On How Discipline Is Saving Me

I'm blogging over at Middle Places today, about wishing I had a reset button, and how exactly one goes about recalibrating her life.

"I wish I had a reset button, like those microscopic rubber buttons on the backs of alarm clocks and internet routers.  I wish my belly button worked that way, that someone could poke me with a toothpick or the end of a bobby pin that's missing the plastic bubble that keeps it from drawing blood on your scalp, and I'd default back to ground zero, fresh and shiny.

But I don't have a reset button, so I'm going to have to do this the old fashioned way...

This year I tried to tweak my habits, adjust my schedule, to function in this new life, but what I know is that you can't build a brand new picture with the same old pieces.  Tweaking and adding and shifting gave me juggling, balancing, and multi-tasking.  And while juggling, balancing, and multi-tasking is a great way to survive, it's no way to live.  I am crafting a brand new picture that includes a beautiful, surprise baby and a beautiful, surprise writing career; I need new pieces.  I need a reset button.

A vacation won't do.  Neither will new apps, a new deadline, or more coffee.  Those are tweaks; I need a fundamental change, a shift in the tectonic plates.  

And the ancient secret to shifting one's tectonic plates is radical self-discipline..."

You can read the rest here!  

My Previous Works

Today I drug out the big box full of my and Madeline's baby books.  It was all sugar and spice and everything nice until I came across a manila folder full of some elementary school work that my mom saved.  YOU GUYS.  I HAVE NOT LAUGHED THIS HARD IN WEEKS.  Maybe months.  Maybe ever.

As it turns out, I wrote quite a few books in my younger years.

First, this ode to my mother.

She's okay,  I guess.

Then this one.

At the time I was using Kathryn as my pen name.  In my defense, this was before anyone introduced me to the concept of "plagiarism."

I was also doing all of my own illustrations.

Just to be clear, not everything is a vegetable.  (MOM.)

I wrote some fiction, fairy tales in particular.  Probably because I could not resist trying my hand at the "castle-inside-the-first-letter" technique.

Also, it seems my mother used to scream at me when I barged in on her in the shower.   This is a universal and timeless part of parenting.

In my early works I experimented with some creative spelling.

And it is xspeshalee clear that my excellent self-esteem was already in tact.

My longest work to date is a short story titled, "A STORY OF AN UNICORN" [sic.]  It turns out my parents were ruthless editors who did not feel that young unicorn romance and baking witches into cakes were wise plot choices for me at this point in my writing career.

Neither was young unicorn polygamy.

They did, however, encourage me to keep writing books, to which I responded:

 

Maby I will, maby I will...

Do For One

Trying to be a moral person feels like a minefield some days - there are just so many things one is supposed to care about.  And not just care about - pray about.  And not just pray about, but mobilize for or against.

For starters, I am supposed to care about, pray about, give to, and advocate (passionately) for or against the following:

Tornado/Tsunami/Earthquake victims The homeless Communities with no access to clean water Communities with no access to basic health care Communities with no access to life-saving vaccinations Every child within 6 degrees of separation of me that has a chronic or terminal illness Third world poverty Global hunger Hunger in America Sex trafficking victims Orphans Children in the foster care system My own children My marriage Genetically altered foods People that have never heard the gospel (every people group individually) Global warming Puppy mills The police department, fire department, and our troops overseas. All children with special needs At risk children and the failing education system The drug epidemic Cancer research AIDS research The crisis in Syria The conflict in the Middle East The crisis in Uganda Persecution Marriage Equality Abortion

The truth is, I do care about these things, about the people involved and the implications.  I've prayed about them too - mostly (I can't say that I've stormed the gates of heaven over puppy mills or genetically altered food).  But let's be realistic: if I tried to pray for all the things that I'm supposed to care about every day (or even every week) I wouldn't have any emotional energy left to, I don't know, BREATHE.

I suspect that we could fill the state of Texas with well-meaning people who are paralyzed in their compassion because it's just too much.  If they opened their hearts up, opened their schedules or their wallets up to every need, they would not survive it. In the Cinderella movie, Ever After, Prince Henry says, “I used to think that if I– if I cared about anything, I would have to care about everything, and I’d go stark raving mad.”  I've felt this tension so acutely, haven't you?

The liberating truth is that you don't have to care about everything, at least not in equal measure.  You are not a pie chart that has to be divided equally among the needs of this world.  The truth is that it's okay to have a focus, a purpose - in fact, you were created for one.

The following concept unparalyzed me.  It returned unto me my compassion and generosity, and it freed me from indecision and guilt.  This concept helped me to reconcile my inexhaustible feelings with my very-exhaustible resources.  The secret is this:

"Do for one person what you wish you could do for everyone." [Andy Stanley]

I cannot donate to the victims of every natural disaster - so I will do for one precious family what I wish I could do for everyone. I cannot support every missionary - so I will do for one what I wish I could do for everyone. I cannot mother every orphan; I cannot love every child that hurts - so I will do for one what I wish I could do for everyone.  God, how I wish it.

I can't send every greeting card.   I can't attend every wedding. I can't take every flight or visit every friend. I can't devote fervent prayer to every lost soul or every suffering saint. I can't buy pants for every homeless person.

I could never advocate for every cause that touches my heart, because they all touch my heart.  But I can do for one person what I wish I could do for everyone.  I can do the next right thing.   The fact that I can't buy groceries for all the single moms should not dissuade me from buying them one time - for one mom.  It is foolish, if not cruel, to withhold goodness simply because we cannot give the same goodness to everyone.

One of the beautiful things about the body of Christ is that it functions as a body.  Each soul a cell.  Each with a different purpose, a different burden, a different area of passion and concern.  And when every soul does the next right thing, when every soul is free to do for one person what they wish they could do for everyone, the world gets loved well.

23 Things My Mom Said

(Art by Katie Daisy)

23 Things My Mom Said

1. Attitude is everything.

2. Everything in moderation.

3. Always leave a place a little nicer than you found it.

4. Go run around the house 7 times.

5. Do the whole job.

6. Do it right the first time.

7. Read this with your filter on.

8. Song lyrics are my theology.

9. I'm still learning.

10. Pretty is as pretty does.

11. Be good and have fun, in that order.

12. Presentation is everything.

13. What you think is important.

14. This is non-negotiable.

15. Manners will get you far in life.

16. The important things don't change.

17. Fresh air is the best medicine.

18. Let's go on an adventure.

19. If you tell me you're bored, I'll give you something to do, but you're not going to like it.

20. You're not lost if you know how to get home.

21. Don't be afraid to turn around.

22.  Tell the truth, no matter what.

23. That's just the way of it, child.

What things did your mom always say?  What phrase of your mother's most often comes out of your mouth?  Share in the comments or on Twitter with the hashtag #thingsmymomsaid!   Happy Mother's Day!

PSA

If you find you're missing posts from me, like this one

or this one

or this one

it's because Facebook wants you to prove your interest in this blog.  Facebook is skeptical and high maintenance, but we love her anyway, like a high school girlfriend.  If you want my posts to show up in your newsfeed, here's what you must do to prove your love to FB:

1. Go to my page (here). 2. Click the little gear-looking doo-hicky in the top right corner, and select "add to interest lists."

Like so

Presto!  Now you won't miss posts like this one.

or this one

or these:

Next week I'll start posting opinion/polling/research questions for the books.  I would love all of your input, so come be a part!

Thanks for connecting with me, I love you so! Kate