Becoming Weird.

It all started as a normal evening a couple of weeks ago. I had made and cleaned up dinner and gotten Kaleb's bottles ready for daycare the next day. Kaleb was in the living room laying in the floor in front of the TV (watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, his favorite show!), Eddie was in the recliner either checking work emails or Facebook, and I sat down on the couch and proceeded to open the Pinterest app. I looked at recipes for a few minutes, took a break and looked up and realized each of the 3 of us was in our own little world, somehow connected to technology, but not to each other.  I immediately sat down my phone, got up and turned the TV off, and sat on the floor and started talking and playing with Kaleb.  While this seems a little insignificant, it was a huge start of a life change for me.

Since this incident, God has pulled, tugged, and started changing and molding my heart. I have felt like God was saying "Look around you. Something needs to change."  Since then, I have made a very strong effort to spend time as a family (without our iPhones and TVs), but also to spend more time in God's Word and in prayer. I felt a deep conviction that day when I realized the hours of week that I spent on Pinterest, but couldn't even tally up 20 minutes for the week that I had read the Bible. I've been listening to messages from Christian leaders- most recently the "WEiRD" messages by Craig Groeschel. In these messages, he talks about what's normal in our culture today - being broke, having debt, sex before marriage, divorce. All these things have become normal. Craig goes on to say, "Normal isn't working. So I want to be weird."  He and his wife are doing things in their life and family that culture says is weird: they have no debt, they homeschool their 6 kids, they only allow technology in the house 3 days a week, etc. He goes on to say that you should find your "weird".

So I've decided I'm starting a search to find what my "weird" is. I haven't narrowed it down or gotten specific, but here some things I'm wanting to change/do in my life:

• Make Bible reading and prayer a daily thing, first thing in the morning. Groeschel said in his "Margin" series that God wants the first and best of everything you have - which includes your time. Your first and best is in the morning. And if you start your day with Him, the rest of your day will be so much more productive.  It's hard for me to do this first thing because usually I'm trying to get ready before the baby wakes up, but I'm working on it!

• Do away with distractions when we are home as a family - this includes cell phones, TV, etc.  Last night I turned off the TV at 6pm and until Kaleb went to bed (8:00) we turned on music and laughed and played and read books. This is the time I want my kids to remember - the times mommy played with them, not the times mommy sat on the couch on Twitter.

• Intentionally grow - For those of you that know me, you know reading is not something I have previously enjoyed. Well, that was until I found the Kindle app on my iPhone. Now I can read anywhere. I'll gladly say I'm about 30-40% done with 3 books right now!! (Ok, I'm working on finishing them, but at least I'm reading!!)

• Reflect on what I want in life. I'm daily asking myself questions about who I want to be, what I want to do, what matters? I've come down on a few things: I want to be a spiritual leader for Kaleb - I want him to know the Lord, serve others, and love everyone. I want to adopt a child from overseas. I want to make memories with my husband and kids by going on vacations together. 

This is just a start of my search for my "weird". Everyone's "weird" is different. What does yours look like?