1. I keep having posts run through my head but then I am not A. organized enough to sit down and type them or B. confident enough that they're worth writing. So I figured I'd do a few, briefly, and see if they turn into anything longer.
2. Wednesday was End Human Trafficking day. I've posted on this before, and here are some other good ideas for how to get involved: visit Not For Sale, which has an App for the iPhone to scan barcodes and see if the companies have adequate policies in place to address child labor in its product chain. Sponsor someone marching in DC at the Project to End Human Trafficking. Sign a petition (or two) on Change.org in the Human Trafficking section. Take the survey to determine your Slavery Footprint (I have 55 slaves working for me) and become more aware about the issue. Fast and pray for those caught up in trafficking, both for victims and perpetrators.
3. At my mother's group, which meets twice a month, we do a monthly challenge. January's is to sacrifice for my husband the way I sacrifice for my kids. So often we pour ourselves out for these small souls, wiping up their bodily functions or playing ponies when it's the last thing we feel like doing, yet we are joyful in our giving and do not ask for recompense. The challenge is to carry that over into our marriage this month, to give wholly out of love without expecting anything in return. I think it's such a lovely thought, and the timing is good because my husband is pretty stressed with work right now and I have many opportunities to pour love out on him!
4. I've been working on changing our eating habits to be more in line with a Nourishing Traditions approach. It means eating more fermented products, soaking my grains before cooking them, and generally eating a more traditional diet. So far I'm loving it. Our "beef" with the Paleo diet (which we tried over the summer) was that it required far too much reliance on meat as the base, and we don't think this is either economical or globally sustainable. However, knowing that properly prepared grains are beneficial to the body, and stretching meat the way our great-grandmothers used to do (like using bones to make broth and flavor soups, or by eating organs and other cheap cuts) we can eat well and nourish ourselves fully, without breaking the bank or contributing to food shortages.
5. We're going to Disneyworld this year. I am freaking out about it on so many different levels. I am trying my best not to be that person in the family who complains and looks negatively at anything new or challenging, but it's hard because my personality tends to the over-reaction side of things. For now, I am trying to keep the crazy mostly between myself and God, where it belongs, and be positive with those who are joining me on the trip. Advice from those of you with small children who have gone is much appreciated!
6. I struggle with impatience. I'm in good company, I know. It seems to be a national problem, and I believe it's what has put our economy in this precarious position , and what's contributed to our rising obesity rate. This year I have decided to work on this fault, and have chosen as my word for 2012 "gentleness." Gentle people are not impatient. They wait humbly, or else quietly do as they think right without making a fuss. I hope this will improve my parenting, make me abetter wife and friend, and draw me closer to God in emulation of that paragon of gentleness, Mary.
7. I did start these on Friday. Sigh.
More Quick Takes at Jen's site.
