Thankful Thursday: Picked-up & Sweating

It's thankful Thursday time! We all have so much to be thankful for and we love to take this opportunity just to write down each and everything that comes to mind. Please take this time to share with us what you're thankful for as well. If you have a blog expressing your thankfulness, please share the link! Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

I’m thankful for help. My mom and dad have been so sweet to chip in and help watch Mckenna and Baby N whenever needed (or whenever not needed, but just to give a little break). I cannot thank them enough for lightening our load more often than they have to.

I’m thankful for “I love you.” Mckenna randomly says “I love you” to me, several times a day. It never, ever gets old. In fact, my heart always explodes a little each time she thinks to say it. I often wonder what spurs it on because it is truly very random, but whatever triggers her little mind to say it, I’m thankful for.

I’m thankful for a picked up house. I’m a bit of neat freak…not so much a clean freak, but a neat freak. I function best when our house is picked up, but, as anyone knows, a house with a toddler can come undone very, very quickly. Every evening Ronnie and I take 10-20 minutes to pick up so that we end the day, and start the next, in a little less chaos. There is nothing like a house that is picked up!!

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for sweating. I've been pushing hard at the gym lately and the best reminder that I'm making progress is when I have to stop my workout due to my eyes burning. Those of you with CF know the feeling of pure salt water being poured into your eyes, and under these circumstances, it's awesome!

I'm thankful for the "winter" weather. I've been walking home from the gym after the sun goes down a couple times a week and no sweatshirt has been required. There is a fantastic crispness in the air that actually feels like a perfect compliment to my sweaty body after my HIIT class.

I'm thankful for my milk frother. I'm back on a pretty strict nutrition plan, but that doesn't mean my sweet tooth is gone. To satisfy that sweet tooth, I've been making "lattes" at night and throwing them back as I decompress for the day. Sometimes I add sugar-free sweetener and sometimes I do not. Either way, it tastes deeeeelish!

What are you thankful for today?  

"Character Trumps Talent"

Yesterday at church the pastor gave one of those sermons that rang a little bell in my mommy heart. The pastor was talking about David, and the fact that he was chosen to be king, even though he wasn't the most talented. The pastor said a phrase that made my heart leap:

"In God's eyes, character always trumps talent."

This is something that we know, right? Growing up in church that's something that you kind of know. We all understand the value of good moral character. But people rarely phrase it in a way that is so obvious. That little catch phrase set off bells in my heart and mind. I am forever keeping my ears open for little phrases that are easy to plant in Mckenna's brain. For example, "God is always good," or "no matter what you do, I still love you" (from a book, it's a good one if you haven't read it). With the attention span of a gnat, she doesn't always have time to listen to me preach, but when she does, I like to leave her with a little nugget at the end that she can remember (in case she forgets all the rest...which I'm 99.99% sure she does). "Character trumps talent," is one I will hold onto and start pulling out to embed in her brain. Yes, I fully support brainwashing your kids!

It's easy as parents to emphasize doing a good job. From the time our kids are born we are encouraging them crawl quickly, start walking, speak well. And I don't care who you are, moms, we always feel a sense of pride when our kid tackles a skill, and even more thrilled if we know they did it the fastest or the best. Admit it moms...it's ok, no one is surprised! It's bad even when they're infants, but I found as soon as Mckenna entered preschool, I had to fight to urge to push her a bit to help her be good at all the skills they were working on in school. And not because I shouldn't help her with skills, that's what parents should do, but because I knew it wasn't coming from a place that was totally kosher. It was less about tackling it for HER sake, and more about tackling it so she wasn't "that kid" in class. Ha! Mckenna is a smart cookie, but I wouldn't say she's the "best" in her class at most things. Somewhere deep in my mommy heart I found having to fight the desire for her to be the best. The sermon was an incredible reminder of what matters. And I couldn't help but get a flash image in my brain of Mckenna's report cards. The feedback is always that she is pretty good when it comes to the skills, but great when it comes to helping others, manners, etc. The teacher has said she's always the first to thank parent helpers; she's known by most of the parents in the school because she approaches all of them to make conversation; and she's always eager to help peers.

When her little report cards came home, it always made my heart happy that she was loving and kind at school (She knows I ask her teach at the end of each day if she was a good listener, loving, kind and had a happy heart). But this sermon was a great reminder to always keep that in focus, and to actually verbalize that focus to her... and them let the skills fall where they may (to some extent, obviously you have to try your hardest and practice...but beyond that...ours hearts should be satisfied).

Anyways, there's really not a great point to the blog. No hard hitting final points. Just a little insight into my ever-evolving mommy brain and heart...it's a scary place in there sometimes ;-)