Posts Tagged ‘Friendship’
2012: A Year Of Joy And Connecting
Monday, January 9th, 2012
Well, hello there! Happy new year!!! Thanks for sticking around and reading. I’m up early and blogging!! I won’t even go into a long apology about my lack of blogging lately. You guys have heard it all. Jocelyn has been sleeping through the night for two weeks now so hopefully we’ll see some good changes in my blog coming up. Actually, you will see some exciting changes in my blog coming up. More about that coming soon!
I hope you had a great Christmas and new year. We did!
We were abundantly blessed last year with a great Christmas budget. We were able to have a great Christmas with no debt and received some pretty sweet gifts from our our families as well.
We had a fun, family friendly New Year’s Eve party. Lots of fun, good people and lots of good food.
I’m 19 weeks pregnant! Yes, really!!! I find out January 20th if this fourth kid is going to be our first little prince or fourth little princess. I’ll have a pregnancy update once I can announce what we’re having.
So…2012. What will God have in store for us this year?? For starters a new baby! We also have an election this year. Hmm….wonder what that will bring?? I’m praying for God’s will to be done in all areas of our life. We should especially be praying for our country and for God’s hand to be on our election process. He cares about who’s running our government!I always get so emotionally involved in elections. So, you may not see me on Facebook much in the beginning of November until it’s over!!! And then, I may still need a couple of days after that. Ha!
I don’t really have any resolutions this year. I have some basic words that I want to look back on and hope described this year.
Simple. Organized. Joyful. Connected.
The third word was originally “fun” but I realized not all of 2012 is probably going to be “fun”. But, it can be joyful with the joy you can only find in the Lord. The first two words are pretty self explanatory. I think most people want their year to be simple and organized.
My fourth word is “connected”. This year I want to be more connected. Connected to God’s word, to prayer, to my family, to joy, to the present and to people.
I don’t want to go into a long explanation ( maybe in a new blog post. Maybe not) but I’ve struggled for some time to connect and have deep relationships with other women. It’s something I’ve prayed about for a long time. I crave a deep, close relationship with another woman or two. That “BFF ” relationship. I’m purposely praying for a real, deep connection with another woman friend this year.
I do have some Bible verses to share that I want to focus on this year. I can never find just one! These are the ones that embody what I’m praying for and that I’m going to be referring to a lot this year.
Let the saints ( Believers!!) be joyful in glory; Let them sing aloud on their beds. Let the highest praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword ( God’s Word!) in their hand. Psalm 149: 5-6 { Words in parentheses mine} (NKJV)
And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. Galatians 6:9-10 (NKJV)
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Ephesians 3:20 (New Living Translation)
Did you make resolutions this year?
Welcome 2012!! Let the joy begin!
Simply Real Moms: Meet Alana
Sunday, August 14th, 2011
Today’s guest post is from another future mom. She is going to share with us an interesting perspective. That of a not-yet- mom who is surrounded by mom friends.
Meet….Alana.
Alana is one of the Losing It ladies that provides me encouragement and support each week. She’s a super cute, godly and sweet person. She blogs at 107Down.
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Hi! My name is Alana , I blog about life, love and weight loss over at www.107down.com. I am happily married and live in Washington state. I am so excited that Mel graciously offered to let me post in her series on moms… even though I am not a mom – yet.
As a late 20’s married woman the progression to becoming a mom has been pointed out, hinted at and blatantly pushed by family, friends and co-workers. I have watched, anxiously paced hospital waiting rooms and cooked dozens of meals for my wonderful friends as they forge their way into to the mysterious world of motherhood. The situation I find myself in is strange because the relationships I have with my friends have changed since kids. Friends have come and gone because of schedules, family issues and their desire to have friends who have the same life challenges.
My husband and I are not against having children, in fact, we want to have children some day. Some day, but not when we reached our 2 year anniversary. Not when we reached or 3 year anniversary, nor our fourth. As a result of being homeschooled I have always felt comfortable having friends of all ages. I can just as easily befriend someone who is in their 60’s or their 20’s, but I have felt that some people don’t seem to be able to maintain friendships as easily between life stages. Here are some tips for you mama’s who have friends who are not in the same stage of life.
A friend is a friend.
Just because one of the friends life stage has changed, does not mean that their need for authentic relationship has just disappeared. Women need other women in their lives for support, accountability and relationship. The fact that nap time might conflict with work schedules and bed times interfere with happy hour is not an indication that the friendship is over but a call to creativity in the relationship.
Be Transparent.
Allow other people into your life, allow them to speak into your life and share how you are really doing. We want to help, but since we are not in the stage of life you are we sometimes feel lost on what you need most. If you need to get out and just want someone to give you an hour break – ask! If you need to go shopping with the girls – tell us! If you need us to run through the drive thru and bring you a soda – we would love to!
God created us for relationship and each one is special and vital for our emotional health. Spouse, parent, children and friendships all have their place in helping us feel balanced and emotionally healthy. As women we care about other people, take care of them and give, give, give… the best part about healthy friendships is that when we serve each other we are meeting each emotional needs of ourselves and our friends.
Somebody remind me of these two points when I have kids…m’kay?
