Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Vegetable success...almost

As a mother, I try my best to keep my kids healthy and active. I try to serve them good, wholesome foods (even though I have been known to bribe them with an M&M or two afterwards)! Needless to say, tonight I tried. Really tried.

Tonight, I made eggplant lasagna (with spinach, not swiss chard), fennel and grapefruit salad* (I had grapefruit, not oranges), and steamed broccoli.

Now you might be thinking, "Gosh, I'm sure this went over real well!"

And actually...it did! From the moment Owen took a bite of his lasagna (granted I didn't tell him it was full of vegetables) he was ohhmm'ing and ahhhh'ing and even gave me a big thumbs up! Then he proceeded to eat all of his unsweetened applesauce and broccoli (4 stalks)! Connor did the same. He ate it all up.

I could not believe it. I was in momentary awe at this miracle.

Then, I looked at my husband. He was gulping hard with eyes pleading, "Why can't you just put meat in this?"

Success...almost.

You know how you sometimes have to offer babies new food multiple times before they decide they like it?

...I have a big 6'2 baby.

Friday, March 19, 2010

32 by 32

I have always struggled to some extent with my weight all my life. I remember going on my first diet in 6th grade. I've done all the diet rages: liquid, Atkins, Weight Watchers, L.A. Weight Loss. I have lost anywhere between 5-18 pounds at any given time. Reasons? I have wanted a better looking body. I wanted to look good.

But now...

It's not that I don't want to look good anymore, but my priorities have shifted. I will always have stretch marks, and you know what...that is okay. They are my stripes from birthing 2 of the most precious things in my life. (Even though if I am completely honest, I do envy those beautiful preggo pictures that some of my friends have with the most perfect naked bellies.)

But now, I want to be finished losing this extra weight for my boys. So I can see them grow up. Watch them become the people they have been created to be. I want to be healthy for me, more so than what my image looks like in the mirror, I want to reflect health from within.

So, that is why I am announcing my 32 pounds by my 32nd birthday. I have already lost 10.* So even though it will be tight (ok, I'm giving myself through June), with a lot of hard work and determination, it can be done.

It will be the best birthday present for me...
and for those I love.



*I guess I could say that right before giving birth to Connor, I have already lost 54 pounds. That is A LOT! But we still have a little more to go...

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Stillness

One of my favorite times is the moment right before I put my children to bed. I love rocking them, singing to them, and praying over them. But I think even more than that, I love it how still they are. No wiggles, no squirms. I don't get that a lot...ok, never...except in those last faint moments of the day.

It is pure peace.

I think I will hold on longer tonight...I think I need a little more stillness in my life.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Holding on...Letting go

If you have not yet heard, the Gerber family is again in transition. Yes, you read that last sentence correctly. Transition. Again. Shawn has accepted a fellowship at the University of Virginia Medical Center to do Supervisory training in Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). A mouthful. In other words, he's pretty much getting his Ph.D. in chaplaincy, which is called "Supervisor," so he can be a professor who teaches/trains/directs CPE units for people to become chaplains. Pretty confusing to explain. Pretty confusing to write down. Translation=moving again.

Now UVA is in Charlottesville, VA (1 hour from Harrisonburg, where we lived for 5 years previously) a beautiful, sunny, mild-weathered part of our country. I am thankful for that. But, I loathe the thought of packing up, saying goodbye, and moving again out of people's hearts and lives. That is the hardest to do. Frankly, I could do the whole physical moving again and again...but it just gets harder to transition from the heart. We've built some very dear relationships here. It will be hard to leave.

People wonder why (including family)--why not just stay put? That would be the easiest and most comfortable for sure. And we could. For sure. Shawn likes his job for the most part, and has done really good things for his department. But, our call is to go. And as much as we love it here...we have to follow the Call. It is hard to understand...but I guess it just all comes down to trust. We have to trust God in this direction, in giving Shawn these gifts and opening doors in which to use them. (And not to sound harsh, but in a way those who still don't fully understand our need to move, will simply just have to trust us...trust that we have listened and that we are trying to live faithfully. There is nothing else we can do.)

"Holding on...letting go," is our Lenten theme this year in church. How this hits home for me. Holding on to God that God knows the plans ahead (even though HUGE questions still loom...where to live, how we will live on such limited $, what will I do, etc...); Letting go of the need to know how exactly it will all come together. Holding on to my family and friends here in Goshen, thankful for the mark they have made in our lives; While at the same time, letting go of them, to allow space to receive the gift of new friendships that will yet be made.

It's a helpful way of thinking about life in transition. It doesn't make it any easier. But at least it gives it some framework.