Thousand Gifts Thursday

A little while ago, I did a review on the One Thousand Gifts Devotional by Ann Voskamp.  Actually, I think it's the last post that I did, so scroll on down and read it quick.  It's a lovely book and I'm really enjoying it. No, I still haven't finished it.  But the parts that I have read have really inspired me to try being more conscious of the gifts that God has given in my own life.  So since the whole thing started out as a challenge that Ann took, I decided I'd try it too.

On her website, she calls it the Joy Dare - because it is a dare to find joy in the gifts around you.  She's got some great [free] resources that I'll be using throughout the dare.  You can read more about it here.  She really does a better job explaining it than I do!  My favorite little freebie is the Joy Dare Calendar.  It goes through and tells you what to look for each day.  I think it'll be much easier to go through and find joys when you know what you're looking for!  (You can download it near the bottom of this page.)

So here's my problem.  I suck at New Year's Resolutions.  MOST people would take this dare as a resolution and start it on January 1.  Well I never get around to even setting a resolution (when I bother to make one) until somewhere around January 17.  Because I like to see what resolutions everyone else is making before picking and declaring my own.  Not that it's a competition.  No - because that's how I get the best ideas!  I can never come up with something resolution-worthy on my own, so I wait until I hear something good and then resolve to do that too.  So now, here near the end of January, I've resolved to find 1,000 gifts before the end of the year.

I had planned on starting February 1 and doing 3 a day and having just a few over 1,000 by the end of December.  Yes, I did the math in my head and it works out.  But then I found that adorable calendar of prompts and it starts in January.  So now I'm 29 days behind schedule.  Crap.  Well, I figured I would alter the dare a smidgen to fit it into my procrastinating schedule.  So I'm still going to start on February 1.  In order to come out to an even 1,000 some of the days have a prompt to find three things and others just prompt for one.  On the days that have one, I'll do one from January too, thereby completing all 1,000 in the year.  YAY!

Ok, now, my favorite part.  The journal.  I decided that I would actually physically write down my joys every day.  Mostly because that way a) I can keep them to myself if they are private and b) it will be easier to do right before bed than grab a computer and try to come up with some clever blog post about them.  Because let's face it, I'm not the most awesome at getting around to blogging on a regular basis.  I've got pictures from a trip to the botanical gardens, several Christmas celebrations, and Ellie's birthday that I need to post one of these days.  I'm not going to be blogging my joy list every single day.  BUT I do hope to do a weekly wrap-up on Thursdays (because I just had to do that blogger alliteration thing) to let you know a few of my joys from the week.  Nothing fancy, just another motivation to keep me going.

So anyway, I went to Target and thought I'd just get a cheapo little pocket calendar for the dare.  It's small, pre-dated, and cheap.  And then I walked into the journal aisle and found this beauty.  

And I couldn't leave it on the shelf.  So I shelled out much more money than I should have for a book of paper and brought it home.  I figured maybe if the journal is prettier I'll be more motivated to stick with it all year long.  Maybe?  Let's hope so.  Anyway, this was, again, before I bothered to look at the website and saw all the cute printables that you can get to make any plain old journal pretty.  (Side note: this whole thing has a super cute bird theme that I'm totally digging, so maybe that'll help me stick with it too!)  I tell you all of this so that if you decide you want to hop on board and take your own Joy Dare, first don't think that it's too late and you have to wait until next year.  And second, look for free things before you go to Target.  Because that is the place where budgets go to die.

So there you have it.  1 year - 1,000 gifts.  It seems like a lot.  But I'm really excited.  Will you join me in taking the Joy Dare?  If so, let me know and we can encourage each other to stick with it to the end!  I can't wait to see what happens!

REVIEW: One Thousand Gifts Devotional by Ann Voskamp

Z Blog Squad has reformatted and now they occasionally offer thematic materials where adult and children books along the same theme can be reviewed at the same time!  Super exciting that I have a chance to review an adult book or two in the mix with all the amazing kids' products that they offer!

The first such book is the One Thousand Gifts Devotional by Ann Voskamp.

(Side Note: We were supposed to receive a Berenstein Bears thankfulness book to go along with this one, but for one reason or another, we never did.  That's totally ok though because in the meantime, thanks to our church library, we discovered that Ellie is freaked out by those characters.  So she wouldn't have liked it and it wouldn't have been a fair review anyway.)

Evidently, Ms. Voskamp is a pretty popular Christian author.  I'd heard the name, but have never read any of her work before.  See, while I would *like* to be one of those moms who wakes up at the crack of dawn and gets in a good workout before sitting down with her tea and devotional time, I'm just not.  My time is quite limited (don't we all feel that way?!) and when I get a chance to read, I want it to be some good Christian fantasy or sci-fi or allegory.  Lewis or Tolkein or Dekker.  Something with a different world in which I can immerse myself and forget about the laundry that needs done or peeling stickers off the kitchen floor.  But I realized this year that I need some more devotional goodness in my life, so I've been working on reading through this book.  I received it around thanksgiving and have just now read enough to feel like I can give it a genuine review.

I really, really like it.  First of all, it's so pretty!  I know what they say, but a good cover seriously does help me pick up a book and give it a go.  And I like that, since this is devotional style, it has a nice little ribbon bookmark, so I don't have to ugly it up with the post-it notes I usually use.  So bonus points for aesthetics.

Now, content.  Ann's (I don't think she'd mind if I called her by her first name) writing style is rather unique and took a few chapters to get used to.  At first I wasn't sure how to describe it, but then I heard someone else call it poetic and I think that's absolutely true.  Her metaphors and similes are large and in great detail.  Sometimes, I think that can distract people from the point that she's trying to make.  But I kind of like it.  Like I said, it takes some getting used to, so if you pick up this book, don't allow yourself to give up on it until you're at least half-way through.  At that point, if you really aren't getting anything out of it, then this writing style just might not be for you and I'd suggest you investigate a different author.  Poetic language like this really isn't suitable for everyone, but it seems to work beautifully for me.

And the points she makes ring quite true.  She's a self-proclaimed mother of 'half a dozen kids,' so many of her observations are derived from interactions with her children.  As a mom, that really drives points home for me.  But I think that even non-moms - heck, even MEN - could relate a lot to what she is saying.  The devotional is based off of her book One Thousand Gifts.  I *think* I heard her do an interview on the radio last spring where she talked about that book, but try as I might I cannot find it anywhere.  I can't even remember which radio station it was.  Anyway... the backstory of both books is that a friend dared her to count 1,000 gifts from God.  The books chronicle her journey of basically re-programming her mind and heart to see the gifts and graces in every day life and live with more gratitude.  This is something I honestly think we could all work on.  

This devotional book contains 60 devotions, each one ending with a brief prayer starter and room for notes.  Then at the back of the book are pages full of lines.  One thousand lines to be exact.  A space to list your own one-thousand gifts.  The devotional in itself is Ann's personal journey, shared with you as an encouragement to undergo the same challenge and see how it might change you.  

I haven't finished the book yet.  Like I said, time is limited, and these things cannot be digested as easily as a fantasy world.  This is real life - and sometimes you need to close the book and sit with what you've read for a while  before continuing.  So I don't know how it ends.  Well, I do.  I can tell you already.  Without evening finishing it, I can tell you it ends well.  It ends with beauty and grace and a new way of living and loving the gifts in our everyday lives.

So if you've got a little Christmas money left and don't know what to spend it on, might I recommend picking up this devotional book?  I really do think it'll be worth it.  Already, I have noticed little changes in my mind and heart that lead me to believe this is changing me for the better.  For example, last weekend we threw two parties in two days at our home.  And if that weren't stressful enough, Andy called me down on Friday and let me know that the washer had quit draining water.  My very first thought?  "Thank God - we JUST got all the laundry done!"  I immediately thought of something positive rather than negative.  That's progress, my friend.  And, as I said, I think it's progress we can all stand to make.  

I'm going to be taking the One Thousand Gifts challenge in 2015 - check back soon for more information on why I decided, what I hope to gain, and how I'll be doing it!

Disclaimer: Zondervan provided me with a free copy of this book for reviewing purposes, but the opinions I've presented are 100% my own.

Face-Lifts, Boots, and a Life Lesson

Hi all!  Welcome to the new blog!  Ok, ok, so it's the same old blog.  But I thought it was time for a face lift.  I stumbled upon another mom using plain old Blogger (instead of one of the more fancy sites for actual serious bloggers) and thought it was super pretty!  So I clicked on the link at the top and found myself at Shabby Blogs!  What a cute site!  The best part is, all of their backgrounds, headers, and other stuff that I don't even know what to do with is FREE!  I was amazed.  It took quite a bit of playing around (and googling for help) to get it just right, but I think I've worked out the kinks and I'm super happy with the result.  It's nice to have a blog that more accurately depicts my favorite things :-)  OH!  And did you notice the name change?!  Story time... 

So when I first set out to start the blog, it was as a way of keeping everyone up to date on things happening with our family.  Specifically, my pregnancy.  So I thought it would be cute to have a name like "Birth of a Mom" or "Becoming a Mom" or something like that.  Guess what?  Those were all taken.  So, due to a lack of other options, I decided on the less-cute-but-still-alliterated Heather's Household Happenings.  I never really liked it all that much, but it worked and it wasn't taken.  I guess all the other Heather's out there in blog-land didn't like it either!  So then I got a tablet (the closest thing to a smart phone I can have right now!) and thought it would be cool to be on Twitter.  And then I was stuck on another name.  I did what all modern folks would do when faced with such a tough decision - I asked my facbook friends for their suggestions.  And a good friend suggested MamaMcDee.  And I loved it!  And it wasn't even taken!  So I snatched that baby right up before the next McMama could.  

When I finally decided to give my lovely little bloggy a face lift, I thought I'd see about changing the name, too.  Lo and behold, MamaMcDee: NOT TAKEN!  And so my little blog space is now known as Mama McDee.  Which is great.  But everyone knows that a good blog has got to have a good tag line!  Luckily for me, this is only a small, mediocre blog so a short, mediocre tag line would suffice.  So I thought long and hard for a bit and came up with something I actually really like: Becoming Mom, Becoming Me.  Because that's generally what I write about.  This is my journey to becoming a mom - because let's face it, that journey's pretty much never over - and realizing the ever changing concept of 'me.'  Story time...

The Hubs said something to me a little while ago that made me mad think.  I've decided that I am really super in love with boots.  Like the suede kind with the toggles on the side and a little bit of fuzzy sticking out the top.  

Not Uggs.  But I guess to a man, they are close enough to be considered the same thing.  I got a pair in black last spring and then splurged for a pair in grey and brown when Kohls had them on sale for Black Friday.  And I'm so excited that now I have a pair of boots for every outfit.  I really do love them.  Anyway, when I brought them home, Hubs looked at me and said, "I thought you hated uggs.  We had actual conversations in college about how people on campus would walk around in uggs and you thought it was so stupid and you swore you would never be caught dead in a pair."  I tried to explain that these are not uggs.  First of all, they were about a quarter of the price, plus they are in colors that actually match my outfit, plus I don't walk around with just a shirt and leggings and uggs and then complain about being cold because my boots should be keeping me so warm, plus I don't use them as snow boots and then complain when the super-expensive suede is ruined by the wet snow.  Clearly they are not the same thing.  And he replied with, "Yes, they're pretty much the same thing.  That you swore you'd never wear.  You're just not the same girl that I married."  Now, he said it with a smile and a laugh that let me know he wasn't upset or disappointed in me or considering leaving me because I bought three pairs of boots (like I said, it was a really good sale).  But that still kind of haunted me for a while.  Two days later, I finally came up with the perfect come-back.  (Isn't that always how it goes?)  And so I sat him down and I said, "Hey, remember the other day when you gave me a lecture about how now I wear boots and I used to hate uggs (which I still would NOT wear and these are NOT the same thing) and then you said that I'm not the same girl you married?  Remember that?  Yeah, well, you're right.  I'm not the same girl you married.  Now I'm a mom and I drive a mini-van and I wear scarves and my favorite color is purple and I like to wear boots.  Deal with it."  And he laughed and said, "They're still the same thing as uggs."  Clearly I made my point.  

Anyway, it got me to thinking about how who we are is so fluid and constantly changing.  I'm not the same person I was five and a half years ago.  That would be awful!  So often, especially as teenagers, we're told to just be yourself and don't let anyone change you!  There's such an awful stigma on change.  But it can be so, so good!  As long as that change comes as a form of growth and not regression, there's nothing to fear or resist.  Change!  Do it!  It's awesome!  Allow yourself to become a slightly different person from day to day.  Drop old bad habits and start new good ones.  Try a different style of hair cut or a new accessory.  Wear a color that you thought you could never pull off.  Do something that challenges you physically, emotionally, spiritually.  I remember the person that I was in High School and College and I'm so glad that I've allowed myself the grace of change.  I used to be painfully shy.  Painfully.  No one who meets me now believes that.  I've branched out and opened up and allowed myself to grow into someone who is, dare I say, outgoing!  And I wear scarves and boots and bright colors because that's what I like.  And I try really hard not to care what other people think about how I look.  (Except when they ask me if I'm pregnant.  That one's hard to ignore.)  

So I guess what I've been trying to say is that this blog is changing.  Just like me!  It isn't just about the things that happen in my house.  Or my pregnancy.  (Because NO, I'm not pregnant.)  It's about my journey as I become a mom to my awesome toddler and as I become more genuinely myself.  Whatever that means :-)