Happy Birthday to Me

Two years ago, I took a few months off of Facebook to prepare for the arrival of our first daughter.

This past winter, I stopped my endless streaming of episodes for 6 weeks to make better use of my time during the day.

And, starting tomorrow morning, I will be spending 30 days unplugged.  No more logging in to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.  No more mindlessly scrolling through my phone while not entirely engaging with the conversation around me.  No more "multi-tasking" while my daughter finishes lunch or guilting myself into writing a blogpost that is well past due.  From May 4-June 4 I will be offline. I'm deleting apps from my phone and putting my phone in a separate room when I'm at home.  The only exception due to necessity (unfortunately) is my email.  I am going to check it once or twice a day from my laptop.  Other than that, toodles!

Why now?  The weather is getting nicer.  Then worse again. But mainly nicer. I'm starting to become more disciplined in my strength training and cardio.  My daughter is so fun to play with and I hate not giving her the attention she deserves.  We have many upcoming travel plans both within the state and outside of the country.  God has given me a greater hunger for Scripture than ever before in my life.  I even think I want to try to memorize a whole book of the Bible!  I'll let you know how that works out. We have major life decisions coming up as a family.  I want to implement some form of fasting (maybe a version of this plan?) periodically.  I have an ever growing list of prayer requests and seemingly fewer minutes in my day to pray over them.  It's my birthday month.  So, really, why NOT now?  When I write all those goals out, I can't help but feel like 30 days won't even be enough!

As I struggle with how to make these big changes and huge decisions, Romans 12:2 really convicted my heart:

"...let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."

So, I'm going to give God a little more peace and quiet to work in my heart and mind.  To transform me into a new person who can learn His perfect will for my life by changing the way I think.  I'm not saying a break from the internet is the answer to everything, but for me it is necessary from time to time.  And as Romans 14:22-23 reminds us, "Blessed are those who don't feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it.  For you are not following your convictions.  If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning."

If you like seeing pictures of my daughter, or you enjoy articles that I read or crafts that I have tried, I look forward to seeing you back here in June!

Toodles :)

Our Blog's Name

I debated for a very long time on how and what to name this blog.  So, I thought I would share why I settled on "The Home Stretch."

In middle school and high school I was a cross country and track runner.  I come from a family of runners, in fact.  Even my husband and I met in college while on the cross country team together.  Since then, I have coached two years of middle school cross country and track.  Running metaphors and analogies come to mind quickly, thanks to all these experiences.  For example:  coaches and runners refer to the last 100 meters of a track as the "home stretch." This is the typically where the most spectators are seated to cheer for the finish.  As a long distance runner, turning that final corner and stepping onto the "home stretch" is a relief (you have only 100 meters left to run) and the pinnacle of  pressure (it all comes down to what happens in those final seconds).  It is where you feel the most supported and celebrated and simultaneously the most nervous that you might come up short.

This accurately describes my emotions about the journey of being a wife to my husband and a mother to my daughter.  I am aware that these are my most important roles in life...and that terrifies me.  At the same time, this is the place that, when I'm doing things well, I feel the hugest successes.  No matter what else is going on, this is what matters.  It all comes down to how I finish on my home stretch.

My sisters and I (middle) at the end of a long race!

A New Normal

Nineteen days.
That's how long it has been since our whole world has changed.
Nineteen days since my job went from being middle school Spanish teacher to Mommy.
Nineteen days since I slept peacefully for any amount of time.
Nineteen days since anything felt normal.

And for the past nineteen days we have been experimenting with this new adventure of parenthood.  We have laughed, cried, learned, questioned, snuggled and prayed.  We have had days of impressive success and days of emotional defeat.  It's only been nineteen days...and yet it feels like a whole new life lived by entirely new people.

So, to preserve my sanity and to challenge my perspective, I have vowed to attempt to record my thoughts, prayers, questions, decisions and experiences through this new blog.  I have always been an avid writer in journals/diaries/etc, so I want to preserve this fleeting season of life in a way that offers insights to others and simultaneously records my reflections for the future.

Here it is:  the beginnings of a new stage of life.  New priorities, new challenges...and the finding of a new normal.