Much Better

Thanks for all the kind comments on that last post.  After I finished writing, I pushed the laundry over to Jared's side of the bed (since he's out of town) and just went to bed.  My mind was running so it took a whiel to fall asleep.  But things felt better in the morning.

Then things felt MUCH better that afternoon when I received a package in the mail from a woman I've never met.  It contained a thoughtful note thanking me for all that I'm doing for mothers through The Power of Moms as well as a lovely necklace featuring a "widow's mite."  The note explained that the widow's mite represents selfless giving.  I often feel that I'm giving all I can but it's not enough!  But this sweet gift reminded me that my best IS enough.  It made me cry.

The timing of this little gift as well as its content served as a powerful reminder that the Lord has his eye on me and that he'll use those around me - even complete strangers - to strengthen me and keep me going when things feel extra heavy.

I keep thinking I'll figure out a system that'll help me manage all I've got going on better and/or that I'll get better at not taking on quite so much.  While I'll keep working on simplifying and organizing and drawing better boundaries, I've come to terms with the fact that there will always be crazy moments and over-stuffed days and sometimes really packed and stressful weeks. And when things are hard, I can choose to focus on the stress or I can:

• choose faith over stress as I turn to the Lord and make time for scripture study and prayer
• choose joy over stress as I slow down even for a few moments to notice the beauty that exists right in front of my eyes (the beauty of a child's sweet smile, the beauty of a the new buds bursting on the trees, the beauty of the kind comments and sincere offers of support and help that come from strangers and family alike)
• choose progression over stress as I pick out just one or two things I can quite successfully accomplish each day and then be content with those simple accomplishments

* The note and necklace came from DeAnne Flynn.  She's written a beautiful book called The Mother's Mite and created a great website to help lift and strengthen mothers - click HERE to find out more.  I'm excited to connect with DeAnne and I'm so grateful she reached out to me.  In the past couple months, it's been so exciting to have several wonderful organizations that share our mission reach out to The Power of Moms.  Now I've just got to find a little time to sort out how to work effectively with some of these other fabulous organizations.