Category: 366 days of novice motherhood

Place: the train station

Poison: Pepsi max

Favorite things: Claudine on the train

Today Max got his passport photo taken ready for his first passport and it’s never an easy task with a newborn,

I love travel tails, I love travel adventures, I love travel full stop. Unfortunately with more time free, I am finding myself dreaming up travel adventures for my family and I.

One travel tale is that of my bible. Our recent jaunt to the gold coast was one full of friendship, delight and marriage. Only one thing, when I’m lost in the moment of marital bliss and long lost friends I often become forgetful.

And this trip was no different.

The trek to Kyms wedding was a long and winding road up into the mountains of Queensland. We drove to a little country heritage listed church and enjoyed the picnic setting of our lovely friends nuptials.

However my bible got left behind. It sat on the back pew of this little church, forgotten after I had finished my reading for the ceremony.

So the long search began for the brilliant Father Dan, from the Anglian church to seek, retrieve and return my long lost friend.

And that he did.

So my bible has been on a plane by itself and is on its way back to me.

I can’t be more excited than to hold it in my hands and open its covers once more.

Our family has many more adventures planned for this upcoming year and my bible will come on all of them.

Hope it makes it’s way back each time.

It’s worth the effort.

A

 

Place: car

Poison: hot soy milk

Favorite things: being challenged

Tonight I listened to a speaker called Sam Childers, who is the man who is the main character from ‘The machine gun preacher’.

There is so much about his philosophy of ministry that I struggle with, but I can’t deny that this guy lives a life passionately following the cause he would die for. The people of South Sudan and child soldiers who he rescues and shelters.

Tonight made me seriously consider what I would die for and what I live for…one thing I have been thinking about is friendship; deep, kindred friendship.

I think in some ways I would die for and live for friendship. Loyalty is one of my deep passions. It’s something that runs really deep in my family and therefore has been birthed in me.

When I develop a friendship with deep purpose alignment, honestly I would stand up for them in any setting.

The thing I find hard with loyalty, is having the strength and capacity to transition seasons well with my friends, to keep them in my inner circle, with loyalty but also releasing them into the new season they are entering.

As a novice mum, I want to sit up all night talking, I want to leave my plans open ended and live in the moment, but I can’t sit at a coffee shop till 3am anymore. I have breast duty. I have little man duty. I am not a single, responsibility free, twenty year old, I’m a mum.

I think the true test of friendship is the ability, to transitions seasons well. To let friendships go, that need to be, to hold tight to friendships that you need to fight for and to know the difference.

Often I am disappointed by the expectations I have in friendships, because I literally would give anything for my friends. The ones who are closest to me, I would sacrifice, listen, give, help, do anything they asked of me.

But not everyone holds those same principles and nor should they.

I am learning to let go of my expectations, let go of my disappointments, let go of my pre conceived should’s in relationships and to transition seasons well.

Passion, loyalty and expectations can be big enemies in transitioning seasons well.

I am trying to learn to make them my friends…

A

 

Place: home

Poison: water

Favorite things: a new scarf

At the moment I have a little boy asleep and I should be capturing this moment to do anything but floating around on social media.

I get these little windows of opportunities to do the washing, to clean the dishes, to prepare for dinner, to crochet, to read my book for connect group, to write my manuscript, to pay bills without a nine week old around.

However I seem to spend most of these windows flirting around on Facebook, pinterest, twitter, Instagram and blogs.

Whatever did I do before all these time wasters?

I really need to form myself a new routine. A routine that creates time for play, time for exercise, time for chores and time for rest.

It’s so easy to flutter away a day. It reminds me of how easy it is to flutter money away at places like the royal show or a casino and the like.

Imagine if our precious moments, our hours and our days were as valuable as money and each minute was worth one dollar. Imagine how much more we would be careful of the way we spent them.

I suppose thats how employers feel about their staff and why so many are annoyed with people using social media on their time. Each minute is paid for.

What happens when your not paid for your minutes though?

Are they any less valuable?

I think not.

My time now is even more valuable because it’s punctuated with first moments for my son, it’s celebrated with quiet reflection time for myself after a season of great endeavor, it’s calculated by longing for health and energy encouraged by exercise.

My time, our time, is worth so much more than being wasted.

Does this mean all social media endeavors are wasteful?

No, they just need to be explored within boundaries and not take over the important goals we have planned for our every day.

I’m thinking of creating myself a little diary of what matters for these stay at home days, that include research, play, tv, music, exercise, cooking and so much more.

I don’t want these days to escape me but I also want to enjoy the freedom this season presents.

Enjoying every minute of motherhood, even the explosive number 3 nappies!

All my love and lots of cups of tea

Amanda