Surfing contentment: confessions of a Christian mommyblogger

I keep trying to write this post explaining my thoughts about why I would consider deleting the past four years, but it’s been so difficult not to not sound like a whiner. Let me see if I can do this without the Internal Editor.

Contentment. I’m not too good with all the verses telling us to be content with where we are, with what we have, who we are. I feel like I’m on a cyber surfboard on my little blogging wave. I’m doing okay. I’m in the water, the sun warm on my skin, the water salty on my lips. The surfboard so familiar to me now as I’ve been at this blogging gig for so long. My balance is good, it’s a nice rhythm.

But then I take my concentration off my own modest sized wave and look to the other surfers around me – their waves are so much bigger than mine. They are faster, bigger. People on the shoreline are impressed, clapping, pointing to her. I think to myself: Cool. I want to try riding those big waves.

Do you see where I’m going with this?

Contentment.

I’m just a mom. One step further in – I’m a homeschooling mom. My wave is scattered with a tween, a preschooler and two inbetween. It’s a day full of little people.

That mom over there on that other wave, she might have her kids in school or they’re older than mine or she only has one. Her wave is hers. That’s her blog. My wave, for what it is, a mix of family stories, homeschool reference points, book lust or just cyber goofiness, is mine.

But dang it, friends, I sure do want to catch that other wave. All those “Hey, Lord, what about me?” prayers.

So that’s where I am: struggling to learn contentment – seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever been good at it, even before blogkeeping.

***

Okay, I just reviewed what I wrote and this is the way I feel. I’m writing in my journal, that three ring notebook I keep next to the bed so I dont’ have to get out of bed to record thoughts (often, it’s the only quiet place in the house.) After breakfast… no, tween Susan cooked breakfast muffins, all I have to do is tidy up. After that, I’m going to type this up, tweak the paragraphs, and punctuation, but I’m not going to touch one word of it in order to save face. I may change the title. Right now it’s Confessions of a Christina Mommyblogger, but that sounds too sexy. Maybe some nod to surfing or contentment. Not sure yet.

So now you know why I questioned Monday as to the future survival of this blog. I don’t want to delete Paper Bridges. I want to write, post videos of my kids doing kidly things and continue to be me. But me better – content with what the Lord has given me.

Okay that’s all for now.

Just in time for Mother’s Day: Book tour: Dear Mom and Mama’s Got a Fake I.D.

Stuck for a gift idea for a mom in your life or maybe you need to add to your To-Be-Read pile? These two books may be just what you need: Mama’s Got a Fake I.D. by Caryn Dahlstrand and Dear Mom by Melody Carlson.

First book: Mama’s Got a Fake I.D. (How to Reveal the Real You Behind All That Mom) by Caryn Dahlstrand is one of those books that I’m going to read over and over again. I constantly need encouragment in this area: not to get so wrapped up in the label MOM. From the backcover:

Have you lost yourself in being a mom?

No one begins life as a mom. Before you have children, you are an amazing combination of friend, daughter, confidant, visionary, encourager, and thinker. You start out in life using your gifts and abilities in a surprising variety of settings.

Then you have children and the role of mom — as wonderful as it is — seems to consume you. It’s easy to lose your idenity when others see you as a mom and little else. What happened to the artist, the team-builder, the organizer, the entrepreneur, the leader — the person you’ve lost touch with?

This inspiring and practical guide wil show you how to break free from false guilt, learn a new language to express your true identity, and follow God’s lead in sharing who you really are. God wants you to discover who he made you to be — in your family and beyond. It’s time to reveal the woman who got hidden behind all that mom.

Oh, yeah. This gal’s got my number. For those of you in Book Circles, there are study questions at the end of each chapter, or you could just journal your answers.

The second book is Dear Mom (Everything Your Teen Daughter Wants You to Know But Will Never Tell You) by Melody Carlson.

I suspect Melody Carlson is the kind of mom I need to have living next door to me, so every time (ha! daily) I have a parenting question, especially about my almost-teen girl, I can ask her for advice. But since she lives on the other side of the country, I’ll just have to read her books. From the back cover:

Instead of focusing on outward behaviors, Dear Mom captures your daughter’s heart and soul. You can know your daughter’s hopes and fears, and her doubts and dreams about her identity, guys, friendships, and even you. And you can connect on a deeper, more intimate level that will carry both of you and your daughter through the storm seas of life.

Dear Mom is an easy read with short chapters (you could read while waiting in the carpool line), lists and bullets (get your highlighter pen ready). The only thing I wish it had is an idex; maybe the next version.

Let me know if you decide to pick up one or both of these titles. I’m always ready to talk about good books.

Related posts:

Blog book tour: Gardening Eden by Michael Abbate

Blog book tour: Flickering Pixels by Shane Hipps

Blog book tour: Daisy Chain by Mary E. DeMuth

Don’t hate me ’cause I don’t like The Shack

Homeschooling mom, meet my friend, Mercy

As a home schooling mom, I know my weaknesses. I’m far from that do-it-all woman who seems to glide through life with ease. I’m unorganized. I get mad, lashing out in anger. Home schooling revealed that in me. I know a lot about learning styles, curriculum and how to teach phonics, but I find I’m teaching myself about me more than any other subject.

I’m also learning a lot about mercy, something I thought I had a good grasp on before becoming a mother.

As a Christ follower, I’ve experienced mercy. I sin. And then I run to Jesus. Amazingly, mercy never runs dry. There is no drought when it comes to the mercy of God. I can define mercy as unearned love and forgiveness, getting love and acceptance instead of judgment and rejection. So I thought I understood.

Now as a mother surrounded by imperfect children daily, I see how much more there is know: how to give mercy freely; it’s importance in raising and leading children. How my children need it. And me too.

This unorganized, non-domestic, fiery-tempered home schooling mommy craves mercy. I need it from the Lord, my husband, my kids and from those in the home schooling community.

I’ve been home schooling long enough to have a wide experience with various homeschooling moms, and from what I can see, there is not much mercy for a woman like me, one of the muddled ones. My sister in Christ, and like-minded home schooling mom, she can be harsh. Legalistic, even. She doesn’t give much room for error. The believer mom who juggles it all with a smile, never missing a deadline, never forgetting to do that little thing that I’m so good at letting get buried under a paper mountain on my desk.

I bet I drive her nuts.

I pray to Jesus, “I screwed up. I’m sorry.”

I say to my kids, “Mom screwed up. I’m sorry. Can you forget my mistake?”

Will you show me mercy?

And this is what I want to say to my home schooling mother acquaintances, these women in my life that will not bend, refusing to overlook my personality quirks.

I screwed up. I’m sorry.

Will you show me mercy?