|| April Journal || 2024 ||

On quitting things and growing things and other things

Well, hello! Spring is out here springing its little heart out in the DYT. The sun is out and the unstoppable train that is May (when you have kids in school) is upon us! I’m practicing my deep breathing and enjoying the little moments of calm when they come. Normally, it’s the kids who want a countdown, but this year I’m in on it, too — I’m ready to cross another year of kindie pick up off the list (21 days to go).

Goldie enjoying the tulips

Over-scheduling and Old School Summers

A reoccurring theme in my life has always been over-scheduling. I just love doing things! Can’t help myself. In high school and college (when I thought my scheduling choices only affected me, LOL, sorry Mom), I kept the schedule packed! It’s wild when I think about all the things I was involved in. Marriage and kids tamed this is me a little bit, but not much, if I’m honest. It really took COVID and our move to New Mexico (and probably 10-15 books on Sabbath) for me to slow down enough to experience a calmer pace of life.

As we were prepping to return to Dayton, I kept warning myself to watch for over-scheduling, knowing it could creep back in very easily. And creep it did, except instead of creep I could say rush. Opportunities arose, activities presented themselves, friends wanted to get together. I was starving for camaraderie and said yes to things I should have thought about first. I have a baby still napping and a kid with a kindie pick up, you guys. One wonders what one was thinking.

But this didn’t dawn on me until the last few months, when the commitments starting stacking up and the weeks felt more and more daunting. I talked to my therapist about it several times before I made any real moves toward change. I started to connect my over-scheduling to the picture that I wanted people to have of me: She’s chill! She’s fun! She loves to help! She’s got time for all kinds of things! But the reality was closer to She’s tired! Her brain is soup! She’s done with all the driving and the calendars!

God kindly reminded me, like a dad to his little child, that we had been here before. My therapist gently suggested that I actually quit some things. And bolstered by that very real accountability (she will be asking me about it, gulp), I’m quitting as many commitments as possible this summer. We are going to wake up slow and garden and go swimming and most importantly, be bored. We are going to have room for ideas and interruptions. We are not going to be in the car all day. We are not going to be keeping a bunch of weekly appointments.

This is the vision. It sounds kinda dreamy, right? What a fun, analog summer, she tells herself! But I know me, and I know it will be tricky. It will require boundaries and saying no to fun things sometimes (THE WORST). But I do want to stick to it. And in sticking to it, there will be more room to say yes to the spontaneous fun things that you can’t do unless you’ve got margin.

So this is your permission slip to ask me how it’s going this summer - hold me to it! And come find me at the pool. :)

Garden Things

Big news, beloved! So much happened this month at Campus Lot. The city did the demo on the property just in time, so we are able to use it as garden space this year. No seedling left behind!

Lucy at work in the first few days after demo

As you can imagine, they did not fill in the lot with beautiful, rich topsoil. It is maybe the rockiest bit of ground I’ve ever tried to grow something in; a real thorns and thistles situation. But armed with a tiller, rock sifter and a trailer full of compost, we’ve made a start. We’ve got eight beds so far and most of our veggies in the ground. Flowers are next up. I am learning a gardener’s patience as we labor to ready the ground for the rest of our little plants. Nick has been kind to remind me that it is all a big experiment and a chance for us to spend time together under the sun — whatever food and flowers that grow will be even more of a joy after this spring’s hard work.

Other Family Updates

We got a visit from Nick’s parents this month and were able to share the Total Eclipse 2024 experience with them. We had such fun spending the afternoon with our friends, marveling at the way God made this wild world.

Photo Cred — Cameron Braun

Pru had a big month — she turned seven, had a trampoline park birthday party, lost her front teeth, went on her first field trip (without mom) and started riding her bike again (training wheels on, but any interest in biking from Pru is newsworthy!).

Birthday girlie and her banana shake

Favorite Book of the Month

I read Nobody’s Mother by Sandra Glahn in a weekend - I couldn’t put it down. It was scholarly, yet so engaging. I am fascinated by how archaeology and anthropology can inform our understanding of the ancient world, and thereby inform our reading of the Scriptures. This book explores the cultural and historical significance of the goddess Artemis of the Ephesians, challenging some traditional assumptions about what was happening in Ephesus in Paul’s time. The author uses primary sources to help us understand one of Paul’s most confusing directives. Definitely worth the time if you’re a student of the Bible.

Fun Stuff

1. If you’re a gal in the Dayton area and you are looking for a summer Bible study option, check out Dayton Women in the Word’s Ecclesiastes Study. I’ve had the privilege of helping the teaching team to prepare and I know it’s going to be a time of deep growth, challenge and connection. Get all the registration info here! (It can also be done as a group study with your own church.)

2. I am probably really late to the game on this, but we just picked up some Stur flavor drops for our water and we are really enjoying them! Goldie really loves juice (her first words in the morning are “I honnngry, I juuuuuice”) and I’m trying to get her drinking more water instead. So we’re trying these as a bridge instead of going cold turkey. (Six AM is too early for that kind of resolve.)

3. Mother’s Day is coming up! This is just a fun reminder to honor your mom or the moms in your life in May. :)

4. Eastertide is still happening — how are we doing out there, liturgical friends? We’ve kept the Easter banner and chalkboard up and kept the house filled with flowers as often as possible. I recently made angel food cake with whipped cream and berries for an Eastertide dessert and did you know — you can make angel food cake in a regular pan? Just use an ungreased, metal pan (loaf pan, 8x8, 9x13, whatever you got) and then flip it over to cool. Magic!

That’s all from me. May the Lord bless you and your May, kind reader. See you back again here soon! Thanks for subscribing.