Okay is Bleeechhh.

I hate okay.

Okay reeks of mediocrity.

"Did you like that restaurant?"

"It was okay."

"How was the concert?"

"It was okay."

Yeah....not appealing.

Who wants their husband to say, “My wife is.....okay?”

I want Larry to say, “My wife is amazing. She is all that. She’s the best thing ever.”

Not, “She’s okay.” 

He may as well say, “My wife is hell."

Over the years I've asked Larry what I could do to better meet his needs.

Sometimes I've failed but I hope I've succeeded more.

I don’t want my kids to say, “My mom’s okay.”

I want them to say, “She’s the best mom ever. “

My amazzzzzinggggggg kids, Christmas Day 2012

About ten years ago, I asked all my kids  to give me a grade on being a mom. I believe evaluation is very important to improvement in every area of our life, including marriage and family.

Two of my kids gave me an A. One kid gave me an F. 

Yes, an "F".

I failed. 

 Now, I could have said, “Ahhhh…it’s just sour grapes because I've disciplined them a little more than the other two lately.” But I think it’s important to listen to your kids and find out why they feel the way they do. So I said,  "How did I get this F, and how can I bring up the grade?" 

The child shared with me some ways they felt I was not meeting their needs. Moms are supposed to meet needs, you know. We may not be able to provide all of a child's wants, nor might it be wise to, but caring about their needs is very important. 

I listened closely. Took notes. Thought of some areas I may not have listened enough or been attentive enough. Then took some steps to improve things. Our relationship got closer. Over the years they became the child who seems to sing my praises the most. I don’t do things so my children will give accolades, but my point is, I don’t want to be just an okay mom.

I don’t want to be an okay anything.

What about you? Are you content with okay, or striving for more? Are you open to evaluation to get there? 

How Do I Do It? (This is How...)

Jesus Calling, Sarah Young

This was my reading on Tuesday in Jesus Calling.

It fit perfectly to strengthen me for the days ahead. During various points in my life people have asked how I've made it through, victoriously. There is nothing like the way God's presence speaks to us, leads us, and gives us grace for the journey.

I encourage you, call on Him. He will speak and give you strength that quite frankly, doesn't make sense. 

 

9 Photo Sayings on Facebook That I Question

What if your glass broke? 

Really? I've been so sad I wanted to jump off a cliff and it drove me to eat cupcakes.
They are still on my thighs in the form of cellulite.

My husband doesn't think there's anything perfect about me taking all the covers every night. 

I'm a cup of dark roast coffee?

 I've read this five times and I'm still going..."What???"

 

It tells me that something could get into my ears and there's nothing I can do about it. Eeeee!!!

What???

Hopefully the creator of this is not working for Hallmark.

If Larry said to me, "Deanna, you act like summer and walk like rain..." I'd wonder if he got a few medications in the cabinet mixed up.

This is just...gross.

What if they were hunted down and killed by the Mob in Chapter 20? 

Oh well, I guess comparison still isn't good.

 

My husband. 

He said, "Why are we in here looking for a purse? You already have a whole bunch of them at home."

3 Things I'm Learning

I've been concentrating on these the past five months or so:


1) Limiting "work on me" to one big thing at a time.

I used to try to work on everything about myself at once that needed an overhaul, and it didn't go so well.

I'm learning the value of one-thing-at-a-time.

There are issues in my life that need major work that I haven't even started on yet. The past five months have been an invaluable lesson I will never forget, most of it focused on one area. When mastered it will hopefully be something retained for life.

I get to choose who I'm going to be. How great is that?

2) Being kind to me as work on me.

Every day I notice the parts of me that still need work. I don't like those things about myself. But I know they didn't get that way overnight and they aren't going to change overnight.

I could hate myself.
Talk trash to myself.
But what good does it do?
It just makes it worse.

I'm a human being, with faults and frailties and now choose to extend the grace to myself that I've often given others but lacked giving myself.

3) Being kind to others as I work on me.
 
Allowing God to do a deep work in your heart is like being on the operating table. It's not fun at times. On some occasions, I get frustrated in the midst of that and fail to treat others with grace. With God's help, I'm trying to also be kind to other people in the midst of it.

Here's to another year, and changes made for the better.