in the trench. literally.

a dear friend of mine bought me a book for christmas.
and i devoured it.
like it still has the pages (maybe that's obvious) but i read it in record time.
it's a short read. but it talks out of the season that i am in.
well, the author has 5 kids - 5 and under (two are twins).

it's called 'LOVING the little years, motherhood in the trenches' by Rachel Jankovic.
sometimes you just need to spend some time reading a book reminding yourself of why you do what you do and getting new ideas how to do parenting right.

i have read books in the past who have told these 'glory stories' about picking up poop and stuff and they remember the stories with fondness. i love my kids, but i'm in the trenches, when poop gets dropped on your brand new slippers.... sometimes you want to scream. in other words... poop stories are only glorious after they are over. (does it sound like that is hypothetical, lol?!)

there's a certain comradarie with someone when they are in the same 'trench' as you.
-just moved
-single
-pregnant
-engaged
-just married
-have a newborn
-just retired (i'm guessing here;))

that's what i felt most of while reading it.
but here are the key points that flowed from that camaraderie.
... 'it is not an abstract thing-the state of your heart is the state of your home.' {insert: what is the state of my home?}

...'because if you are the teacher and none of the students are succeeding, you need to be doing a better job. You need to think of new ways to explain lessons. Change up the terminology a bit. Give some illustrations. {yep, see this}

...Christian childrearing is a pastoral pursuit, not an organizational challenge. {where's their heart}

...grabby hands come from grabby hearts {thinking about this one a lot. what's the deeper issue.}

...structure and freedom combined together make happy children. too much of either is very destructive. {hard balance.}

...but joy is not giddy. it is not an emotional rush-it is what happens when you accept your lot and rejoice in your toil. {needed that.}

i started following her blog today too.
happy wednesday.
kg