Hello! Happy Spring. I hope it’s well and truly sprung wherever you are. Texas weather has been predictable only insofar as you can count on a thunderstorm no matter the temps.
This was going to be another rapid-fire edition like last month’s, but when I got going there were more words than I thought, so we’ll call this a medium fire. Are the regular letters long fire? I digress.
When you read this we’ll be two and a half days from moving my parents into the in law suite of our house! I told Mom the other day that it feels like the last month of pregnancy. I know there will be challenges ahead, and I can’t envision exactly how everything will play out, but I’m know this new way of life will be full of sweetness. Our kids have never lived close to grandparents. Since my dad has begun to feel his age I’ve been too far away to be of any practical support. I can’t quite find words for what a gift it is to be close to him in his final years, and that he will get to spend those years watching his grandsons grow. As always, Jesus has been better and done more than I ever imagined or believed. He is so kind.
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Medium fire edition: A few things that have made this hectic month easier!
Goo Gone Latex Paint Remover
We used LVP for our floors and they got some wall paint splattered on them, as new floors will. It became clear once everything dried that one room had more than a few stray drips and I was nervous. I didn’t want to scratch my fresh floors or split my fingernails trying to scrape it up, nor did I want to use too harsh a product and damage the finish. Google said this was the stuff, and she was right.These leggings
In my experience the options in Leggings World are two fold. Option A: Only $10, but the person two carts behind you in the Target checkout line WILL be able to see the daisies on your underwear. Because the fabric is so thin, but also because they’ve ridden down around your knees already. And they only come in black. Option B: These come in lots of colors and prints! They stay in place! No visible daisies! But you will have to cough up at least eight-five American dollars, or get out. I finally got smart and asked a friend instead of Google, and she pointed me to these Amazon leggings. All the pros of an Option B legging (plus the significant bonus of a proper gusset seam) for under $30. Yes ma’am.ThredUp
Speaking of clothes that are good enough to do their jobs but not so uppity they’ll bankrupt you, I love shopping at ThredUp. If you love a storefront shopping trip, bless you, but I prefer to shop from my bed.
I’ve casually used ThredUp for years, and in the past I felt like it only worked for me sometimes. I think I’ve finally hacked the system. So here’s two pro tips if you want a good experience on this app:
First, the casual scroll. I scroll through their MASSIVE inventory for a few minutes a couple evenings a week while we watch TV. Anything I like gets saved to my favorites tab. Then when I’m in my closet and think “Huh, I could use another blazer,” I go straight to the favorites tab and choose from ten-ish options that I already like instead of searching through the whole inventory.
Second, saved searches. I save a search for anything I’m in the market for. For instance: “Color block sneakers, any color but black or white, size 8.5, in New With Tags or Like New condition.” ThredUp sends me a handy email every evening with any new additions that fit my saved searches. If there are no new additions that day, no email! Magical AND money saving.Greta Gerwig’s Little Women
I was about ten when I read Little Women for the first time. It was the first “grown up” book I’d ever read, and my first ever re-read. I grew up watching the 1933 movie adaptation staring Katherine Hepburn (still my favorite film version of Jo), and was shocked to later learn there was a NEW REMAKE (made in 1949) starring June Allison. I watched that one with skeptic hesitation, and never even gave the 1994 version a shot. So it won’t surprise you that I waited until March 2023 to watch the 2019 remake. It was stunning. The way Gerwig structured the story made it feel fresh and new without altering any of the beloved characters. I especially loved seeing Meg and Amy with my grown up eyes. They make more sense to me now than they did when I was a girl. I laughed, I cried, it moved me Bob.Getting up earlier.
I mentioned in last month’s letter that we were preparing to take the high schoolers in our student ministry (plus a few of their parents) to Guatemala. The place that we stay when we go is a single compound set on a hill, with a large missionary guest house at the top and an orphanage at the bottom. Our whole group stayed in the guest house, which has a long porch with a lovely view of the city. I got up every morning around 5:30am, got myself a steaming cup of Guatemalan coffee, and joined Andy (the oldest member of our group, in his 70s) on the porch to watch the sun rise and listen to the birds greet the day.
It’s no secret that 2023 has been a bit of a frantic year so far. Not bad, but busy and unpredictable. I relished that each day of our trip had been meticulously planned by someone other than me, and all I had to do was show up. Two days in I starting pondering the question, “What about this trip—where we’re doing physically and emotionally exhausting work all day every day—feels so restorative? And how could I bring that home with me?”
There’s a spiritual clarity that comes when you see your faith expressed in another language and culture. God’s good work stands out more starkly when I’m not lulled by all my normal American comforts. That’s great, but I couldn’t take it home with me.
I was also spending a lot more time outside moving my body and a lot less time looking at a screen. So I wrote that down. Exercise helps. WHO KNEW.
Every morning I was getting up with plenty of time for silence. Quiet restores me. There was a time about three years ago when I was steadily waking up every morning before my kids, but that practice went out the window (as it should) when our new baby came. Seeing as how that “new baby” just turned two, I decided it was worth trying again, despite how tired I’d been feeling.
We’ve been home three weeks now and I’ve been getting up about 75 minutes before my kids every week day. It’s been the most life giving thing I’ve done for myself in a long time. I enjoy my day so much more if I can start it with some silence.
You don’t have to get up early. The next time you catch yourself feeling energized and alive, just notice your environment. Whatever it is that’s making the biggest difference, try it out on a regular Tuesday. It’ll be worth it.
Love you a bunch. See you next month!
- Steph
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