Grace and Glory

Musings from the Threshold

Monthly Archives: March 2009

Being and Doing

I’ve read thoughts in the last week on a few different blogs (forgive me, I’m not even sure which blogs they were and I have no links for you) on Being more and Doing less. That sounds lovely, doesn’t it? Focusing on who I am, who I want to be… and the things I need to do will get done. I’ve read these blogs with a mixture of longing and skepticism, to be honest. Yes, I realize that Who I am is more important than What I do. But I’ve got a family to care for, feed, cloth, educate, etc. And I’ve had my doubts about how this all fits together.

This morning, I was thinking about all the stuff I needed to Do today. And then I was reminded about Being. So before I wrote out my To-Do list, I made myself first write out my To-Be list.

So, on the left side of the paper is this:
BE
Joyful
Loving
Kind
Trusting
Resting
Abiding
Self-less
Wise
Gracious
Heavenly-minded
Earthly good
Thankful (just added – thank you Hope!)

And on the right side of the paper:
DO
Invoices (done)
Scheduling (done)
15 Minutes in: Kitchen, Our Room, Living/Dining Rm
Garden Planning
Call Dr. Mary (pushed to tomorrow, since she’s not at the office today)
Transplant Strawberries before they die (done)

This dual list has actually helped me be more focused on Being rather than Doing. I’ve noticed, though, that I don’t get to cross things off the BE list. It won’t be “finished” until I’m finished! That’s okay, because He who promised is Faithful. And as I focus on enjoying Him and His work in me (Being), I really am able to Do what I need to do.

Hope this is some encouragement to you today!

Skating

My children would love to go skating once a week (or at least once a month), but between the budget and the one vehicle, it’s not a very common occurrence. We actually have a nice skating rink in a nearby town, and we all enjoyed it this last Saturday when the area Good News Clubs reserved it for a skating party. Dad and Mom Smith head up one of the clubs and our older four go with them most weeks.


Josiah and Max


Barak, Nate, and Davey


Ellie and Kate (our cautious girls)


Grace, who was determined to do it by herself – and did!


The BBC gang

The geese are back

This morning when I went for my walk/run, I found 8 Canada geese up by the pond. They are beautiful birds. I expected that they would get scared when I got up to the pond, but I didn’t seem to bother them much at all. As I would come close to the side of the pond where they were, they would just swim to the other side and wait till I approached. I guess I wasn’t the only one getting some exercise this morning!

Later in the day when we went up to our wonderful neighbors’ house to do some school stuff, I took my camera and got a couple of pictures of the geese. I need to figure out a good way to take my camera when I walk/run, especially with spring coming!

Oh, and speaking of being up at our neighbors’ (affectionately known as The K’s)… Stephen decided to get a workout while we watched a science video today. He really knows how to work this thing!

Crash and Kate – Monday update

Here they are in all their lunch time glory:


The bloody looking spots on Kate’s eye are actually outside the area where the cut/glue are. The cut itself is looking great!


Stephen got all kinds of comments over the weekend on how manly he looks with his black eye.

Cuts and bruises aside, don’t they have gorgeous eyes?!?

What is?

We heard on the radio yesterday that in mid-February, the following answer was given on Jeopardy:

A Marxist stage 
before Communism, 
this is government control 
over the economy; I 
thought it meant 
friendliness.

… and none of the contestants could come up with the question.

Our twelve year old was in the back seat hollering the correct question.  But the Jeopardy contestants, and, I would venture, a large number of Americans, did not know.  Do you??

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrJrOytSIbg&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0]