Dwell in Me

Seeking God in the Every Day

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Dreaming of Superheroes

I’ll attach a superhero cape with his initials on it to his favorite t-shirt. Wrap it up in colorful paper and give it to him for his third birthday. When he wears it, he’ll know he can fly. He’ll know that stars aren’t out of reach for a superhero on a mission.

And we’ll giggle and play and laugh. And maybe sometimes put underwear on our heads or wear cowboy boots and tight pants. Maybe he’ll need a sidekick. A dog. Or a cat. Or a silly mom.

A girl can dream, right?

And the heroes that children want to be, and the things they think about, and the damsels that will need saving and the villains to vanquish. Maybe the day will come when that will be part of our days, when those stories and that imagining will fill our hours.

It’s not yet. And that’s okay. And it may not be soon. And that’s okay too. And maybe instead of superheroes, we’ll have princesses. And that’s definitely okay.

But today is a day for optimism and dreaming. A day to think about the joy that’s coming, and a day to sing about the joy I have already. I’m enjoying this day, but looking forward to what tomorrow might bring anyway.

TIME

Every Friday, Lisa-Jo Baker provides a prompt for “Five-Minute Friday“: Write for five minutes only–no editing, no rewriting. This week’s prompt is “Hero.”

Five Minute Friday


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A Cord of Three Strands

This is my 100th post! I’m excited! Thanks to all my readers!

Also, thanks to all of you who participated in my survey to name our kitten. Unfortunately, at the end of the survey we had a three-way tie. To be honest, I’d been secretly pulling for Atticus all along. But yesterday this little kitten showed his wild side. Turns out he’s more like Mowgli than the stately Atticus Finch or the eccentric Sherlock Holmes. So DH and I consulted and have officially settled on Kipling.

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“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12

On the inside of a thin band of white gold, if you look closely, you can see “Ecc. 4:12.” It’s what we chose to remind us about who was part of this marriage. A marriage, done right, seems to bring many people together. Not just husband and wife, but also his family and hers. And tying together the man and woman into that cord of three strands is God. Without that, the two together may be stronger than one, but more easily torn apart or unraveled than three.

Wedding Rings

It’s funny how God teaches us things in stages. Like if he told us the whole story all at once we couldn’t handle it or couldn’t absorb everything. And so on that day in December nearly six years ago when we said “I Do,” we knew we were pledging to be together for the long haul. And we knew we needed God to hold these two rebellious souls in tandem in this fallen world.

And we married. With the ignorance of what life would bring or where we would be led. But we did it. And we vowed that whatever it was, wherever we were, we’d be there together. Living, loving, lifting up, and laughing together.

As it turns out, this means a lot of crying together. A lot of time on our knees together. A lot of pleading with God and calling out for answers together.

It’s meant going from our homes to DC and then here to Houston. It’s meant traveling and seeing what we could of the world. And it’s meant wishing and wanting and dreaming of a future together that may or may not be the future we’re called to.

And it’s meant learning, together, the importance of that third strand. The all-encompassing and absolutely vital need we both have for God to be included in our together. For a cord of three strands? It’s not easily broken.

TIME

Every Friday, Lisa-Jo Baker provides a prompt for “Five-Minute Friday“: Write for five minutes only–no editing, no rewriting. This week’s prompt is “Together.”

Five Minute Friday


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Washing, Drying, Repeating

I know it’s supposed to be mundane, or tedious, or piling up so high that you don’t know if you’ll ever see the bottom of the basket again, but I actually have a fondness for doing laundry.

Tiny Laundry Room

This is, at least in part, because it’s a new chore for me. I didn’t do it much growing up, and DH was always so particular about how he wanted things washed that he did the laundry once we got married. Well, kind of. I guess I did most of the folding when it didn’t just sit around in baskets so long we didn’t know anymore if it was clean or dirty. . . .

We got a new washer and dryer this spring. They’re pretty. And I guess they were expensive. Our dryer died, and we only had to get a new dryer. And really we didn’t have to, because clothes will actually dry on their own after a while. But I wanted a matching set and we had hand-me-downs and, well, we expected we’d be buying a new washer and dryer at some point so it wasn’t so bad.

I think DH will tell you all that it was well worth it though. I LOVE having them. And I do the laundry now. All of it. And quite efficiently (thanks FLY Lady!).

Laundry is a part of my day. And it makes me feel so accomplished. We sort the clothes as we use them, so I don’t have to do that. I just grab a bag and take it to the washer and put it in. When the washer buzzes, it’s like a little moment for me to check my time. What have I been doing? Am I using my time efficiently? Should I stop what I’m doing now and do something else?

Let me tell you, as a stay at home lady with a (kind of) job–I need those little reminders to keep my day on track.

I move the clothes to the dryer and get another little check on my time when that beeps. I fold the clothes, and I put them away. No more piles of clean shirts mixing in, over time, with dirty underwear. Success!

Laundry for me is a little note in my day that says, “You’ve done something useful with your time.” And I honestly love it.

I know. I’m weird. I’m okay with that.

TIME

Every Friday, Lisa-Jo Baker provides a prompt for “Five-Minute Friday“: Write for five minutes only–no editing, no rewriting. This week’s prompt is “Laundry.”

Five Minute Friday

Also, about laundry: I made the stand (yay!), and I keep laundry baskets underneath it (I can post about how I did that if anyone is interested . . . but I’ve never really done that kind of post before). And, lately, I’ve actually been using a homemade laundry soap (no artificial colors, fragrances, dyes). I’ll share more on that later.


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Five-Minute Friday: Red

Every Friday, Lisa-Jo Baker provides a prompt for “Five-Minute Friday“: Write for five minutes only–no editing, no rewriting. This week’s prompt is “Red.” Here goes . . .

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I had a friend with red sunglasses. She told me she couldn’t wear them very long without feeling angry. I thought, maybe blue sunglasses would be nice.

Perspective

And it’s true that we can’t control our circumstances, but we sure can change our perspective.

There’s a trick our pastor in Virginia taught. Look at your hands. Left represents the world. Right represents Christ. If you hold both in front of your face, one extended in front of the other, and open wide your fingers, you can look through from the close hand to the far hand. Do you view Christ through the lens of the world? Or, do you see the world through the lens of Christ?

When I was working at a job I loved for a boss who made me crazy, I wrote on a little post-it flag, “Check your perspective” and stuck it to my computer monitor. And at a bad moment, on a bad day, it helped to physically hold my hands up in front of my face for a minute and make a conscious decision about how I was going to view my situation.

Perspectives matter. How we view the world, how we view our circumstances, how we view our difficulties–it makes all the difference. It can change pain to joy. It can change grief to hope. And it can change a moment, a day, or even a life.

TIME

Five Minute Friday


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Five-Minute Friday: Lonely

Every Friday, Lisa-Jo Baker provides a prompt for “Five-Minute Friday“: Write for five minutes only–no editing, no rewriting. This week’s prompt is “Lonely.” Here goes . . .

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I’ve become all-too familiar with loneliness. It comes with the territory of infertility. And frankly, I’m over it.

Infertility struck at a time when I was destined to feel lonely anyway. New city, new state, new church, new house. Everything that’s new feels so cold and empty before you get to know it. Well, except in Houston, where it’s always humid instead.

Dreary Front Entry

Empty Bedroom

When we found out we were infertile, there wasn’t anyone local to turn to–not that we would have turned to anyone anyway. We were shocked. And scared. Lonely anyway, embarrassed by a diagnosis we never expected.

We slowly told a few people. DH’s parents. My parents. Some of our closest friends from DC–which wasn’t our “back home” but somehow felt like it. But at some level, they can’t relate. And it’s harsh to say that, but it feels true. Even now, when I know that I’m not the only one who suffers, that we all carry our own little secrets and challenges and battle scars. But I suffer in this way, a way that seems unfamiliar and unrelatable to my mommy-friends who have more toddler than they can handle right now and like to offer, “take mine.”

But Lonely and I have been fighting and Lonely is losing. I’m kicking it out. I’m meeting people. Getting deep–though maybe not as deep as I could. We still play infertility tight to the chest until we’re sure and it’s necessary, and the knowing might somehow help the other person.

Feeling less lonely nonetheless. And thankful. For the things we have learned. For the little battles over loneliness that we have won. For a God who lets me know every time I need to know it, that he is here and he knows and he understands.

Furnished Bedroom

TIME

Five Minute Friday