The Local Ordinary {Five Minute Friday}

October 11, 2013September 30, 2015 Lindsey P. BrackettLeave a comment

Because even though it’s October and I’m writing about Living Local for 31 days straight, it’s also Friday, and I’m learning to find my place in a local online community of gifted writers who let it all fly free for Five Minute Friday. We’re linking up over at Lisa Jo’s where she makes the ordinary crush of goldfish crackers on the floorboards seem like magic.

The other day I missed my turn into the hospital in downtown Atlanta where my niece was born and found myself winding back into tree lined streets with craftsman houses from the 1930s and 40s whose yards have shrunk but whose hearts have remained the pulse of this city.

Right there barely 300 yards beyond the shrubbery were chain restaurants and bus terminals and a major metropolitan hospital, but back here was just an ordinary neighborhood. Pumpkins on porches, wreaths on doors, cars at the curb. Runners and strollers and jogging mamas and at the end of the street a park protecting the last of the green space from development.

I love where I live. But sometimes that pulse catches me a bit. That idea that I could have an ordinary life in an extraordinary place and expose my children to more museums and cultures and life than I do right now.

But my ordinary heart beats in rhythm right here. Its pulse is mountain majesty and fewer choices. Its culture is quilters and potters and painters and tradesmen.

It’s the life I’m giving my children so that someday they can choose which ordinary is theirs.

Thankful Thursday {31 Days: Day 10}

October 10, 2013September 30, 2015 Lindsey P. BrackettLeave a comment

I used to do a lot more Thankful Thursday posts, and then, I don’t know, I got busy and though I wasn’t ungrateful for anything, sometimes I act like it. So today, all I’ve got is this.

That’s last fall. New pictures are being taken tomorrow. He’s bigger, their hair is shorter (well, not Amelia’s), and time is marching past me way too fast. I’m thankful for my incredible photographer friend and that she’ll spare a few moments tomorrow to capture just a bit of what really is my local these days. {and guess what? Keep reading, you might even want to subscribe!, because at the end of the month, she’s part of a giveaway right here.}

When I was being more intentional about counting my blessings, I often linked up with Julia. She’s a local friend who moved to Louisville for her husband to finish seminary, and now it’s their home and ministry. She and Lance are incredible people who are bringing home a baby girl from Ethiopia very soon! If you’d like to read about their adoption journey or support them by making a purchase in her Etsy shop do so here.

Embracing my blessings today. What are you thankful for?

For all my posts in this 31 Days series on Living Local click here.

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How to Really Camp in the Rain {31 Days: Day 9}

October 9, 2013September 30, 2015 Lindsey P. BrackettLeave a comment

Pictures circa 2009 when we were still a family of just four. This is an old post from my Facebook Notes (remember those?) and back when this blog was barely getting twelve hits. Hoping for more than that today 🙂

Well, we weren’t singing in the rain, that’s for sure.

We’d been planning a fall break camping trip for weeks and the plan was to get some chores done at home over the weekend and wait to begin our trip until Monday. That way we could camp on Monday and Tuesday, play in the mountains, visit the pumpkin patch, do some hiking, roast some marshmallows….it was going to be fun. Just the four of us communing with nature (and every public toilet and latrine around since preschoolers and pregnant women have no concept of “hold it”).

On Sunday, after a consultation with weather.com (really, how did people plan before?), Joshua made the suggestion that we head on out since the weather was so nice, but rain was moving in tomorrow. Didn’t look too bad. We figured if we set up in the dry, we could weather the drizzle.

Except a drizzle wasn’t the forecast.

Camp was set up, all was good at Andrew’s Cove, just north of Helen, a picturesque USFS campground with a rushing creek, awful push-pedal potties, and plenty of sites to choose from because apparently others were wiser than we. We trekked over the mountain to Hiawassee for firewood and a forgotten can opener, decided to treat ourselves to The Deer Lodge since the hamburger meat was still frozen in the cooler, and then spent the evening roasting marshmallows, drinking hot chocolate, and listening to James Taylor, thanks to the only other brave souls in the campground. We all went to bed by ten, the girls actually went to sleep (I read them the only book I brought, Anne of Windy Poplars), and we rested pretty well on our new air bed, only waking once to venture outside for reasons I have mentioned before.

Then, 6 a.m. came. At first it was a pitter-patter. Kind of pleasant. Then a steady sprinkle. Not too concerned. By seven, it was a deluge and no longer were we high and dry. The tent had begun to leak. The girls had woken up antsy for pop-tarts. And I couldn’t figure out how to cook canned biscuits on a camp stove.

We gave it up. Ran for the van and came home. By 8:30 we were having hot showers and the coffee was perking in our own cozy kitchen. Ahh…now this is a vacation.

Except that it’s now 5:57 in the evening and Joshua has had to go back and break camp in the rain. Oh, well.

For all my posts in this 31 Days series on Living Local click here.

Come back the rest of the week for links to our favorite North Georgia (and a little further but maybe local to you) camping spots and a post on the 10 Things you shouldn’t miss if you’re ever in a certain Alpine Village that’s up this way.

31 Days of Living Local · amelia

The Real Local Advantage to Dentists and Kittens {31 Days: Day 8}

October 8, 2013 Lindsey P. BrackettLeave a comment

For all my posts in this 31 Days series on Living Local click here.

The advantage of taking my kids to the most local dentist I can find that accepts their insurance is twofold.

On one hand, after they’ve behaved we like to undo all the good that was just done by stopping here and supporting local small businesses.

On the other, when I pull out of the driveway and get halfway to the girls’ school and then have this conversation with Amelia:

A (sudden gasping!): Mommy, does you know the kitten is in the car?

Me (startled from two second thought reverie): What? The kitten? Seriously? Amelia, are you kidding me?

A (not understanding the question): Of course I am kidding you! The kitten is in the car in front of Gus! Oh, no! Now it’s crawling to you, Mommy! (insert meowing)

I have plenty of time to turn around and deposit the kitten right back where she belongs.

Which, by the way, doesn’t need to be my house any longer. Any takers?

Did you read yesterday’s post about how I expanded my local to help launch The Undivided Mom?

31 Days of Living Local · giveaways · motherhood

On Expanding Your Local: Undivided Mom Launch! {31 Days: Day 7}

October 7, 2013September 30, 2015 Lindsey P. BrackettLeave a comment

I’m writing all month about living local. About embracing where you are and living within your zipcode and finding new ways to just be present in your own corner of this world that God has fashioned just for you, for this time, for this season, for this moment in your life.

I love where I live; I love my locale. I love the mountains and the pastures and the cinema-style small town that is my real life. I love that the grocery clerks know mine and my children’s names and that my former students serve me at our favorite quick places to eat. I love that I’m a part of this community, its theater, its churches, its schools and volunteer organizations.

But sometimes, I have to reach out from here a bit to find a little more of what I need.

And when I do, I’m more content with where I am, and I’m less alone in this everyday chaos that is motherhood.

That’s how I found Kayse. She’s way over on the west coast, but she’s a former teacher, a writer, a mama, an encourager of women, and a friend to me.

No, she’s not local. She can’t bring me a casserole on a bad day or meet for a pumpkin spice latte to celebrate fall. But she can reassure me that I’m not alone.

I’m not the only one balancing how to make this writing gig a career while raising small children.

I’m not the only one who’s sometimes living for naptime.

I’m not the only one who wishes just getting laundry done was enough accomplishment for each day.

I’m not the only one who sometimes feels forgotten.

I’m not the only one who struggles to find Christ in the chaos of motherhood.

I know she shares these burdens because she bares her soul (and her unfolded laundry) to tell us about them in her new ebook The Undivided Mom.

It’s here, among these pages, that you’ll find wisdom from a mom who hasn’t just BEEN there; she IS there. And in a few weeks? She’s adding a precious baby boy to her motherhood mix.

But she took the time to share her heart with us mamas who feel so divided between motherhood and careers and home and marriage. She’s not giving us a formula to fix anything. Instead, she’s giving us a Savior to seek for all those moments when we feel pulled in a million directions, because she knows (and so do I) that seeking Him first will help us find margin in our busy everyday lives.

“Jesus lived by the Spirit. While he, of course, was following God’s plan for His life, He didn’t get caught up in busyness and law. Instead, He structured His life in such a way that He was able to pay attention to the people around Him, and minister to them as he saw a need.”

But I can step away from the things that can wait. I can invest fully in quality moments with my daughter. I can show her through my actions that she is completely loved and valued.

She [Martha] couldn’t see past her to-do list to realize that the Savior of the world was sitting in her living room.

~excerpts from The Undivided Mom by Kayse Pratt

Reading this short (14 days!) devotional has reminded me that no matter where I am, no matter what local I am calling home, my perfect home is in Christ and He alone will satisfy my soul.

I encourage you to click a link and check out this book (and Kayse’s other great products) on her site. Today she’s hosting a giveaway of the book and basket filled with DaySpring goodies! Buy anytime this week and use the coupon code UMLaunch20 for 20% your entire order!

If you’re on twitter, we’d love to have you join us tonight, October 7, at 9PM EST for a twitter party loaded with giveaways and excitement for the community we build as mothers who encourage one another to find our knees before we find the next lost sock.