One Thousand Gifts - Collage 1

For the story behind the collages, start here.

I am really enjoying this project so far! I have found it challenging to always have my camera at the ready, and to want to take a picture when I find myself in a situation that I may not want to be thankful for. But, even just 16 photos in, I can already sense a change in my way of thinking - and that is the point, right?

Currently, I have a few friends going through some really rough patches in life.  It can be difficult to see any kind of good when words like cancer and divorce are hanging around.  Who really wants to give thanks for things like that? But, if I've learned anything in our journey with Ethan it's that beauty can come from brokenness, and today I am thankful for God's grace, which is sufficient for all of us in all of our weaknesses.

-------

So, about that "c" word.  A good friend of ours was diagnosed last week with Classic Hodgkin's Lymphoma.  He and his wife recently started a blog to keep everyone updated on how he's doing.  They are just beginning their journey and I know they would appreciate your prayers.  Feel free to leave them some love!

I've got a question...

So, if you've been reading along in the past few weeks, you know that we are in the throes of potty learning with Ethan.  He has been in underwear during awake hours since the beginning of May, and has worn underwear to bed for the past three nights (after waking up dry every morning for a little more than a week).

As far as "big picture" goes, that screams success.  For Ethan to go from wanting nothing to do with the whole process, to wearing underwear 24 hours a day in three weeks time is huge, and I don't want to diminish that at all.

However.

I can't help but feel like things are a little off balance.  As far as effort goes, I'd say we're about 90-10, with me and Jeramie putting in 90% of the work (asking him, reminding him, physically taking him, etc.) and Ethan adding the additional 10% simply with the act of going.

Again, I know that's no small feat considering he was holding his, um, deposits for 12 hours at a time just three months ago.  He has come a long, long way!

But, here's my question.  Given that we're three weeks into this, am I expecting too much by assuming that he should be doing this more independently by now? I am keeping in mind that he needs assistance with the dressing/undressing part due to the anatomy of his left arm, but should he at least be taking the initiative more?

I really think if I didn't ask him if he needs to go (to which he always says "no"), and take him every 3 hours or so, he would hold it indefinitely.  (OK, maybe not indefinitely, but I can count the number of accidents he's had in three weeks on one hand thanks to his bladder of steel!)

So, what would you do? Continue taking him at regular times, but encourage independent thinking - and how? Or, wait for him to initiate going on his own? And, if you're a child development expert (coughRachelcough), what should we be doing?

We would love to hear your thoughts and ideas on this!

The Anatomy of an Excellent Weekend

1.  The Tri Mulli at a Durham Bulls Baseball game, courtesy of Great Clips and Duke Children's

2.  America's favorite pastime

3.  Post-game fireworks

4.  Saturday morning car maintenance (read: saving lots of money!)

5.  Checking out the local splash pad

6.  Ice cream with rainbow sprinkles

7.  Chillin' out, maxin', relaxin' all cool

8.  Post-pool nap

9.  Getting our discovery on at the science museum

10.  Sharing a meal with friends

I'm not typically a "rainbows and butterflies" kind of gal, but this weekend ranks up there with one of the best I can remember in a reeeeeally long time.  My skin tingles in the summer-is-here-and-our-sunscreen-is-expired kind of way, and Ethan fell asleep in record time tonight.

If the dictionary had an entry for "typical summer weekend", I have no doubt we could provide the definition and photos! It was the perfect balance of activity and rest, family and company, and sunshine and rain.  Blessed doesn't fully describe how I feel tonight, but it's a start.

One of my biggest, personal accomplishments over the weekend is that I deactivated my Facebook account.  The intentionality of our weekend, paired with some things I've been thinking over the past few months, led me to that decision and I'm pretty pleased with it so far.  I can't say that I'll never return but, for now, it needed to go.  The Signs of Life Facebook page is still active, though, and we'll be updating that on the regular.

I hope y'all had a wonderful weekend, as well! Enjoy your week!

One Thousand Gifts - A Photo Project

"When we lay the soil of our hard lives open to the rain of grace and let joy penetrate our cracked and dry places, let joy soak into our broken skin and deep crevices, life grows."

-One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voskamp

Recently, some friends and I have started reading through One Thousand Gifts together.  We meet every other week to discuss what we've read, and have shared with one another ways to better see God's gifts in our seemingly mundane lives.

The premise of the book (or, what I understand so far from the first three chapters) is that the author names 1,000 things to be thankful for in her day-to-day life, explaining her journey to eucharisteo.  It truly is a different way of thinking - to give thanks in all situations.  In the good, the bad, and the ugly.  To experience deep, life-giving joy.

I don't know about y'all, but that just sounds hard to me.  Hence, why I'm really excited about reading this book! I am really looking forward to digging deeper with these girls and experiencing joy and thanksgiving like never before.

As I finished up my reading for tomorrow's meeting, an idea came to me.  Ann described taking a photo of grated cheese on a plate and how she was able to capture a moment of thanks by doing so.  The idea of writing out one thousand gifts didn't necessarily resonate with me, but - taking 1,000 photos? That I'd love to do! I've been wanting to do a photo-a-day project for some time now, but never really had the inspiration - until now.  I'm not going to limit myself to one picture a day, though, and I don't plan to stop until I reach 1,000.  But, don't worry.  I won't post a thousand single photos here, but I do want to share my moments of eucharisteo with y'all.  For those of you who follow Kelle Hampton's blog, I'm thinking about inserting them into a collage much like what she uses for "Friday Phone Dump".  And, if I did the math correctly, that will equal sixty-two and a half collages of straight-up thanksgiving.

And, since you've got to start somewhere, I give you moment of thanks number 1...

Here's to the 999 to come!

From the Mouth of my Babe - Volume 5

A few days ago, Ethan and I were in the car, sitting at a red light at the bottom of a highway exit ramp.  The cars still traveling on the interstate were zooming up above us, to our left.  Ethan was unusually quiet, staring out the window, and I was enjoying the pause in chattiness.  Suddenly, he cried out "NO!" from the backseat and I whipped my head around to see what was going on.

Ethan was nervously watching the cars above us - not able to see the road itself, just the fast-moving vehicles.  With a highly worried voice, on the verge of tears, he said, "No! Those cars are flying!"

Wanting to preserve his childish perception, and calm his fears at the same time, I chuckled, "How cool is that?!"

*******

The potty thing is going exceptionally well.  Like, somebody pinch me well.  We were at an appointment today and Ethan needed to use the bathroom.  He's done the public restroom thing multiple times over the past week, so I had no hesitation taking him into the stall.

We were the only people in the bathroom at the time, and I stood in the stall with Ethan while he did his thing.  A few seconds into it, a lady opened the main door and we could hear her walking into her own stall.  Ethan looked at me, panicked, and said, "Somebody's in here!" ... "It's OK", I assured him, "she's just coming to use the bathroom, too." ... "No!", Ethan protested.  "I need some privacy!".