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Monday, August 20, 2012

There were Germs Involved.

For such a long time, our bedroom has reminded me of college.  No bed frame.  Bare walls.

With good reason.  If not for Tim, my bedroom would look a little like this....



While Tim would much prefer....

Source: houzz.com via Shantell on Pinterest


Vastly different tastes. Imagine my dismay.

So we've procrastinated quite a bit in the bedroom decor' department.  Until recently.

A lamp was purchased.  Pictures were hung.

It is funny how two or three items can just make you feel human again.

Who knew such comfort could come from the soft glow of a $6 Family Dollar Lamp.

In other news,

Tim is sick.  Not SICK SICK, but like 24 hour bug, don't get off the couch, sick.

 I used to resent the size of this house, but lately I am oh-so thankful for it.  Were our house much larger, we'd probably be much farther apart.  Him on a basement couch....me in some Master Suite, two flights up.   After a horrible night's sleep, he is finally sleeping on the couch in the living room not 15 feet away from me and I am holed up in our bedroom with my Bible, my blog,and my New Favorite Lamp.  There is also a Rather Pitiful Pile of Fur snoozing next to me.

I like the fact that I can so easily check on him.  Yes.  On more than one occasion, I have peeked around the corner to ensure that he is still breathing.  I am my Mother's Daughter.

This morning, a tiny house is our blessing.

With that being said, I am waiting.  You know.  Waiting to get it.

It.

Germs.  Ugh.

     I have said it once, if not a million times, and I will say it again.  I feel as if my life is just a series of moments in which I just give everything over to something so much bigger than myself.

So much bigger than any of us.

There it is. The word Surrender.

Read: There isn't enough Lysol in the world to save me at this point.

I don't know much these days, but I do know that The Bible says that  nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. 

Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.   Hebrews 4:13

I don't know why, but I am taking so much comfort in that ...and my tiny blue lamp. 

Cautiously Optimistic, 
H. 



Friday, August 10, 2012

A short summary of Aunthood


I am a sucker for church rituals. Sometimes to a fault. 

I envy other religions/denominations.  I covet their rituals.  

 Communion. Ash Wednesday.  Baptisms.  I'm there.  Give me a good baby dedication any day and I may  bawl tears of joy through the majority of it.  

For me, rituals are a way of making the life of Jesus tangible.  

In teaching, when you are covering the subject of apples, you bring in apples.  You taste apples.  You make graphs about apples.  You draw apple trees and write apple poems.  

I think Communion was Jesus' way of bringing the apples.  

Sometimes, I find myself in church just needing Something Very Important to happen.  Comfort.  Patience.  An Outpouring of Peace.  

One Midnight Christmas Eve Service, I found myself sinking Very Deeply into the seats.  It was something reminiscent of Flat Stanley.  

And I prayed.  I prayed that I would be able to end  the coming year a kinder, gentler version of myself.  

And Aunthood has done that.  It has done that to us all.  

Thanks be to Lucy. 


Thursday, August 9, 2012

We have a winner!

Kaitlyn Winn from the blog, "We are all untamed" is the winner of the "7 book giveaway!"

Congrats, Kaitlyn! :)  You are going to love it...and then you are going to hate it because there are some very hard truths hidden in there...and then you are going to love it again. :)

Please email me your shipping info.!

holls_y@hotmail.com

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

7, A Book Review and a Give away!

****THIS GIVE AWAY IS NOW CLOSED****

Ok.  Here's the deal.  You guys.  Seriously.

Guys.

Do I have your attention, yet?

Ha.  But seriously. Guys.

Over the summer, after some prompting by my friend, Courtney, I read a magical little book called 7 by Jen Hatmaker.

Long story short, the book details Hatmaker's attempt at getting rid of the excess STUFF in her life.

No area was safe.

In less than a year, Jen overhauled her life...de-cluttering everything from her closet to her pantry to her wallet.

An excerpt from the Book Trailer explains,

"By living a deeply reduced life, [her family] hoped to discover a greatly increased God."

And this tiny little book has changed my life.

You guys.

I feel super cheesy saying that but...

In the words of Salt n' Peppa, Let me take you back to the subject.

My mother is a saint.  She is a saint.  I have called her, many a times and bemoaned.  That's right, I have bemoaned, in reference to not being able to keep my house clean...

"We just have so much stuff!!!!!"

"WE JUST HAVE SO MUCH STUFF."

And usually, I'm crying.

It's a real treat.  Surely.

In my experience, when in need of a picture that represents the word bemoan, the best thing to do is Google Image, "Girls crying on The Bachelor."

My conversations with my mother sometimes look a little like this:

**The first one's for you, daddy!**





Honestly.

 Honestly?

I am so completely embarrassed to admit this, but the fact that we have so much STUFF overwhelms me to the point that I do wonder, "How are we ever going to make room for a baby!?!?!"

And then comes the guilt.

Oh. Hello, Guilt.  Didn't I just see you yesterday?

The Guilt comes when I start doing The Math.  You know.  Math.

How are we TWO people who have lived in a THREE bedroom house for only FOUR YEARS and we have already outgrown it!?!?!?!

And Guilt always brings his pal Fear along for the ride.

Fear that I will stay overwhelmed and motherhood will just amplify the fear and the guilt and the stuff.

Stuff.

And it never occurred to me to get rid of any of it....

Until I read 7....and got real about the STUFF that had crept into our lives. And the money we were spending on STUFF we don't really need....or even want in the end....?

And I started doing a new kind of math.

I'll give you a few examples.

This summer, I have discovered that we own the following, ridiculous items:

Measuring spoons: 3 sets

Bakeware:  11 pieces  (not including cookie sheets or pots/pans)        

Towels (bath and beach): 15      (!?!?!?!?!?!?)

Sheet sets:  5

And then I honestly quit counting everything and just started trying to get rid of roughly 1/2 of everything we own. (I'm kidding. Kind of.)

But seriously.  The towels alone were enough to do me in.

We are Tim and Holly Young, and sometimes, when we are in a pinch, we use beach towels for our bath towels.

There have been many days when Tim has a towel and I have a towel...and that's it as far as clean towels go.

Guys.

You guys.

Seriously. Guys.

THAT MEANS THERE ARE 13 OTHER TOWELS IN OUR DIRTY LAUNDRY HAMPER.

There have been times when we are down to our last sheet set.

WHICH MEANS THERE ARE 13 TOWELS AND 4 OTHER SHEET SETS IN OUR DIRTY LAUNDRY HAMPER.

And there are people who don't have towels or sheets or beds for that matter.  

Are you with me?

No wonder I am stressed out and cluttered and childless.

Holy Smokes, I need some iced tea. (Ironically, I just gave away our iced tea maker).

So.  That's kind of where we are.  I'm on my 3rd trip to the Goodwill  drop-off.

  And because the book is about more than just our STUFF...

     I am taking my own grocery bags to the store. I am trying to (more often) strip our grocery budget to the bare bones so we can donate the difference.  I am researching re-usable...everythings... from straws to produce bags to baggies.  We're researching rain barrels.

 It's really kind of amazing.

I don't say all this because I want people to think we are good and noble and awesome.  I don't want a medal or a sticker or a prize.  I just want...?

Peace.

And less stuff.

For Pete's Sake, less stuff.

And to always have the realization that someone, somewhere is *literally starving to death* flying on my radar.

And the willingness- and know how- to help.

And for my baby not to have to sleep in a dresser drawer surrounded by my husband's socks.

I don't think that's asking too much.

*********

     With that being said, again- inspired by Courtney The Kind, I am purchasing my own copy of 7 and one to give away as well.

Leave a comment here or on my Facebook Post Link.

Tomorrow night (8/8), I'll choose a number using random.org, and that person will win their own copy of the book.

 I'll count the Facebook comments first and the Blogger comments next.  i.e., If there are 10 FB comments, but you are the first Blog comment, your number in the drawing would be 11.

If you want to tweet about it, FB about it, reblog this, or write a letter to your grandmother, that's cool too.  Feel free to holla' at me in the comments section below or on FB and that will win you an extra entry....or four.  I'm not real big on putting rules on these kinds of things.

Hope that's fair, simple, and makes sense.

So, what are you getting rid of? :)

I just tried to give away my husband's Dreamcast.  It's not going well.

Love and whose got a couch I can sleep on?
H.