Starting Small

My boys and I take a lot of walks, but they wouldn't usually describe it as such. In fact, they'd wrinkle their little noses and say 'No, thank you.' (hopefully, with those correct manners!) if you proposed this business of walk taking. That's because every single one of our walks start out as a simple search for 'adventure'.  Actually, backing up a bit farther, our walks start with checking the temperature and assuring them they do, in fact, need to wear their shoes in winter!
But once we're properly bundled, out the door, and on the hunt for adventure in its many shapes and sizes, we usually end up taking a walk! My little men don't realize my ulterior motives are fresh air and exercise but they absolutely know we have the best adventures outside. Starting small ('Boys, please grab your coats!') and using my words wisely ('Let's go find an adventure!') can make a significant difference in the motivation of tiny humans and, as it turns out, grown ups, as well!

I don't set resolutions anymore. At least, not the grandiose 'New Years' kind. There's nothing wrong with these, of course, and if that happens to be your motivational style then please keep on keeping on!! But I, personally, refuse to declare, 'Well, because it's the first day of January, I now resolve to keep my house spotless, start growing and canning all my own vegetables, work out every day without fail, make seven new friends this year, run my own in-home business, and (feel free to fill in the blank with any/all of your own lofty ambitions..)'
I've learned from past experience and a few free personality tests, that this is simply not realistic for me. I will eventually burn out, drop the ball and then become discouraged. Plus, I've come to terms with the fact that my introverted self may need an entire lifetime to find and develop genuine friendship with even just a few people!
It's not that I don't believe myself to be capable of achieving every single one of my goals.. eventually! But I'm learning to give myself grace as I grow and learn, take each moment as it comes, and not set myself up for failure by signing up for a marathon if I know my body is only ready for a 5K. I'm realizing the value to starting 'small' and growing daily in diligence and intentionality.
Diligence: 'careful and persistent work or effort.'
Intentionality: 'the fact of being deliberate or purposive. ' (and purposive: 'having, serving, or done with a purpose.')

'Your behavior is a reflection of what you truly believe' -Hyrum W. Smith

I don't make resolutions for the new year but I DO set small goals for my days, weeks, etc. They may not look very glorious on paper, but I've found that, in my life, the key is to start small and use the right verb-age, not unlike those 'adventure' walks with my young warriors. I don't tell the boys I'm ready to go walk a mile or two, because they don't usually think they're up for that! But if we're simply on a mission to find the perfect puddle, or in search of acorns for ammunition, or the right length of jousting spear, they are always up for an adventure!
Along those same lines, when I want to reduce the amount of 'stuff' in my home, I start with my closet instead of attempting to purge the entire house in one day. When I'm overwhelmed with the state of disarray in a certain room, I start by making the bed or cleaning off the counter (vs. burning it all down!) Start small, my friends! This is huge! If I want to be less distracted, I need to choose a sustainable place to start (logging off of Facebook) instead of something drastic that I'll quickly regret and/or undo, like getting rid of my phone completely or fantasizing about living in a time period where people couldn't even fathom bringing a telephone to the dinner table.

Instead of despairing over the extra long list of resolutions you wrote for this year, be encouraged by the fact that you can start fresh today and you can start with one thing. Right now is the best possible time to begin implementing a small change into our lives, and those small changes will stack like bricks to create the foundation of a life lived on purpose! Then we do these small things again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, until we can't remember not doing it that way; not making the bed every morning or washing our face before bed or spending even just 10 minutes out in the fresh air!
God doesn't require that we read 'x' amount of His word each year. But I'm finding that the deeper we dig into His word, the more we come to know Him and that is when we will understand His will and then, as a result, want to dig deeper! So, you can commit to read through the Bible in a year but what matters more than that accomplishment is our simply choosing to read a chapter of the Bible every day and allowing the Holy Spirit to change us from the inside out. Shoot, start with a few verses if that's all you 'have time' for, but don't stop there- that is key. When we go walking we put on our coats, we go outside, we start searching for sticks, or eagles, or wild blackberries, and then we go walking! Dressing properly for the weather is where we must start but it would be silly to stop there.
Romans 12:2 'Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will.'

Dear Readers, let's start small. May we be encouraging to ourselves and whoever is journeying alongside us. And let's work with diligence and intentionality to turn these small starts into habits that can change the way we live. I recently read some of Charlotte Mason's writings on the development of habits in young children and how vital this is to the formation of their character. 'Every day, every hour, the parents are either passively or actively forming those habits in their children upon which, more than anything else, future character and conduct depend.' Charlotte Mason
I'm not sure about you, but I find that massively inspiring and secretly terrifying. Such power we hold! What are our actions, words, and priorities teaching our kids about life? The things we allow and encourage in our homes, the behavior we insist upon (or let slide) will become habits for them. Even if you don't have tiny humans watching your every move, you must still consider your sphere of influence, and our very lives! 'Every day, every hour' habits are being formed and those habits shape lives- lives that could change the world. I pray that this thought would sink deep in to each and every one of us; that we would truly understand why starting small, right now, is a really big deal.

'It's not what we do every now and then- but what we do every day that changes everything.' 

Ann Voskamp

Battle Cry.

He said it as we waited in that long, snaking line of traffic headed towards the National Harbor. The sun had already dipped below the horizon but we were anticipating the splendor of fireworks against the black, night sky and we could glimpse the brightness of twinkling, Christmas lights in grand display.
"You know what I say at night when I'm starting to feel scared, Mom?"
'What's that, Buddy?' I asked.
My five year old responded, "I say, 'Immanuel'. That means God with us."
I told him I loved that idea; we talked about how he feels peace after he talks with Jesus and how he remembers that Immanuel is right there with him in the midst of darkest night. And then the conversation moved on, rather seamlessly, to hot chocolate with extra marshmallows. But I was quiet in the front seat, treasuring our conversation in all its profound simplicity. I'm still pondering this knowledge my son is beginning to know deep within- God with us.

Thankfully, our boys have never really dealt with nightmares. But we have had to battle other fears that try to grab hold of their minds. For a few weeks this past summer, Owen struggled with being apart from us- even just being in a different room of the house than I was. He absolutely needed to know where his Dad or I were at all times, and that made bed time especially difficult. Some nights it would take him over an hour to fall asleep and he would keep calling out, 'Are you doing dishes, Mom?' or 'Are you still working in your office, Dad?'
We started praying 'warrior prayers' with him and talking about his mind as a precious treasure that both good and evil want to stake their claim on. Fear is the Devil's strategy and we choose whether or not to listen to his lies or fight back with all our strength and the Holy Spirit's help. This 'battle talk' made sense to our young warrior and he grabbed on to the fact that he could DO something about this problem and even fight back. Owen knew we would never leave home without him, but as soon as we would head into another room, that thought would rise up. Recognizing it as a lie started to make a difference.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 became our battle cry, 'For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.'

For weeks we talked about Jesus being the Peace that literally stands guard over our hearts and minds and both boys loved imagining the epic battles being fought at all times (with extra large, flaming swords, of course!) for TRUTH! Before falling asleep at night Owen would say, 'Read the verses, Mom!' and then we would pray hard, as warriors, for victory in this battle. Most nights I would return to his room after he fell asleep and continue to pray against that fear.
Owen is not afraid anymore. Of course, he still battles with fears. But he is not irrationally afraid in ways that make him panic. He's always had a 'need to know', but I believe that's a first born tendency. He plays happily in the backyard again, even if I'm only watching from the window, and he falls asleep contentedly every night. I'm sure there will be other battles down the road, but this one has been won! And now that we have passed through that type of fear, God with us carries significantly more weight for both him and I! Light seems much brighter after you've walked through the dark.
Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear; for I am with you..

I started typing this up a few days before Christmas. But, of course, life happened and we went on a trip to CO. and here I am posting it a week into the new year. I think it's rather fitting, though, because the birth of Jesus into our messy, dark, and broken world should be celebrated and proclaimed every day of the year! No matter what we're facing; the darkness we have walked through, or pain we may be feeling, the Light of the world came down to us and because of that we can have hope!
Matthew 1:21-23 'She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.' All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel' (which means 'God with us')."
Immanuel bridged the gap and became the way for each of us to access Truth that can light up the darkest night and Peace that crushes all fear! Hope came as a baby, born in a stable, which means He can enter right into the midst of our hard and ugly, too. He was laid in a manger, which means nothing surprises him! And He was welcomed by travel-weary, first time parents and shepherds straight from the hillside, which means he doesn't need us to clean up our act first, he just wants us to come.

The lights at the Harbor that night were incredible, and it was because the night was pitch black. Isn't that's how it always works, though, with the drastic contrast? We don't even know to long for peace until we've endured a season of turmoil. The comfort of friendship can bring us to tears only after knowing what it is to be completely alone. And into a world where fear and chaos appear to be running rampant, Immanuel comes down; the contrast is startling and Satan trembles.
The enemy of our souls knows that there is an end in sight. But until that glorious day comes, Satan will do his very best to drag us down into darkness with him; robbing us of joy, peace, and hope. We can choose to fight back, though- just ask Owen! We can take thoughts captive, by the power of God's Spirit, learning to see through those masquerading lies. Jesus is with us and He fights for us. While we may have to do battle every single day we are on this earth, we can know the war has already been won. In John 16:33 Jesus says, "I have told you these things, so that in me you have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." May Immanuel be our battle cry every day of the year because 'God with us' makes all the difference!

Glory to the light of the world

For all who wait

For all who hunger

For all who've prayed

For all who wonder

Behold your King

Behold Messiah

Emmanuel, Emmanuel

-Lauren Daigle