LeeAnn G Taylor - Embracing the Mosaic Life

Trusting our broken pieces to the Ultimate Artist

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My Kids Ate Cake For Dinner & It’s Really Okay

May 8, 2014 By LeeAnn G. Taylor

 

This is the first in The Power of Purpose series. Today’s focus is on Food. I’m encouraging you to take a fresh look at your expectations and priorities related to feeding your family. I’m also providing a handful of resources I’m using that you might also find helpful. 

Last night my kids ate cake for dinner. Yes, that was the main course.

Sure, they ate handfuls of dates first and a bowl of olives later {yes, my kids eat these…I know, strange} but cake was the highlight – my grandmother’s freshly made lemon pound cake to be exact.

At our house we call desserts “sometimes foods” so my kids {2 and almost 5} were thrilled with the prospect of a chunk of yellowy sweet goodness in the middle of their plate for dinner. And me? I was okay with it!

2014 has been a year of great personal growth for me, even in areas like feeding my family.

my kids ate cake for dinner

Embrace Freedom or the Prison of Perfection?

After reading Emily Freeman’s book Grace for the Good Girl this past winter, I realized I can’t possibly meet the laundry list of unreasonable expectations I set for myself.

It happens on a daily basis.

My ideal situation collides with my reality and I’m faced with a decision; do I succumb to the feelings of inadequacy and fear of “what if” or do I change my perspective, look at the moment for what it is, and embrace freedom from my self-induced personal prison of perfection?

More and more, I’m choosing the later. And when I do, the version of myself striving for perfection in every area of my life shrinks a bit and the true me, the one that lives in flesh and blood in a fallen world, comes to life.

As a result, on occasion my kids have cake for dinner. And I’m okay with it.

Other nights I forgo cooking and we do something quick, easy, and quite a bit more healthy like take-n-bake pizza from Papa Murphy’s. It’s not technically “homemade” {as in made at my house} but it sure tastes like it and it fits my paradigm of healthy options for dinner.

Last week, as a fun event for local bloggers, I got a sneak peak into the Winston-Salem, NC location of the Papa Murphy’s operation. In a few words: super clean, fresh ingredients, great prices, & stellar staff. We went home with an amazing pizza made “just how I like it” – as in, they made me 3 different types of specialty pizza on a single crust {what other pizza place is willing to do that?!}.

The owner even sent me home with mini make-your-own pizzas for the kiddos, complete with mini sauce cups, kid-friendly toppings, and a fun treat for the kids that won’t clutter up my house – a temporary pizza tattoo. Let’s just say I was a hero at my house that night.

So…instead of beating myself up about the fact that dessert was the main course for my kids last night and that I don’t always have 100% homemade options to offer my family, I choose to view dinnertime through the lens of purpose and grace. 

Purpose: I use my favorite meal planning tool, buy fresh local options when available, shop sales and use coupons.

Grace: I do the best I can with the time, energy, and resources I have.

The unreasonable expectations we set for ourselves that we can’t possibly meet all the time can weaken our ability to serve and love others well. This means we’re not the best wife and mother when we strive for things we can’t possibly achieve. We all have goals and ideas of how we can improve, but perfection is the enemy of progress. 

Perfection is the enemy of progress.

Let’s stop feeling guilty about every tiny choice we make with food and our families. Instead, decide what is important to you and take actions to support those decisions!

What’s working for you? How do you show yourself grace in the area of food and meal planning in your day-to-day? Share in the comments. Your words might be the encouragement another mom needs to hear today!

This post contains affiliate links {full disclosure}. 

Saying “YES” to God in the Middle of Our Mess {And a Giveaway}

May 2, 2014 By LeeAnn G. Taylor

The weather was beautiful, warm with the perfect spring breeze, and I muscled the Sit N Stand stroller to the front door to go pick up Salem from preschool. I noticed something unusual with our door and called my husband to inquire.

{Important side note: Our house is for sale and has been for many months. It’s only been shown once.}

It was only then he decided to tell me about the realtor who had called the day before at 3:05 wanting to show our house at 3:30 the same day. Both of us were at work.

Now you tell me…do you normally leave your house in “okay to be shown to a potential buyer” condition when you leave for work on a Wednesday morning? Ok, me neither.

I cringed to think about the laundry piled in baskets on the floor, our unmade bed, the towels on the bathroom counter, Salem’s bedroom littered with an array of random “treasures” and the pallet on the floor she’s been sleeping on for the last few nights to “campout”. It occurred to me there might have even been a wet diaper on my son’s changing table. {cringe}

living room mess - the mosaic life

“You have got to be kidding me!” went through my head, along with a variety of other comments I wanted to make to my husband, but refrained for the health of our marriage.

Some stranger just entered our house and viewed our mess in all of its imperfect glory. Not okay in my book.

Sure, we had friends over on Sunday night and the house was far from perfect – piles of winter clothes graced the hallway waiting to be stashed in the attic for next year. The kitchen floor would have seriously benefited from a broom in the capable hands of my husband, the resident sweeper, but who were we kidding? Between the two of our families, we have 3 kids under the age of 5 who were going to dump half of their food on the floor before we were finished with dinner anyway.

kitchen mess the mosaic life

 

When my friend Brittany called our house a “judgement free zone,” I knew I was on the right track. Sure, I like to tidy up before people come over, but even if there’s not time for that, our friends are welcome.

I’m learning to relax in the company of my closest friends and let them into my “mess”.

Ya’ll. This is new for me! I’ve spent years, years, making sure our house was just so before inviting people over. If it wasn’t for some reason, my stress level would go through the roof. But I’ve declared war on perfectionism, so not anymore!

I’ve learned that it’s building relationships that counts, not what my house looks like!

Lately I’ve embraced The Nester’s motto about our home: It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful. And it’s true. I’m a recovering perfectionist and this is a struggle for me. My soul just feels more at peace when the dishes are done, the floor is swept, the counters are clear, and my bed is made. But what if I waited for everything to be just perfect to let people into our home, into our lives? Yep, it would never happen!

Yes, our mess drives me crazy sometimes but I have to be careful not to allow it to keep me from fostering and nurturing one of the most important things in our lives – loving people and sharing our lives with them.

But what if I waited until all the stars were aligned and everything in my life seemed perfectly ready for me to do what God is calling me to do?

I’d never make a difference. And my life would never shine His glory. And friends, Matthew 5:16 tells us that’s what it’s all about!

God wants you right in the middle of your mess because it's the perfect place for Him to shine.

Oh, what a tragedy to miss out on something as extraordinary as the ministry of Mercy House, a maternity home in Kenya providing alternative options for pregnant girls living in the streets of Kenya. Mercy House aids them in education, nutrition, housing, prenatal care, Bible study, counseling and job skills for sustainable living. Incredible!

No, that’s not what God is calling ME to say “YES” to, but it IS God’s dream for Kristen Welch and her family.

A self-described “ordinary” person with struggles, brokenness, fears, anxiety – the whole bit – Kristen did one thing differently than many of us. God asked her to use her ordinary life – mess and all – and turned her obedience – her “YES” – into something “extra”ordinary.

One step at a time, one prayer at a time, one “yes” at a time, God used Kristen’s life to change the world. She tells the story in her new book Rhinestone Jesus: Saying Yes to God When Sparkly Safe Faith is Not Enough.

Rhinestone Jesus by Kristen Welch

Rhinestone Jesus is a peak into Kristen’s heart as she shares candidly how God turned her from a “good girl,” a teenager on fire for God but content to live a “safe” Christian life, into a woman broken through life’s challenges and unexpected experiences, now willing to say “yes” to God and trust Him in each moment, regardless of the outcome.

The book is a call to authenticity in the Christian walk. She challenges us to push through the fears of “what if” and instead to ask “what next God?” as we move forward one step at a time in faith.

Kristen shares her personal struggles in ministry, motherhood, and marriage and paints a picture of God’s incredible redemption through it all.

Not just a memoir, the book will walk you through your own journey of learning to say “yes” to God’s call by providing thought provoking questions at the end of each chapter that beg for reflection and action.

And for this recovering perfectionist momma, I love this quote from the book:

Saying yes isn’t really about doing it all, it’s about saying yes right where you are.”

That’s it. That’s the answer. I don’t have to get everything right, the stars don’t have to align, and my house doesn’t have to be spotless. I just have to say “yes” in the middle of my mess to whatever God puts in front of me today. One foot in front of the other. One step at a time, saying “yes” to living out my faith authentically.

yesinmymess

I am thrilled to have been part of Kristen’s launch team for her book and her publisher Tyndale House has given me a copy to review and a copy to give away to one of you! The giveaway will be open until May 8th and there are several ways to enter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*This post is part of Lisa-Jo Baker’s 5 Minute Friday series, where she empowers bloggers to write for 5 minutes each Friday on a specific topic. Free writing. Writing just for the sheer joy of it. Today’s topic was “Mess“. And NO, this definitely didn’t take me the prescribed 5 minutes…but my fellow Five Minute Friday gals encouraged me that there is grace in the mess and to post it anyway!  This post also contains affiliate links {full disclosure}.  Also sharing with Women of Worship, Fellowship Friday, Beauty Observed, and Sunday Stillness.

I Am Who HE Says I Am: Letting Go of Perfectionism

April 4, 2014 By LeeAnn G. Taylor

 

I lay in bed, my head tucked into the crook of my husband’s arm, tears escaping from my weary eyes. Attempts at explaining how I’m feeling to the one person in the world who cares about me more than any other fail me.

The words “I don’t know” escape my lips over and over and he holds me closer.

All this striving to do things right, to do the practical things necessary to grow in my faith, to really trust God in the hard moments, and I’m still feeling like it’s not enough.

And I realize, old habits die hard.

The cycle of perfectionism, of feeling I must give 100% to absolutely everything, fearing failure, and then still feeling like it’s not enough, after awhile stops me in my tracks, yet again. 

I Am Who He Says I Am: Letting Go of Perfectionism

photo credit: Daniela Vladimirova via photopin cc

It was just 5 short months ago after reading Emily Freeman’s book Grace for the Good Girl: Letting Go of the Try-Hard Life that I started to realize the danger of constantly comparing my actual performance to this perfect version of me I had concocted in my mind.

“It’s time to read it again,” I said to my husband, after the tears had stopped; and he did what all good husbands do, listen.

Emily’s words, filled with the rawness of her story and God’s truth, broke open my heart and started the healing process.

I need the reminder again and again that I’m enough. That I’m pre-approved. That it’s God who picks up the pieces of my broken life and crafts them into a masterpiece, not me.

Sometimes the reminder comes in the form of God’s word. Ephesians tells us we are God’s masterpiece, created anew in Christ. I love the truth that HE has planned the good things we are going to do, not us.

It’s not up to me to work and strive for approval. Instead, it’s my job to lean in, to listen for God’s Spirit to lead me in the good things he has planned for me.

What freedom!

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10

Other times the reminder comes through sweet friends. Thank you Rebekah for putting words to my calling as a writer in a way that spoke directly to my heart and into my life as confirmation from God that yes, this is what He has for me in this season of my life. No more doubting, my words are making a difference and I will keep on.

Words of encouragement from a friend

And if God’s word on the page in black and white and a Christian sister’s encouragement isn’t enough, this week I listened to an interview with Jennifer Dukes Lee on the God-Centered Mom podcast talking about the release of her new book, Love Idol: Letting Go of Your Need for Approval and Seeing Yourself Through God’s Eyes.

Love Idol: Letting Go of Your Need for Approval-and Seeing Yourself through God's Eyes

So I’m starting to get the message.

I’m pre-approved.
Worth it.
Enough.
Made perfect in Christ.
God’s masterpiece.

It’s my job to offer up my broken pieces and His job to make the work of art.

It’s my job to offer up my broken pieces and His job to make the work of art.

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Oh friends, may we continue to grow together in this!

This post contains affiliate links that help support the site and our family as we seek to become financially free of debt {full disclosure}. 

More Than You Can Imagine {Eph 3:20}

February 8, 2014 By LeeAnn G. Taylor

Have you ever watched your children from afar, soaking in the moment and wondering what great things they may accomplish one day?

Sometimes I wonder if that’s how our Father looks at us, except he knows the end of the story. He knows what he has planned for us. He knows the heartaches, the struggles, the joys, and the triumphs.

Dear friend, know that God loves each of us more than we can fathom. He has more incredible things in store for us than we could ever imagine.

Embrace this truth today and press on!

Ephesians 3:20

God has more in store for you than you can even imagine. Ephesians 3:20

Sharing today with Still Saturday, Spiritual Sundays, The Weekend Brew, and Sunday Stillness.

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