Again, I find myself sitting down and realizing that it's been well over a month since I posted. Instead of going in depth about everything going on, I'll just give you a glance into our super busy life!
Christmas was a busy season (as usual!) and we loved spending our first Christmas in Nashville. Even though the weather was quite mild (and still is) we enjoyed knowing that we hope to be here for more than 2 years. In our marriage thus far, we have moved every year and every 2 moved to a different state, so it's difficult to feel settled. But, we do now. And since we have not ever been able to have a Christmas go according to our plan, (remember the blizzard last year that stranded Thomas and I at 31 weeks prego in JFK for 3 days????) Wilson ended up with a fever around 103. So, we were up much of the night Christmas Eve and Wilson and I had to stay home from church Christmas Day. I was supposed to play during the offertory, but Thomas had some music he could play. We opened gifts before church and since little buddy wasn't feeling well, we opened his. He loves his new mega-lego blocks. :)
We then drove the next morning to Greenville to see our families and have 2nd and 3rd Christmases with them. Wilson still wasn't feeling great, but we decided to make the trip anyways. He cried most of the night and we were pretty exhausted the next day. We were able to see several friends and family which was a real blessing. On Tuesday, we had Christmas with the Russell family and wowzers did Wilson have a lot of gifts!! He pretty much loves all his new toys, but honestly we've had a good deal of fun with the boxes they came in. We saw more friends and family on Wednesday and then packed to come back home Thursday morning.
Thomas' accounts (email and facebook) were hacked into and many people were sent emails, telling people how we were stuck in Barcelona (we wish!) and how Thomas was crying because we didn't have enough money to pay the hotel bills. The hacker then got on Thomas' facebook and started chatting with people that were online. We were highly amused at the number of people that talked to him and the lies that they caught the hacker in. One family member kept asking the hacker how 'Debbie' was and asked how the airline let her fly because of her sickness. The hacker kept making up stuff to go along with the story. Anyways, we didn't get out of Greenville til about 10:45 am and made the trek back home.
Thomas is practicing like a boss for his recital this Sunday, January 8 at 3:00 pm at Covenant Presbyterian. He's made a real effort to keep it very focused on praising our Almighty Savior and we will even be singing some hymns! It's going to be great. We are still trying to figure out if there is a way we can stream it for those that cannot be there. We will let you know what we find out.
New Year's Eve was uneventful as Thomas and I were asleep by 9:45 pm. I guess we officially are old. That's ok. I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Wilson is crawling and I don't think Thomas and I were ready for it. In fact... we are still adjusting. This kid can move! And of course, he's only interested in things we are interested in... computers, cell phones, books... and especially cords. I don't know what it is, but if he sees a cord that he can grab onto, he's across the room in seconds. Hide the cord, and he cries. Big time. So, any advice or good gadgets/tools to hide cords, please let me know!
My frugal momma post for you today is just about STUFF. I've been thinking and praying a lot about our lives and how they have changed (with the birth of our amazing little boy) and how they will change (as Faith moves in with us this semester). I've dealt before with idols of my heart and over the past few days I've come to realize that I idolize STUFF. As someone who takes very seriously when the Lord convicts me of sin and repentance, this was a bit of a shock. I'm used to being convicted of big spiritual things, like pride and glorifying myself. The Lord has been gracious to me and we've dealt with (very slowly) these big issues that seem to pop up in everyone's lives. So, when my eyes were opened that someone as $-conscious/frugal/financially-smart (most of the time) had problems with consumerist America, I was a little frustrated. I've always been aware and had good sense when it comes to money. I try to save, not overspend and make solid purchases, but it's not always about that.
The Lord has blessed Thomas and me greatly. We have a home, a loving marriage and family, awesome jobs... and yet we tend to live as if we deserve more. More what? I don't know, but I find myself looking on facebook or pinterest and wanting more. I realized that I wasn't content with where the Lord had placed me - and it was resulting in needing stuff or dreaming about a house to own or a vacation. And that's not healthy. I greatly desire to praise God from whom all blessings flow - but you can't do that if you aren't living your life through the cross. So, what does all this mean in application? I'm simplifying. I'm focusing on Christ more throughout the day and taking my gaze away from the things I don't have. And instead of having tons, I'm giving away so that I can have less and not live my life surrounded my materialism - because if I'm honest, that's where I stumble. It's so easy to think that 'if I buy that super cute _______ it will make me happy'. Only Christ and His journey to the cross to glory can make me happy. It's not about being the most chic or cool or trendy momma. It's about being so in love with Christ that I don't even worry about those things. So, I'm going to take baby steps. I'm going to clean out my closet, Wilson's old toys, and our office and get rid of and pray through the clutter and mess. What am I hoping to get from this? Again, I desire to see God work in my life and if I'm being held down by fearing what others think of me and my household, I can't bow before the King and I can't help you bow before the King either.
So, I encourage you, look around you. As Calvin once said - Our heart is a factory of idols. We don't worship Christ naturally, our heart is too sinful - we need redemption to worship Him and then sanctification to continue on the journey. As I look around I see a broken woman who tries to look like I have it all together by submitting to the materialism of this fallen world. From here on out, I want to apply these thoughts by not being a servant to the world through the spending of money, but by turning my life wholly over to God and not worrying about your opinion (or others) of me. What truly matters is my heart condition to the Risen King.
In Christ,
Frugal Momma
I love your posts and seeing into your heart! Praying for some of the same things in my heart. It's so hard to remove the distractions and the materialism in our country and really serve the Lord!
ReplyDeleteAs for the other stuff... Hart has this black tape that looks like duck tape, but it isn't as sticky and they use it for music cords a lot on stage... you might know what I am talking about. Is there a way that you could hide them with that stuff?
As far as the crying when you hide the cords... that is JUST The beginning of "not getting what they want when they want it!" It's amazing how early it starts and how much that little sin nature starts coming out. I noticed I really had to start communicating a lot and describing why we couldn't do things or why we had to move things and I always try to replace it with what they CAN have. "Wilson, you can't have those cords, but OH look...you can have this toy right here!" Lots of repetition with that to look foward to!