Gidget Goes Home » family

Can I Get an Amen?

gidget — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:07:19 +0000

A friend posted this quote on Facebook that she found in her BSF Bible study on Acts. Boy did I need to read it.

“Let us not pray for easier lives but for greater power to bring blessing out of every pressure and trial.”

Add to that this verse in Isaiah (40:31)….

He will tend his flock like a shepherd;

he will gather the lambs in his arms;

he will carry them in his bosom,

and gently lead those that are with young.

And I feel suddenly overwhelmed with gratitude that I have the Lord with me every step of the way as I journey through motherhood.

Lord, thank you for showing me that so much of overcoming my daily struggles comes down to leaning on You and trusting You to provide the strength I need. Lord, gently lead me as I raise my little ones, and please give me more and more power to see your blessings in the trials, little or big as they may be.

Can I Get an Amen? is a post from: Gidget Goes Home
Please visit my other blog, Simple Organic.
Gidget Recommends {a few of my favorite eBooks}:

One Bite at a Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler
Healthy Snacks to Go: 20 Real Food Recipes
Simple Blogging: Grow your blog with less time on the computer.
Thanks for reading!

Lately… {on simplifying in the New Year}

gidget — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:45:14 +0000

We’ve been struggling a lot with Gigi the last couple of months. Mainly through the hustle, bustle and excitement of the holidays, but even since then, we’ve been seeing some behavioral and anger issues in her that we want to start working though now, so as to hopefully prevent the development of a pattern in her personality.

Of course, even more importantly, in the long run we want to get to her heart, but practically we have some serious issues to work through right now.

Among seeking wise counsel, looking to the Word and how the Lord deals with us and we can model that with our kids, and reading elsewhere, we’ve been seeking some serious simplification. I might say that that is probably our main goal for the new year… simplifying life.

I recently read the book Simplicity Parenting with some other moms from Gigi’s preschool. We are going to continue working through some of its suggestions and meet again next month to discuss it more, because it has been that monumental for all of us.

I hope to elaborate here on what we’ve been doing sometime in the future, but for now, I just wanted to get something written down to commemorate the journey we’ve begun. Between significantly paring down our toy collection and establishing more rhythm, we’ve been making some serious changes around here to try to make life easier and more enjoyable amidst the craziness that is a family of five.

I’d love to hear from any of you who have read the book, or even if you haven’t– what have been some of the simplifying changes you’ve made that have impacted your family the most?

Oh, we’re also working our way through Tsh’s ebook One Bite at a Time, as another encouraging resource for simplification.

*affiliate links included in this post. thank you.*

Lately… {on simplifying in the New Year} is a post from: Gidget Goes Home
Please visit my other blog, Simple Organic.
Gidget Recommends {a few of my favorite eBooks}:

One Bite at a Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler
Healthy Snacks to Go: 20 Real Food Recipes
Simple Blogging: Grow your blog with less time on the computer.
Thanks for reading!

On Not Meeting Needs…

gidget — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 14:22:19 +0000

It feels good to do a little writing… even if it’s not really here on this blog. This past weekend we went camping up in the local mountains and I left my laptop at home (gasp!) and broke out the journal and pen to write a blog post for my new bloggy friend Beth at Red and Honey, and her series called 31 Days of Real Housewife Confessions.

Even just writing this out was an encouragement to me in my own mothering journey and I hope it encourages you where you are too.

“It’s almost like… anything worth doing in this life is almost impossible to do.” ~Jon Foreman, of Switchfood

I’ve been a wife for eight and a half years now, and mom for four. And yet, just only recently, after becoming a mom of three just over four months ago, did I come to this revelatory conclusion:

As much as I would like to, I can’t meet all the needs of everyone in my family.

Meet me over at Red and Honey to read the rest and leave a comment…

On Not Meeting Needs… is a post from: Gidget Goes Home
Please visit my other blog, Simple Organic.
Gidget Recommends {a few of my favorite eBooks}:

One Bite at a Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler
Healthy Snacks to Go: 20 Real Food Recipes
Simple Blogging: Grow your blog with less time on the computer.
Thanks for reading!

8 Years

gidget — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 22:26:22 +0000

2 lovebirds

+8 years + 2 states + 7 homes

+ 3 kiddos

= a whole lot of blessings

Happy 8th Anniversary to the one I love!

{counting the gifts, #82-102}

8 Years is a post from: Gidget Goes Home
Please visit my other blog, Simple Organic.
Gidget Recommends {a few of my favorite eBooks}:

One Bite at a Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler
Healthy Snacks to Go: 20 Real Food Recipes
Simple Blogging: Grow your blog with less time on the computer.
Thanks for reading!

She’s here…

gidget — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 20:42:22 +0000

She’s here… is a post from: Gidget Goes Home Please visit my other blog, Simple Organic. Gidget Recommends {a few of my favorite eBooks}: One Bite at a Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler Healthy Snacks to Go: 20 Real Food Recipes Simple Blogging: Grow your blog with less time on the computer. Thanks [...]

She’s here… is a post from: Gidget Goes Home
Please visit my other blog, Simple Organic.
Gidget Recommends {a few of my favorite eBooks}:

One Bite at a Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler
Healthy Snacks to Go: 20 Real Food Recipes
Simple Blogging: Grow your blog with less time on the computer.
Thanks for reading!

Counting Down the Days…

gidget — Mon, 30 May 2011 19:47:24 +0000

I can hardly believe that we will be a family of five sometime in the next few weeks (!!). I’ve finally started doing some nesting… it’s amazing how the daily wrangling of a 1-year old and a 4-year old has made my nesting instinct sit on the back burner with this pregnancy.

I just wanted to pop in here to share a few random little things and then to say that I’ll be taking a bit of a break here to finish tying up some loose ends, mainly trying to get a load of fabulous guest posts lined up and scheduled for Simple Organic, starting a few new Surf Mamas groups, catching up on family photos & blogging {before we are inundated with sweet newborn pics}, and finishing some projects around the house.

Last week we went blueberry picking, which was great fun, and I wrote about here {along with republishing my blueberry-honey ice cream recipe- YUM}.

Then, last weekend we went to a fun picnic with our adoption agency and spent some nice time with Brody’s birthfamily. We even got to meet his adorable biological cousin.

This weekend we’ve been productive yet have relaxed, which is the perfect weekend combo.

We worked in our front yard and will hopefully have a little patch of grass in next weekend, we enjoyed a lovely neighborhood potluck and today we had donuts by the beach and are planning to do some BBQ-ing tonight. We also had some adorable 4-year photos taken of Gigi by one of my oldest, dearest friends, which you can see here.

Recently, I joined Pinterest and am in love. If you haven’t yet and you’d like an invite, let me know. May I also recommend my friend Megan’s fabulous tutorial on how exactly to use the site.

Oh, and I made these yesterday: self-frosting nutella cupcakes. Hm, might need to go snag one right now actually.

*****

And now, here’s a little trip down Instagram lane as I share a few things I’m counting as little gifts I’m so thankful for… #72-81.

#72 :: homemade bread.

#73 :: this guy’s smile.

#75 :: new babies due to be born around the same time as our Hallee {this is a baby shower gift I made for a friend due around the 4th of July}.

#76 :: loads of organic strawberries ready to be made into jam today.

#77 :: family nights by the fire pit {hopefully many more of these to come this summer}.

#78 :: Saturdays at home.

#79 :: a little mama-pampering.

#80 :: these two cuties.

#81 :: my neighborhood– so blessed to live here.

Counting Down the Days… is a post from: Gidget Goes Home
Please visit my other blog, Simple Organic.
Gidget Recommends {a few of my favorite eBooks}:

One Bite at a Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler
Healthy Snacks to Go: 20 Real Food Recipes
Simple Blogging: Grow your blog with less time on the computer.
Thanks for reading!

Mother’s Day

gidget — Wed, 11 May 2011 14:18:42 +0000

I had a lovely Mother’s Day. My kids aren’t really old enough to give me gifts yet (when they are–maybe next year– I’d love to incorporate this sweet idea into our family), so it’s basically just my husband’s doing. This year David found something that really showed me his thoughtfulness, as it appealed to what he would call my hippie side– this cool bag made of 95% recycled materials!

Here’s a look at our day in photos.

We had a delicious breakfast before church!

Trying to get a photo of the mama and her two treasures can be a bit challenging…

{This one really makes me laugh.}

There we go! That one was pretty darn good of all of us!!

That afternoon both sets of grandparents came over for a yummy fish taco dinner, which was very nice. We love having both of them so (relatively) close by!

Hard to believe that I’ll be a mother of three in around five weeks or less!!

I hope all you mamas had a special day. I was especially thinking of Brody’s birthmom on Sunday and hope and pray that all of you who have lost moms or children, or who weren’t with your moms or children feel a special dose of our great God’s love this week.

Mother’s Day is a post from: Gidget Goes Home
Please visit my other blog, Simple Organic.
Gidget Recommends {a few of my favorite eBooks}:

One Bite at a Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler
Healthy Snacks to Go: 20 Real Food Recipes
Simple Blogging: Grow your blog with less time on the computer.
Thanks for reading!

Brody’s 1st Birthday- A Baseball Party

gidget — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:09:25 +0000

Well, since Brody’s first birthday happened to fall during MLB’s Opening Week, we thought it was only appropriate (especially for our family) to do an Opening Day baseball theme. My brother cooked up a sweet logo from the official MLB one, and the rest is history.

{I added a thank-you line to it to use it on our party favors.}

one of the staples of Opening Day: Bunting!

cupcake toppers from Cap Creations.

somehow Daddy ended up with lots of these… hmmm…

what’s a baseball party without hot dogs {nitrate-free, of course} and lemonade?

friends and more bunting.

He’s not usually this patient in the high chair.

He started slow {with one sprinkle, no joke}.

But then, wasn’t afraid to go for it!

Man, he is just too cute.

{This funny little outfit he’s wearing was Daddy’s, almost 30 years ago! The shorts may be short but it’s so cute!}

It was really special to have so many friends and family members be there, and also for Brody’s birthparents to come, too. We loved getting to finally introduce them to our family.

It was truly a special day, celebrated on Bro’s Adoption Day even! We have been so blessed to have him part of our family for this last year and can’t imagine our family any other way.

{all photos by Alex Pavone}

Brody’s 1st Birthday- A Baseball Party is a post from: Gidget Goes Home
Please visit my other blog, Simple Organic.
Gidget Recommends {a few of my favorite eBooks}:

One Bite at a Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler
Healthy Snacks to Go: 20 Real Food Recipes
Simple Blogging: Grow your blog with less time on the computer.
Thanks for reading!

The Idolatry of the Nuclear Family

gidget — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 23:21:14 +0000

This has been on my mind now for a couple of weeks. I mentioned recently how I’d been feeling the Lord pressing on my heart thoughts on intentional community and when I went to hear author Steve Timmis speak, one of the things I asked during the Q & A session was about commitment.

As in, how does his church encourage a deeper level of committment to the community in their small groups?

In his answer, he mentioned something that struck me. He mentioned the need for people to make adjustments to their lives (in order to make community a priority on some level), and then he said,

“We call people away from careerism and away from the idolatry of the nuclear family.”

He went on to mention that the notion of the nuclear family is a relatively “new” concept. By relatively new, I think he was speaking in terms of centuries, not years, or even generations.

In our own culture, the more I thought about this idea, the more I realized how right he was to mention the nuclear family as something that could become an idol for us.

My pastor has more than once quoted Tim Keller who said, “The human heart is an idol factory,” and if we think about what we treasure in our hearts probably second only to God, it’s our families.

And what I believe our hearts are really good at doing is taking good things, blessings that are meant to be treasured, and sneaking them above where they should be, to a place of idolatry.

I want to pause here, to point out out that as a wife and mother of two (almost 3!) my family is pretty much my main focus, besides myself, practically speaking. All day long I am taking care of the kids, managing the home and seeking and enjoying time with my husband.

I’m not saying that just living life as someone who’s married with kids automatically makes an idol out of family life. It’s all about my motivation. About my heart. About my thoughts. About where my family ranks in comparison to my heart attitude toward the Lord and the Gospel.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:33

How does this idol manifest itself then? I think we see it when we use our family as an excuse to avoid the community of believers, or even more, to reach out to the community. It’s an idol when it prevents us from living out the Gospel with our brothers and sisters in Christ and from developing relationships with those who don’t know the Lord.

Practically for me, this means I might have to forgo a nap here and there in order to meet for a playdate with a small group member who I haven’t seen in a while or a new friend I want to eventually be able to invite to church. It means my kids might end up staying up past their bedtime one night a week to make our Community Group a priority.

There’s balance though. I still know when to say no, when my kids have absolutely had too much “excitement” and Brody is melting down because it’s an hour past his bedtime already. I still consider their physical and emotional needs. I have to; I’m their mother. God has given us each wisdom, intuition and common sense to be used.

But I don’t let their needs determine every decision our family makes.

One of the most valuable lessons my husband and I wanted to implement when we were welcoming our first child to the family almost years ago, was the idea of the child joining the family, rather than becoming the center of the family.

We have always aimed to make that the way our family works, and I think that has helped us to, usually, not allow our nuclear family to become an idol. Each of our children joins an already-established family. Obviously, there is a time when that baby’s needs will take precedence (when they are newborns, for example), but generally speaking, we make our family decisions based on what’s best for our whole family.

And speaking of decisions, we also want our small group community to be a place where we bounce ideas off our brothers and sisters in Christ, before jumping into decisions as a family.

When we humbly make our decisions based on what’s best for the community, and with the opinions of our trusted fellow community members in mind, we again remove our nuclear family from that potential place of idolatry, by not always basing our choices on what we feel would be the most ideal for our particular nuclear family at that particular time.

The Lord may choose to reveal some wisdom to another member of the community that we may miss out on if we make all our decisions all by ourselves. And we may miss out on some amazing opportunity to live out the gospel in the community, by focusing too much on the temporary needs of our nuclear family.

In summary, I’d say we just need to be in prayer a lot so we can truly be in tune to the Lord’s spirit on when we need to sacrifice the schedule, convenience or desire of the nuclear family. I love my family and the time I get to spend with them. Just being mindful of these things and of the needs of the community though helps me keep things in perspective.

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
1 Peter 3:8

In the classic American Dream, there’s next to nothing that comes before the nuclear family, so I guess this is just another way we can “rebel” against the culture and make people wonder what it is about us that makes us different.

So what do you think about all this? Do you find it easy to make the nuclear family an idol? Or how do you fight against this cultural trend? Do you totally disagree with me (just do so in kindness, please, if you do)?

The Idolatry of the Nuclear Family is a post from: Gidget Goes Home
Please visit my other blog, Simple Organic.
Gidget Recommends {a few of my favorite eBooks}:

One Bite at a Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler
Healthy Snacks to Go: 20 Real Food Recipes
Simple Blogging: Grow your blog with less time on the computer.
Thanks for reading!

Family Mission/Purpose Statement

gidget — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 22:59:24 +0000

As we start the year, David and I are really striving to simplify and de-clutter our home and our life. I am so excited to have an awesome tool to help us as we tackle it, Organized Simplicity: The Clutter-Free Approach to Intentional Living, the new book by my “boss”/editor-in-chief Tsh Oxenreider (aka Simple Mom).

I feel like the phrase “simple living” can really be vague and “philosophical” but Tsh’s book is really amazing as it approaches the idea of simple living by giving practical ways to apply the idea of simple living to real life. She’s a realist, and doesn’t think we all need to live off the grid and away from civilization, but rather teaches us how to apply our values to our own, individual lives.

The first thing we decided to do as we prepare to work through the second half of her book (the how-to section) was use her guide to create a family mission/purpose statement. She has blogged about this before so I’ve thought about doing it; in fact over a year ago David and I sat down to answer her guiding questions, but never moved on from there.

So this past weekend, we got out our answer sheets and went through them together, finally coming up with the first edition of the Bennett Family Mission Statement. This could naturally change over the years, but for now, this will be the filter we use to pass through all of our belongings as we ponder them, and in the future as we make family decisions.

We, the Bennett Fam, believe that our purpose as a family is to love God and others, and glorify Him in the way we live.

We will:

reflect the fruit of the Spirit toward each other {love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control}

cultivate a home that is open, laid-back and inviting, and a reflection of our family

aim to live a simple, uncluttered, peaceful life

Our priorities are:

loving Jesus and radiating His love

living a healthy, active, natural/homemade lifestyle

caring for Creation and enjoying the outdoors

having fun together

Hopefully having something concrete like this will help us attain a lifestyle of simplicity and contentment as we raise our children. I want them to grow up understanding why we’ve made certain decisions, and I want to give them the tools {thru modeling} to value quality over quantity.

Do you have a family mission/purpose statement? I’d love to hear yours if you want to share.

Family Mission/Purpose Statement is a post from: Gidget Goes Home
Please visit my other blog, Simple Organic.
Gidget Recommends {a few of my favorite eBooks}:

One Bite at a Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler
Healthy Snacks to Go: 20 Real Food Recipes
Simple Blogging: Grow your blog with less time on the computer.
Thanks for reading!