I love the chilly crisp air and spray of vibrant hues.”

And then I remember saying this past fall, after the beautifully painted leaves dropped to the ground, “I can’t wait untilwinter; I love wearing chunky turtle neck cable sweaters and watching the snow fall.”

And, after the winter we just endured here in Northern Virginia, which was record-breaking snowfalls, it’s easy to remember, “I can’t wait until the spring to get here already. I am SO over shoveling snow (but not the snowball fights)!”

And then spring arrived to both Cal and I sneezing our ever lovin’ brains out where I declared, “Pollen be gone!” and, “I can’t wait until summer’s here already.”

Jake turned EIGHT today. I can’t help but get reflective, particularly on milestone days. I remember saying, “I can’t wait until we have kids.” Which took, in my opinion, far too long and far too many tears to occur; but today I see the bigger purpose from that painful season. Then, at full gestation, in the Virginia heat with cankles (calves+ankles being just one = cankles) eight summers ago, “I can’t wait until this baby gets out!”

Then, tripping over the bulky and endless accessories that babies seem to “need”, the quadruple amount of time required to run a simple errand, the sleepless nights, unshaven legs, nursing bras, plugged milk ducts, baby puke on one (or both) shoulders, “I can’t wait until this baby can talk…feed himself…walk…go to school…etc.”

It’s been an endless vicious cycles of “I can’t wait until’s…”

In my finances, “I can’t wait until we’re out of debt…”

Even in my eating life, “I can’t wait until I can have another slice of cake (while I’m still eating the first piece)” or “I can’t wait until I get to my goal weight.”

I don’t think it’s wrong to look forward to the future, as I believe it’s an essential ingredient to faith. But I do believe solely focusing on the “until” moment, squeezes the nutritious juice out of the orange of my life, and leaves me with just the pulp.

Well, I want to enjoy both the juice and the pulp. My choice of only taking part allows the beauty and essence of today to be stolen. And the most annoying thing of it all was that I signed that permission slip.

What’s your, “I can’t wait until…?”

Don’t be like me.

Squeeze the essence out of today. Savor both the pulp and juice. Look for the beautiful trees doing the hula in your hood. Don’t do the dishes today (that is, unless your house is on the market…then do the dishes!) and choose to savor that you have people in your life – savor that gift without the distraction of one “I can’t wait until…“.

I know one adorable birthday boy that I CAN wait until he gets his driver’s licence. (I’ve seen the child play Wii Mario Kart and drive the track at Disney, I can wait!)

Don’t wait until…be mindful to be in the moment and savor now! I’m off to savor a shower, my awesome church and my birthday boy on our family day!