Sunday 31 July 2016

The Hard and The Beautiful // Me and Mine in July


We stood half way up a mountain yesterday. I breathed deep and savoured the moment, stopping to capture these memories forever on my camera. Jonas tucked up proudly on his Papa's back, the girl's wide-eyed at nature, sticks in hand. Everything is to be explored - touched and tried, memorized and questioned. We talked about slugs and pine cones, waterfalls and the water cycle. Little minds, hungry for filling, eager to learn.



It has been wonderful to get away. To have intensive time together, without the daily interruption of routine and schedules... and boy, have we needed it. We were ready, SO ready for a break. I was probably the most ready of all... ready to have time together as a family, and the opportunity to have focused time to home in on some unsavoury behaviour I mentioned in a previous post. I have learnt, over the years, that aside from their own struggles and battles with sin, often the children's challenging behaviour stems from over-busyness, and too often the culprit filling the diary is me. Wiping the diary clean gives me space to examine my own heart, to have room to follow through and be consistent with discipline, and to make plenty of opportunities for the struggling child to realign. Obviously having David at home for the summer is probably the biggest help of all. When there are two of us holding firm, it's easier to follow through and be strong than when you feel you're facing a battle alone.


And I'm praying. A lot. (Though never as much as I could be!)


I'm feeling increasingly challenged that my first and primary responsibility at the moment is to these little ones of ours. Too often I am distracted and over-busy, and by nature I want to be involved in every new and exciting project. But I'm slowly learning that at the heart of motherhood lies a necessity to sacrifice, and in this season of the little years, that sacrifice is perhaps more pronounced in the areas of my time and energy. We won't get this time back, these are the key training years, and so prioritising thoughtful and purposeful, gospel-centred parenting is key.

And hard.



But when you're up a mountain looking down, when your little girls are standing under waterfall spray with mouths wide open, drinking deep, when your son gazes out on all the surroundings, chattering away as he's strapped carefully to your back, the beauty of family hits you again.


Family is where we are real, and vulnerable... and that can be scary.

But it can also be the most beautiful thing on earth.

Me and Mine in July...


The Me and Mine Project

16 comments:

  1. Such a lovely post and so true. Love the shots of you all up that mountain, such beautiful shots in a beautiful spot xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll admit it is a stunning part of the world... I don't think I'll ever get tired of it! Thank you for your lovely comment Caroline xx

      Delete
  2. What a great family adventure hunny. Looks amazing and so much fun had by all. Your eldest daughter looks so much like you oh my goodness. Beautiful family captures this month as always. #meandmineproject

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes... Ava is my mini-me! The other two are much more like their Papa! Thank you for stopping by! I hope you and yours are well!x

      Delete
  3. I can so relate to this post - those sacrifices are hard sometimes and like you I am often the one guilty of creating the busyness. I do love your thought about family being where we are real and vulnerable - so very true. So glad that you have had some time away to stop and reflect and what a beautiful place to take the time out. Love the photo of your daughter drinking from the waterfall and the final one of the five of you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Time away is always the best place to realign, don't you think? I'm definitely most real and vulnerable in my family, and that's not always a good thing! But I suppose at least it provides plenteous opportunities to practice grace and patience, and remember the beauty of forgiveness. Thank you for your thoughtful comment Louise xx

      Delete
  4. Oh isn't that the truth! But as a dear friend once said to me, the things that are hard work are often the most fulfulling. As always your pictures of Norway are breathtakingly beautiful, but the one of Ava tasting the waterfall is just stunning - what a lovely girl she is x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh yes... That is SO true! Thank you for your lovely comment Carie... I hope you're doing ok. So sorry to hear about the accident. Horrible for you all! Yes, I love that picture of Ava too! I caught the moment just in time!

      Delete
  5. Wonderful lessons to be learning and sharing Claire. Thank you.
    I was new to marriage and parenting when I moved to a place where I don't have friends or family and that is really hard - however the plus side is my diary is the emptiest it has ever been in my life and my children are reeping all the benefit of my undivided attention. It's me that is making the sacrifice which is hard, but the way it should be x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sacrifice never feels easy, does it? But I suspect these will be sacrifices we will never regret... Thank you for your encouragement Kay x

      Delete
  6. Love these happy photos and you are quite right, these lovely little ones are your priority right now. You will have lots of years to do all of the other things that you enjoy and are so good at. You are a great mum xxxxx

    ReplyDelete
  7. Beautiful photos Claire. Glad you are getting time to recharge in many ways. All our lives get far too busy. x

    ReplyDelete
  8. So beautiful - enjoy every moment! xx

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a heartfelt and beautiful post. I totally relate to this and definitely with the whole busyness of life effecting the kids. I sometimes feel like I'm failing because I'm trying to do too much with/for them and also not seeing to what I want to do for myself...but equally these years are so short and I want to savour them to their maximum potential even though some times are hard. I think all we can do is take one moment at a time with the realisation that it will soon be gone, but also that we can't possibly get everything done. That the simpler way of life is definitely the most peaceful with kids.. yhis place looks so magical, especially for kids to build memories but also even more special to watch them create those special times. That mountain looks ace! X

    ReplyDelete
  10. Very true we are all happier when we are less busy even when I think we should be onto the next exciting venture! It looks like a gorgeous part of the world xx

    ReplyDelete

I love reading your comments! Thanks for stopping by!