Step Outside of Your Comfort Zone

I have a secret. I HATE being outside my comfort zone. I am very comfortable in here. It's warm, I know what to expect, who is going to be there, etc. However, being comfortable isn't what life is all about. In the last few months, especially, God has REALLY pushed me far outside my comfort zone. We moved to Iowa City, are attending a new church, a new small group (I've really never been in one before!), and has pushed me to do crazy outgoing things that I would NEVER have dreamed of doing before.

As I was standing in the shower today, thinking about all of this, I realized it is when we are outside of our comfort zones that God does the greatest things in our lives. Do you think Matthew, the despised tax collector was in his comfort zone when he began following Christ? Jesus didn't say "Hey, come follow me, it will be a blast!" He said "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." (Mark 8:34-35)

Well. That doesn't sound too pleasant, but how much more pleasant would it be to be bathed in the love of Christ, and know that you are doing His will? The greatest thing there is on earth! I challenge you today, step outside of your comfort zone and see what God has in store for you!

Be Still

Psalm 46:10

This passage has been repeating itself in my head for months now. I know it is something that God really wants me to pursue, but I have been struggling with it. The problem is that I have been so "busy". I put the word in quotes because while there are always many things going on in my life, I make myself too "busy". I give myself too much to do, therefore I don't leave time for the things that truly matter; time in the bible, worship, and quality time with my family. I spend time with the boys, of course, because they are home with me all day every day. However, I don't spend "quality" time with them very often. I get itchy when I am sitting on the floor with them because I think of all the things I could be doing.
I have really been thinking about this verse in depth for the past few days, and realized how little time I actually spend being still. The answer is... none. Yesterday Nate's sisters came into town. His younger sister, Nadine, cooked us a fantastic Authentic Chinese Feast. It was delicious, but after I rushed through eating (I blame it on eating with children, even though they were asleep when we finally ate) I started immediately picking up. Everyone else was sitting contentedly at the table talking, but I was so.. itchy, for lack of a better word, that I couldn't just sit and enjoy their company.
I noticed the same problem this morning at breakfast, however I forced myself to sit still and try to enjoy the calm. I make it sound like I don't enjoy my company, but I REALLY do! I love having my pseudo-sisters in town.. It's the stillness that's the problem. I always have to have something to do.
So.. the solution. Today in the shower I ruminated on the problem. The Holy Spirit kept repeating to me that I need to be STILL. I kept hearing "Be Still, Be Still", like a record on repeat. So.. I decided that I am going to begin to force myself to spend time Being Still. I think I will start with 5-10 minutes, because that will be very difficult for me at first. My goal is to make it to 30 minutes, maybe ending with a reflection time. I plan on beginning this stillness before bed tonight. I have resolved to not have any distractions, only myself and stillness. Wish me luck... I will keep you posted. In the meantime.. I challenge you to also contemplating the meaning of "stillness" in your life.

All Grown up... Sort of.

A draft I found from last July.. How has a whole year passed??

Will at lunch: "Mommy, I'm all growed up!"
Me: "Really?"
Will: "Look at me Mommy! I'm not a preschooler anymore."
Me: "Huh. Then what are you?"
Will: "I'm a boy."
Me: "Wow! When did you grow up?"
Will: "Last night. When I was sleepin'."

Tomorrow is Will's 3rd birthday!!

Nature Deficit Disorder

Our children are suffering. I look outside and instead of seeing children climbing trees, exploring nature, and discovering, I see empty lawns. In fact, it has become so serious that there is a disorder that refers to this epidemic. Here are some facts about Nature Deficit Disorder...

A lack of routine contact with nature may result in stunted academic and developmental growth. This unwanted side-effect of the electronic age is called Nature Deficit Disorder (NDD). As Richard Louv presents in his book, Last Child In The Woods, the agrarian, nature-oriented existence hard-wired into human brains isn’t quite ready for the overstimulating environment we’ve carved out for ourselves. Some children adapt. Those who don’t develop the symptoms of NDD, which include attention problems, obesity, anxiety, and depression.

Nature-deficit disorder is not a medical condition; it is a description of the human costs of alienation from nature. This alienation damages children and shapes adults, families, and communities. There are solutions, though, and they’re right in our own backyards.

How do we know Nature Deficit Disorder is a problem in today's society?

Our children may be the first generation at risk of having a shorter lifespan than their parents.

• Sedentary lifestyle and physical inactivity have contributed greatly to the numerous health problems plaguing today’s children.
• Chronic conditions such as childhood obesity, asthma, and attention-deficit disorder have all increased over the past few decades.
• Approximately 16% of US children (~ 9 million) aged 6-19 are overweight or obese.
• Childhood obesity has doubled over the past 30 years for preschoolers and adolescents and more than tripled for children aged 6-11.
• These chronic conditions may lead to pulmonary, cardiovascular, and mental health problems in adulthood.
• Outdoor activity in the natural environment has taken a back seat to television, video games, the computer, and a demanding schoolwork and extracurricular schedule.
• Today’s youth are losing the contact with the natural environment that is potentially beneficial for their health and well-being.

Source: National Environmental Education Foundation

You don't need to climb a mountain to combat this problem, just go outside and play! Let your kids play in the yard, take them on walks, take them to parks. Just let them explore! :)

So-Called Christian

Warning: LONG POST!

Let me start by saying first that I love Jesus. I am also not perfect. For one reason or another I have never been able to stay on track with reading my bible. I think the best I have done was to read regularly for 10 minutes a day for maybe a week or two. I have always enjoyed the time I spent reading the bible, but I am just not great at being regular. I think the problems usually stem from me being wrapped up in other things. See, I love reading. I devour books like I devour food. I am so obsessive when I read books that when there are important things to be done I must FORCE myself to not read. The only way I got through college was by banning books for pleasure unless it was on a break.

Well.. In church the other day God spoke to me and basically pointed out this discrepancy.. I will read read read fiction and non-fiction books alike, yet I still have not read the greatest book ever written. He charged me to not read another book until I have finished the entire bible. Sounds big, huh? Well... It probably will be huge. I began my challenge this week. I did some math and realized that if I read 30 pages a day I can finish in in 2 months. Well, that sounds pretty do-able. I am anxious to continue reading the Wheel of Time series that I began a few weeks ago.. so.... I have to get on it!

So far I have truly been loving reading my bible! It is amazing how much I have missed out on.. I never went to church regularly when I was little so I really don't know many of the "typical children's bible stories". I know it sounds insane, but there have been times while reading that I have been shown so much action, drama, and humor I almost couldn't believe I was reading the bible. It's supposed to be dry and dull, right? Now, don't get me wrong, I have read a few of the books before, and loved them, but this is wholly different!

Today was a struggle... I can't find my bible. Anywhere. I looked all over. I am faced with the fact that I am going on vacation for 11 days and I will need a book.. OCRAP. So.... I went to the library and checked one out. Yep. Well, I got home and realized, hey, I don't need my hard copy, there are websites with the entire bible online! So.. I've been reading for a while, and I finished Genesis today. I feel awesome! :)

I plan on keeping my blog updated with my thoughts or interesting stories that I read.. hopefully it will bless you, maybe inspire you, but it will definitely keep me accountable!

My Green Journey

I did not grow up being green! I honestly am not sure how this all started, all I remember is being disgusted by how we as Americans abuse the Earth. From a faith perspective, as a Christian I strongly believe that we were put on this earth to love God, each other, and our planet. When God created Adam he told him to tend the earth and care of all the animals on it. When you take a look at the earth today it's obvious we are not doing our job.

The ice caps are shrinking, animals are dying in a mass extinction the likes of which we haven't seen since the end of the dinosaurs, we are dealing with the biggest oil spill in history, we throw so much away that children in cities like the bronx are afflicted with asthma which is caused by the massive amounts of garbage that is incinerated almost in their own backyards. You tell me if we are being good stewards.

Yes, you can get angry and point fingers, you can say laws need to change (and they d0), but the most important actions lie with the individual. Nothing will change if we don't make it change. Put your money where your mouth is! Now, I understand that this is a HUMONGOUS change to make, it took me a long time to get where I am now.. But you can do it. You MUST do it! This is yet another reason I am beginning my consulting work; besides Americans destroying their bodies with unhealthy lifestyles, we are destroying our planet. I want to help people make the transition to a sustainable lifestyle. For ideas, here are some things my family is doing right now:

1. For a family of four, we fill one small trash can per week (no liner, they impede things from breaking down), one recyclable size-d bag of recycling a week, and we compost our food scraps.

2. Cloth diapers

3. Hang our laundry to dry

4. Garden

5. Eat locally and in season

6. Purchasing sustainably - this incorporates used as well as eco-friendly companies

7. No air conditioning unless ABSOLUTELY necessary, which is usually for long enough to cool down the upstairs so my boys can nap.

8. Cut down on water and electricity usage

9. Eliminated all harsh cleaning/beauty products and use only natural products.

10. Houseplants to clean and filter the air inside

11. Driving much much less

12. Walking to the grocery store and places that are close for entertainment

13. My husband drives a scooter instead of a car when it's nice out. We own one car and one scooter

14. Talk it up to try and get others involved!

15. No disposable paper products. (For the gross factor we do have a roll of TP for our guests, and I am using organic products for that one week a month..)

16. Make things from scratch so you don't need to buy more.

These are the short list of things my family is doing to be green.. If you want help "going green", let me know! I'll give you a free consultation and will help you transition to a green lifestyle. :)

The Family Garden

This is my first year with a vegetable garden. We are attempting to garden organically (surprise!) and are learning so much! We have faced HUGE problems with a gigantic slug infestation. We have tried all the old tricks, (beer in pie tins, etc) to no avail. Yesterday I went to check on the garden and when I looked underneath one of my lettuce plants I was stunned to find dozens of slugs. It was the same story under each lettuce plant. After consulting with my grandma, I decided that the best move for my whole garden is to cut out all of my lettuce and try to save the rest of my garden from these invasive pests. I shook each plant out and slugs were falling out like rain. GROSS! Nate and I spent 20 minutes at the sink pulling off good leaves and rinsing them off, which led to the finding of at least 2 dozen more slugs before the night was done. *sigh* However, the rest of my garden looks very good and I'm hoping I'll be able to eradicate these villains!

Camping with Little Ones

I am by nature a very impulsive person. Therefore, Thursday night before bed, I said to Nate, "Hey, wanna go camping tomorrow??" To which is answer was "Huh???" We've camped many times before, but only once with William in tow. Now we have two little boys and the task seemed SO daunting. But, I did a little reading online for tips, psyched myself up, called our good friends to come along with their little girl(which, they did!!), and went camping!

It was WONDERFUL! The kids were all SO good. The boys went to sleep better at the campground than they usually do at home! They looked for bugs, played with their trucks in the dirt, splashed in water, played frisbee, got FILTHY, ate smores, looked at stars with Daddy, and then went to bed. The next morning was much more of the same. I was so relaxed and happy I never wanted to go home! The only change I would make is to go for more than one night.. Setting up and taking down takes SO long!

My tips for a successful camping adventure with little ones..

• Bring some trucks/cars for driving through the dirt
• Let them get dirty!
• Help them appreciate nature by exploring for bugs, and exploring their surroundings for animals and plants. (We were even lucky enough to show the boys a raccoon from 10 feet away!)
• Take it easy as a parent, let all your stress go and focus on relaxing and having fun..
• Bring along all-natural bug-spray such as California Baby, as well as slathering them with safe sunscreen, such as Neutrogena Pure Baby

Have fun this summer!

Chunky Crayons for Little Hands

I love crayons. I love the look of them, the feel of them in my hand, and the smell of a freshly opened box. I'm a huge nerd, but I'll admit it! However, when you put crayons in the hands of my little people, they break. I've found the best way to involve little guys in making their own, toddler-sized crayons!

Toddler-Sized Crayons

1. Take the paper off of the crayons and break them into small pieces (Little ones LOVE to help with this!)
2. Put them into separate muffin tins. They can be separated by color, or mixed together to create neat combinations)
3. Pop them into the oven, 7-8 minutes at 250. When they are done, stick them into the freezer to harden, then tap them out.
4. Color away! :)

Miracle

Today William dislocated his elbow. I guess it's inherited, both Nate and I dislocated ours when we were his age. It was horrifying, William was hysterical for a solid half an hour. After that he only calmed when he was very still. I had my sister run over to watch Owen while I took Will to the walk-in clinic. We waited for an hour and a half before the doctor came in. William was still very upset, screaming every time his arm moved a fraction of an inch.

We couldn't stand it. We just started praying. We asked God to please make Will's arm better, at least take the pain away. Literally, within minutes, William was up running around the room, giving high-fives, and completely normal. God INSTANTLY answered our prayer. The doctor walked in and said "yup, he's fine". The nurse was even surprised when she saw William, who, merely minutes before was whimpering in pain. God is good, all the time!

No 'Poo!

After getting rid of the majority of our chemical products I began thinking of ways to eliminate or replace the remaining products we have in our home.. Currently I am working on my shampoo/conditioner. Recently I tried Dr. Bronners as a shampoo, but was left with limp, greasy hair. I have heard quite a bit about using baking soda/apple cider vinegar as a replacement, but was skeptical. Well, I gave it a shot and I am amazed! AMAZED! My hair is soft, non-greasy, and relatively tangle-free! I honestly cannot believe how well this worked.. Seriously, you have to try this! Here's the link to an instructable. :) Enjoy!

No Impact Week: Day Three (Wednesday)

Day 3 of no impact week was "transportation". For the most part, Nate and I do very well with this. We have one fuel efficient car, and a scooter, which my husband drives to work during nice weather. I don't usually go anywhere, but when I do I almost always go the quickest way (more for my sanity because two boys sitting that close is always a recipe for disaster).

I will be trying to make more effort toward public transit and carpooling in the future, as well as walking more. Unfortunately, my bike was stolen last year and I still haven't replaced it, and my husband doesnt have one himself. Maybe this summer. :)

I have realized that I am not quite following the directions of "no impact week" to a 'T', because I trying to figure out how to make these changes permanent, which takes a little more easing in. For example, when it comes to the food challenge, today, I am thinking of recipes and ways to make locality and organic my top priority, but I am going to finish off the food we have, buying the "right stuff" when I run out. More on that topic later... enjoy this beautiful day!

No Impact Week: Day Two (Tuesday)

Today was day two of No Impact Week. The challenge was to make no trash. This was difficult. I am pleased that we have so little food with packages, but there are still some. I had to remember my challenge and figure out how to not make trash. It was extremely difficult when I went over to my mom's today, packaged food heaven, and had to keep the boys away from things. Of course, when I wasn't looking they were given little boxes of raisins, etc. Oh well. By the end of the day I ended up with only a few things in the trash. Said raisin box, a straw from Will's drink, and some plastic wrapping from a string cheese package. That's pretty good I think. Well, up until we ate dinner at a mexican restaurant and was served paper napkins with a styrofoam cup for Will! AAAHHH! On to day 3 tomorrow! :)

No Impact Week: Day One (Monday)

Hello everyone! Yesterday Nate and I began an experiment called "No Impact Week" This week there is a national challenge to live for one week without making any environmental impact, easing into it gradually of course. The event actually started Sunday, but we didn't find out until Sunday afternoon, so we started yesterday.

Yesterday's challenge was to stop consuming new things. Being on a tight budget has made this a little easier than it is with most people, especially since we already did our grocery shopping. However, we are in the market for a new table, so instead of going to the furniture store we began browsing Cragslist to see if there were any cool used tables. Uhm, a plethora! I am very excited to try and get a neat vintage table. I think my biggest problem living in the greater Des Moines Area will be to find out where I can buy things without packaging.. There are a few stores that make it easier, but nothing that has say, pasta, without packaging that I know of. Hmm.

Nate and I have gradually been "going green" for a while now, so some of this will just be a little push farther past what we are already doing. I'm very excited for this big change! We're talking about how to extend this experiment past a week and see what happens. :) Another step we made in our quest to make our life about family and not about things was to move our television out of the living room and into the closet, unplugged, facing the wall for the summer. If there are a few shows we are desperate to watch *cough* LOST *Cough* we can watch them on my laptop. Long post, I know, but that's all for now. Stay tuned for the response to today's challenge. :)

I'm getting old...

I had an amazing/humbling moment last night.. I was on Facebook checking out my brother's page when I saw someone's name in his feed. I thought to myself "Self, that name is the same as the name of a little girl in the 1st grade classroom I helped in my senior year of high school.."

See, when I was in high school I thought I wanted to be a high-school English teacher. I LOVE literature, knew I wanted to teach, and truly thought it was the best fit for me. As a senior I signed up for a class called "School Aged Child". This class consisted of going to an elementary school for 2 periods a day 2 times a week. The other days were spent learning about child development and finding ways to implement what we had learned in the classroom. Great class!

After my first week in this 1st grade classroom I knew EXACTLY what my calling was. I wanted to be a teacher! I could feel it in every fiber of my being. Now, back to this little girl. She was amazing. Her family had just adopted her from another country that summer and she spoke zero English. Talk about a difficult situation! She was as cute as a button, I can still remember exactly what she looked like. She had a very difficult time adjusting to her new life (surprise), but we took to each other. I ended up taking the class independent study second semester and stayed with this class the entire year. I could not believe the strides this little girl made. By the end of the year she was fluently reading, writing, and speaking English. Wow!

Yes, that same girl is a grade younger than my brother, in the same school, and now Facebook friends. Small world, no?

What I have learned about giving your children independence.. AKA Let it go already!

My children have taught me countless things. One of these things that I wanted to share was how to allow your preschooler to gain independence. When William was just over a year old I became pregnant with our second child. Because of a very difficult pregnancy I was on bed rest for 3 months, then Owen was born 3 months early. Because of all of this, with the help of my family and wonderful husband, William learned how to be fairly independent.

Now at almost 3 I can't believe the things he has mastered. Sometimes I still want him to be a little baby and let me do things for him, but alas, the independent will is strong in him! (As I write this he walked into the bathroom without a word and went potty) His desire to be independent has taught me SO much! I have learned that it's okay that he doesn't do things perfectly. If he puts his shoes on the wrong feet, his socks on inside-out, or his pants on backwards it's okay! He's allowed to make these mistakes.

I see many parents insisting on fixing these little errors, and sometimes I find myself doing it. It's a constant reminder that it's okay for our children to make mistakes. It's part of learning and growing up. Mainly, this time in William's life has told me to just let the little things go, and laugh along with him. :)

Craftiness as a Cabin Fever Deterrent

Cabin fever has truly set in at the Roelfs house... I have been trying my very best to come up with ways to entertain William.. Recently he has become quite taken with crafts, which is so much fun for the teacher side of me! I picked up Crayola Window Markers at Target for $4, and some Valentines day window clings for $1.50. The window markers were somewhat expensive, but I knew that I could continue to use them for a LONG time! He has already colored most of our windows multiple times!

The other craft that always works is giving him glue, scissors, and misc things to use for crafts. Will loves construction paper, crayons, markers, paints, photos that I'm not using, old magazines, pipe cleaners, and the list goes on and on. Really, for this, all you need to do is hand him a bunch of misc. things and let him go to work! As you can see in this picture, it almost always works wonders! :)

Top Ten Reasons to be a teacher (article review) -Must have been written by a non-teacher!

Today I was intrigued by a little article called "The Top Ten Perks of a Teaching Career" I thought, "Hey, I wonder what they have to say about this profession that I so love!"

The article started off alright, I suppose, talking about benefits, a solid paycheck that you can count on, etc etc. It also talked about how if you love your job, you will be overall happier. I agree wholeheartedly! However, I know that teaching is one of the most stressful jobs there are, so hmm.. Anyway.

When I got to perk number 7, which read "Nix the Nanny".. Basically it said, "wow, you'll have such a perfectly synched schedule your kids will never have to use childcare!" Uhm, I'm not sure about the teachers you know, but the ones I know are COMPLETELY swamped most of the school year. Yes, the breaks and summer vacations are nice to be able to spend significant amounts of time with your children, but let's face it, there are many nights when teachers are not able to leave until much MUCH after the students leave.

The next reason says (paraphrasing) that if you are teaching students something, the knowledge is solidified, therefore you are almost an "expert". Well, that is all well and good, however I'm not sure you can qualify an unending knowledge of an insect life cycle or the difference between insects and arachnids as an incredible job perk..

Then of course the author had to bring up "realistic hours" (refer to my noise above about needing to stay at school constantly..)

"With students in school just six hours a day, teachers often spend much less time on the job than their corporate counterparts. With the 8-hour workday rapidly becoming the 10 to 12 hour day in other occupations, you'll find a teaching career leaves you with more time for family, friends and other interests."

Okay, all those teachers out there who have enough free time to pursue your interests and spend lots of time with friends and family, raise your hands!! I thought not. Moving on to my favorite point! (can you hear the sarcasm here?)

Of course, the #2 job perk, ALL THAT VACATION TIME!! Alright, Yes, we do have time off, and to the untrained eye (read non-teacher) it looks amazing, but I insist that in order for us to have time to refresh and continue doing the amazing job we do at loving and teaching our students, we NEED that time!

So, all in all.... probably wasn't a good idea reading that article as it just made me angry. Better luck next time I suppose!

Come, Follow Me..

I was watching my boys playing today and William (2) was standing close to Owen (11mos) and saying "Come on, follow me!... Owen, follow me. Come, follow me.." Owen was engrossed in his toys, so didn't pay him much mind. William walked over to him sat down, gently taking one of the toys out of his hand and said "come on, follow me". This went on for about 5 minutes until I distracted both of them.

This exchange reminded me of the passage in the bible "Come, follow me"... I just pictured Jesus standing close by saying to us over and over, "come, follow me", but we're too preoccupied with the things in front of us to notice. Sometimes he will change our circumstances so that we are able to see him more clearly, but the decision is ultimately ours whether or not we decide to follow Him. Trust me, it's worth the journey to follow him!

Dream

The other night I had this dream... There was a huge lego base block, and it was covered with thousands, perhaps millions of single white lego blocks. I asked myself "what are those?" and I heard a voice say "each block represents a sin you have committed". I was dumbstruck. I felt lower than low. How could I have committed so many sins? I was then surrounded by warmth and knew that it didn't matter because they had all been forgiven. However, I was also struck with such conviction to do all I could to not sin. I know it sounds silly, but sometimes you are faced with difficult choices, and sometimes knowingly sinning. This dream reminded me completely of what I want to do for God. It isn't because I feel guilty, it isn't because I feel that it is my job, it is because I love my God, and I want to please him. This is why I try to live my life for God, not out of duty, but out of love. Just as he loves us.