Archives for 2010

I’m still here.
I’m just busy.

And going through many transitions. Chief among them is a huge change for our church of ten years. We are tiny, and our church officers have decided to merge with another church in our Presbytery. Our family is having a hard time with this change.

Hard. Time.

As soon as I’ve processed this a little bit more, I’ll be posting here about it.

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I have about three other posts in draft form that I need to finish up for you. I also have some great films on DVD for review and giveaways. Look for those next week.

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And I hope you’re reading my posts over at Faithful Bloggers. I am enjoying writing in a focused manner on a specific topic. This week, we’re discussing discovering your blog’s purpose. If you are a Christian and you have a blog (or would like to start a blog), check out Faithful Bloggers. Subscribe to the feed and the newsletter.

Image: morguefile (This photo has nothing to do with this post. I just liked it because it makes me happy.)

So what are you waiting for? Enter the sweepstakes to win a trip to NY City for a taping of The View! The contest ends on February 28.

This week’s episodes of The View have been really great. Even if you can’t watch during weekday mornings, you can watch full episodes at the website. Guests this week that I’m excited about:

• Monday—Senator Evan Bayth of Indiana
• Wednesday—“Octomom,” Nadya Suleman
• Thursday—Bill and Guiliana Rancic talking about their struggle with infertility during an entire show focused on the theme, “trying to have a baby?”

I need to do a little viewing catch-up myself. When I have, I’ll be posting my thoughts here.

I’m really excited about a new opportunity this month. I’ve been chosen to participate in a special promotion for ABC-TV’s The View.

As a brand ambassador for the show, I’ll be watching and talking about The View here each week. I encourage you to do the same.

I have been a viewer of The View since day one. I have always enjoyed the show, particularly the Hot Topics section. I don’t always agree with the opinions presented in the discussions, but I’m always challenged to think.

And that, to me, is the appeal of The View.

As a former journalist who is also a mom pressed for time but engaged in part-time ministry, I depend on The View to show me a cross-section of our culture. I think The View‘s roundtable discussions and interviews play an important role in telling me what today’s women are thinking, feeling, and talking about.

I hope you’ll join me during the next few weeks and tune into The View. Let’s talk here about what we watch there.

Follow The View Brand Ambassadors on Twitter using the #theviewmoms hashtag. 

And how cool is this???

Enter to win a trip to New York City to watch a taping of The View. The sweepstakes is open until February 28. Click here to enter the sweepstakes. I would L.O.V.E. to win a trip to New York.

My favorite time of year is almost here.

Spring.

Longer days, warmer breezes, television show season finales (this is a semi-serious post, but I had to throw that one in there).

Most importantly, we observe and celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ.

I don’t know if it’s even possible to label one event as the crux of Christianity, but I sort of lean towards Christ’s resurrection as being it. At any rate, Easter is my favorite holiday on the Church calendar.

In the resurrection of Christ, we have hope and eternal security that death has no hold on us!

Easter is my favorite because I love all things associated with it. I love the focus on new life, being raised with Christ, and the resurrection that is to come. I love that Christ defeated all aspects of death and I get to partake in that victory because of my union with him.

As I suggested at Advent, these special days on the Christian calendar are an excellent time to begin or return to regular Family Worship times. If you’d like to do this in your family but don’t know where to start, read on for some ideas about Easter.

This Lenten season, our family will once again pull out our set of Resurrection Eggs. We love our Resurrection Eggs! I’ve had our set for years and pull them out annually. These are invaluable tools to teach your kids the Easter narrative, its significance, and how the symbols of Easter relate to Christ’s most important work.

Lent Begins With Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday is today, February 17. Lent lasts for 6 weeks until Easter. You can use the Resurrection Eggs in any number of ways during Family Worship. Here’s what we usually do.

Candles
We have three kids, and all must participate. We continue lighting three candles for family worship time (a holdover from Advent) because our kids like it. They ask to do, “Candles,” which is what we call our family worship time. Three is, obviously, a significant number in theology so there’s always an important metaphor to use with three candles. Of course, candleLIGHT can always be used for applicable illustration. Thus, we continue with candles.

Resurrection Eggs
We then will give each child an egg and instruct them not to open. We go in order and have them open the eggs one at a time. With each token, we talk about its significance and how it fits into the Easter narrative. The kids absolutely LOVE the surprise element of the closed egg. We repeat this several nights in week 1.

You can vary your treatment here: for example, the first night, you use the objects to tell the story; the second night, you read the applicable story from The Jesus Storybook Bible (awesome!) and use the objects to illustrate; the third night, you have the children tell the story using the objects; the fourth night, you review and ask the kids to make predictions as to what will happen next.

If you are using 3 eggs each week, you will only use the kit for 4 weeks. You may want to use other things during family worship on the nights you don’t use the kit or, if you’re like us, your busy schedule means that shooting for 4 nights out of seven is more realistic.

I do recommend, however, that you stretch it over the Lenten season and build the anticipation to Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. In years past, we have opened the eggs the week before Easter and gone through the kit rather hurriedly, but I don’t think it had as much impact or was as much fun as the years we’ve really taken our time.

The Lenten season is prime for teaching your children and training them in the faith. I’ll have some more ideas and suggested resources during the next few weeks. Stay tuned.

photo: morguefile  
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This is why I have issues with “doing it all.”

Fitness company Power Plate has created a list of the Top 10 Power Moms of 2009. According to the article on Momlogic, these women were chosen because

in the last year they had babies, managed busy, successful careers and got back into incredible postnatal shape, extremely quickly.

Heidi Klum, Jennifer Garner, and Rebecca Romijn (who had twins!) all made the list.

I am offended—and jealous—at the same time.

Top 10 Power Moms of 2009
10. Kelly Rutherford
9. Kimora Lee Simmons
8. Adriana Lima
7. Molly Ringwald
6. Karolina Kurkova
5. Niki Taylor
4. Elisabeth Hasslebeck
3. Heidi Klum
2. Rebecca Romijn
1. Jennifer Garner

Your thoughts?

Typically, I don’t like to post whiney-tale ramblings.

But, hey, I’m in a funk and I have a blog.

And if I can’t whine on my blog, then why have a blog, right?

So, if this is a problem for you, then you can click off my post and come back tomorrow.

I hope you’ll stay, though, and help me. Help me, readers.

I’m really overwhelmed right now, and I’m not sure what to do about it.

I know that I have no margins in my life. I first heard about the concept of margin several years ago.

Think of the margins on a piece of paper. That’s the “extra” space that can be used if needed or in an emergency. A place for spill-over. White space that is pleasing to the eye and a soft place to land.

Nope. I have none of that in my life.

(I’m going to get this book, ASAP, by the way. I’ve heard other friends talk about it. It’s been on my to-read list, but I’ve procrastinated. But, I’m going to get it soon. Disclosure: I am an Amazon affiliate and receive a small commission for purchases referred to Amazon.)

My life runs from sun-up to sun-down with far more to do than there is time for.

FlyLady wants me to do my routines. Yea, I have no time for routines. Because as routine as routines go, they Still. Take. Time.

Exercising and grocery shopping and cleaning toilets all take time. Fifteen minutes here, an hour there, thirty minutes there. Time.

I need a lot of sleep. Like 8-9 hours to feel really good. But, hey, that takes time. I can either cut corners on my sleep and be grouchy and grumpy and less productive or I can feel guilty about going to bed when there is still so much left undone. (I know that’s crazy. But that’s me.)

All my little part-time jobs are wonderful blessings, and we truly need the money. We count on each little $100 or $200 check to make ends meet each month. So, which $200 check do I forfeit so that I don’t feel guilty when I go to sleep?  In the meantime, which meal/activity/chore is neglected so that I can finish a work assignment?

Blogging and writing are the only things I do for fun. Period. I don’t read. Magazines and books sit untouched on my nightstand. I haven’t scrapbooked since July 2007. That’s terribly sad, but seriously, how in the world can I justify sitting around sticking pictures into books when I have a to-do list as long as my arm? Plus, scrapbooking would require my downloading, sorting, and actually printing pictures. I don’t even want to think about how much time that would take.

Do I stop blogging? Do I stop writing for fun?

Do I shrivel up to nothing because I have no outlet for creativity?

I could go on and on. I know you know that I have laundry, meals, activities, Bible study, and church. I know you know what it’s like to juggle and prioritize.

Am I the most insanely organizationally-challenged person in the world? Or is this just “part of it” and I need to grin and bear it until retirement? 

What should I do? How do I take some of the pressure off? Which ball(s) to drop?

At what point do we simply step out in faith, do away with things that drain us, and trust God to provide compensation (whether emotional, financial, spiritual)?

Truly, I’d love to hear your feedback and any suggestions for me and my family.

Thank you. Whining over.

Image: Morgue File

(Explanation: My intent with this post is to be constructive and honest. I do not intend to be hurtful or snarky.)

As you all know, I was on a high anticipating my trip to Blissdom. I kinda hate it when I do that because I inevitably leave a smidge disappointed.

And that’s kind of what I’d say about this conference.

My Blissdom Report Card
Food: B-
Take-away learning: B-
Opportunities for relationship-building and making connections: A
Organization and logistics: A
Swag: A+
Overall grade: B

Blissdom kind of reminds me of a ginormous sorority meeting, which is good in many ways and kind of useless in others.

No doubt about it, this is a great place to meet all the ladies of the Blogosphere. Seeing these bloggers up close in person takes the shiny veneer away and gives you an invaluable dynamic of someone’s personality that you don’t have otherwise.

I had an opportunity to tell a fantastic blogger face to face how much her post made me laugh and cry. I was able to say “thank you” to another smart lady for some bloggy advice, and I got to ask another multitasking mom for more “mom advice” about managing schedules.

I loved that I learned a lot of great info about monetizing my blog and the vocabulary of ads. I needed that lesson. The Nashville blogger gals were able to socialize quite a bit, as well as trade helpful advice and information. I found my conversations with Bilingual in the Boonies (don’t you love that name???) refreshing and insightful. I loved that I have found new friends in my Faithful Blogger gals, Kelly and Courtney. It was great fun to meet them and talk about Faithful Bloggers face-to-face.

But when it came to technique and practical take-aways, I thought the conference came up short. Don’t get me wrong: I did bring home a few helpful lists and tips (those posts to come), but I spent way more time checking Twitter, Facebook, and email during the sessions than I would have thought I’d even want to.

I am a writer (not perfect by any means), so I don’t need the basics. I’m not sure what I do need; I was hoping the conference would tell me!

And if I had heard the word, community, one more time, I would have thrown up in my mouth a little.

Ironically, I just posted on the value of community at Faithful Bloggers last week. I think my issue with a blogging-conference definition of community is that—at least it seemed to me this weekend—creating a community around one’s blog was more about what it could do for the blogger than what the blogger could do for the community.

One of my personal goals of writing has always been to perform a “public service.” I really want my writing to resonate, inform, encourage, and/or otherwise be helpful. If just one reader comes away with something, then I feel I’ve done my job. That’s not a great big community there, but for me, it’s more about the quality than the quantity.

Sure, you must have quantity to get traffic to get exposure to get ads to get money and so on. But I’m of the belief that quantity follows quality. And if it doesn’t, then, well, I need to reexamine my purpose for writing in the first place.

I think the “women blogger group” (for lack of a better term and to be dangerously broad-sweeping) has a somewhat skewed definition of community. Certainly, aspects of community do exist and thrive among this network of blogs. But more often than not, I find these “communities” a bit superficial and fickle. (Or maybe I’m just a sucky “community member.” LOL)

Also—I hate to say it—but I sometimes question the sincerity of the overriding sentiment that blogging is “all about community.” I think their idea of community begins at a rather self-centered place.

Just who is your community? Me. Who is my community? You. That’s right. We’re all blogging and reading and blogging and reading. Sure we have readers outside the blogging community, but really, in the end aren’t we really just giving ourselves a big pep rally and a collective pat on the back?  Building community in the sense of a “blogger conference” definition seems just down right exhausting at best and self-aggrandizing at worst.

Recommendations for Change
I’m not sure WHAT I would change about Blissdom. I think I’d begin with redefining the word community (‘ya think?) and helping bloggers really drill down to their core motivations for writing.

Maybe I’d do away with the panels and bring in more stand-alone speakers. (I do realize this costs money, though.) I loved hearing from the PR and marketing professionals. Editors, attorneys, and web/tech gurus would all be interesting to me.

I think I’d like to participate more in vision-casting. I loved how Alli Worthington said that this is just the “pre-game” season; the season’s not yet begun. I’ve never been on the cusp of anything in my life! Let’s explore that more and how we all fit into that bigger picture. Let’s look at what it takes to really equip women to be influential and effective.

I don’t mean to detract at all from the hard work of the organizers and the obvious enthusiasm and positive energy generated by the conference.  Truly, these have their place and can be beneficial in accomplishing many goals.

I’m just not sure those were my goals, too.

Last week, we had several inches of snow. We were out of school and snow-bound for about five days and it felt more like fifteen. I’ve been playing catch up in hyper-speed since Tuesday.

I’m heading to Blissdom tomorrow, and I. Can’t. Wait. I’ll be updating and tweeting from there and expect to come home with heaps of inspiration, motivation, and new ideas. You’ve been warned: lots of excitement ahead.

I’ve written a three-part series (parts one, two, and three) at Faithful Bloggers this week. I’m really enjoying getting started with this new project.

Today, I had conferences with the boys’ preschool teachers.

Spencer’s teacher told me he has affection for a little girl in his class, whom I will call Ariel. Spencer and Ariel sit beside each other at lunch. The teacher said that one day as they were eating, Spencer leaned over to Ariel. He gently placed his hand on her forearm.

He said, “How are you today, my lovely princess?”

In other news, Seth confessed he kissed a little girl in his class during a game of Prince and Princess.

I love my little men.

It was a happy night–if not a tad confusing one–at the Bernard house Tuesday night. Our favorite show, Lost, returned for its final season. This video sums up our hope and plea to the show’s producers:

It’s the first, and I’m excited about all the things ahead for this month and this year!

I know you’ve noticed my new blog design. I’m enjoying it so much, and I think it really captures the feel of The Writer’s Block. Lindsey at Sour Apple Studio did the work and did a great job. Thanks, Lindsey!

You may notice that the cartoony woman really looks a lot like me. That is intentional, of course. We tried to make her hair color and eye color like mine to achieve this. And, of course, I’m that skinny and always look that nice in my tailored suit. I always have hair and makeup fixed with a smile on my face while I juggle all of those colliding responsibilities. Yep. That’s me, alright. 🙂

I am still tweaking a few things here and there, even though I had hoped to be all set for today’s “re-launch.” But, you know, I’m juggling all of those colliding responsibilities and so, I’ll get to it soon.

I’m also excited to tell you about a new online home for my writing: FaithfulBloggers.com. I have joined Kelly and Courtney as a contributing editor, and I am thrilled! I’ll be posting over there four or five times each week, as well creating podcast interviews of member bloggers. Faithful Bloggers is devoted to helping Christian bloggers glorify God with their blogs. So, we’ll be talking about blogging, writing, and online stuff and how it relates to your faith. Please come see me there.

If you are interested in being interviewed about your faith and your blog, contact me. We want Faithful Bloggers to be a dynamic community, representing the many faithful voices of Christian bloggers.

Remember, I’ll be posting and tweeting from Blissdom this weekend. I’m so excited I can barely stand it. Check back here to read what I’ve learned.