7 Month 4: Media

Month 3 of 7 was anticlimatic for me. I pulled stuff out of my closet, I pulled books off my shelves, but the truth is, Brian and I did a huge clean-out when we moved in together in August. We just don't have a ton of excess stuff and therefore didn't hit the 210 item goal. However, I do like how this month has changed my thinking: as we move forward into the Christmas season, I'm having a hard time thinking about presents that would really benefit us and not become more "stuff." (Somehow this mental block isn't in place about the Christmas decoration shopping I'm going to do tomorrow...)

Tomorrow starts Month 4 of 7: Media month. The idea is giving up 7 forms of media, as a way of letting go of distractions and focusing on family and God. Frankly, I think this is amazing that it falls in December. What's a better time to pull away from blogs & tv to focus on the Christmas spirit of generosity and giving and spending time with my husband & family?

Here are the 7 forms of media I'm giving up:

TV except sports & movie nights w/Brian

iPhone apps: twitter, facebook

Non-work web use: thepioneerwoman.com, tvwithoutpity, gofugyourself, people.com, blogs

All web use at home except looking up a project or a recipe

Facebook

Twitter

Radio in the car (I decided I was allowed to have music on at home & work).

In preparation for turning off the tv, I've made a list of projects to tackle this month, as well as stocking up on books from the library. It includes decorating & crafting for Christmas, painting our bedside tables (I've had the paint since August), ordering our wedding pictures, framing, writing Odne in Haiti, organizing my file cabinets, making holiday treats, etc.

I'm not giving up blogging (see how I did that? It's not reading a blog, it's writing one!) It's creative. Plus it keeps me honest. I'll keep you posted on the projects! In the meantime, I'm off to make sure all my shows are taping all month!

Being Present in Thankfulness

I do an awful lot of looking forward. Brian and I joke and dream about our "future" family. We look forward to spending time with our parents. We get excited about seeing our friends on the weekends. My dear husband has been gone all weekend at a conference and I can't wait to have him home tonight. I'm almost off to my new in-laws for Thanksgiving vacation and I can't hardly wait.

We have so many blessings in our life, which I'm reminded of every day, every week, every happy month that goes by. I can look back and trace our relationship, every moment of it sweet in a different way. I can see how happy we were at the very beginning, figuring each other out. How much fun we had getting to know each other's families. The anticipation of being "pre-engaged" (and the stressed tears that came with that). The whirlwind of a four-month engagement. I can look back and see all the happiness in each stage, but I also remember always looking forward to what was coming next.

This year as I'm thinking about thankfulness, I'm thinking about being thankful in the moment. Instead of looking forward to Brian coming home, being thankful for time spent with my parents and sitting in church with a dear family I don't get to see often. Thankful for some quiet time spent in my kitchen, making delicious gifts for family. Instead of thinking, "oh how much fun will the the holidays be when we have kids?!" enjoying the freedom that comes with traveling just the two of us.

This season, as I continue to try simplify my life and celebrate the spirit of the season, my goal to be present in my thankfulness.

5 Foods

 

 

Only five??

 

1. Avocados

2. Dumplings

3. French fries

4. Cheese

5. Peaches

7 Month 3: Possessions

This month of 7 is pretty easy in theory: each day give away 7 possessions. If you do 4 weeks, that equals 210 possessions. I have to say, this idea feels pretty awesome, but I'm not positive I can come up with 210 items. Brian and I gave away a lot of stuff when we moved in together and really streamlined our house. Plus, I can't seem to convince him that he should pare down on the number of books he owns. They're for "work" or something.

Even if I can't hit the magic 210 number, I'm still taking this opportunity to clean out the excess and the clutter (the whole point of this exercise, really!). This week I've donated 35 items of clothing to a shelter that my church is involved with and pulled 30 books off my shelf that I don't need. They aren't children's books, so I can't send them to a school, but I will be donating them through a library program.

This weekend my girlfriends have organized a clothes swap where a bunch of us are getting together to swap out clothes we don't wear very much. I have to say, I prayed about this a lot over the past couple of weeks. Part of the 7 project is giving to those in need, and while none of us grad student wives have a huge clothing allowence, I wouldn't necessary call us "in need." But I craved the fellowship of getting together with this awesome group of women, so I made a compromise: I pulled out a number of cute items to take to the swap and offered to take anything unclaimed to the shelter. I figured if I can increase my contribution and receive some fellowship in return.

I have to say that this is challenge is not only making me think "what do we really need in this house?" as it relates to getting rid of things, but as it relates to shopping. I'm heavily depending on my awesome library for books and movies and things like guitar music as I decide to take that up again. I've never been good at sticking with it, so instead of buying a number of expensive music books, I'm checking them out from the library! Genius! Also, whenever I take a trip I stock up on novels to read on the plane, usually forgetting until the last minute and buying them at the airport bookstores = the most expensive place possible. Now I've requested a number of books to take with me and bring back over Thanksgiving.

I love the way this challenge is changing my thought around possessions and I can't wait to see where it leads.

6 Places

1. Dallas, TX
2. San Francisco, CA
3. Chapel Hill, NC
4. Milwaukee, WI
5. Chicago, IL
6. Boston, MA

I choose formative places. There are stories from all of these cities.  

Prayer Changes Things

A good friend recently gave us our wedding gift and the front of the card that came with it said "Prayer Changes Things." (Between you and me, I'm pretty sure it was a consolation card pulled from a stash :-). To their credit, it was perfect for us.) When I opened the card, I was so struck by how true that statement was- not just in general, but especially when it comes to Brian and I.

You see, before I met Brian, I was praying hard for him. I was praying sitting in my old church in Evanston, asking God to deliver me out of the life I couldn't seem to extricate myself from. I was praying when I moved home, acknowledging that I was completely failing by modern standards, but knowing I was in a better place for myself. I was praying when I was dating other people, knowing they weren't the right ones, asking God to help me practice opening my heart for the man who would be right.

I knew that at 22, 23, 24, I wasn't giving of type of love I needed to sustain a lasting relationship. My heart was unkind, would pick small petty fights, didn't understand the concept of unconditional love outside of a family member. Relationships were trials, something to be worked through. But all the while, I was praying.

 When I moved home, I told God "Send me a man at church, please. I'm not looking elsewhere. That sounds tiring and futile." Now, we all know what happens when we give the Lord ultimatums, right? I know I remember what happened when I informed God and anyone who would listen that I was going to college in Boston and then I'd move to New York after graduation. He promptly up and sent my snooty butt to Texas. But perhaps He decided I'd been through enough, or I really was looking in the right place, but a year after I moved home, I met Brian -- at a Young Adults fellowship dinner arranged by our pastor. It was exactly what I had been praying for.

The other side of this story, of course, is Brian's. He had also been praying- through the end of a bad relationship, far away from his family, living on his own. To me this is most amazing part: not long before we met, he had been praying for me! That God would lead him to someone kind. Thank goodness I had learned how to be kind! (Although I argue that Brian brings it out in me.)

Note from Brian:  I wasn't simply praying for someone kind.  Kind doesn't even begin to do justice to the type of amazing woman I was praying for, and the type of amazing woman Amy is.  She's right, I was praying for someone--someone not only kind, but faithful, light-hearted, intelligent, and beautiful, with a big heart and a strong sense of humor.  Even though I didn't know it yet, I was praying for Amy.

Thank goodness for prayer. Maybe the card wasn't technically a wedding card, but in our case, it was absolutely the right words, because prayer really does change things.

7 Wants

1. A passport

2. Real leather cowboy boots

3. Children (listed after the cowboy boots? sure, why not?)

4. To live near family, in the South.

5. A vintage red pick-up truck. It would be awesome!

6. A house with a porch and porch swing

7. An involved church life 

8 Fears

 

 

1. Snakes

2. Heights- it's not paralyzing, but being super high up gives me the willies!

3. Scary movies. I don't watch them.

4. Having to move to someplace REALLY COLD and far away from our families next year. Crossing our fingers for one of the Virginia/North Carolina jobs.

5. Our little family being under employed. Right now we're employed just fine, but I remember the days of single-girl paycheck to paycheck living and it's a fear.

6. This is highly material, but I'm always a little scared one of the gems will fall out of my engagement or wedding ring on its own.

7. Kitchen/oil fires. I love my gas stove, but that's always a little scary.
8. Spooky noises at night. Praise the Lord I have a husband who doesn't mind investigating.

 

This was a hard one, I don't have a lot of big fears, like flying in airplanes, and try not to live in "fear." Hence all the teensy fears.