Some wisdom from Anne Shirley

I’m currently reading Anne of Green Gables, and goodness!, why haven’t I read this book sooner?  Although sometimes I think a book can’t really speak to us until we’re ready for it, whenever that may be. 

 Anyway, I am loving Anne – this eleven-year old passionate, full-of-life-and-wisdom, little girl.

Early in the story the Cuthberts are trying to decide whether to adopt her or not (they were wanting to adopt a boy originally).  Here’s a snippet of their conversation:

“What good would she be to us?”

“We might be some good to her,” said Matthew suddenly and unexpectedly.

Our children are not our slaves.  Their purpose is not to serve us.  We are to serve them, through love and discipleship, through discipline and teaching.  Who knows what God has in store for them?  And He has given us the great privilege of being some good to them.

The rest of these are Anne quotes:

“I’m not in the depths of despair this morning.  I never can be in the morning.  Isn’t it a splendid thing that there are mornings?”  

Totally agree, Anne.  Joy comes in the morning.  Darkness, winter, night – I think those are all things to be thankful for because when the morning does come, it gives us perspective.  We understand that it won’t always be dark, it won’t always be winter.  There is hope.  God won’t always feel far away, we will find Him again.

“It’s been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.  Of course, you must make it up firmly.”  

Ahhh, yes.  A good reminder - everything begins with our mindset.  Something that I need to be reminded of often.  (Ahem.)

“There is nothing more to do except to pray and I haven’t much hope that that’ll do much good because, Marilla, I do not believe that God Himself can do very much with such an obstinate person as Mrs. Barry.”

Haha!  This makes me laugh.  But it’s also a sober reminder that God has given us a choice to listen to Him or not.  Just like with our own children – we teach and disciple, but they ultimately have to make the decision to be humble and teachable.

“Saying your prayers isn’t the same thing as praying.”  (I can’t find the exact quote in my book so it may not be exact.)

Yes.

I could keep going, but that’ll do for now.

I’m about halfway through this book, and it’s quickly becoming an all-time favorite.

What have you been reading lately?

Embracing the chaos

Since I got pregnant back around December, I've had a difficult time picking up a book.  During the first trimester, the thought of reading made me nauseous.  Weird.  Then after that, I just couldn't get into any book.  I started several over the next few months, but never finished any.

But finally, after seven or so months, I've been able to get back into the enjoyment of reading.  It's kind of a silly time, though, because the baby is due next week and I'm sure I'll be laying my books back down for awhile!

Right now I'm about halfway through the book Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry.  It's about a woman looking back on her life.  The book is very calming and quiet; there's no action or adventure.  Unless you count just the day-to-day living, which, when you think about it, is the adventure of life.

Let me take a detour.  Like most of you know, our third child is due soon.  It's been four and a half years since we've had a newborn in the house.  So, you can probably understand that I've been thinking a lot about the coming weeks and months.  The crying, the sleepless nights, the general chaos of having a new baby, in addition to two other children.  There are moments when I feel overwhelmed thinking about it because I know there will be many overwhelming moments.  I remember.

Anyway, as I was reading Hannah Coulter, I came across this:

"This is the story of my life, that while I lived it weighed upon me and pressed against me and filled all my senses to overflowing and now is like a dream dreamed."  (p.5)

How perfect the author describes life.  While you're living it, it can feel so full and chaotic, especially when you're raising children.  And raising children is such a huge chunk of our lives.

But, like I've heard a thousand times, the moments are fleeting.  At the end of our story, we'll look back and it will all seem like a dream.

My mother-in-law pointed out recently that, looking back, some of her most memorable moments were the tough, seemingly chaotic times.  This is so true.

I think back to when Izzy (6) was a baby.  She was a very fussy baby early on.  I remember we had a big exercise ball and sometimes the only way to get her to calm down was to bounce on that ball while holding her.  At the time, it was frustrating.  But now, we look back on that memory with fondness.  It's a memory that we've shared with Izzy, smiling and laughing about it.

Izzy was also a terrible car rider (terrible may be too strong a word, but I can't think of a lesser one at the moment).  I remember driving home at night from visiting family, Izzy wasn't quite one yet, and we had to stop at a dinky little church and get her out because she had been screaming and screaming in the car.  The minute we got her out, she was fine.  Another fond memory we've shared with her.

Addy (4) tested us a lot at bedtime.  When she was between one and two, we would check on her to see if she was laying down in her crib.  We would walk in, she would be standing up then BAM!, she would see us and dive down onto the mattress.  Oh, how irritated I would get!  But now we laugh.

I remember so many of those nights when the girls were newborns.  I would get up with them in the middle of the night, change their diapers, feed them, pat them back to sleep, lay them down in the bassinet, then WHAAAAA!  Nope, not asleep.  So I would pick them back up, and it would be like starting over trying to get them asleep again.

I could go on and on, but you get my drift.  These moments are not easy.  But this is life.  The good, the (seemingly) bad.  These are the moments that we remember.  These are the moments we share.  These are the moments that help shape us into who we will become.

And these are the moments to be cherished and embraced.

(Now, somebody remind me of this in about two weeks, HA!)

Oh, and since some of you will complain that I didn't put any pictures in my post (you will remain nameless, but you know who you are), here are a couple of pics from back in the day:

 

This is how we do it (I don't feel bad about not teaching my kids)

When I quit teaching to become a stay-at-home mom, I was really concerned about my children learning stuff:  letters, numbers, maybe some handwriting, some math, and anything else preschool-related.  I even convinced myself I would teach Izzy to read this year.

But that just didn't really work out.

 This is what they would rather do!

I find, then, a paradox

When I first started staying at home with my kids, I had big plans.

I just knew that I could keep the house clean, exercise, read, do some baking, make healthy meals all day long, and anything else I had a desire to do, all the while taking care of, spending time with, and teaching something to these children that were under my care.

Well that plan backfired.  Big time.

And it was hard for me.  Because, if you aren't aware, I am a perfectionist.  I expect a lot out of myself.  And if I don't live up to my standards, then I get frustrated and discouraged and consider myself a failure.

This is why I never excelled in sports.