Small Things ...

Standing at the her kitchen sink, I saw the little frame sitting there on the window sill.  Drying my hands, I read, 

"To do carefully and constantly and kindly, 

many little things, is NOT a little thing." 

A quote by Steven Covey's mother.  Steven who?  This guy.  

Now, at the time, I didn't know who Mr. Covey was (or his mother) ... but these words sunk deep into my heart.

Later that afternoon, that phrase echoed back through my mind ...

Carefully. (with diligence)

Constantly. (over and over and over)

Kindly. (gulp)

Many little things. (potential to be overwhelmed)

NOT a little thing. (of greatest value)

Words from a been-there-done-that mom to my in-the-midst-of-it-all mommy heart ... a breath of fresh air.  A challenge.  And a blessing.

As a mom of an on-the-cusp-of-double-digits boy, I find myself grasping at his childhood, trying to hold on to his littleness.  And as a mom of an I-am-gonna-do-it-my-way three-year old, I find myself in the middle of infinite battles over everything and nothing at all.  Here in this dance of Don't Grow Up and Please, Grow Up, I find myself with a new understanding of the importance of the small things.  

But it's not just in my parenting. This is an intricate dance found throughout life.

The small things in my role as a mother and a wife and a sister and a daughter and a friend are, in reality, the big things.

Since this little spark of wonder for all things small, God has been gently prompting me to keep my eyes and ears open.  And I've decided that I'll share my discoveries with you.  I hope you'll come back in the coming days for a fresh look at the small things of life.  

And see anew that they are indeed the snapshots of life with the greatest value.

Snapshots of the Heart

So often, the month of February drowns in a sea of pinks and reds, Valentines and sugared sweets.  The store shelves are fully stocked with conversation hearts (text me?) and heart-covered party supplies.  The kids are excited about constructing their Valentine boxes and bringing icing-slathered treats to their school parties.  The hours are filled with choosing just the right box of Valentines (hours!) and then the real work begins to find just the right card for each and every person in our lives ... not too girly and nothing mushy!

And there's not one thing wrong with any of that!

But ... as I have been thinking about this month, I am more concerned with the character traits I see growing in their hearts of my children than the characters they choose to be on their little folded Valentines.

For this past month, I have using Bob Hostetler's "31 Biblical Virtues to Pray for Your Kids" as an easy (and yet challenging) way to pray for strong character in my little people.  And since it has been such an encouraging and meaningful part of my day, I thought I would invite you to join me!

For each day of February, I will follow this same list and highlight virtues we all want to see in our kids' hearts ... and a few snapshots of how they are (or are not) being played out under our own roof.

And most likely we'll find a good challenge for us to grow a little, too!

Come back tomorrow as we jump in to ...

31 Virtues Cards

Mom In the Midst

As moms, we often find ourselves up to our necks in busyness.  We are surrounded by people who need us, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  We find ourselves facing endless demands of our limited time, energy and attention.  We make lists of tasks to accomplish and feel that the lists grows daily in spite of our attempts to mark things off.  We clean a room, move on to the next task and turn around to find that same room in need of cleaning again.  We face challenges we never anticipated ... how do you get diaper cream out of the upholstery?  We come face to face with our own human limitations and persevere anyway.  

If you are agree with those statements, it’s probably safe to assume that you, too, are ...

A mom in the midst of life.

A mom in the midst of diapers and teething rings.

A mom in the midst of homework and tough friendships.

A mom in the midst of high chairs and building blocks.

A mom in the midst of raising a child and discovering your own personal growth, too.

A mom in the midst of tough choices and gut instincts.

A mom in the midst of bruised shins and broken hearts.

A mom in the midst of long days and longer nights.

A mom in the midst of doubts and worries.

A mom in the midst of big successes and little triumphs.

A mom in the midst of the toughest job you’ve ever known.

These are all true and very real.  But I would also add that you are ...

A mom in the midst of God’s peace and love.

A mom in the midst of God’s grace and mercy.

A mom in the midst of God’s purposes and plan.

I am also a mom in the midst ... in the midst of the craziness of parenting, but also in the midst of discovering God’s goodness.  Recently my prayer has been for God to show me the value of my mothering and He has been faithful to do so.  I believe that if we ask God to open our eyes to see where He is at work in the middle of our harried days, He will give us little snapshots of what He is doing.  And when we see that God is present even in a regular day of changing diapers and teaching ABC’s, we discover that everything we do as mothers has the potential to move from the ordinary to the sacred.

God speaks to us every day - through His word and through the world around us.  If we take the time to listen to Him, I believe that we will discover that He has a lot to say to us ... in the midst of our mothering.

I am taking part in the 31 Days Challenge ... join me this month for some amazing discoveries!

Day 1:  Mom in the Midst

Day 2:  My Button is Lame

Day 3:  Splendidly Lavish

Day 4:  Keeping My Head Above Water

Day 5:  Time-Warp Wednesday ~ Little Me

Day 6:  Me, Myself & I

Day 7:  Food For Though ~ Bacon

Day 8:  The Aches and Pains of Service

Day 9:  I Heart You

Day 10:  Who is Me? {part 1}

Day 11:  Who is Me? {part 2}

Day 12:  Who is Me?  {part 3}

Day 13:  Handmade with Care

Day 14:  Food For Thought ~ Carmel & Apples

Day 15:  A Bunch of Rocks

Day 16:  Not Recycled ... Redeemed

Day 17:  What Do You Do?

Day 18:  Washed on the Delicate Cycle

Day 19:  Know Thy Limits

Day 20:  One Snapshot ~ Many Stories

Day 21:  Food For Thought ~ Malt-O-Meal

Day 22:  Cartwheeling for Jesus

Day 23:  Take a Load Off

Day 24:  Listen!  Do You Smell Something?

Day 25:  Dinner Time!

Day 26:  Where Did It Go?

Day 27:  I'm on the Hunt

Day 28:  Food For Thought ~ Milk, It Does the Body Good

Day 29:  Oops. I Missed It.

Day 30:  Monkey See, Monkey Do

Day 31:  This Little Light

What's this all about?

Well, it's probably about time that I jumped on the blogger-bandwagon!  


This is my high-tech attempt at combining my love of writing with my desire to chronicle life here in the Kellum house and making it accessible to anyone who might be interested.  I'm not entirely sure what this will develop into, but I know for one thing ... it ought to be entertaining!    When you put together four kids, a dog, school, gymnastics, baseball, church, marriage, parenting and day-to-day life you're guaranteed quite a cocktail of craziness!  And yet ... somewhere in the midst of all this busy-ness is the sacredness of life.  There is meaning in diaper-changing and vacuuming.  There is significance in grocery-shopping and schlepping kids from here to there.  There is purpose in dinner around the kitchen table and hammering out home-work.  How?  Because God is in the midst of this ... even this hum-drum-ness of life.  


So ... that's the plan :)  Find something special in the repetition.  Find meaning in the blah.  Find and celebrate the sacredness of life's moments ... and share those Snapshots with you.


Check back here for the usual updates on the Kellum Kids including pictures capturing their silliness and their successes.  It's inevitable that those four monkeys will work their way into this chronicle.  But wait!  There's more ... When you visit again, you might find some helpful hints, some entertaining vignettes of life apart from the kids, the inside scoop on any number of adventures and hopefully a few reminders that life is full of lots of little, BIG moments!


I'll leave you with some insight into my inspiration.  If you know me, you know that I love music ... especially when I'm in the kitchen.  The Chieftains make me want to learn to clog.  Jack Johnson helps me relax.  And Sara Groves sings what's in my heart and mind.  So ... here's a snippet of one of her songs that has opened my eyes.  It's from "Just Showed Up For My Own Life".  For more of Sarah, please check out www.saragroves.com.  You won't be disappointed.



And I just showed up for my own life
And I'm standing here taking it in and it sure looks bright


I'm going to live my life inspired
Look for the holy in the common place
Open the windows and feel all that's honest and real until I'm truly amazed
I'm going to feel all my emotions
I'm going to look you in the eyes
I'm going to listen and hear until it's finally clear and it changes our lives

Join me as I "look for the holy in the common place" ... you really can't miss it!