Have you seen The Greatest Showman? 🙋🏻🙋🏻 Are you obsessed with the music like we are? 🤗🤗
A while back, The Popcast (my very favorite podcast), put me on to some "making of" videos that show the cast pitching the show to the executives who needed to green-light it. The first video shows when Hugh Jackman was supposed to not be singing, but just couldn't help himself when it came time for them to perform "From Now On." They look like they are all doing exactly what they are meant to be doing and having the very best time, and it is a joy to watch.
The next video from that same day was when Keala Settle sings This Is Me, and her performance is so heart-felt in the face of her fear. Spoiler alert: I have yet to watch this without shedding some tears. This song is so beautiful.
I knew it was only a matter of time before some great parodies cropped up, and I've rounded up a couple, if you want to keep falling down this Greatest Showman rabbit hole with me.
One of my favorite funny families on the internet is the Holderness family, and they just delivered a pretty great montage last week. My favorite one is "This Was Clean," though I also love "Go Get In the Car."
Another funny couple did a lipsync in their car in full costumes which is fun. It won't let me embed it, but you can see it here.
And, have you ever seen anything by Todrick Hall? He's so talented, and his mashup of Greatest Showman is amazing.
His 90s and 2000s mashups are also super entertaining, and I saw his Taylor Swift video today and loved it.
It's spring break here, and sometimes it helps to have a little extra entertainment - enjoy!
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Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Monday, March 19, 2018
THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE
A couple of weekends ago, John and I attended a conference at our church that was excellent. I was only a teensy bit distracted by cookie inspiration while I was there, because I had been booked to provide cookies for their celebration lunch last week.
Cookies aside, I came away from this weekend with a lot to mull over. I think it is safe to say that, for me, I've been mildly depressed lately. A lot of the hard things in life have seemed to hit me at once, and I *may* not have been dealing with all the feelings associated with those things. If you saw my Instagram stories a couple of weeks ago, you'd know that I ate more than my fair share of chips dipped in Nutella (and also managed to set the Nutella on fire, which did not prevent me from eating it.🤦🏻♀️)
It was as if every meal was a surprise - and laundry? Forget about it. I did ask John to get more white shirts so that I will feel less pressure to get them clean and put away. True story. I write all of this to give a clear image of my mental state going into Dwell. It was not great.
On Friday night, Aaron Keyes (one of the speakers) made an interesting point. He said that if it is the truth that sets us free (John 8:32), then it is lies that are keeping us trapped. We went through an exercise writing down the lies that we are believing about ourselves and our lives, and these sprang to mind so quickly for me that I realized they have been on repeat in my head.
1. I cannot do hard things or make real changes in my life.
2. I will fail my children.
3. I will never enjoy life again.
Obviously, none of these are completely true. But, it did help me put words to the feelings that seem to have taken me captive over the past couple of weeks. The truth is that I truly cannot do the hard things in front of me without the Lord - it is only in his strength and power. And he has strengthened me, and I am capable of far more than I often believe.
I will fail my children, but I do not need to be wallowing in "Mom guilt," because by and large, I am doing my best and showing up and loving well. Not perfectly, but I am not a mom failure. And I cannot let my children's behavior at certain moments be the measure of my mom success - can I get an amen?
As for enjoying life - this is a tricky one. As a rule, I am far too focused on enjoying life. (#enneagram7) Some of this is helpful and can bring joy to myself and those around me. Other times, my expectations for continual fun and constant comfort lead me to loving this world far more than I should. Slowly, ever. so. slowly., it is dawning on me that this life is but a blink in eternity. The temporal pleasures of this earth will not satisfy, and I cannot put all my stock there. Instead, I have to set my eyes above and on things with eternal value. The hard things we have undertaken here on earth are WORTH EVERY BIT of the work and sacrifice.
Little by little, I'm fighting the lies by leaning into the Lord. Honestly, just recognizing them for what they are has been helpful. The entire conference was excellent, but this was definitely my lasting takeaway.
Cookies aside, I came away from this weekend with a lot to mull over. I think it is safe to say that, for me, I've been mildly depressed lately. A lot of the hard things in life have seemed to hit me at once, and I *may* not have been dealing with all the feelings associated with those things. If you saw my Instagram stories a couple of weeks ago, you'd know that I ate more than my fair share of chips dipped in Nutella (and also managed to set the Nutella on fire, which did not prevent me from eating it.🤦🏻♀️)
It was as if every meal was a surprise - and laundry? Forget about it. I did ask John to get more white shirts so that I will feel less pressure to get them clean and put away. True story. I write all of this to give a clear image of my mental state going into Dwell. It was not great.
On Friday night, Aaron Keyes (one of the speakers) made an interesting point. He said that if it is the truth that sets us free (John 8:32), then it is lies that are keeping us trapped. We went through an exercise writing down the lies that we are believing about ourselves and our lives, and these sprang to mind so quickly for me that I realized they have been on repeat in my head.
1. I cannot do hard things or make real changes in my life.
2. I will fail my children.
3. I will never enjoy life again.
Obviously, none of these are completely true. But, it did help me put words to the feelings that seem to have taken me captive over the past couple of weeks. The truth is that I truly cannot do the hard things in front of me without the Lord - it is only in his strength and power. And he has strengthened me, and I am capable of far more than I often believe.
I will fail my children, but I do not need to be wallowing in "Mom guilt," because by and large, I am doing my best and showing up and loving well. Not perfectly, but I am not a mom failure. And I cannot let my children's behavior at certain moments be the measure of my mom success - can I get an amen?
As for enjoying life - this is a tricky one. As a rule, I am far too focused on enjoying life. (#enneagram7) Some of this is helpful and can bring joy to myself and those around me. Other times, my expectations for continual fun and constant comfort lead me to loving this world far more than I should. Slowly, ever. so. slowly., it is dawning on me that this life is but a blink in eternity. The temporal pleasures of this earth will not satisfy, and I cannot put all my stock there. Instead, I have to set my eyes above and on things with eternal value. The hard things we have undertaken here on earth are WORTH EVERY BIT of the work and sacrifice.
Little by little, I'm fighting the lies by leaning into the Lord. Honestly, just recognizing them for what they are has been helpful. The entire conference was excellent, but this was definitely my lasting takeaway.
Sunday, March 11, 2018
DAFFODILS IN THE RAIN
So, this weekend was mostly gorgeous. Rain was predicted, but we only got a smattering of it here in Little Rock during the days - it did rain a lot last night. On Saturday, we saw a brief window of time to head out to see the daffodils, and we grabbed it. We loaded into the car and headed out to Wye Mountain, reveling in the beauty of the day and our weather good fortune.
However, Wye, Arkansas is not Little Rock, Arkansas, and there was a small band of storms headed straight for it that I didn't account for. About 5 minutes from the field, drops began to fall. A few at first, and then, the sky opened up.
It is no small feat to get us to the mountain, plus we also had John's parents in the bargain, so we stayed the course, hoping the rain would stop. We unloaded into the waiting tin-roofed craft barn with all the other people who were seeking shelter and listened as the rain came down. We snapped this family pic directly outside of the barn while a group of international students watched us and rain came down. 😳😂
(funnel cake is really messy 🤦🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️)
The rain came and went, and we did manage to hop out into the flowers for a few pictures.
John was a true trooper in getting these pics, because not all of our kids were excited. 🤣 (and one was over excited.)
So, while this was certainly not our stereotypical trip to the daffodils, we are able to check it off our spring list. ✅ And, the flowers were in full bloom, and we mostly had fun, which is worth quite a bit these days. Here's a trip down daffodil memory lane!
{2017} {2016} {2015} {2014} {2013} {2012} {2011}
Side note - how is this my 8th daffodil post???
However, Wye, Arkansas is not Little Rock, Arkansas, and there was a small band of storms headed straight for it that I didn't account for. About 5 minutes from the field, drops began to fall. A few at first, and then, the sky opened up.
It is no small feat to get us to the mountain, plus we also had John's parents in the bargain, so we stayed the course, hoping the rain would stop. We unloaded into the waiting tin-roofed craft barn with all the other people who were seeking shelter and listened as the rain came down. We snapped this family pic directly outside of the barn while a group of international students watched us and rain came down. 😳😂
We hung out in the barn, shopping and eating funnel cake, which is always a good way to pass time.
(funnel cake is really messy 🤦🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️)
The rain came and went, and we did manage to hop out into the flowers for a few pictures.
John was a true trooper in getting these pics, because not all of our kids were excited. 🤣 (and one was over excited.)
(He's my favorite.😍)
So, while this was certainly not our stereotypical trip to the daffodils, we are able to check it off our spring list. ✅ And, the flowers were in full bloom, and we mostly had fun, which is worth quite a bit these days. Here's a trip down daffodil memory lane!
{2017} {2016} {2015} {2014} {2013} {2012} {2011}
Side note - how is this my 8th daffodil post???
Wednesday, March 07, 2018
TARMAC MOMENTS
Our trip to Disney was truly magical - it was. We had so much cherished time together and will carry wonderful memories away from it. I'm so very grateful we had the opportunity, and we enjoyed a lot of our time away! Re-entry, however, was brutal, as is often the case. It was a rough come down.
On the way home, things got turned a bit on their head. The flight between Orlando and Dallas was about 2.5 hours - not terrible, but definitely a longer flight. Our flight schedule had been changed after we booked it, and our layover in Dallas was set to be shorter than we had anticipated. We needed to move quickly to make our next flight.
As you might imagine, moving quickly as two adults is one thing. Moving quickly with four kiddos in tow is another thing. We had to change terminals, which involved the Skylink, which involved very long escalators that can look pretty intense to little eyes. Our chaos unfolded little by little as one child and then two were on the escalator, and one child and then two were running, while laughing, in opposite directions away from the escalator. Needless to say, we were a spectacle, and it took a bit to all be back together. Thankfully, everyone was fine and eventually made it down the escalator.
We made it to our next gate in plenty of time, not realizing that things were being delayed due to the rain. We ended up sitting on the tarmac in the plane for over an hour and a half, or maybe a day and a half - I'm not sure. We might still be there. We had gone through, or gotten bored with, all snacks, most technology, and we had been at Disney for almost a week. None of our children were at their finest, and one in particular was letting it all hang out there.
We did get called out over the PA to have the child "standing in the aisle to please sit back down and stay buckled." The fact that this pronouncement came in a British accent did not make me feel better about it. John and I were beyond done at this point, and both sort of shrugged our shoulders at each other, because WHAT ELSE CAN YOU DO?
Someone near us in the plane helpfully remarked, "I don't think that's going to go well." There is nothing quite so fun as being in a confined place where all of your parenting and struggle becomes public consumption for those around you. It is a strange mix of humiliation and horror at the lack of control.
We did finally take off and make it to Little Rock and home, obviously. Mercifully, both twins fell asleep on the flight, because we were all exhausted. As I recounted this experience to my counselor last week, tears poured down my face. It was, and is, painful. We don't have all the answers yet, even though we are getting all the help. We may never have all the answers to the best way to handle every situation everywhere that we go.
It's hard to be on display. It's hard to have children act out in public. It's even harder when it seems that those around you have opinions about that. The hardest thing is that right now, whether public or private, there are things we are working through that we cannot get a handle on. In my best moments, I trust the Lord and lean into him, knowing that he put us all together and is working in and through us. In my worst moments, I become really angry about how hard it is and how I don't know what to do.
As I have continued to learn about myself (I'm looking at YOU, Enneagram), one of the things that is most challenging for my personality is to lean in to the pain. I want to distract, avoid, gloss over, run around and/or just pretend it isn't happening or that I am not feeling it.
There was no escaping that plane. We were all stuck in it together, and you know what? Eventually, the plane took off. We even had the unexpected boost of other planes having to leave the line, because they had run out of fuel, so we went from 25th in line to 10th very quickly. (though I did feel bad for those other planes😬) So, my current challenge from my counselor is to pay attention to the pain. To be quiet and know that while it will not last forever, I need to acknowledge it now. And that in the pain and the quiet is where I meet the Lord.
We're calling them "Tarmac Moments" - has a certain ring to it, no? For me, it rings true. When I go back to that plane in my mind, I remember that we did finally take off and land, and that things are okay. Sometimes there is no escaping, but it will not last forever. And God did carry us through, because he is good and faithful, always. Whether you, or I, are stuck on the tarmac or have managed to take off and land, I hope and pray that we lean into the pain and the Lord.
On the way home, things got turned a bit on their head. The flight between Orlando and Dallas was about 2.5 hours - not terrible, but definitely a longer flight. Our flight schedule had been changed after we booked it, and our layover in Dallas was set to be shorter than we had anticipated. We needed to move quickly to make our next flight.
As you might imagine, moving quickly as two adults is one thing. Moving quickly with four kiddos in tow is another thing. We had to change terminals, which involved the Skylink, which involved very long escalators that can look pretty intense to little eyes. Our chaos unfolded little by little as one child and then two were on the escalator, and one child and then two were running, while laughing, in opposite directions away from the escalator. Needless to say, we were a spectacle, and it took a bit to all be back together. Thankfully, everyone was fine and eventually made it down the escalator.
We made it to our next gate in plenty of time, not realizing that things were being delayed due to the rain. We ended up sitting on the tarmac in the plane for over an hour and a half, or maybe a day and a half - I'm not sure. We might still be there. We had gone through, or gotten bored with, all snacks, most technology, and we had been at Disney for almost a week. None of our children were at their finest, and one in particular was letting it all hang out there.
We did get called out over the PA to have the child "standing in the aisle to please sit back down and stay buckled." The fact that this pronouncement came in a British accent did not make me feel better about it. John and I were beyond done at this point, and both sort of shrugged our shoulders at each other, because WHAT ELSE CAN YOU DO?
Someone near us in the plane helpfully remarked, "I don't think that's going to go well." There is nothing quite so fun as being in a confined place where all of your parenting and struggle becomes public consumption for those around you. It is a strange mix of humiliation and horror at the lack of control.
We did finally take off and make it to Little Rock and home, obviously. Mercifully, both twins fell asleep on the flight, because we were all exhausted. As I recounted this experience to my counselor last week, tears poured down my face. It was, and is, painful. We don't have all the answers yet, even though we are getting all the help. We may never have all the answers to the best way to handle every situation everywhere that we go.
It's hard to be on display. It's hard to have children act out in public. It's even harder when it seems that those around you have opinions about that. The hardest thing is that right now, whether public or private, there are things we are working through that we cannot get a handle on. In my best moments, I trust the Lord and lean into him, knowing that he put us all together and is working in and through us. In my worst moments, I become really angry about how hard it is and how I don't know what to do.
As I have continued to learn about myself (I'm looking at YOU, Enneagram), one of the things that is most challenging for my personality is to lean in to the pain. I want to distract, avoid, gloss over, run around and/or just pretend it isn't happening or that I am not feeling it.
There was no escaping that plane. We were all stuck in it together, and you know what? Eventually, the plane took off. We even had the unexpected boost of other planes having to leave the line, because they had run out of fuel, so we went from 25th in line to 10th very quickly. (though I did feel bad for those other planes😬) So, my current challenge from my counselor is to pay attention to the pain. To be quiet and know that while it will not last forever, I need to acknowledge it now. And that in the pain and the quiet is where I meet the Lord.
We're calling them "Tarmac Moments" - has a certain ring to it, no? For me, it rings true. When I go back to that plane in my mind, I remember that we did finally take off and land, and that things are okay. Sometimes there is no escaping, but it will not last forever. And God did carry us through, because he is good and faithful, always. Whether you, or I, are stuck on the tarmac or have managed to take off and land, I hope and pray that we lean into the pain and the Lord.
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