Shucking My Shirt and My Shoes…

~ Jenni at 100 Cups of Coffee ~ 4 Comments

One Sunday I walked in to church and walked out without my shoes.  Our pastor asked us to give our coat and our shoes that day to folks who needed them more than we did.  Pretty much after those words came out of his mouth, I spent the next 30 minutes hearing him say:  “blah, blah, blah, blah.”   All I could think was how could the new campus pastors’ wife get out of church with her shoes and hoodie ON while everyone else shucked their shoes and coats???  


Here’s the thing:  I love to give…on my terms.  The navy blue honeycomb hoodie (an old navy clearance item) was truly my most favorite hoodie I have ever owned…to this day.  (I have never found a replacement–although I did ashamedly–go online and to every store within a 30 mile radius to find it!)   Not too heavy not too light it was PEFECT.  The shoes were these cute little brown $40.00 slip ons.  They were about as much as I spend on shoes…top end in my mind.    I stood there frozen ignoring every word Mike said, trying to figure out an escape route.   I agonized a good part of the service and at the end Mike said, “Hey you do not need to do this…it is just a matter of asking yourself do you own your stuff or does your stuff own you?”  Zinger.  Ouch.  You cut me deep Mike…real deep.  


So with a HEAVY heart I went to pick up Kylee and decided that we would together give our items away.  Apparently, I needed my 3 year old for moral support!  Kylee was wearing the cutest pink gap hoodie.  It was a hand me down but one of the softest sweetest hoodies that she owned…please note she did have another hoodie.  She also was wearing adorable patten leather shoes.  Kylee and I walked to the pile that was taller than she was, and I began to take off my shoes and jacket.  I explained what we were doing and that we were going to give our things to others who needed them more than we did.  Kylee immediately got big alligator tears in her eyes and said, “Mom, but I love my coat and it is my favorite color!”  I just about lost it right there!  She battled for about 15 minutes standing in front of the pile.  I didn’t want to take her things off for her–I wanted her to put them on the pile herself.  At some point in this exchange I begin to cry because I realize that my desire to hold tightly to my things has clearly been passed down, like a bad habit, to my daughter.  As tears are rolling down my face all I can think is–I must teach generosity to my kids.  Generosity God’s way–not when it is convenient or easy–generosity when it stings a little–or a lot.   I must figure out a way to not cling to things…they are after all things.   I fought the entire time to say to her, “don’t worry we will get you another one!” Knowing that was NOT the point of the exercise!  After many minutes (which felt like hours), Kylee finally let go of her hoodie and shoes and we walked to our cars with bare feet and battered hearts.  
On the drive home my mind shifted to my husband who had attended a different service.  His mother had recently passed away–but she was the type of woman who would have stripped down practically naked in the middle of church to ensure that others were cared for and provided for…she never held tightly to her things.  Like mother, like son. But instead of relishing that thought, I stewed in the fact of how easy it must have been for Chris to shuck his shoes!  When we got home I told him the entire saga with Kylee and how sick I was that I somehow have given her a “gene of greediness” and told him most sarcastically how he just wouldn’t understand since “things” don’t have a hold on him!  He looked at me square in the face and said, “Actually Jenni, I gave up my Dutch Boys.”  Dutch Boys were the nickname that his mother had given his shoes…the last material item that she had purchased for her son before her death. I wanted to crawl underneath the table in shame.  Seriously, did I just say that?   I realized that there are many different levels of sacrifice in this life.  God knew better than to ask me for the last thing that Elaine gave me because I would have told him NO!  He asked for my favorite comfy hoodie…and for my most expensive pair of shoes.  My husband on the other hand (who clearly can handle more) was asked for something different…but it went back to the same question:  do I own this thing or does it own me??  
I am embarrassed to report that the shoe/hoodie lesson occured almost 4 years ago.   It seems that God patiently teaches me the same lessons over and over again in my life.  Here I am 4 years later looking at simplicity and excess and having to re-learn not to hold too tightly to my things.  I pray that as we continue to purge I will learn the lesson better this time.  And I if I don’t, when I walk in to your home, please ask me to walk out without my shoes.   Alas, we all need reminders.   Clearly some of us more than others!  
May You Be a Blessing and May You Be Blessed! 
Jenni



Clutter Free Counter Tops!

~ Jenni at 100 Cups of Coffee ~ 1 Comment

Clutter creates chaos.  Chaos creates clutter.  

Somewhere I read, “cleaning house with kids was like shoveling snow in a blizzard!”  This has been my mommy mantra for the past 8 years!  I have resigned to the fact that in my chaotic life there is no room for a constantly clean house.  Even though I believe we must have grace with ourselves and the clutter in our homes–I also realized that my clutter was creating chaos.   

American excess is rampant.  To “simplify” things we gain more gadgets, and fill our home with modern day conveniences. In reality this fills our home with more STUFF.  We regularly find ourselves maintaining our stuff.  Taking care of it, shifting it around, then purging it.  Only to replace it again. Why do we have so much stuff?  How much stuff do we need?  These are the simple questions that I have begun to ask and have loved finding the answers. 


Recently, I stumbled on to a gem of a book called, 321 Stop–stop running and start living .  What I loved about Lorilee’s book is that she not only gave practical ideas on how to simplify your life, she also explained WHY this would benefit your life.  When you tell me to clean for cleaning’s sake…I am not interested…it doesn’t move me.   When she explains de-cluttering our homes helps to create more time for building relationships with those we love…I am intrigued.  THAT I want more of.   

So once I read 321 Stop, I found myself hopping on Lorliee’s website for additional thoughts on simplicity and stumbled on to the opportunity to help launch her next book.  This week Lorilee is launching her second book (the perfect compliment to 321 Stop):  Simple Living: 30 days to less stuff and more life.   Simple Living is super short and super practical.  One of her suggestions was to clear off your counters as the eye apparently likes, “horizontal lines.”  Well, my eyes LOVE horizontal lines, and if you have ever been to my kitchen you have never seen my counter tops this clean, so this has been an awesome improvement!  (Amazingly, we have kept them this way!)  



This next phase has been tremendously freeing and our home feels lighter, almost like we can all breathe better.  We have a long way to go, but I am noticing a less chaotic feel in our home and I cannot help but believe it is due to less clutter.  Her book goes on sale this week.  Hope you enjoy it!  

May You Be a Blessing and May You Be Blessed! 

Jenni 


The Customer is KING

~ Jenni at 100 Cups of Coffee ~ 4 Comments

Want vs. Need.  At Farmington Woods Elementary School students are given an assignment to identify the difference between a want and a need.  Needs, as one might guess, are identified as such things as food, water, and shelter.  

Pirates of the Caribbean Lego characters fall in to the category of:  WANT.  Yet, somehow when my son starts talking about The Pirates of the Caribbean Lego set it sounds more like an obsession. One who doesn’t have a mother’s ear or common sense might begin to be persuaded that he NEEDS it.  

Recently we removed cable.  It was a mainly a math thing as cable was a heavy hitter in our budget.  We have not missed it much but the thing I have missed the least are commercials.  (Although DVR does wonders for those too!)  Commercials are very convincing and can somehow create the belief that one might “need” the item being advertised.  (Even though 30 seconds earlier they didn’t know it existed!)  I am guilty of this too.  Commercials and other advertisements remind me I do not have the newest version of the IPhone.  They also make me keenly aware of the Papa John’s pizza that I haven’t eaten in a long time and the fact that I might be slightly hungry.  Commercials also point out that I have had my couch forever and my old just might need to be replaced.   I thought by eliminating cable we would not only lesson the load on our wallets, we might also avoid some of the begging from my children, or the freshly planted ideas that suggest they “need” something new.

Unfortunately, the internet side-swiped me on the “gimmes.”  I found my children lingering on the Lego and American Girl sites–not playing games–but window shopping.  They kept looking at the same pages fixating on the toys they did not have.   If it was not, “can I have?” then it was, “for my birthday I would like,” but it was CONSTANT and I was over it.  Consider yesterday:  I decided to limit online use to the weekends and guess what?  The “needs” and “requests” significantly decreased!  I mean…significantly like by 4-5 less days per week.  My children when not constantly reminded of what they don’t have…actually simply played with what they DO have.  

Adults are not exempt from getting a case of the gimmes.  We don’t know we “need” something until a friend or neighbor shows us how great their item is.  When we don’t hang out at Target or Home Goods we do not realize what awesome things our house or closets are missing.  Commercials are meant to entice us and trigger hunger when it doesn’t exist.  This is a bizarre/obvious phenomenon, but one way we can unclutter our lives is to do less window shopping.  A LOT less.  

I realized the best way to limit my kiddos requests for things they THINK they NEED is to limit their window shopping.  To  not have those things constantly paraded in front of them.  I think the same goes for adults.  I don’t need to constantly visit stores that have plenty of things begging to be bought when I have no need for them and they only clutter up my home and life.  

I recently met a woman who for one solid year has decided that she is not going to buy anything new for herself.   (Don’t think she was talking about coffee or lunch…but new material items.)   I think it is an awesome idea…but even wondered what that might look like for 1 month…or 2?   One of the ways we simplify is to get rid of the old and NOT get anything new.  

This video powerfully spoke to me and made me want to simplify…it rings so true as we see the “Gimmes” played out in day to day life.  It both convicts and nauseates me at the same time.  (Customer is King) Today in an attempt to simplify I will do less window shopping…a LOT less.  Because I am not king…He is King. 

May You Be a Blessing and May You Be Blessed,

Jenni 

The Road to Busyness is Paved With Good Intentions

~ Jenni at 100 Cups of Coffee ~ 2 Comments

Busyness is the enemy of intimacy.  The word “busy” fills me with irritation and guilt all at the same time.  I hate being told I am too busy.  The truth is…I am…and I have been for a long time. 

I read recently that the average age of a gamer is 32.  (I actually think I threw up in my mouth while reading this.)  The author goes on to say that “instead of raising families or creating culture, we are sitting in our living rooms with our eyes glued to the television, simulating life.  We are escapists, cowards, and thieves…(don’t miss this!) We are avoiding the truth that screams at us from the stillness: ‘There is more.  You are more than this.’ So we anesthetize the truth with busyness.”   Wrecked (pg. 46)
Most of us are not avid gamers…we actually fill our time with wonderful things like family, service, church, and friendship.  Yet even those things have us continually spinning on a hamster wheel of life and not truly living…still asking the question, “is there more?”  
Recently Chris and I have been cleaning house.  Literally and figuratively to get some of the clutter and busyness out of our lives.   Here is what we are finding…
Busyness does not equal importance or position.  Busyness I am finding, equals DISTRACTION.  A full schedule is not all bad.  Busyness is.  There is a fine line that I have walked all of my life between full days which have brought life to the full…and busy days that have sucked the life right out of me.  Busyness sucks your full life away. 
The next few weeks of blogs should really be a treat as I share my journey and also some of the wonderful resources that have encouraged and inspired us in living more simply.  Today, I wanted to actually give you TO DON’T LISTS to make.  Instead of listing all of the things you are doing, have to do, or are responsible for in this life…why don’t you try making these lists instead???
1.    A STOP DOING List: 
I shared my own story in Simply Insane .  I made a painful choice to stop doing something.  This choice altered our entire family structure…and I would not trade the freedom I feel for anything in the world.   What could you stop now that would free up more time for the things that you value and the relationships that you cherish?  
2.    A LIMITList:
This could be things that you enjoy but are actually stealing precious time away from more important things in life.  They are things that are not necessarily harmful but also aren’t crucial to your well-being.   Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial…so LIMIT those things. 
3.    Get Rid Of or Give Away List:  
Consider this some of the tangible clutter that is filling your home or heart.  I have several wonderful resources on this subject.  There is a whole corner of the world right now that has a niche in minimalism.  Minimalists want folks to take a hard look at what they have and why they have it.   321-Stop is a great first read if you are considering getting rid of clutter.  It has some compelling reasons WHY to do this as well.  She also very shortly will be releasing her complimentary handbook which is : Simple Living–30 days to less stuff and more life.   This too is an awesome read (I got a sneak peak this week) and it is a super helpful tool to navigate and downsize different areas of your life!  
Begin to make your lists today.  They do not have to be long.  The sooner we begin to embrace that less actually IS more,the sooner we will find freedom from our schedules, ourselves, and our stuff! 
May You Be a Blessing While DOING Less,
Jenni 

Simply Insane

~ Jenni at 100 Cups of Coffee ~ 2 Comments

The Road to Simplicity Began While Running on Empty

It is not popular to question the status quo…it is weird even.   To consider a slower pace of life or hop off the hamster wheel of busyness is rarely done.  In an attempt to not lose our minds or relationships with one another, we have started opting for slowness and simplicity.   

Last year my journal was totally depressing.  It was filled with pages of lamenting and whining about the busyness of life and in it I complained that I felt I was running on empty.  Our lives were way too full and the daily schedule was suffocating me.   On the outside, most days I was holding it together–but the inner turmoil was crushing.  I felt defeated and like a bad mom, a bad trainer, a bad wife, a bad friend, a bad daughter/sister…you name it, I felt BAD.  
On paper we had a great life!  Unfortunately we had filled our lives with so many things that we loved–we were losing a bit of ourselves in the process.   It was all good stuff…just too much good stuff!      
Maybe I long for slowness because I am  an Indiana girl.  We lived in a small town and did not “hustle and bustle” growing up.  Team sports were not crazy competitive like they are here–certainly not in elementary school!  The sleepy town would shut down around 9pm and was quiet…I’m talking crickets.  Maybe it was a longing for my kids to have an “Indiana childhood”…or for me to have a slower Indiana life.  But the truth was I felt that I was constantly running from carpool, to work, to preschool, to the grocery store, to the elementary school, then to a practice, then home quickly to eat something and then back down to work or rushing to put the kids to bed so than I might complete household chores and prep for the next day.   I am exhausted typing this and this only speaks of the activities never mind the the relationships in my life that needed to be cultivated.  Where was there time to rest, to play, to look my children in the eyes and truly listen, to share a meal together, to go for a walk after dinner or hold hands with my husband???  The answer:  there was none and I was coming undone. 
I began to wonder how in the world I could ever find relief because I KNEW this was not life to the full.  I saw others that lived much more simply and I began to long for their lives.  They ate meals at the dinner table with their family, they had gardens, and they did thoughtful intentional things for others because they had time to do so.  They also appeared to have patience with their children because they were not shuffling them to every activity under the sun, they were not rushing through bedtime routines because they had 20 other things to check off the list before they themselves went to bed.   They seemed to enjoy a slow evening and even “connection” time with their hubby was celebrated not resented.  Their lives were not boring they were sane. 
So I did something that made absolutely no sense–but all the sense in the world:  I decided to cut my workload in ½.  I ended class times that were not convenient to my family.   It was PAINFUL as I adored the women that I worked with.   The style of training that we do is so personal…it is a job that I love.   I knew the “feel” in my studio would be different and the financial ramifications that it had on our home as well as on my business partner were significant. Yet, that one decision created an immediate sense of relief, peace, and slowness in our home that we had not felt in years.  It was what I hungered for and had been begging God to give.  I even saw my children’s stress level begin to lower and my relationship with my kids and my hubby exponentially improved.  This choice was the catalyst for a whole new mentality in our home.  One that is focused on preserving our sanity…one that focuses on true simplicity and hearts of service. 

Simplifying looks different for everyone.  Whether we are simplifying our schedules or our “stuff,” this type of effort can bring a great deal of peace to our lives.  So I know that every journey looks different and cutting your workload in 1/2 may not be the best option for you.  The results from the “after effect” are what really matter.  I am hoping I might be able to share a few ways to make decisions that will create this type of peace in your home as well!  
Our family is on the journey—we have not arrived but I am passionate about this subject and excited to see where God is going to take us as we simply surrender.  My next few blogs are going to reveal several areas of our lives that God has shaken up and even wrecked us a bit.  It is humbling to write about all of the ways that I have “missed it.”  But I believe that growth happens when we own our actions as well as share them with others so that they might avoid some of the potholes we hit along the way! 
May You Be A Blessing and May You Find SLOWNESS…
Jenni 

Coming Out of the Closet

~ Jenni at 100 Cups of Coffee ~ 7 Comments

A few friends and I decided to embark on something we are calling The Sacred Adventure of 7.  They are brave women who want to look at life a little differently.  They want to eliminate excess and strip away some of the distractions in their lives so that they might more clearly see and hear from Jesus.  They want to live like Him and they know that in America (and the Western World) there is a spiritual depravity that begins in our closets.
So that is where we begin.  I spent over an hour in my closet on Saturday.  I tripped over several pairs of shoes as I muscled my way through my clothing to decide what 7 items  I would wear for the next 21 days…straight.   I did not just stand there for an hour, I purged old sports bras that didn’t fit, and pulled out clothing that had pit stains and others that clearly were worn back when I had babies.  (Why do I hang on to these items…FOREVER?) 
In that “closet time” I was struck by several things.  Most who know me, know that I am not “fancy” when it comes to clothes.  When first beginning this challenge most people would say that this month should be a “snap” for me because ½ the time I wear the same clothes over and over again.  I am a minimalist who dresses for comfort not style.  Anything “cute” or “trendy” that you have seen me in has been a gift or hand-me down from a fashionable friend.  (You know who you are—and I am very thankful for you—you clothe me and my children and we are snazzy because of you!)  But overall, I am a lazy dresser who is stuck having worked with high school students for one too many years and then has not transitioned in to “mom” clothes whatever that means? 
In this “stuck” place I live with WAY too many clothes.  No matter how “not cute” or “trendy” I am…I still own 7 identical white camis from old navy.  I own 5 cardigans and 8 black hoodie/jacket/pull-over type thingys.  EIGHT!  Whenever I go to a sporting goods store and leave with a clothing item Chris asks… “is it another black hoodie?”  I am obsessed.   I clothe myself for comfort.  The What Not to Wear folks would be knocking down my door if they actually saw what was in my closet!  Until recently I owned 2 pairs of velvety/velour OVERALLS…one in maroon and one in green corduroy.  Do you know how comfortable those were??  I still refuse to get rid of my jean overalls that were SO cute and in style in college with the prayer that they might come back in style…eventually?!  I love a good pair of sweat pants…but own 6!    You see the pattern…in choosing comfort…I choose a LOT of comfort. 
The items in my closet total 227.  (Not including sock, bras, and underwear.)   After reading this, for some, you are disgusted because yours is double that number.  For others you are disgusted because yours is ½ that number!  Either way I am disgusted because it is so far above and beyond my needs…and I purged before counting!
So why 7?  Jen Hatmaker wrote a book called, 7: The Experimental Mutiny Against Excess.  In it she outlines her journey through 7 months of purging her home and life of areas of excess.  I sensed that this was the very type of shake up I needed to get a better handle on the rat wheel or rat race that we run daily trying to keep up with the Jones’ or even just “better our lives and the lives of our children” for the sake of financial philanthropy.   After reading her book, I was struck by the fact that you can be very generous with what you have and still be living a life of excess.   This was something that was starting to gnaw at me.  I sensed that I was unintentionally going through the motions in this life and realized I was getting sucked in to something I had not signed up for:  entitlement and greed.  Because I was American and worked hard wasn’t I entitled to a great house, car, clothing, vacations, etc?  I was living a life of excess.  And worse, there were people within a few miles from my home who were living with far less.   I am not stupid—I knew this—but my actions seemed to indicate that I didn’t really care.  I wanted to figure out what that meant and it seemed that living with less might actually shift my perspective. 

So I am coming out of the closet.  I am ready for truth…healthy doses of humility and perspective.  I have no idea what this next 7 months will bring but I am hoping it will bring me closer to my Maker and closer to the way I was designed to live. 

I wasn’t sure when the best time was to actually post this blog…but I recently read another book…an ebook…and it has similar themes and practical suggestions for living simply.   (http://321-stop.com/)   Her book is different from 7…and I love Jen’s real, humble, and hilarious humor…but Lorilee’s book is great, practical, and a very helpful read as one examines living more simply.  So I figured today was as good a day as any to post about this adventure and share my headaches and hardships as I plunge and purge through the excess in my life.   Hope you enjoy the blog and the book! 

May You Be a Blessing and May You Be Blessed! 

Jenni 
  

Where are the WORDS?

~ Jenni at 100 Cups of Coffee ~ Leave a comment

If I had a bumper sticker it would likely say, “I’d Rather Be Writing!”  There is little in life that brings me more joy, peace and therapy than reading and writing.  So the question for me over the past few months has been–WHERE ARE THE WORDS?

I really only write (blog) when I am inspired.  I have had several interesting incidences, a random funny quote from Joshua, and have read a few books with insights worthy of sharing…and yet I have not had the compulsion that I normally feel to immediately drop everything, run to my computer and begin to type.

Internal shifts are happening and I am thinking deeply about life, God, and how we relate to one another.  Our purpose.  Our lifestyles.  The things we have…the things others do not.  Deep heady things too heavy to put on paper–yet.  But they are there and may be the reason why I cannot find the words–I am just processing and asking hard questions.  Whatever is happening I appreciate your kind questions of the status of my blog–I assure you–when I feel the first inspiration my fingers will be flying to the keyboard to share.

In the meantime…as always…

May You Be a Blessing and May You Be Blessed!

Jenni

The Garden Massacre: 3 Down Only 2 Survive

~ Jenni at 100 Cups of Coffee ~ 2 Comments

Last spring LeAnne inspired me to consider a garden…to allow our family to be a part of the process of plants growing and recognizing that our food does not originate from the grocery store.  Both my dad and granddaddy had a garden, and so I was familiar with this custom.   But knowing that the Cockerhams have the history of KILLING plants I was a little weary of such an undertaking.   Last year our garden constituted of several potted tomato plants and herbs.   They lived…and did their best to grow despite our black thumbs.


One of the cooler things that came from our garden was our compost pile.  This makeshift pile was actually a random pile in the backyard where Chris normally placed the grass clippings.  The compost pile slowly began to cut our waste in half.  I was shocked that between recycling and composting we were down to 1 lonely bag of trash per week?!?


Amazingly, this spring a long green vine began to grow from the compost.  Then another, and another.  Intrigued and inspired by a friends’ story of the “fruit” that grew from their compost–we decided to let it grow.  
It is entitled a Halloween Miracle.
(http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/sydneygaylord/journal/2)  


Over the past month or so we have realized that we are growing what appears to be some sort of fantastic gourd or maybe even a squash or pumpkin?!  Usually plants that grow from the grocery store are “sterile” and do not produce fruit–but very clearly there are some big yellow squash-type-things doing work in our back yard.  Even more amazing, is that we had up to 5 “plants” growing at one time.  At closer inspection I realized today that only 2 actually had squash-like plants growing from them.  (And one was really struggling to survive.)   All of the vines made beautiful yellow blooming flowers–but 3 simply had no squash to show for all the fan fare.  Though I am an Indiana grown girl whose daddy had the prettiest garden in our midwest neighborhood–I really was clueless as to what to do until it hit me:  the other plants had to go!  


Could they eventually produce fruit?  Maybe.  But which ones?  And how long would I have to wait?  And how much love, water, and sunlight would they be stealing from the 2 plants that were working so hard to make it?  It became very clear that the competing plants were just that…competition.  They were sharing a small space with fabulously fertile soil (a rare commodity in NC)…and they were just sucking the very life out of the resources of the other plants.  I could pour a lot more time and energy in to trying to keep everybody comfortable–with the flowers bright and beautiful and appearing just as healthy as my squash producing plants.  But at the end of the day–3 out of my 5 plants were simply sterile.  


While attacking those beauties with my shovel–for me hacking apart a living thing is not an easy task–unless it is poison ivy.  It was especially bitter since I usually have the blackest thumb on the planet and to hack something beautiful and living knowing that it just might do something cool was simply painful for me…but I digress.   As I hacked–it became so very clear–the parallel that I live in my life.  I have SOOOOO many things competing for my attention, for my energy, time, resources.  I have so many things that I desire to pour in to…that I desire to grow and make beautiful.  On the outside it looks pretty good.  There is green, there is growth, there are even big bright beautiful yellow flowers that indicate something awesome could happen.  Yet…sadly for so many of the things that compete for my attention…like my plants…they are sterile.    Most days I live as the hopeful gardener attending to each plant and wishing and hoping for the best…only to neglect the one or two plants that are actually producing fruit…that are alive…growing and going to actually become something amazing.


But…wait for it…what if I kept all 5 plants growing?    What if I just kept feeding all 5 plants?  Sharing space…sharing soil…sharing all of the resources that I had equally?   I am almost certain that I would lose my sensational squash…or at best their growth would become stunted.  (I did not major in agriculture at NCSU–but from my backyard degree this appeared to be clear and the inevitable conclusion.)


So God got ahold of me as I shifted the compost and hacked up the other 3 plants.  He reminded me of the value of keeping life simple.  He reminded me to stop trying to keep all of my “life vines” alive only to forsake the ones that actually bear fruit.   I will wait and see what comes of this awesome biology experiment but if no edible fruit is produced I am convinced that there were awesome seeds that were planted in my heart today.   The Gardener drew my attention to the other “plants”.  He reminded me that even once I hack a few up, others will grow in my garden of life.  He showed me that they are not all “weeds” so to speak–terrible evils and obvious predators that only exist to steal my plants’ nutrients.  Sometimes they are mistaken beauties or just misdirected efforts.  These plants will take root (just the same) and I will have to ask the question of their relevance and watch closely to examine if they just look really pretty or if they are actually bearing fruit.   I will make the weighty decision of hacking or watering.   Either way–the visual is one that I am so very grateful for as I hope to not water simply to water…but nurture, attend to, and  cultivate the vines the Gardener has placed in my life to grow and produce real fruit.


May You Be a Blessing and May You Produce Real Fruit–


Jenni 





Snot on the Shirt a Badge of Honor?

~ Jenni at 100 Cups of Coffee ~ 1 Comment
Snot on your shirt because there were no tissues close by, a spit up stain down the back of your black shirt that you carried around for hours (because you simply didn’t realize it was there), bruises from a toy tripped on, a poopy diaper up the back of the baby that gets all over you– after you had just finished changing the little munchkin, dark circles under the eyes due to one too many sleepless nights, and vomit (on you) because they simply couldn’t make it to the bathroom, are all badges of honor worn  by a great mother. 

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