Feb
28
2011#1631-1641
- 2 coats of primer on the cabinets
- Tinted primer– helped us decide that our intial color choice was too light
- Derek sanding cabinet doors
- Hiking with the girls. They actually stay on the trail and walk at a pretty good clip.
- Bare legs in skirts
- Visit from Ali
- Little girls stomping in puddles
- Sleeping in
- Toddler hugs
- Best most helpful husband ever
- Katie helping me print/cut flyers
Feb
28
201117 Months ago I gave birth to the two most amazing identical twin girls. They are the sweetest quirkiest bundles of joy I’ve ever met.
But their entrance into this world left me stretched physically and emotionally.
I have struggled with body image in a new way since their birth. No one prepares a woman for the toll having a child takes on your body. Hardly anyone talks about finding beauty in your new form. For 17 months I’ve wrestled with the weight of extra skin hanging, tiger claw stretch marks, and clothing that will never be flattering again.
And in one quiet moment as I contorted my body to capture this image with my new lens, I discovered that the beauty I mourned is even more present in my body that sustained and nourished two little lives.
Feb
25
2011Julia and I are exploring the meaning of Beauty, intersecting Beauty with the word of God, and letting Beauty live in our lives. Inspired by a joint feeling of just not measuring up in the beauty category, we’re tackling some hard questions:
- What is Beauty? And does it reside in me?
- And when my husband says that I’m beautiful, how can I receive those words as truth in a culture that says the opposite?
- What am I going to teach my daughters about Beauty?
- And most importantly, what does the Word of God say about Beauty?
Join us as we converse about a topic that touches the heart of all women.
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Dearest Julia,
Truth is an elusive thing, but not because it is hidden. No, truth is found where it can be plainly seen—
In the word of God,
In studying the nature of things,
In the knitting of things unseen in a womb.
Yes, truth is easily found.
Yet, truth is still elusive in the physical moment it’s needed.
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Read the rest of this post here.
Feb
22
2011#1580-1630
- Swimming laps
- Thing One and Thing two 🙂
- Plum Jelly on little faces
- A very very unexpected surprise!
- Finding that Bronwyn responds to discipline well in the middle of the night.
- Clothing tagged and ready to consign
- Knowing the tagged clothing will pad the savings account
- Knowing that I can always go to bed early after a rough night
- Leftovers
- Outside time x 2
- “mmmmm mmmmm” noises while they eat
- A fantastic visit with mom & sister
- Bronwyn claiming and hugging and loving on her Auntie KayKay
- Aeralind climbing the giant hill over and over and over again
- Getting spoiled by Granma
- Falling flat on my face turning a cartwheel at Score
- Chatting with Johana on the phone
- 3 glorious consequtive nights of sleep and one great nap for me
- Being introduced to Nutella
- 3 day weekend for Derek
- Clothes on the line again after many cold months
- Capable girls holding a lower railing and walking down stairs
- Clean cloth wipes strewn across my yard
- Snot bubbles (hysterical!)
- Bronwyn snot & kisses on my cheek
- Bare little legs in skirts
- Dirty knees and Kay Kay’s Converse sneaker gifts
- playing at the zoo with cousins
- Bronwyn going nuts in the reptile exhibit
- Aeralind squealing and waving gleeful at gibons and toucans
- Finding Marq
- Holding Mariana’s hands and remembering her snuggles when she was the girls’ age
- Places where kids eat free
- Sweet potato souflee
- Fried okra
- First coats of primer fresh on cabinets
- Babbies jumping crazy on their mattresses
- More interuppted sleep- teaching humility & unselfishness
- Chatting with Sarah
- Sarah’s attitude
- Wind Chimes
- Warm weather
- Beabies eating peas standing up
- Sassy independent Aeralind climbing into my lap to hear about the Chapter 5 that may just change my life
- Little haircuts
- Exploring the Rock Quarry Gardens 🙂
Feb
18
2011Julia and I are exploring the meaning of Beauty, intersecting Beauty with the word of God, and letting Beauty live in our lives. Inspired by a joint feeling of just not measuring up in the beauty category, we’re tackling some hard questions:
- What is Beauty? And does it reside in me?
- And when my husband says that I’m beautiful, how can I receive those words as truth in a culture that says the opposite?
- What am I going to teach my daughters about Beauty?
- And most importantly, what does the Word of God say about Beauty?
Join us as we converse about a topic that touches the heart of all women.
__________________________________________________________________________
Dearest Melissa,
You are so right! God’s Beauty dwells in and among us.
It is easy for me to see God when I gaze at the faces of my daughters. I mean, really?! how could you not?!
And your girls?! Just look at those eyes!
It’s even easy for me to see His Beauty in the face of others.
I see Beauty in you, Melissa.
My struggle is this:
I have the knowledge–that cerebral understanding that God’s Beauty resides in me. For some reason there is a disconnect between what my mind knows, and what my heart hears and believes to be true.
I am discontent with myself and the way I look. I know that God etched those stretch marks on my stomach. That extra skin hangin’ out with the stretch marks? I know He put it there. So, then, I’m discontent with his handiwork. The very handiwork that gave me the blessing of those two girls, who were born healthy at 5 pounds 9 ounces and 6 pounds 13 ounces! You are so right, May it never be!!!
Who am I to dispute God’s creation?
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; ~Psalm 139:13-14a
So–we have ascertained that we shouldn’t feel the way we do. We know our husbands think we are hot. We need to change our thinking. I am convinced that we must spring to action! What I can I do, what can we do, Melissa, to hear and believe that we are beautiful?
My thoughts went to the Old Testament. When the Israelites were given the Ten Commandments, they didn’t have paper to write them on. God instructed them to:
Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. ~Deuteronomy 6:9
Brilliant! I have recently been putting a collage of reminders and affirmations on my kitchen cabinets. I need them in plain view, so that my mind and heart are smacked with their truth, especially in moments of doubt. I most recently hung this (download it here):
This is truth! Truth I need to hear and write on my heart. Truth I want my daughters to see, and to believe.
God’s beauty resides in me. He knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I hate knitting, it takes forever and it makes my hands hurt. It takes precision and a skill set that I don’t have. God knitted me, he knitted you, Melissa, and he knitted our gorgeous daughters. He didn’t just wave a magic wand, he took the time and precision to make us, and then he called us very good.
We are beautiful, Melissa! When we look in the mirror, we should love what we see.
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. ~Genesis 1:31a
