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Here’s a little bit of whimsy for your holiday blog reading pleasure. . .

Have you ever noticed that this time of year laundry baskets explode??  From April through early fall, I seem to manage the laundry fairly well.  All the little shorts and t-shirts fit so nicely into one good sized basket that I can hide away in my bedroom closet.

But then the winter hits in full force sometime around Halloween.  The sweatshirts and jeans and socks come out.  The snow pants get wet and dirty.  One person changes clothes and it’s as if an avalanche has happened in my once neat and tidy, hidden away basket.  And all of a sudden I find myself up to my eyeballs in mounds of dirty clothes. 

Last week I went to Target on a mission to purchase a newer, bigger, more practical laundry basket that would assist me in feeling better about my dilemma.  FYI - they don’t make on big enough to soothe the pain.

So I decided to use my church planting skills of ingenuity and making something work out of nothing. . .I personally think that I have come up with quite the brilliant Plan B. 

What do you think?

Should I keep it??

Please vote!

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posted by Amy Colón
To continue to connect even more, check out the church planting wives group on Facebook

As I write I am sitting at Panera Bread unintentionally eavesdropping on a conversation that is going on at the table behind me.  The ladies are deep in discussion about Christmas. . .shopping, parties, plans.  And I promise you, I have counted as they have said the word “stress” a total of 17 times. . .oops, make that 18.

Is it possible to have the holidays without STRESS?  What do you think?  Sometimes it feels like people even get a jolt about sharing the amount of stress they are under this time of year - as if they are proud of all of their whirling and twirling.  Maybe I have even been that someone before.  Why is that??

As church planting wives we are not unlike anyone else.  Our calendars fill up so quickly.  There are so many places to go and people to see, mentoring opportunities, coffee meetings, small groups, etc. . .And it’s not just during the holidays.  All year round we are bombarded. 

In the past month my kids have received at least 6 birthday party invitations.  I have been invited to 3 baby showers.  I have hosted many a dessert night for newcomers at church.  We have partied and played and listened.  We have funerals and weddings to attend.  Seniors graduate and send us invitations. The list goes on and on. . .

And don’t get me wrong.  It is an honor to be involved in the lives of so many.  It’s community.  Its life.  It’s why we do what we do. 

But I’m wondering. . .do you set up boundaries in these areas?  How do you decide what birthday parties your kids will attend?  How do you say “no” to some and “yes” to others?  Do you feel obligated to attend every event, every Mary Kay party, every wedding?  What advice have you been given or given others when faced with so many things to do?  How do you gracefully handle or should I say, prevent, the STRESS of overextending your family?  We’d love to hear your practical 1-2-3’s. Where do you draw the line??  (WHEW!  That’s a lot of quesitons!  I hope you will pick at least one and jump into the conversation)
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posted by Amy Colón
To continue to connect even more, …

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Typically my Sunday afternoon consists of pajama pants and my comfy, cozy bed.  But today I found myself at the mall.  I’m finished with my Christmas shopping and we were only there to grab my daughter’s glasses.  The plan was to enter and exit as quickly as possible so that I would not be tempted with the latest sales at some of my favorite stores like Old Navy or Gap.  I strategically parked at the entrance closest to our destination.  And after successfully bypassing all SALE signs and grabbing the glasses, I thought we were home free.  I could see the door in sight.  But who was between us and the door?  You guessed it.  The man in the big red suit! 

I’m such a mean mommy.  While other parents are willing to stand for hours in line with their excited or even their screaming little ones, I’m the one who says, “com’on girls, we can go up to the balcony and watch him for 2 minutes.  Wave big and then we’ve got to move on.”  Today,only after looking at the length of the line, the girls conceded.  We diverted from the plan.  We rode the escalator to the top floor and peered over the railing as Santa was bouncing a teary eyed toddler on his lap.  Olivia, my determined 5 year old, yelled, “hey Santa, up here!”  Even in the middle of all the noise he heard her.  I suppose he must be magic.  He looked up.  All three waved with all their might.  They giggled.  He was waving just for them. And we were done - success. . .Ho, Ho, Ho. . . let’s find the exit quickly and get out of here.

Then it happened.  I turned around and what was staring me in the face, beckoning me to come?  Nope, it wasn’t the exit sign.  But it was a sign. . .it had great green and alluring letters and below it next to the doorway was the cup. . .yep, the big, red Christmas cup. . .and all of a sudden I realized that all of my exiting efforts had been in vain.

I used to love to indulge in a Starbucks drink that was as far away from coffee as possible.  But over time and in an attempt to …

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It’s Dec. 3.  I’m finished with the shopping already.  The tree is up.  It’s snowing outside.  And today I have been “calendaring.”  You know, as mom’s it’s what we do - especially in December.  And in my procrastinating moments of randomly surfing my favorite websites, I came across this. . .it’s from my own personal blog in 2007.  And it’s discovery has given me a new mission this holiday season. . .

December 16, 2007
As I set out on the holiday season this year I had one wish. In my imagination it seemed like such a simple word with a simple meaning that should be somewhat easy to achieve if I planned everything just perfectly. I mean come on, failing to plan means planning to fail, right? But if I planned it all just right, then all would be perfect. . .

The image that I pictured in my Leave it to Beaver, White Christmas, Silent Night dreams was PEACE. This should be simple, right? It’s what the entire holiday season is all about. . .mornings filled with blissful children eating breakfast while reading a Christmas book or the Bible story around the table. . .afternoons making snowflakes and cookies as the snow falls outside - no one fighting or yelling - no where to go - fuzzy pajamas are the outfit of choice for the day. . .evenings curled up with Kevin and a good book by the fireplace as my sweet, loving children sleep with visions of sugarplums in their heads. . . PEACE.

Just make sure that all of the Christmas shopping is completed by the first week in December before the major rush hits. Check - I did that. Then plan all of my own holiday parties very early in the season so to give me the incentive to get my house in order and the tree decorated. Check - I did that. I successfully pulled off a coffee/baby shower for about 33 ladies in our church. We had a terrific morning. My duties are now done and the rest of the days until the new year will be nothing but joy and PEACE.

So today I sit here. It is December 16 - 15 days have passed since the coffee. We are finished with school until the new year. …

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As you prepare for all that this week has in store, don’t forget to sit back and enjoy the moments. . .

And when all the turkey is eaten and the football games have come to an end - don’t start putting up the Christmas decorations just yet. . .relax and enjoy browsing through some fellow church planting wives personal blogs.  There are ladies all over the country and world who have walked many a day in your shoes and they blog about it.  I am so thankful for them.  But I need your help. . .  Do You Have a Personal Blog??  If so, leave a comment and share.  What a great way to connect and a great way to sit back and relax into the holidays.  We can’t wait to get to know you better!

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posted by Amy Colón
To continue to connect even more, check out the church planting wives group on Facebook

I have become a huge advocate for the regular date night.  Two hours on a Tuesday night has saved our marriage more times than I would like to admit.  If you were to strip away all of our other little tips and techniques, I fully believe that our marriage and family would still be healthy as long as date night was in place.  So why do I think it’s so important?.

Even as newlyweds, Kevin and I somehow knew the importance of spending quality time together.  Back then there was plenty of quantity time.  A few years later when faced with a more rigorous schedule of kids and church planting, Kevin and I immediately knew this had to become one of our number one family priorities.

So. . .six years into it, date night has become one of the very best decisions we have ever made for our family.  There has never been a single week that we could afford to pay a babysitter and go out on the town.  But I can confidently say that there has also never been a week that we could afford NOT to do it either.  For Kevin and I, date night has become a non-negotiable part of how we do life.  And the benefits so outweigh the amount of money we have had to fork over to make it happen.

Briefly, here are a few tips that we take very seriously on date night. 

*Church talk must be kept to a bare minimum and some nights church talk is 100% not allowed.  This is a time for focusing on marriage building and family talk and dreaming about the future.
*Sometimes a fancy dinner is appropriate, but a lot of times a cup of coffee and a long walk is our favorite thing to do.
*Turn off the phone and don’t go to a restaurant with thirteen televisions all on a different ballgame.
*Ask good and intentional questions to each other every week.  What has God been teaching you this week?  What are you worried about?  Who are you spending intentional time with?  Are you doing okay - really?  Is there anything I can help you with?  How are WE doing? 
*Date nights are not …

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I am the official organizer, planner, and keeper of the family calendar and daily flow of our home.  I’m sure many of you can relate.  It’s a hefty job! 

I am convinced that if anything were to ever happen to me, our kids teeth would rot out because they would never get brushed, the electricity would be turned off due to lack of payment because I’m the only one in the house who knows where to checkbook is kept, and the Sunday morning crowd would revolt because the coffee pot was no longer filled and piping hot.  O, the things we do as moms and church planting wives. . .
In the early years of Cool River, when church planting was only a dream and a prospectus, Kevin and I were incredibly blessed to have some great examples of how ministry families could/should “do” life.  I was always the one asking the parents of exceptional teenagers, “how did you do it?  How did you end up with such great kids?”  And out of those conversations came much wisdom and lots of ideas.  The wisdom I took to heart - the practical ideas I determined to practice from day one - and this is what we have done. . .

The two biggie calendar moments that our family has always made a priority are Date Nights and Daddy Dates.  Neither have we ever been able to afford to do.  And just the same, neither have we been able to afford NOT to do.  They are the foundation of our connectedness - TIME - we calendar it. . .no matter what. . .NO MATTER WHAT!!!

I recently discovered an old personal blog that I thought I would share. . .

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I was reading this morning in 1 Chronicles 17 after David had been established as king over Israel.  The ark was back in Jerusalem. People were celebrating.  And then it says that David returned home to bless his family.  In verse 16 “King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said:  “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?”

Don’t you just love it when you start digging into the Word and discover someone verbally putting the words of your heart out there on the pages for you to read? Who am I, O Lord, and what is my family that you have brought us this far?  Why us?  What did we ever do to deserve such a calling as raising up a community of faith in an area that has none?  Who am I to be called to start a church in this place?  Are you sure?  I mean, come on, you know the junk in my life.  You know all those things I struggle with.  You see what I’m really like behind closed doors.  Seriously?  Are you sure you didn’t mean to call her instead of me?  Are you sure this is what you want for our family? 

Been there?

And the reality is that we are here.  God has placed us on this journey of church planting for a reason far greater than we may ever understand.  One day it can be overwhelming and the next it can be just as fantastic.  And as a mom and a wife there are so many things to consider.  We may not have to balance the church budget or craft a new sermon series every month, but many, many things are still required. 
Can we handle it?  What do we do to prevent burnout?  Boundaries, family fun, pastor kids, mommy time, date nights. . .Over the next few weeks leading up to the holiday season we are going to start a conversation about family in the middle of a church plant.  You don’t want to miss it!

So here is your opportunity. . .I have some ideas, but where would YOU like to start the conversation?  I really hope you will continue to share your stories as we go.

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It’s 3:00 in the morning.  I wish I could say I’m wide awake.  But the truth is, I’m not.  I’m struggling.  My eyes are tired from staring at this computer screen for hours.  I’m dreaming of being snuggled beneath my covers.  But instead, here I am. . .

It’s one of those nights where I woke up thinking about responsibilities - money and bills and the future of all of those things.  Has it ever happened to you?  I never seem to know that I have so much to worry about until the darkness and quietness of the night sets in.  And for some reason, then my mind starts swimming. It’s almost like I lay there and unconsciously create things to be concerned with - things that never cross my mind in the middle of a swirling day.

Inevitably I crawl out of bed frustrated and find myself here - at the computer - researching or calculating or doing something completely mindless to waste away the hours until daylight again. 

But tonight, I just have to share with you that in my draggy and sleepy, overstimulated mind and heart, I found encouragement and love from the Father.  Tonight he settled my heart as he has done so many times before by giving me a bigger picture.  Tonight I saw online pictures of my dear friends, Nikki and Andy and Keith and Bobby and David, serving in Vietnam in the middle of a huge flood.. .and I read stories about their adventure and how God is all around.  Tonight I watched a video created for the 6 month anniversary of a new church in Boulder that is reaching college students like crazy and another gathering called, The Collective, in downtown Boulder tackling injustice in the city streets - and again there was confirmation, God is all around. I watched a video (no matter who you voted for, you’ve gotta see this!) of little children being inspired and encouraged to be all that they can dream to be, and once again, it was confirmation to my heart that God is all around.  And just now, I finished a Facebook conversation with a close friend who once lived in Ethiopia and now in Qatar.  Her life is now so …

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It’s Monday morning and this is the conclusion I have come to today. . .I Need a Wife! (hehe)

After a weekend of costumes and sugar, church, play dates and more election news, phone calls and political knocks at my door than I could ever hope for. . .welcome to my Monday!

(This is the one picture that I dare to share. . .if you could only see my kitchen. . .)

So, should I tackle the monster of my house, or should I just sit back and enjoy the kids Halloween candy when no one is looking?  Unfortunately, I have a feeling that no other wife is coming to my relief today and Samantha is no where in sight to wiggle her nose. . .so off to work I go.

Just thought that I would take a moment to let you know you’re not alone!!! 

Enjoy your week, ladies!

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posted by Amy Colón
To continue to connect even more, check out the church planting wives group on Facebook

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