Five Minute Friday: After

April 5, 2013September 30, 2015 Lindsey P. Brackett7 Comments

On Fridays around these partswe like to write. Not for comments or traffic or anyone else’s agenda. But for pure love of the written word. For joy at the sound of syllables, sentences and paragraphs all strung together by the voice of the speaker.

We love to just write without worrying if it’s just right or not. For five minutes flat.

–from Lisa-Jo, click here to join in

After

After the pushing and the groaning and the grunting through the pain and the moaning and the lying and the praying and the hoping, there’s the moment when it all fades and all you see is the face and the fingers and the hair that swirls so perfectly over that small, amazing head.

After the crying and the shrieking and the begging and the pleading and the walking and the pacing and the rocking and the singing, there’s the moment when his head settles in under your chin and his whimpers cease and his breathing evens and your lips brush, ever so slightly, over his hair and give thanks.

After the tantrum and the yelling and the slamming and the throwing and the ugly and the time-out and the pouting, there’s the moment when he climbs back into your lap and lays his head against your neck and whispers softly how he loves you while you caress the hair that’s getting longer and losing all its baby curl.

After the tough and the furious and the right and the wrong and the judgements and the laughter and the worry and the pride and the beautiful and the harsh, there’s the moments when they still curl up against you in the dead of night and settle so softly and sweetly that your heart is brought to the very edge of bursting.

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Spring Break 2013 {thankful thursday}

April 4, 2013September 30, 2015 Lindsey P. Brackett3 Comments

Despite the rain that clouded Easter and the fog that’s shrouding the neighborhood today, spring break has made me very thankful. Mostly because Joshua stayed home for the past three days, and let me tell you, I sure can crank out the to-do list when there’s someone else around to help occupy these kids.

While my list mostly consisted of getting ready for Easter weekend, his was all about working in the yard, which necessitated a really long trip to Lowe’s that was pretty successful for creating beauty. Sidenote: I’m a bit in love with instagram and the fact that it makes any picture look better.

Getting those kids to earn their keep.

I’m really thankful Lowe’s took the guesswork out of what I should put in the planter this year to make it Southern Living beautiful for a couple of months before I forget to water and the plants shrivel in the July heat. This is a ready made re-planter that I simply transferred. Yay for simplicity!

Finally, I’m grateful to all my facebook friends who offered up fantastic ideas for how I could decorate for hosting Easter dinner. It never would have occurred to me to use a flat sheet as a tablecloth! Totally stole this out of my girls’ room.

I’m learning everyday how to embrace this house, and I’m also on a mission to use what we have, rather than constantly feeling that I can’t be hospitable just because I don’t have the perfect centerpiece or all matching dishes or whatever else I might be using as an excuse for not being happy and content with our abundance of blessings. A little Pinterest inspiration helped me feel like I had set a lovely table…

and of course, my kids were all about the edible centerpiece. I used my fine china for like the second time since we’ve been married and got over the notion I have that it’s too fancy for my eat-in kitchen. You know what I think?

Special is a mindset, not an occasion. If you wait for that perfect special moment, it will never come and you’ll miss lots of opportunities along the way.

The kids picnicked in the girls’ bedroom and everyone was happy. Well, except Annabelle who was having a pout over something ridiculous.

Easter might not have been ideal springtime weather, but it was beautiful and sacred nevertheless.

linking up with Julia today…

and Just One Mommy. Check her out here.

Broken: Five Minute Friday

March 30, 2013 Lindsey P. Brackett4 Comments

I knew many would use today’s prompt as a beautiful expression of the raw broken-ness we see in Christ crucified. I, too, shudder when I ponder the depth and magnitude of that moment that broke the cycle of sin and condemnation.

But this word…when I saw it, I thought immediately of a post I wrote a few weeks ago. A moment about how motherhood can make me feel broken. Because lately, that’s what I’ve been thinking about a lot. How mothering breaks us in so many ways.

It’s broken my confidence. It’s broken my plans. It’s broken my solitude. It’s broken my heart.

Motherhood is tough, unyielding, hardcore, breath-gasping broken-ness. And last night when I lay awake after settling the preschooler back at 3 a.m., I thought about that cross, that pain, that humiliation that broke the body of my Savior, and I thought how I could never do that, could never endure the pain meant for someone else….

unless that someone was my child.

Yes, motherhood breaks us. It breaks us of our selfishness so that we can identify with Christ for just a nanosecond of that moment and understand why He would allow himself to be broken….

for His children.

motherhood · Top 10 Tuesday

My Favorite Posts for Motherhood {top 10}

March 26, 2013September 30, 2015 Lindsey P. BrackettLeave a comment

Right now, in the season of life I’m in, I only want to read about two basic things: other mothers identifying with me in the trenches and glory of motherhood and mindless escapism fiction. I’m not getting a whole lot of the latter lately, at least not a lot of new fiction is making its way to my bedside table, though there’s plenty of Anne and Laura as I read to my 8 year old, which is good because always, always, always those stories have a way of quieting my soul.

But these stories of motherhood….these restore me and refresh me and rejuvenate me long enough to know I can get up again tomorrow, and, once again, say no to candy before 9 a.m. and flip-flops when it’s 35 degrees.

So here’s a simple list of ten posts about motherhood I hope you’ll read if you’re here now or been there before or coming soon to this amazing (and exhausting) season of life. Of course I’ve included some of my own as well as favorites from other bloggers.

1. What No One Told Me About Mothering in which I tell the truth that this is hard. This is my most popular post and the one I received the most feedback about, I guess, because it resonated with so many of us and because God likes to continually remind me that I’m not alone.
2. Beyond My Control in which I write about my struggle with my pregnancy and self-image.
2. When the Words are Perfect in which I find reminders all around that remind me not to stand alone.
3. Because Sometimes You Just Break in which I confess that, sometimes, motherhood breaks me.
4. My Delightful Confession in which I ‘fess up to what I’ve discovered in eight years of motherhood.
5. My Favorite Baby Gear in which I list only ten of my recommended items for mamas and babies.
6. When We Just Want It to Matter in which I remind you (and myself) that what we does matter.
7. Sometimes You Just Want to Quit in which I quit motherhood for five whole minutes and that’s okay.

and to round out the list….
8. Grace for the Working Mother (and her guilt) in which Lisa-Jo Baker paints words into comfort and encouragement for all mothers of all professions. If you don’t read her blog, you should. I can’t tell you how many times I’ll be tossing a post idea around in my head after a day of chaos and suddenly her words are there in my inbox and they’re so perfect, it’s unreal.
9. What If Sometimes You Don’t Like Motherhood? in which Rachel at Finding Joy responds to her responses to this “dear mom” letter. oh and she also just posted this that I love and will probably print for my sister-in-law.
10. 10+ Helps for Really Busy Moms in which Ann Voskamp, whose words are like water for my thirsty heart and whose expressions of gratitude often make me weep, reminds me “motherhood is a hallowed place because children are never commonplace” and “I have all I need for today”. This is framed and hanging in my kitchen so that I can see it and remember.

If you love this, share it, pin it, tweet it, and pass it on! Thank you for reading my stumbling and broken words….

Top Ten Tuesday at Many Little Blessings

gus · Manic Monday · sisters

Why My Sisters Are Incredible {& Manic Monday Link}

March 25, 2013September 30, 2015 Lindsey P. BrackettLeave a comment

There’s nearly a foot of snow on the ground, both grandmothers have moved into her house, and on Friday after nearly 12 hours of regular contractions, the midwife sent her home with no encouragement that baby would be arriving this weekend.

But they like to surprise us, don’t they? In the midst of what has been an overwhelming, jam-packed, too-many-commitments-to-process kind of week, and only four days after we celebrated my own second child, my sister gave us this beautiful baby boy.

He decided early Saturday morning that he was ready and she moved fairly quickly through labor, quickly enough that since she was birthing in a hospital that doesn’t give epidurals and was a bit afraid of the alternative, she made my mama so very proud by giving birth naturally. Then, as if that wasn’t enough to be impressive, the stats came in: 9 lbs 13 oz, 24 and 3/4 inches.

Now that’s heroic. So far he’s been referred to as hoss, whopper, and fatback. Bless his heart.

He’s beautiful, huh? If you want to donate funds so I can travel 1200 miles to squeeze his cheeks, let me know 🙂 and that’s a Get Dolled Up Boutique gown he’s sporting. Personally, I think it’s cuter than the camo, but that’s just me. I might be biased because it’s also been worn by this sweet bug.

Gus and Great-Granddaddy Deforrest, May 1, 2012

I know some other folks who wish they were able to journey north to hold great-grandbaby #9. The past ten days or so, we have all been praying diligently for my grandfather’s recovery from what he calls “old age.” He’s been in and out of two hospitals and says he’s not telling anyone anymore when he feels badly because we just take him to the hospital.

Ever since this began, my sisters and I who are local have been taking shifts to keep him company. But none of the rest of us have pulled the load my sister Katy has.

Celebrated her birthday in Dec 2011, clearly I need to take some new pictures….

She’s pretty bossy and she makes the rest of us jump, but she gets the job done. For the past two weeks, she’s put her own life on hold to be there for my grandparents so my father could continue to work and be home with our youngest sister, since Mama is helping with the new baby. She stayed overnight at the hospital and helped granddaddy terrorize the nurses; she’s cooked and cleaned and driven my grandmother to the grocery store because she’s out of cookies. Last night I took my family over to visit the grands, and I’m sure today she’s reaping the benefits of that: Amelia had an accident in the bathroom and when I offered to mop, my grandmother said I was alright, Katy could do it. Nice.

But seriously? Between my own four kids and nearly four dollar a gallon gas, I can’t be there the way I would like. I’m so grateful that my sister chose a new home that’s close enough for her to be available when needed, especially since, right now, that’s all the time.

On a Manic Monday note, I think I’ve figured out the cause of some of my stress.

We’re now post-consignment sale and this clutter has GOT TO GO. Hopefully it can be today’s naptime project. For me, when my mind and heart and house are all cluttered up with ideas and projects and worries, life becomes manic.

I hate that because it means I yell more and grumble lots and don’t appreciate the sweet moments. Like what we were doing while my nephew was making his appearance….

40 degrees and steady rain call for indoor egg hunts and puppet shows with friends. Come on spring, I’ve got three linen dresses and a jon-jon for Sunday and they won’t look good with overcoats!

How’s your Monday?

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