Well, I always think I’ll be here more often than I am. I have intentions of blogging about every other day but then life takes the wheel and I hop in the backseat, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing because I have 3 little ones who need me more than the blog needs me. But I’m so glad y’all liked Darby Doll, I thought she was quite a silly little doll myself and I can assure you’ll she’ll be back.
I finished up Batterson’s book, Primal, did I already tell you that? Probably so! Anyway, I can’t wait to share more with you from the second half but first I wanted to go back to the first half and re-write a paragraph that he has written on page 36. It has to do with going to the mall which I do about once every other year so it didn’t hit home for me from that perspective but if I just change a few words up it hits me at my core and is why I have a love/hate relationship with blogging. I’m taking out the word mall and entering blog.
Have you ever noticed that you can be perfectly content with everything you have, but one trip to the mall blogosphere can ruin all of that? All of a sudden, the clothes in your closet aren’t quite as cool, your decor is out of style, and your new gadgets seem old. I call it the mall blog effect. {I, Darby, could add a lot more… my house is never that clean, I wish I had that lens, those dishes, that attitude, that relationship with Jesus, I wish I could take pictures like that, I never look that cute, I wish I could get away with my husband like that, I wish my kitchen looked like that, I wish I had the energy she has, I wish I could knit, I wish we got snow like that, I wish I had chickens. . . I wish, I wish, I wish… ugh, I gross myself out.}
What happens is this: you focus on everything you don’t have, and it produces feelings of want. Of course, the antidote for this is a trip to a third-world country. Seeing what others don’t have will help you appreciate what you do have.
I do this, more often than I care to admit. Lord Jesus, take me to a third-world country. If I flip the coin over, I can’t help but think do I paint a picture of perfection on the blog from our home? Sometimes comments lead me to believe this and if I do, it is a lie. Please rest assured of that. I try to be real and honest but the reality is, I’d much rather remember and record the good on here so it is what I write and share. Be also assured, that I occassionally show the bad but never the ugly. I think every blog needs a statement in the header: warning objects on screen are not always as they appear. I try to remind myself of that when I read/see something that leads me to think, “I wish…” By His grace, I’ve been spared the heartache that some experience but the reality is we each have our own personal dose of “real life”. The reality is life is hard, no one’s life is a walk in the park and I have to remind myself of Philippians 3:8 daily: What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.
Blogging doesn’t incubate a spirit of humility– which is a whole other can of worms. I so often struggle with what to write and how to say it; to remind myself that I am in this world but not of it. I used to not think much about what I would write because so few people read. Now I feel like I have to take every thought, every word to the Lord and ask that people not misconstrue what I portray and if they do, that I will let it go and remember that my accountability is to the Lord, my husband, and my family.
Ok…. just a few heavy Friday morning thoughts for you! 
I want to be clear this was not in response to any comment or specific event… it is simply what the Lord has placed on my heart this week. Nor is this a ploy to hear your affirmation in the comments.
Speaking of this week… it’s been busy, just as every week is. Morgan is begging for some roller skates and before she breaks a leg or a foot we’re going to have to give in, I’ve caught her numerous times this week with her “homemade” skates on…
She cracks me. Her little creative wheels never stop turning… even at lunch time.
She’s been so helpful this week. We are having a few friends over tonight for dinner and as I prepared she was right along side me. She helped me set and decorate the table and I savored every moment we had together. She was so excited about the outcome of our work.
Our dining room table is really more fitting for 4 to 6 but we thankfully were able to squeeze in 8 place settings. I am not a “formal” entertainer. When we have people over it’s very rare for me to even set the table {my goal is usually to just get the food fixed} but this week we decided to make it special and to think outside of the box as to how we could set the entire table, make it fun and festive and not spend a dime on anything {besides the food of course}… not even on fresh flowers that I wanted oh so bad! I hit a wall on the centerpiece; I wanted it to be special, with candles but still be on the low side so that we are able to see across the table. I resorted to calling Erika for help. She suggested using canning jars because she knows I have a whole slew of them. So, I did, along with a wreath I had in the closet, and a square tray from my sister-in-law that I turned upsidedown.
And I even managed to put a few of my vintage Valentines to good use. The one above with the little girl sewing marks my seat. My husband, or another one of the “hunter” husbands will sit here:
Ok, I must retreat to the kitchen I’ve got a fairly involved menu for tonight, thankfully most of which I’ve already accomplished, just a few loose ends to tie up!
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