Request for Guest Posts: Tales of Motherhood

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I don't think I ever shared with you how Mama Flock came to be and came to be named.  Today, in my Bible reading, the Lord brought me to Psalm 100 (a great passage of thanksgiving if you need a good starting place for this season) and I was reminded of the early days of this blog.

Thank You, Blogger, For Not Deleting My Account

One of my favorite captures from the other evening when I went treasure hunting in the desert with J.

 
I know I'm more of a stranger here these days.  Maybe you've read the past posts and know what a challenge this year has been for our family.  It continues to be a daily challenge that I face one hour or one minute at a time.  However it comes at me.  Through enduring these challenges, I know there is deep, blessed joy.

Some days are better than others.  Sometimes it's hard to see the good through the difficult.  This week, has been particularly challenging, but I feel myself emerging on the other side.  My hope is that this week was just another wake up call to get my head back on straight and to reprioritize God as the leader of my life and not just an afterthought.  A sidekick.

Guest Post: Manifesto

The zombie is dead. I don’t recall the moment when it happened. There was no last clawing gasp, no dramatic wrenching away. Somewhere during the quiet of our time away on the Pacific coast, amidst the ocean breeze, the peaceful strolls and the fantastically brilliant fish tacos, he simply stopped serving a purpose and left. I am grateful for this. My breath seems to come easier, my exhales feel deeper. My thoughts can find moments of stillness. Even though my sunburns still ache a bit, for the first time in months, my heart feels at peace.

I am truly grateful for all of these things but I am not who I was. I have not been restored. Through all of this, the troubles and the moments of peace, I have instead been refined into something new. It’s as though a fire has blazed through my life leaving behind only the essential parts that cannot be consumed, that cannot be reduced. The purpose of this post is to document what remains and to establish a manifesto for how I intend to move forward.

Guest Post: Zombie

Once again, my husband came to my rescue and is helping cover me during my time of silence (and lack of creativity in writing).  Here is his guest post...

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Today is September 12th. The day after. Twelve years ago on this day, people all over the world had to get out of bed, put feet on the floor and face a new reality. Life would never go back to the way it was. In their own time, wounds will scar over and fade but after a day like that, we as individuals and as a society will never be as we were.

In truth, every day is “The Day After” for someone. There is loss all around us. Today, someone woke up to face the first day after a loved one had died from a sudden illness. Today, someone stared blankly into a bathroom mirror brushing their teeth on the morning after their divorce was final. There are earthquakes, floods, fires, shootings, drug overdoses, runaways, kidnappings, murders and every other form of human calamity occurring every minute of every day. Without any notice, these things can happen to each of us and to those around us that we hold most precious.

When they happen, there is no going back and, whether we are prepared or not, the sun will set on that day and rise to reveal a new day, a new reality, a new unexpected life where each of us must make some decisions. Will I move forward? If I do, how do I begin? What does this new, unexpected life look like? How do I find happiness when, like Bruce Springsteen said, “…it’s like someone took a knife, edgy and dull, and dug a six inch valley through the middle of my soul”?

For me, it has started with simply putting feet on the floor when I wake in the morning. Even on average days with typical challenges, it’s this act of feeling the carpet yield under my bare feet that has always signaled my willingness to accept the new day. On more difficult days, I fear that contact. I sit on the edge of my bed, my feet dangling inches above soft, fuzzy acknowledgement that I’m willing to be a participant in my new life.

I'm Still Here

Just in case you think I jumped ship.  No worries.  I'm still here.  I was taking a break from blogging (while still actively Instagramming) while I try to finish up homeschool projects before school starts next week.

I hope to get into more of a regular routine when the school year starts.

More soon! Have a good Monday.

Guest Post: I Am a RAD Kid

My husband was talking with me the other night about all the things we have learned over the years about Reactive Attachment Disorder.  He shared with me what God had laid on his heart about this disorder and how it relates to us as Christians.  I loved his insight and asked him to provide a guest post here.  Enjoy.

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Imagine you're a young kid. Old enough to have a sense of things but still young enough that the world is full of scary unknowns. You've been out to play a bunch of times and the sun has always been warm and inviting. One day, you go outside and as soon as you're in the full sunlight, your skin immediately starts to burn and blister. Even the skin under your clothes scorches under the rays of the sun that, on so many days previous, had been a warm welcome to come outside and play.

7 in 7: Day 7!!!

Okay, so you are probably wondering why I'm taking the time to type a post when it's still light out.  Lately, that has not been the trend.  Well, in fact, the sky is pretty dark for 6:00pm in the summer because we have yet another big storm coming through.  Thunder has been rumbling for about half an hour already.  But inside the house, it is really quiet right now.

I was working on laundry, dishes and the homeschool room this afternoon (after a brief rest) and C offered to take the kids to do something fun with them for a couple hours and then bring something home for dinner for us.  Can anyone still hear the echoing "WooooHoooo!" I called out when he offered to give me quiet time by myself. 

I don't mean to imply that he doesn't do this for me somewhat regularly, but that I thoroughly appreciate it when he does.

7 in 7: Day 6

Well, I'm glad this is just a 7 in 7 challenge. I'm barely making it each day. Not that I don't want to write more regularly, but when I have to, it sort of takes the fun and creative out of it. Of course it does build better discipline.

Once again, I'm on my iPad typing up this post totally on the fly and when I'm already tired from the day. I'm sure it'll be great as you read whatever I blather on about tonight. Ha.

7 in 7: Day 5

It's 11:25pm and I just remembered I forgot to post today!  I was busy working on the homeschool room for the most part and my desk was covered with sorted piles. So here I am with my iPad, in bed, not giving up on this week's goal.

This weekend is exciting, as we celebrate seven years since we adopted S, H and Z tomorrow, and six years since we adopted J today. Those days -- spent in the courtroom in Manchester, NH -- are some of the most memorable of my life.  If you want to swing by my sister's blog, she has a photo of J signing her official adoption certificate.

7 in 7: Day 4

Hello, August.

2013 has just raced by so far.  Unbelievable.

Let's take a look at where we were last August (in photos)...