Friday, November 30, 2012
Thankful - Days 29 & 30
November 29
I'm thankful that I live in a free country. I may not believe the same thing as you. I may not practice the same things as you. I may not speak the same as you. I may not look anything like you. I may not mother the same way you do. I may not be the same kind of wife you are. I may not have a job similar to your job. But none of that matters. In this country we're free to be who we want to be.
November 30
Today's the last day of November. I'm almost sad to stop writing what I'm thankful for. Some days it was challenging and other days it was hard to choose just one! So, there may be a few days that I just throw out some thankful thoughts...just because. :)
Today I'm thankful for scripture. God's Word is amazing. It teaches us, reminds us, encourages us, meets us, touches us, and allows us to glimpse a tiny part of who God is.
Below are some verses that I've been meditating on lately...all of them happen to revolve around being thankful. :)
Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Psalm 95:2
Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
Psalm 69:30
I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.
Isaiah 51:3
The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.
Philippians 1:3
I thank my God every time I remember you.
Ephesians 5:4
Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.
2 Thessalonians 1:3
We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.
I'm thankful that I live in a free country. I may not believe the same thing as you. I may not practice the same things as you. I may not speak the same as you. I may not look anything like you. I may not mother the same way you do. I may not be the same kind of wife you are. I may not have a job similar to your job. But none of that matters. In this country we're free to be who we want to be.
November 30
Today's the last day of November. I'm almost sad to stop writing what I'm thankful for. Some days it was challenging and other days it was hard to choose just one! So, there may be a few days that I just throw out some thankful thoughts...just because. :)
Today I'm thankful for scripture. God's Word is amazing. It teaches us, reminds us, encourages us, meets us, touches us, and allows us to glimpse a tiny part of who God is.
Below are some verses that I've been meditating on lately...all of them happen to revolve around being thankful. :)
Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Psalm 95:2
Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
Psalm 69:30
I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.
Isaiah 51:3
The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.
Philippians 1:3
I thank my God every time I remember you.
Ephesians 5:4
Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.
2 Thessalonians 1:3
We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.
"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble,
whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue
and if anything is praiseworthy - meditate on these things."
Philippians 4:8
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Randoms
Whoever knew that Brown Bear could be so much fun! If you've got kids, be sure to check out this video and share it with them. They're sure to love it! Her website is fun. I've gotten lots of ideas from her lately!
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Do I hear an "Amen!" out there?
Since I'm determined to start running again, I thought I'd post this to help inspire me. :)
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Do I hear an "Amen!" out there?
Lottery frustrations
Wednesday morning I went to a local, public, montessori school to check it out for pre-K for Xander next year. Yup, you read that right. Pre-K. For my little boy. The one who's still little. Oh, who am I kidding? He's growing up so fast, y'all!
Anyway, I went to an Open House at Chantilly Montessori School. And I loved it! There are so many things about this school that I like. There are a few things that didn't impress me, but overall I was more impressed than I wasn't. So that feels like a win to me.
The problem is, here in Mecklenburg County, you have to place your child's name in a lottery to be able to get them into certain schools. This is one of them.
You have to submit an enrollment form, birth certificate and proof of residence. I don't have Xander's birth certificate. We never ordered one, and now I need it. I know, I know. Go ahead and slap my hand. I should've had it so that I would have it when I needed it. Like now. Oh well. I ordered it today and I'm hoping that I get it no later than next Thursday. I have to turn all of this information into the school by next Friday. Sheesh. I sure like to cut things close!
And so now it's a waiting game. I really hope I'm able to get Xander into the lottery. And I really hope he gets chosen once he's in the lottery. And I really hope he loves the school once he's entered in the lottery, chosen and then starts next fall.
Oh the joys of parenthood. Pray with me. We're gonna need it. :)
So, Montessori. It's interesting. You should read about it. I think Xander would be incredibly successful in a Montessori setting. And Chantilly Montessori - they even have a butterfly on their website! I mean, how much more perfect can you get for Xander? :)
(This is the little boy who asked Santa for monster trucks and butterflies last year.)
I'm planning to go to another Open House at Highland Mill Montessori next Monday and see how cool they are.
Does anyone care to comment about Montessori? I'd be interested to hear your views and opinions. Thanks!
Anyway, I went to an Open House at Chantilly Montessori School. And I loved it! There are so many things about this school that I like. There are a few things that didn't impress me, but overall I was more impressed than I wasn't. So that feels like a win to me.
The problem is, here in Mecklenburg County, you have to place your child's name in a lottery to be able to get them into certain schools. This is one of them.
You have to submit an enrollment form, birth certificate and proof of residence. I don't have Xander's birth certificate. We never ordered one, and now I need it. I know, I know. Go ahead and slap my hand. I should've had it so that I would have it when I needed it. Like now. Oh well. I ordered it today and I'm hoping that I get it no later than next Thursday. I have to turn all of this information into the school by next Friday. Sheesh. I sure like to cut things close!
And so now it's a waiting game. I really hope I'm able to get Xander into the lottery. And I really hope he gets chosen once he's in the lottery. And I really hope he loves the school once he's entered in the lottery, chosen and then starts next fall.
Oh the joys of parenthood. Pray with me. We're gonna need it. :)
So, Montessori. It's interesting. You should read about it. I think Xander would be incredibly successful in a Montessori setting. And Chantilly Montessori - they even have a butterfly on their website! I mean, how much more perfect can you get for Xander? :)
(This is the little boy who asked Santa for monster trucks and butterflies last year.)
I'm planning to go to another Open House at Highland Mill Montessori next Monday and see how cool they are.
Does anyone care to comment about Montessori? I'd be interested to hear your views and opinions. Thanks!
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Meets Expectations
We have a new yearly review format at work called Performance Management Process. Basically there are certain goals you must complete and criteria you must meet to be rated...well, who could say it better than the people who created it? Here you go:
community.
For the most part, this is an excellent model. I firmly believe that you should have constant communication with your supervisor and conversations should be had to make sure that what you're doing is on track with the goals and initatives of your company. In our PMP, this is how you can be rated:
Consistently fails to meet expectations
And this is where the flaws come into play. We were basically told it's nearly impossible to get "Exceeds expectations." Their goal is for everyone to "meet expectations" and if you go so far above and beyond the norm then you 'might' get "Exceeds expectations."
I don't know about y'all but I am NOT a meets expectations kind of gal. I exceed expectations. I always exceed expectations. That's what I'm known for. That's what I do. So to have my PMP this year and get "Meets Expectations" nearly killed me!
Until I realized something. I was actually in the review with my supervisor when it hit me:
This is my earthly job. Will it last forever? No. Am I to do the best I can possibly do in this job? Yes. Does it matter how humans rate my performance? Basically, no. I only care what God thinks of what I've done. If I strive to do my best and that best gets recognized as "meets expectations" here on earth, then I'll take it. My rewards are in heaven.
Plus, I'm not able to focus a lot of attention on my job at the library. I only work 20 hours. The majority of my time and my "full-time job" is at home with my kids and my husband. That's where I truly want to focus my time and energy and where it's even more important to receive an "Exceeds Expectations" rating. And the only rating that truly matters is the rating given to me by God.
Charlotte Mecklenburg Library’s Performance Management Process (PMP)
is an annual process in which you and your manager work together to set
SMART goals, discuss competencies necessary for success in your position
and create an individual development plan. You should meet periodically,
once per quarter, to provide feedback, realign goals and recognize good
performance. It is a process that links individual goals and objectives to
organizational goals and objectives.
The Library’s Performance Management Process (PMP) ensures that all
library employee goals are aligned with library strategies and initiatives. In
this way, PMP enables every employee to understand his or her unique
contributions to help the Library remain customer focused, and fulfill its
mission, Expanding minds, Empowering individuals and Enriching our
community.
For the most part, this is an excellent model. I firmly believe that you should have constant communication with your supervisor and conversations should be had to make sure that what you're doing is on track with the goals and initatives of your company. In our PMP, this is how you can be rated:
Exceeds expectations
Meets expectations
Fails to meet expectations
Consistently fails to meet expectations
And this is where the flaws come into play. We were basically told it's nearly impossible to get "Exceeds expectations." Their goal is for everyone to "meet expectations" and if you go so far above and beyond the norm then you 'might' get "Exceeds expectations."
I don't know about y'all but I am NOT a meets expectations kind of gal. I exceed expectations. I always exceed expectations. That's what I'm known for. That's what I do. So to have my PMP this year and get "Meets Expectations" nearly killed me!
Until I realized something. I was actually in the review with my supervisor when it hit me:
This is my earthly job. Will it last forever? No. Am I to do the best I can possibly do in this job? Yes. Does it matter how humans rate my performance? Basically, no. I only care what God thinks of what I've done. If I strive to do my best and that best gets recognized as "meets expectations" here on earth, then I'll take it. My rewards are in heaven.
Plus, I'm not able to focus a lot of attention on my job at the library. I only work 20 hours. The majority of my time and my "full-time job" is at home with my kids and my husband. That's where I truly want to focus my time and energy and where it's even more important to receive an "Exceeds Expectations" rating. And the only rating that truly matters is the rating given to me by God.
The Invisible Mom- Building Cathedrals
A friend of mine posted this on facebook yesterday. Beautiful. May you continue to build your cathedrals.
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I’m on the phone and ask to be taken to the store.
Inside I’m thinking, ‘Can’t you see I’m on the phone?’ Obviously not; no one can see if I’m on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all.
I’m invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie t his? Can you open this? Some days I’m not a pair of hands; I’m not even a human being. I’m a clock to ask, ‘What time is it?’ I’m a satellite guide to answer, ‘What number is the Disney Channel?’ I’m a car to order, ‘Right around 5:30, please.’
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude – but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She’s going, she’s going, she’s gone!
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England .. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, ‘I brought you this.’ It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe .
I wasn’t exactly sure why she’d given it to me until I read her inscription: ‘To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.’
In the days ahead I would read – no, devour – the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals we have no record of their names.
These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, ‘Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.’ And the workman replied, ‘Because God sees.’
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, ‘I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make everyday, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’ve sewn on, no cupcake you’ve baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can’t see right now what it will become.’
At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.
The writer of the book went so far a s to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don’t want my child to tell the friend he’s bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, ‘My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.’ That would mean I’d built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, ‘You’re gonna love it there.’
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we’re doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I’m on the phone and ask to be taken to the store.
Inside I’m thinking, ‘Can’t you see I’m on the phone?’ Obviously not; no one can see if I’m on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all.
I’m invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie t his? Can you open this? Some days I’m not a pair of hands; I’m not even a human being. I’m a clock to ask, ‘What time is it?’ I’m a satellite guide to answer, ‘What number is the Disney Channel?’ I’m a car to order, ‘Right around 5:30, please.’
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude – but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She’s going, she’s going, she’s gone!
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England .. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, ‘I brought you this.’ It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe .
I wasn’t exactly sure why she’d given it to me until I read her inscription: ‘To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.’
In the days ahead I would read – no, devour – the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals we have no record of their names.
These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, ‘Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.’ And the workman replied, ‘Because God sees.’
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, ‘I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make everyday, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’ve sewn on, no cupcake you’ve baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can’t see right now what it will become.’
At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.
The writer of the book went so far a s to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don’t want my child to tell the friend he’s bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, ‘My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.’ That would mean I’d built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, ‘You’re gonna love it there.’
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we’re doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.
Thankful - Days 27 & 28
November 27
Mine and David's 8th anniversary is today. I feel it only fitting that I express my gratitude for him today. He is strong and steady. He is cautious and kind. He is funny and smart. He is patient and loving. He is silly and caring. He is better for me than I even knew possible when I walked down that aisle to join him 8 years ago. I don't know what I'd do without him and I'm thankful God gave him to me.
PLUS my 1pm meeting got canceled today, so we got to meet up for an unexpected anniversary lunch date. Then we get to have an at-home-date tonight. So thankful for my man. :)
November 28
I'm thankful for laundry. It reminds me that my family and I have clothes to put on our backs. I'm thankful for a dirty house. It reminds me that I have a home to shelter me. I'm thankful for dishes in the sink. They remind me that we had food to eat at our last meal. God is so good to remind us of these things. :)
And believe me, my house has lots of reminders. ;)
Mine and David's 8th anniversary is today. I feel it only fitting that I express my gratitude for him today. He is strong and steady. He is cautious and kind. He is funny and smart. He is patient and loving. He is silly and caring. He is better for me than I even knew possible when I walked down that aisle to join him 8 years ago. I don't know what I'd do without him and I'm thankful God gave him to me.
PLUS my 1pm meeting got canceled today, so we got to meet up for an unexpected anniversary lunch date. Then we get to have an at-home-date tonight. So thankful for my man. :)
November 28
I'm thankful for laundry. It reminds me that my family and I have clothes to put on our backs. I'm thankful for a dirty house. It reminds me that I have a home to shelter me. I'm thankful for dishes in the sink. They remind me that we had food to eat at our last meal. God is so good to remind us of these things. :)
And believe me, my house has lots of reminders. ;)
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