In Defense of the Blog

source

You know how there are times you feel the need to put the proverbial stake in the ground?  Maybe you've gone round about a thing for quite awhile, not sure where all the puzzle pieces will land, and then a dawning of understanding breaks through your thickness?

Where social media is concerned, I've done my fair share of digging in the heels.  Like most folks, I'm ever evolving in the way I think, the way my opinions line up with the greater values that shape who I really am.  For me, it all evolves from who I am in Christ, and so much more importantly, who He is in the world.  So, yes, my thoughts and opinions do change over time.   As the years come, hopefully, I gain better understanding of who He is and why that matters.

Still now, for what I think is good reason, I choose to stand on the anti-social side of the lines of social media.  I do not Facebook.  I do not Tweet.  I do not Pin.  I have a hard time checking my email and voice messages, and my phone is, decidedly, not smart.  But this is not about the moral wrongness of any of those things (indeed a case can be made, and has, that checking email and responding in a timely fashion is good and moral etiquette!).  This is not about how these social outlets curtail real relationship, either.  I do have my suspicions, but I don't really know if they are right.  I simply haven't mastered, well enough, the art of face-to-face, hand-in-hand, or head-on-shoulder communication.  I think I'd better not add any other variables until I become more astute and skilled in the old tradition of conversation.

A blog is different.  I've heard them (blogs) labeled ego-centric and agenda driven.  Indeed, some are.  I imagine as many blogs fall into that category as do the humans that might write them.  Interestingly, joining the blogging world has resulted in the opposite for me.  My ego-centricity has been greatly challenged as my world has broadened beyond the tight circle of like-minded thinkers I tend to associate with.  In reading blogs (especially getting acquainted over time with their authors), I do not get a quick snippet of one self-centered opinion.  Blog posts are not text messages.

source

The blogs I read are well thought out and written articles, written by one, yes, but meant for the edification of many.  Certainly there is plenty of twaddle in the blogging world, just as there is in paper publishing.  All blogs are not created equal.  As with anything, it is something to approach with discernment.

I know some who 'don't read blogs'.  These abstainers group them in the same category as all other social media, thereby declaring them a waste of time.  Being largely absent from the social-media crowd, I , too, struggled with what place reading and writing blogs should have in my life.  As one who expresses best in black and white, I was drawn to the opportunity to write in a way that was not previously available to me.  As one who is fascinated by people and their thoughts, perceptions, and life experiences, I reveled in the easy access to such things.  Yet, as one who has been reluctantly dragged into post-modernism, all electronic communication seemed suspicious to me.  It was easier to paint it all with a broad brush as wasteful and indulgent.  Perhaps too easy.

Up to this point, some form of the word 'I' has been used at least 27 times in this post.  Ego-centric?  A one-sided conversation?  Is there an obvious agenda?  I'm going to deny the egocentrism.  :)  As far as the one-sided conversation, it doesn't have to be that way.  That's why most blogs have a comment section.  As far as the agenda, well, yes, I admit I had an agenda or purpose of matter that I wished to write about here.  I suppose, in that way, all of our communication is agenda driven, is it not?  There are choices we make daily about which agendas we pursue and which ones we entertain from others.

My agenda here, in this post, was to describe my own personal journey regarding the reading and writing of blogs.  Yes, I hope to make a case for good blogging.  It is only my opinion here, and it does not tell the full story, but perhaps it will result in dialogue and better understanding nonetheless.

And yet, perhaps it will fall numbly on the mind for you, dear reader, but fear not.... there are worse things you could've wasted your time on than my writing.  :)

source

I'm moving...

along.... out.... and on.

I'm moving.  No, I'm not changing my address.  Not that.  Not yet.  Nonetheless, my character is entering into the next act.  She's moving on.

She got used to the holding pattern that sometimes happens in one's life.  There were times she fought against it, tired of the waiting and wanting the certain.  And there were times of surrender, when she gave up her own vision.... the right to write her own story, and she trusted a better Writer.  There were times of great freedom when her trusting made any shackles of worldly fashion weak and useless.  She danced in this rain of grace, following, as she learned to read it, the Writer's story.

And then she doubted.  Were His leadings no more than her own fleshly whims?  There were some who would say, 'yes', and there were many others who didn't care enough to weigh in at all.  She had fully expected harmony.  She didn't want conflict and doubt, she wasn't writing that into her story.... but then she remembered how she had decided to trust the better Writer.

And so, the shackles fail once again to bind her, failing under the tension of truth and grace.  In the safety of His story, that is sometimes dangerous... she moves on.

How the Writer has blessed:

a good report for a woman loved:  the margins are clear!

waking early to daylight

feeling ready to get up

sleep having done its job

the way a chicken cooks in a pot

eating artichokes with our fingers

unwrapping them like presents

the voice of my god-daughter on the line

being inspired, over and over, by the faithfulness of a friend

a good report for another beloved:  no cancer!

hearing my boy and girl sing solos

his deep, growing up voice

hers sweet and lilting and in tune

a place for resting, reading, teaching, thinking, praying

made with sun and well- watered trees

just outside my back door

this Sarah Bessey post

being inspired to make more of the days rhythms

the sacred echo of this

finding my way


and more, where words aren't necessary:

Ahhhhhh.........

Garage Sale Weekend is now behind us.  MUCH has left this household for good.  Windows have been washed, floors mopped, furniture polished.  Order restored and then some.  It's a good feeling.  No, it's a GREAT feeling.
I am not one to function at optimal capacity in the midst of disorder.  Even if the disorder is relegated to the closets and drawers, it mocks me from those pent up places.  I hear it call my name and it becomes the itch I can't quite reach.  I don't like this about myself.  It's a weakness, really.  Life is messy, and we need to learn to not be distracted by that fact.

In my frenzy to declutter, simplify, and restore order I learned some things:

1.  We have too much stuff.

2.  Garage sales don't make you money.

3.  They do make you crazy.

4.  They are a great reminder of how awful it is to have too much stuff.

5.  Simplicity (which in my mind includes organization) is a lifestyle, not a once a year or so event.

6.  I don't want to waste one fleeting moment with my children (this reminder came as I wept over little, tiny clothes they used to wear and the remembering that goes with the sorting and weeding and the realization of number 7......).

7.  Time flies.

8.  I love that we still play with toys in our house.

9.  I need a system to stay balanced.... I'm a system-needer.

10.  It needs to be simple (read:  NOT flylady)

11.  Less is more.... in a BIG way.

So, there it is.  I totally recommend this kind of deep cleaning/purging.  There is a lot more I learned from it, but some of it's personal and I won't bore you.  Suffice it to say... it's worth it and makes for some cheap, but highly effective therapy!  :)

And now getting on with giving thanks:

~the canopy of green surrounding the back of the house filling with bird and other creatures

~the ultra muzzle for a pup too anxious to protect his peeps

~having what I need and knowing where it's at

~God stoking a fire

~toaster

~free musicals

~my precious and words-can't-describe-how-awesome husband

~how the Lord leads us and makes us of one mind

~how he submits and I submit and we submit to Him and to each other, and...

~how nobody but the Lord taught us how to do that, and

~how that is a gift I do not take for granted

~being called into something bigger than we can figure out

~knowing we can trust Him

Cleaning House

Tsh Oxenreider does a good job of saying what needs to be said, without saying too much.  I have tried to read 'get your life in order' type books before and I usually stop reading before I am half-way through because I get bored and restless.  Organized Simplicity has been different (thank You, LORD!... and thank you, Tsh!).

She starts you off by prompting you through some questions and evaluations to help you write out a purpose statement for your family.  Everything you do and own should reflect that purpose statement. 

It's so simple, and yet the common sense of this book is strangely... uncommon.

After she speaks to subjects like scheduling and finances, she moves you into the fun stuff.  Cleaning your house.... with a garage sale in your future.  I giggled when I read her reason for why she thinks you should do a garage sale:  to learn your lesson about over-consuming and hoarding, and spending outside of your purpose.  Garage sales hurt.  I might rather visit the gyno or dentist than do another garage sale.  Yes, it is an effective means of lesson learning.

So, I am moving room by room.  Per Tsh's instructions, I am taking out everything from a room except the rugs and furniture.  I then clean the room from top to bottom including windows, walls, vents, etc.  I only put back in the room what is useful or beautiful and what lines up with our family purpose statement. 

Here are some before pics of our family room:

Here's how much junk was stored in that room:

Here's what it looked like after the cleaning before putting what we kept back:

And here's the after:

Though this first room went quickly, the music room and school room took the weekend.  There were lots of papers, books, and odds and ends that needed sorting through.  Lots of stuff is making its way into either the garbage, recycle, or sell room (my guest bedroom is converted into the garage-sale-prep room for now.  :)

Having these two major areas behind me, I am ready to press forward into utility rooms, closets and pantry, kids rooms, and play room. 

Our garage sale is this weekend.  I've got LOTS of work to do between now and Friday.   When I walk into the two main rooms I've already done, I feel such a sense of accomplishment.... I feel lighter and more free.

  Something else I learned, and this is HUGE: By physically touching each and everything I own, I feel the weight of it's value.  Often the thing falls short of what I would hope for something I kept so long, or spent money on.  Sometimes I rejoice and am thankful to re-discover an amazing resource or tool that I have had all along and was under-utilizing.  All the while, through the whole process, I am keeping our family's purpose statement front-and-center in my mind.

So that's what's up with the west-coast Liechtys!

and now, counting with my grateful friends:

~ a Sunday walk with my love and our pup, down tree-lined streets and falling petals,  for pizza and root beer

~ the feeling of being tucked in bed with a good book at the end of a busy weekend

~ the scent of honeysuckle in the air

~ kitchen creativity with two funny girls

~ SG and Hannah sewing their re-purposed creations for their Etsy business

~ a friend bringing flowers

~ a friend showing mercy

~ Alex bringing SG ladybug earrings for her new pierced ears after the two of them released 1500 ladybugs into the garden

~ watching SG's focus and determination in her softball games

~ Samuel entering another Lego contest... never daunted by not winning in the past

~ good books, math manipulatives, science tools, art supplies, great music, pencils, paper

~ the feeling and knowledge of what it is to become more myself

Meet Sarah Grace, Age 10

Ten years ago today, I birthed this beautiful girl into the world.

She lights up a room with her nose- crinkling, freckle-faced smile and auburn hair.

She's grown out of her pudginess and no longer looks down upon her peers.

She's small in stature, but a scrapper none-the-less.  

She likes to dress like a twin to her best friend, string beads, make sketches and any other art she can figure.

She writes praise songs, poems and stories.

She sometimes tries to sneak out of the house with eye shadow on.

She loves putting an outfit together.

She doesn't brush her hair everyday.

She's calls her daddy "Daddy-O" and "Daddy-Doo".

Sometimes she misspells her brother's name.

She has a heart for neighborhood missions.

She likes all kinds of music.

She climbs trees, kisses her puppy, digs up worms and bugs (and names them), and has to wash her feet when she comes in from outside.

She likes playing basketball and softball and swimming.

She wants to be a pitcher.

She likes looking after little kids.

She named her Venus Fly Trap Petey, and planted her ladybug house in the rose garden.

She buried her deceased Praying Mantis, P-Man, in her brother's potted dwarf spruce.

She's funny and does great British and Texan accents.

She wants to learn to sew and open an Etsy store with her BFF.

She wants to raise chickens and goats and have fruit trees.

She wants a little brother or sister.

She's touchy-feel-y.

She cries when one of her bugs die.

She's not an open book.

She is easy to be with.

She's girlie, but not prissy.

Blue is her favorite color.

She doesn't care if she has to use  boys' stuff or second-hand.

She's not particular.

She's a good eater.

She likes to cook.

She sleeps with mama most mornings.

She's right brained.

She makes great art and does math slow.

She's a whole lot wrapped up in a little package.

Today she is ten.

Happy Birthday Peachy Peach!

And counting my blessings with Ann and the others:

a fantabulous weekend of warm weather and sunny blue skies

an equally beautiful day for Peachy's B-day

having lunch with friends in the warm open air

dreams of summer expeditions

Toby acting like a good dog

how sickness makes you slow down

a yummy meal from a sweet, precious friend

yard work with my love

a slice of raspberry vanilla cake specially delivered to my kitchen by a sweet little baker-girl

the upcoming garage sale that will make the dream of purging a reality

the friend that went to the trouble to arrange it

stories from my nine year old that now is ten

the non-stop chatter of my sweet boy

hearing my sisters voice on the other end of the line

Read about Rachel

I have the honor of covering a new artist, getting ready to open her new online shoppe.  Check it out at Imagination Nexus:  http://imaginationnexus.blogspot.com/2012/04/resurrecting-rachel.html

When I Want to Break Away

There is a restlessness around here.  I hate it because it's the antithesis of contentment.  Contentment with godliness is great gain.... I believe it.  I know it to be true.  But what do you do when it slips from your grasp?

Two things I do.  Remember I am not made for this world.  It cannot satisfy my longings.  It will never be enough.  Grasping for more of it does not get me closer to any arrival.  In Kingdom speak:  this is not my home.  I'm here on assignment and I'm a gypsy.  To try to shed my cloak of otherworldly oddity would not only be futile, but very disappointing.   Because, underneath the cloak, I'm still a gypsy.  This place doesn't have what I'm looking for.  No need to pretend it does.

But then, sometimes it does have what I am looking for.  When I look for Him, I can find Him.  Even here.
He is here.  He is here on assignment, too.  I'm part of His clan, and He gives His own special powers.... yes supernaturally special powers.  And so the second thing I do in my restlessness?

By His power I see, hear, taste and know.

Ears to hear and eyes to see--both are gifts from the LORD. Proverbs 20:12 Taste and see that the Lord is good. Psalm 34:8A and    more counting: Good Friday worship all in black... falling out of sight, out of notice for the cross set before us with roses red hammered violent into the rough wood like the Rose of Sharon and there we received body and blood and we remembered as the hammer fell,  we remembered so we will not forget warmth out-of-doors sun on skin shoulders dropping short sleeves kids playing... really playing  a screen-less day home-made chili and cornbread made by 9 year old hands Coach Ally at dinner, because the boy and girl invited her to come and she did sharing Easter lunch at Famous Dave's with friends congregating at a park with friends, kids and dogs friendly chats with strangers sitting at table communing with good friends 'leftover friends':  friends you can eat left-overs with sharing troubles, thoughts, dreams and possibilities cross and candle put away but not forgotten yellow tulips on the table the boy baking brownies living resurrection life because we can because He did. He is Risen Indeed!