Honesty Day 7

Yay! Last day! Phew.

As if I haven't revealed enough about myself, this post is simply a list of random realness…

~I put on a particular tank top on Wednesday morning. I did not take it off until this morning.
~This means I did not shower or workout any of those days.
~Yes, I slept in it.
~Kempton ate Ritz crackers for dinner last week… twice.
~Today, I ate enough dark chocolate chips to give myself a stomach ache.
~I always brush my teeth in the morning. But almost never brush them at night.
~I worry.
~I'm selfish
~I'm scared of stink bugs. I've had nightmares. And I shiver every time I see one.
~I am very bad with names. And sometimes faces.
~I have a small pile of tshirts that I've been keeping for their sentimental value.
~I have a temper.
~I read the whole Twilight Series in 3 days (the movies are horrid).
~I also read the Divergent series in 3 days but that's significantly less embarrassing.
~Our schoolroom is so messy, we've been doing school in the kitchen.
~I rarely clean the kitchen before going to bed.
~I only brush Marie's hair when absolutely necessary.
~I often forget to brush my own hair.
~Sometimes I let the kids eat on the floor in the living room in front of their TV.
~My carpet is very dirty as a result.

Now that you know way more than you wanted to know about me…

I hope this whole experiment was encouraging to at least some of you! I'm glad it's over :)

Though painful, only honesty with God and others will enable the Christian to walk in purity and power. -Jim Elliff

Nothing can enter heaven which is not real; nothing erroneous, mistaken, conceited, hollow, professional, pretentious, insubstantial, can be smuggled through the gates. Only truth can dwell with the God of truth. -C.H. Spurgeon 

Honesty Day 6

I waste so much time.

I am plenty busy with 4 kids and homeschooling and everything else we do. Some days I feel like I'm going nonstop and still am getting nothing done. It's a hamster wheel kinda life sometimes.

But it is amazing how much time I still manage to waste. I would probably have a much cleaner house if I didn't get on Facebook multiple times a day. Evenings are the worst because I'm tired and have no desire to be productive. So I'll sit around and do nothing til much too late in the night.

Honestly, it's stupid.

There is a time to waste time...

Oh how I love snuggling and playing with my RJ as if time stood still. He usually only nurses for 10-15 minutes but I have been known to sit on the couch with him for much longer just enjoying his giggles and squishing his cheeks. I mean really, who could resist such adorableness? Totally time worth wasting.

It's never wasted time with these crazies! I should "waste" more time on them...

It certainly wouldn't hurt to waste more time on my soulmate.

The time wasting I'm confessing to here is the kind that keeps me up late at night just scrolling through Facebook, watching Netflix, eating. It's usually after the kids go to bed and sometimes I really just need the downtime. But maybe going to bed earlier would be a much better use of my time! And tonight, some time in the Word since I haven't gotten to that yet today.

I believe in downtime. I believe in some "wasted" time being good. But honestly I simply waste too much time.

Lord, help me to give of the time you've blessed me with in such a way that is pleasing to You. Teach me to number my days that I might get a heart of wisdom.

Honesty Day 5

Honesty isn't really a struggle for me (you can tell that by now, right?). The main reason for posting these days of honesty is to bring to and encourage realness in social media. It's an old discussion but still a relevant one… we post only the pretty stuff so people will think only the best of us.

I'm so very guilty of  it, too -
bragging about all the awesome things my kids do and conveniently leaving out the not so good stuff…
making sure the background of every picture is cleared of all the random debri (batman undies anyone?)...
posting all about our awesome trip to this place or that, and conveniently being quiet during all the many days of doing absolutely nothing…
and don't forget about those workout posts, the ones that come once every couple of weeks leading you to believe that I work out all the time when really I probably haven't worked out at all in between pics…
all those things I managed to accomplish today that I wrote all about in my Facebook status? It was more than I've accomplished in an entire week, I did absolutely nothing but stuff my face with peanut butter and dark chocolate chips the rest of the day, and I yelled at my kids the whole time…

Here's the honesty part: the problem is not with these rose-colored posts. We probably shouldn't be laying out all of our dirty laundry for the whole world to see anyway (oops!).

 I think the problem is in our (my!) response to others' posts of their "perfect" lives.

When I see someone post a picture of their feet propped up with a hot cup of something delicious in their hand, and a candle burning on the clean coffee table, and not a speck of clutter in sight, I get jealous. It would take me all day to set up a pic like that!

Another post that tends to prick my jealousy bone is seeing pictures of moms with all their kids doing super fun (and of course educational!) things. I start to feel like a horrible mom for not wanting to leave the house and feel stress just thinking about doing those things!

I told Derek the other day that I want to be a family who "does stuff" together. His response: "We do do stuff together." And he's so very right. It's not always glamorous or even post-worthy, and sometimes our "doing stuff" is nothing more than just being together, but I'm working on being truly content no matter what others' lives look like on Facebook.

This is the day that the Lord has made! I will rejoice and be glad in it! Psalm 118:24

O God, I beg two favors from you; let me have them before I die. First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. Proverbs 30:7-8

Honesty Day 4

I have half hour to post this before it's tomorrow so it'll be a quick one.

I've already confessed on numerous occasions my struggle with food. So maybe for today's honest confession, I'll be more specific about what foods tend to be a problem…

I finished a bag of Kroger brand tortilla chips with lime with minimal help from Kempton in two days. Twice. (As I was looking for an image of this, I found a coupon for a free bag and got distracted…)

I've been known to finish off at least half of a bag of dark chocolate chips in a day.

I love mountain dew. And pizza. And chocolate. And chips.

I could consume all of the above in one sitting.

Don't even get me started on fatty, creamy dips…

Source

None of these foods are a sin to eat. I believe God has gifted us with the sense of taste to enjoy food! It is in the attitude behind the eating of these delicious foods where the sin resides.

Sometimes I think I'm entitled to eat whatever I want and however much I want…
"I'm stressed, I deserve this." "It's been a long day, this will make me feel better." "It's a special occasion, I'll make better choices tomorrow."

As my daughter quoted to me today (thanks co-op!): Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31