This week has been all about recovering from Jet Lag. For the first time ever in my life I experienced what it’s like to be tired and unable to keep my eyes open before 9pm at night. (Normally it’s a struggle to get to sleep before midnight!) Nearly every day felt painful, and every night was torture to try to stay awake until at least 10. But now that it’s Friday, I finally feel the life returning to my brain, and am ready to get up and get back to life again!
What I Loved…
Maybe we should stop entertaining our kids so much: We have always told our kids that it’s okay to be bored, because often our best and most creative ideas come during those times of our lives. And while I confess that we definitely started out as TV pusher parents (we were young & couldn’t afford a babysitter!), over the last two years we’ve slowly made some big changes in not creating constant busyness, and I can see now it’s definitely for the better. For all of us.
Scotts suicide reveals tragic side of city’s glitzy scene: The news of L’ren Scotts suicide has been heartbreakingly tragic, and as I read this article on the New York Post about the details of her life, I couldn’t help but reflect on how social media can contribute to this culture of presenting a life that isn’t exactly what it may seem behind closed doors. It breaks my heart that she struggled the way she did, and pains me to think that she felt there was no better way to solve all she was facing. But I pray her story somehow wakes us all up to stop living lives we weren’t meant to live. To stop comparing what we have and who we are to what we see being presented through the many “highlight reels” of other people’s lives we’re exposed to. There is such freedom in living honestly and authentically the life YOU were given to live.
The key to failure/How to lose twitter followers: I can’t for the life of me figure out the perfect balance to gaining and keeping followers. It seems to be such a delicate balance, and it’s continued to be one I can’t seem to find in my online life. Over the last few months though, I’ve started to let go of achieving some perfect formula, and instead simply striving to share what I feel represents me and my life/perspective as honestly as possible. It’s given me such a sense of freedom and contentment with what and how much I post, and that’s just fine with me. I absolutely love how Harris dissected this entire social conundrum, and I think Bill Cosby kinda sums it up well by saying, “I don’t know the secret to success, but the key to failure is to try and please everyone.” Amen.
Best kept secrets you don’t know about flying: {warning, this one has a few curse words} With all the traveling we’re doing this year, this article definitely piqued my interest. While I don’t know if they’re all 100% true, it was still a fun and fascinating read. If you have anything to add to this list, that you think I should know, please please leave a comment!
~ And finally, one thing I’ve been following this week but can’t say I loved, is this whole mess that has been made among Christians due to the World Vision decision on who they will and won’t hire. I purposefully and intentionally stayed away from certain types of blogs/bloggers knowing that it would just ache my heart even more than it already was. Especially since the little I saw happening on the posts, updates and articles I did come across literally began causing me to lose sleep. (which is why you won’t find any links to any of this here.) Mostly, if I had to pick an emotion, it’s anger. Anger that the Enemy is sitting back nice and content with this little hurricane that has been created. If we won’t turn from our Faith, then maybe a nice little distraction and a whole lot of division will do the job. And even better that we look spiteful and hateful and impulsive, and how perfect to create a platform for those ready to jump on the “And this is why I don’t believe…” bandwagon. What really got me was seeing all the comments scattered here and there saying, “What Jesus would have done…” and then what follows is a bunch of speculation that is obviously not rooted in any kind of theology or truth but instead personal experience and opinion. And while I wanted to share at least this much, I realize that perhaps now isn’t the best time to continue going much further into this, as emotions are still raw, and it could easily become a blog post of it’s own. But, what I encourage you to do if you’ve been following this or have been affected by this, (and am attempting to do myself), is to pray. Pray with all your heart, from the depths of your heart, for the Church and for the Christians and for every single person lost, angry, hurt, sad and confused by what is being put on display for all to see. Pray that truth is shared IN LOVE, and that in the end it’s the biblical heart and face of Jesus that all will have the opportunity to see.
Where I’ve Been…
Since I missed last Friday’s W.I.B. post, I have a bit of catching up to do. Between the articles above and the links below, I’m pretty certain you’ll not be without things to read/watch this weekend. Enjoy!
SheKnows Mommalogues:
~ Do you regularly use coupons? “I had enough free toothpaste!”
~ If you could choose a career for your kids, what would it be? “Doing what they love…”
~ Aging: Fight it or embrace it? “I can’t wait to get older…”
~ After a long day at work, I just want to: “Sneak away to my…”
~ What’s one thing you love to splurge on? “It’s so important that I put the cost in my vows…”
~ Tell us about the last time you cried. “My kids were…”
~Favorite day of the week “The day that doesn’t have a birthday party on it…”
Le Musings of Moi YouTube:
~ Beauty Lifesavers ~ Beauty Products you shouldn’t be living without!
~ London Vlog Part I: Buckingham Palace/Changing of the Guards & Tower of London
~ London Vlog Part II: Paris, Camden Market, British Museum, Westminster Abbey & St. Pauls Cathedral
~ And up later today will be my Primark Haul from London! I can’t begin to tell you guys how obsessed I am with that store and how it MUST one day make its way to the U.S.
Okay, so now your turn. What have you guys loved and where have you been these last two weeks???
