I love Pinterest. Personally, I love it more than Facebook. I think it's a fantastic website where the online world can come together in one conglomerate of artistic expression. Through pictures we express our hopes, dreams, and selves. We share our excitement about every walk of life ... ever. I love it. It feels like a community and I honestly pray for the longevity of this website because it's awesome.
That being said; I also have to check myself when Pinteresting because it can ruin my day as easy as it can make it. I have to be honest and say that Pinterest fills my head with dreams of becoming some kind of super-human-stylish-exercise-fanatic-wife-mom... thing. And on top of becoming that, I'll also be able to find time and money to travel to that awesome looking Castle in Switzerland and try wine in the remote Tuscan hills of Italy.
Right.
At some point I have to take a step back and look at priorities in my life, the budget, and the practicality of me completing 80,000 DYI initiatives.
So I figured I would put my current priorities into writing. That way, my community can keep me accountable and maybe I'll look back on this when I'm feeling crappy about my lack of ingenuity and remember that there are more important things in life than having the perfect centerpiece for my kitchen table.
Priority number one is my relationship with God. This is the most pivotal piece in the puzzle because ultimately the growth in my faith dictates the rest of the priorities in my life and how I need to approach them. Currently the steps I'm taking to encourage that growth are: Story Formed Life (SFL) starting sometime in the new year. Also, finding those alone moments to give a few minutes to God -- driving, showering etc. Yeah, I'm still working on diving into the Word... I've never been good at reading the Bible but I think there are other parts of my faith that are being worked on right now. I generally find that forcing a spiritual discipline doesn't result in long-term success. However, in order to try and gradually progress in that area, I plan on using my phone's bible app to read the verse of the day and its corresponding chapter.
Priority number two is my family. When I say family, I mean Matt and our little peanut. In the current season we're in I think this means preparation. The prepping is the part I have a problem with because I tend to over prep and overwhelm myself with details that don't really matter.
What matters: That Matt and I have a solid relationship that revolves around loving one another sacrificially. That's what I'm working on right now. I don't mean to, but I keep score. I mentally think about what I've done for him or what he's done for me recently... am I working too hard based on the affection he's shown me? I don't want to think like that. In the book (not the crappy movie) Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller has a revelation about love and how we as human beings treat love like a monetary transaction. We add up the totals and then decide how much love we can spend on a person based on how much we think they deserve. At least in my marriage, I want to love Matt because he's my husband and I promised him I would love him So I need to stop keeping score and stop being angry when I think the score is uneven.
And that's what prepping for this baby should ultimately look like. I can read as many baby books as I want about preparing for this third member of our family, but I think the most important thing that I can do to prepare is love my husband. Unconditionally.
Priority number three is providing a safe and healthy environment for my family and friends. This is something Matt and I feel very strongly about. We want anyone who walks through our front door to feel safe and at home. To me, this means making sure things are tidy and the food I prepare is mostly healthy.
Our home will probably never look like the amazing magazine finished photos on Pinterest. ((I need to remember this more than anything)) We don't live in a museum... we live in a house. And that house might have a few dirty dishes in the sink, dust on the mantle, and Boswell/Cora fur balls in the corner. Soon, there will be baby clutter strewn about. But we sort of feel that as long as it doesn't smell like ass, there are plenty of comfy places to sit, and there's a contained-lived-in-messiness, we're doing a good job. Safe and healthy also looks like eating organic and natural-straight-from-the-source foods. Honestly, I was kind of raised this way and I think it makes perfect sense. I feel and look my best when I'm eating healthy and natural. It doesn't mean we won't order a pizza every now and then and we will certainly never turn down free food or a chance to go out and eat with our lovely community. It means that the decisions we make at the grocery store are going to be based on simple ingredients that occur naturally and not man made GMO's.
So there. Catie, Pinterest should be used as a tool to help you achieve these priorities... not guilt you into feeling less than. When you start feeling less than, you start getting jealous and there is no room for any of that in your life. Catie, you are blessed and it's up to you to realize it.
Now, back to Pinterest :)
That being said; I also have to check myself when Pinteresting because it can ruin my day as easy as it can make it. I have to be honest and say that Pinterest fills my head with dreams of becoming some kind of super-human-stylish-exercise-fanatic-wife-mom... thing. And on top of becoming that, I'll also be able to find time and money to travel to that awesome looking Castle in Switzerland and try wine in the remote Tuscan hills of Italy.
Right.
At some point I have to take a step back and look at priorities in my life, the budget, and the practicality of me completing 80,000 DYI initiatives.
So I figured I would put my current priorities into writing. That way, my community can keep me accountable and maybe I'll look back on this when I'm feeling crappy about my lack of ingenuity and remember that there are more important things in life than having the perfect centerpiece for my kitchen table.
Priority number one is my relationship with God. This is the most pivotal piece in the puzzle because ultimately the growth in my faith dictates the rest of the priorities in my life and how I need to approach them. Currently the steps I'm taking to encourage that growth are: Story Formed Life (SFL) starting sometime in the new year. Also, finding those alone moments to give a few minutes to God -- driving, showering etc. Yeah, I'm still working on diving into the Word... I've never been good at reading the Bible but I think there are other parts of my faith that are being worked on right now. I generally find that forcing a spiritual discipline doesn't result in long-term success. However, in order to try and gradually progress in that area, I plan on using my phone's bible app to read the verse of the day and its corresponding chapter.
Priority number two is my family. When I say family, I mean Matt and our little peanut. In the current season we're in I think this means preparation. The prepping is the part I have a problem with because I tend to over prep and overwhelm myself with details that don't really matter.
What matters: That Matt and I have a solid relationship that revolves around loving one another sacrificially. That's what I'm working on right now. I don't mean to, but I keep score. I mentally think about what I've done for him or what he's done for me recently... am I working too hard based on the affection he's shown me? I don't want to think like that. In the book (not the crappy movie) Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller has a revelation about love and how we as human beings treat love like a monetary transaction. We add up the totals and then decide how much love we can spend on a person based on how much we think they deserve. At least in my marriage, I want to love Matt because he's my husband and I promised him I would love him So I need to stop keeping score and stop being angry when I think the score is uneven.
And that's what prepping for this baby should ultimately look like. I can read as many baby books as I want about preparing for this third member of our family, but I think the most important thing that I can do to prepare is love my husband. Unconditionally.
Priority number three is providing a safe and healthy environment for my family and friends. This is something Matt and I feel very strongly about. We want anyone who walks through our front door to feel safe and at home. To me, this means making sure things are tidy and the food I prepare is mostly healthy.
Our home will probably never look like the amazing magazine finished photos on Pinterest. ((I need to remember this more than anything)) We don't live in a museum... we live in a house. And that house might have a few dirty dishes in the sink, dust on the mantle, and Boswell/Cora fur balls in the corner. Soon, there will be baby clutter strewn about. But we sort of feel that as long as it doesn't smell like ass, there are plenty of comfy places to sit, and there's a contained-lived-in-messiness, we're doing a good job. Safe and healthy also looks like eating organic and natural-straight-from-the-source foods. Honestly, I was kind of raised this way and I think it makes perfect sense. I feel and look my best when I'm eating healthy and natural. It doesn't mean we won't order a pizza every now and then and we will certainly never turn down free food or a chance to go out and eat with our lovely community. It means that the decisions we make at the grocery store are going to be based on simple ingredients that occur naturally and not man made GMO's.
So there. Catie, Pinterest should be used as a tool to help you achieve these priorities... not guilt you into feeling less than. When you start feeling less than, you start getting jealous and there is no room for any of that in your life. Catie, you are blessed and it's up to you to realize it.
Now, back to Pinterest :)
I've been using shereadstruth.com and the YouVersion app to stay up with some regular Bible time. She Reads Truth makes different reading daily reading plans that you can read through the YouVersion app. And YouVersion has a ton of other reading plans as well.
ReplyDeleteSo many great points, Catie. I don't do Pinterest but I definitely agree with what you said. It's so easy to lose sight of what's important. You are a smart woman, Catie - well beyond your years.
ReplyDelete