"Common Ground": my little corner of the blogosphere where I talk (a lot-wink) about the things that matter most to me: My relationship with my Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ, homeschooling, adoption, homemaking, parenting, "spousing." (yeah, yeah....I know that's not a word.....I made it up-it’s my blog-I can do things like that! Ha!)

Since my life isn’t all that different from yours, hopefully we can find some COMMON GROUND & learn from each other. Please share your thoughts!

Through the Lords’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not.

They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness!
Lam. 3: 22 & 23

Click on pics to see us up close & personal! :)


Monday, January 25, 2010

I'm Not a Big Fan Of "New Year's Resolutions".....

But, each new year, I look forward to a chance to start afresh.

This year, I decided to try & live more intentionally. To enjoy each moment.

My kids are growing so fast-I don’t want to look back & say, “My house was clean……but my kids were not hugged/loved/prayed for/cared for.”

I don’t want to wake up the morning after the last kid leaves home for good & say, “Who is that guy sleeping on the other side of the bed?”

So, each new day, I am trying to live the moments (yes, even the less than glorious ones) to their fullest.

I started another blog where I ask myself a bunch of questions at the end of each day & try to answer them as honestly as possible. Feel free to go over there if you want, to see what it’s like, but I really only started it for myself, so it’s bare-bones!

But, one of the questions I am asking myself each day is, “Did I say ‘YES’ as often as possible today?”

You know, when the kids ask to get out art supplies, or when they want you to read “just one more book, Mommy,” or when they want to play a game with you…….the requests they make can seem never-ending!

I used to automatically say “no” if it was going to require too much work for myself.

Now, though, I no longer am allowing *that* to be my excuse.

Long story short-the girls have been BEGGING to sleep in the same bed & have a “slumber party” for months. They share a room, but this has, apparently, not been enough “togetherness.”

I have continued to say “no,” because of my own laziness! How terrible!

So, last week, when they asked again, I realized-right before my always ready, on the tip of my tongue, “no,” that this needed to be a “yes.”

And Friday night, they got to do it!

& you know what? It didn’t even turn out to be that much work for me!

(Who knew parenting would be such a learning experience for the PARENTS? I thought we were the ones that were supposed to be teaching, but it turns out, we are the ones doing *most* of the learning/growing!)


*I completed this blog post in about 20 minutes, for Steady Mom's 30 Minutes or Less Challenge. Many thanks to Jamie over there for the idea of my Intentional Living blog! Shout out for her book, too, which I ordered as sooon as it became available & I can hardly put it down- it is so chock-full of good ideas!

16 comments:

Tina said...

Doing the same here. Love it!

Gardenia said...

that is a very inspirational post. I needed to hear that too.

Hannah said...

That is always one of my goals. I watched a video about this woman who was dying of cancer. She made it her goal to say yes to her children while she could. It really touched me and I try (and sometimes fail) to say yes to my husband and kids as much as I can. It really is the little things that matter.

Kim & Dave said...

Yep, Hannah-you are so right! All the little things add up to making a BIG difference!

Laurel said...

Great post, Kim. Thanks for the challenge!

Marcia (123 blog) said...

what a great post, Kim, I love the idea of asking yourself questions every day.

the girls looked like they had lots of fun :)

P.S. thanks for always commenting on my posts - I often have problems commenting back on yours but woohoo, it's working today :)

Annie@SisterWisdom said...

this brought tears to my eyes. I lost my Mom to cancer in 2007 (a year after my daughter was born), and I have some sweet memories of my last year at home with her & dad, doing fun stuff, spending time together: saying YES because we knew the time might be short. It was,and I am so thankful for the choices we made, but I still struggle to say YES to my own daughter & two sons! thank you for the reminder.

Danielle said...

I try to have a yes-day every week or so, where I put aside my to-do's and do everything (within reason of course) the kids ask. Games, books, walks, the park, etc. It's hard to get started, but so worth it.

Leslie said...

I'm going to try this today - saying yes more and having more fun and cherishing each moment. And not just with the kids - but my husband too.

heidi @ wonder woman wannabe said...

Awesome! I'm trying to be more of a 'yes' mama too! ;)

Lacy said...

Thanks for that reminder. Great post! And thanks for stopping by my blog! :)

Jennifer said...

This was a beautiful post. I'm completely impressed that you wrote that in 30 minutes!

Kelly said...

Great reminder! I posted a similar post a few years ago...http://raisingrebels.blogspot.com/2007_04_01_archive.html

se7en said...

I am so with you... living and learning... I am a "homeschooling mum" really means I am at the school of home learning so much you wouldn't believe!!! Yay for sleepovers... it took me literally years to "allow" my kids to put their mattresses on the floor and have a sleepover ... what was I thinking!!! Have a great week!!!

turnitupmom said...

Thanks for inspiring me to say YES today when my daughter attempts to drag me over to the toy box for another book. Someday I'll be glad that she loved her stories!

Kelly Miller said...

Great resolution. My kid keeps begging me to have a sleepover with him in his bed. So far I've resisted, but maybe I'll try saying Yes and just see what happens. It might be one of our favorite memories when he's not a kid anymore.

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