I'm Back!

Happy September 1st! 

We just concluded our month of "fasting from media" and I have so much to share!

 I have funny stories, and lovely pictures and my heart is full. 

Before I spew pictures at you and tell you of our non-fast related things during August, I do want to share with you what this month was like.

The first week was pretty easy, it felt weird not checking my phone every few minutes and posting adorable pictures in various places, but it wasn't too hard. 

We left for vacation shortly thereafter, so not being online was pretty easy and refreshing.
The thing I missed most was immediately posting pictures from our trip. 

Once we got home, things started to be a bit more difficult. Facebook is my social outlet. As a Mom of three small boys under the age of 4, who doesn't work outside the home, social media is how I really feel connected. My Facebook page is private and I really only have those on there that I want to connect with daily. I started to miss that. I also missed hearing about what was going on in some of my friends lives like babies being born, and how surgeries went. 

I didn't make it through the month perfectly. 

I have to be real here. 

I may have let my boys watch Stanley here and there because otherwise I would have maybe locked myself in the bathroom for the day  five minutes....maybe.

I may have checked an email that linked me to an online survey for $5 of my time. 

 I may have looked on Facebook once or twice for a cancer update only to find myself looking at a friend's wedding pictures.

I promptly confessed to Trev and moved on.

It's not the letter of the law, it's the spirit of discipline

 and I wasn't about to flog myself over a misstep here or there.

I realized I checked my phone way too much, and I wondered how often my boys saw me with phone in hand while trying to "parent". I really don't want that to be their image of me. 

Things I didn't really miss: TV.

 I did miss sitting down after a long hard day with my sweetie and watching a movie, but we realized sometimes we just turned it on to have it on and we decided that wasn't going to start up again after August ended. 

We did watch the Olympics, and that was a real treat! I can't understand why anyone wouldn't want to watch that. Incredibly inspiring and amazing.

The boys used to wake up, have a cup of milk and watch a show and then sometimes the TV just stayed on even after they left the room.

Jack hardly asks for it anymore, and now with school coming in a few days, I love that our morning routine will not consist of a show to distract him. 

I slightly missed Twitter and Instagram, but not as much as I thought the more the month went on.
While I missed the connection that Facebook brought me, I found myself not really caring to know who ate what for dinner and where they checked in each and every day (no offense!)

My mind was not filled with other people's business. 

When it wasn't filled with my kiddos and family, it was processing what God is doing in our hearts and lives and I spent a ton of time reading and writing 

Here are the books I read, in no particular order.
(These are affiliate links and if you click and buy I get a little reward)

Sacrilege: Finding Life in the Unorthodox Ways of Jesus
Hugh Halter

I can't describe it better than this, so I borrowed this little excerpt from Jen Hatmaker's blog.
(no I am not obsessed, I just love her lots) Don't be turned off by the name....

If you’re just up to here with Christian rhetoric and the blah blah blah white noise of religion, please do yourself a favor and grab a copy of Sacrilege. Hugh says everything we’re thinking but are sometimes afraid to murmur out loud. He asks the hard questions and runs headfirst into the messy gray of life. Not to mention the rock solid biblical case he makes for living like Jesus really lived, which if you’ve paid attention to your Bible, can get you into trouble with religious folks but might get you a whole lot closer to Jesus.

Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account
Miklos Nyiszli

I have always loved WWII history, and this book truly was hard to read. It was so good, and while it was the first book to make my stomach turn (that takes a lot) ...I really recommend it because it's important we do not forget.

The Circle Maker
(still reading this)
Mark Batterson

This book has encouraged me to pray in a way I never have before, and to dream big and pray big.
 I am starting Praying Circles around you Children next

Radical
David Platt

"In Radical, David Platt challenges you to consider with an open heart how we have manipulated the gospel to fit our cultural preferences. He shows what Jesus actually said about being his disciple--then invites you to believe and obey what you have heard. And he tells the dramatic story of what is happening as a "successful" suburban church decides to get serious about the gospel according to Jesus." 

The Middle Place
Kelly Corrigan

This one was a Jen Hatmaker suggestion (duh) and the author really is a great writer. I found it hard to read because it dealt with breast cancer and parents and it was a little too raw for me.
I picked it up on clearance at Barnes and Noble, and it does have some language just to warn ya.
She is a fantastic story teller and she describes that "middle place" where you still rely on your parents, but are a parent yourself and how interesting a place it really is. 

I realized my books were pretty heavy, so I needed some lighter reading.

I got a few free books on my Nook and read:

When Calls the Heart by Janette Oak, that was nice and light and easy on my brain.

I also read Jack London's The Call of the Wild which I had never read and I am thinking of reading it again, super quick read and it just kind of left me thinking. 

I am finishing up Ready or Not, There We Go! 
  Elizabeth Lyons


It's a book about the second to third year of twin life and while it scares me half to death, it has also encouraged me and given great tips!

I read fast. 

After this month I decided that I am not going to add the Facebook app back on my phone, and probably only check in there once or twice a week. My Instagram and Twitter will be off and on, and blogging will only be done when the kiddos are napping most likely.

It's kinda funny, I found that if I didn't reach out to connect via phone or text, I didn't hear much over the month from many people. I realize some were trying to respect my media free efforts, but still, kinda funny.
 I realized that there was a day not so long ago where we didn't connect each and every day and it was all the more sweeter when we did, and we caught up on a lot more and it was the important things, not the silly things. 

I want to thank my guest bloggers again, I so appreciate you filling the space for me and hope you all enjoyed them as well as some stuff from my archives. 

I have missed this little outlet and while I don't feel the desire to grow this blog big ( I very much view this as an online journal that I let you read) I do love it. I am praying about some other blogging opportunities that would be on a bigger scale than this.

Over the next few weeks I will be blogging about our vacation, Jack's 4th birthday, the twins turning 18 months, what we are doing in the month of September in regards to '7' an AWESOME giveaway and more!