Where I live, there are so many major construction projects going on. Down the street, two new subdivisions are being built, the fancy kind with stacked rock signs and humongous houses. If you go another direction, they’re putting in a new shopping center and a “smart community,” which will include houses and shops all within walking distance.

And then another quarter mile down the road, they’ve completely torn down an old McDonald’s and are building a new one. It seems like everywhere I look there are big yellow earth machines moving dirt around, then patting everything out smooth.

The new McDonald’s looks completely different than the old one — dare I say, it’s even got some class. It’s brick, instead of whatever cheap material it used to be. On the sign out front, it says, “Closed for Rebuild.”

Every day when I pass by that sign, I read those three words: Closed for Rebuild. Yesterday, I thought, “Wouldn’t it be nice if I could close for rebuild every now and then?” Like now. I’d like to close for some spiritual rebuilding, please, as God works His Word through me and helps me become more like Him. Beth Moore will help with that, when our Bible Study starts back soon.

Physical rebuilding is in process — as I’m trying to change my diet, exercise more, and keep going with increasing my energy levels. Whenever I feel stressed, I slink right back to my old habits; they’re lurking, just waiting for me.

Emotionally and mentally, I’m reading books, listening to sermons, talking to people … I’m in a growth spurt of some sort. I’ve even signed up to take a course through Barnes & Noble University, which is a first for me. (I’ll blog about that soon, in case you want to join us.)

Since losing some weight, I went shopping for myself, something I rarely do. I bought a few things, then came home and cleaned out my closet, like FlyLady says to do (when you bring something new in, you have to get rid of something old, to keep clutter in check). Well, I gave my old clothes the evil eye — most of my clothes are made for pregnancy/ postpartum/ nursing. I’ve been wearing the same things for years — because why bother to shop when I’m always in limbo.

I realized most of my clothes have become emotional clutter for me. They remind me of certain events or people. But I heard on the radio that women wear 10% of their clothes 90% of the time. That’s true for me. So I heard FlyLady’s voice ask, “Does that bring you joy or peace? No? Then bless someone else with it.” Well, I started piling things up in a box, and putting the hangers in another box. When all was said and done, I’d piled up 87 things to give away. Aah. What a relief. My closet is sparse now, but everything fits the new me, who is NOT nursing a baby.

Over the past few days, I’ve been rearranging our furniture and hauling stuff OUT the door, blessing lots of people with the clothes and toys our kids have outgrown. My husband was surprised I carried an upholstered rocking chair up the stairs yesterday to put in the room our two youngest kids share. I decided to box up all the plastic junk that clutters their room and make a “reading nook” instead, where I’ll enjoy reading to them. I like books and puppets — they use the imagination and don’t take up space.

I guess you could call this fall cleaning. Who knows? Hope springs eternal.

I’ve been getting a notice from my hosting service that my blog domain name is up for renewal. That means I’ve been blogging for almost a year. Thank goodness it renews automatically, or it might be one of those things I put on my to-do list — and forget to do.

One of the first topics I wrote about last fall was starting a women’s book study. In our hectic, fast-paced society, it’s hard to find time to develop close friendships with other women. But we need to.

If we spend all our time teaching our kids, hauling them around to lessons, shopping for family meals, working around the house, and volunteer/ career activities, we’ll eventually burn out. We need to spend time with other women who are going through the same things we’re going through — and who can laugh and cry with us.

Online friendships are great — and I’m so thankful for the few I’ve been able to develop — but nothing beats hanging out with local friends. For one thing, my kids are still young enough that most of their close friends are the children of MY friends. I’m picky, and I won’t let them go home with a family I don’t know very well. There ‘s too much to risk. My children’s innocence means more to me than popularity.

Lisa Ann Cockrel wrote a great article called The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Real in this month’s TCW magazine. I haven’t read any of the Yada Yada books yet, but Lisa explains:

The chick-lit series authored by Neta Jackson focuses on 12 women from different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds who are thrown together at a citywide women’s conference in Chicago. Against all odds, this motley crew forms a bond that lasts beyond the weekend as its members continue to “know and be known to each other and to God”—the Hebrew meaning of the word yada.

Do you have any type of Yada group where you can get real with people? I know, personally, I’m very different online than I am in person. I’m not willing to say anything online that I wouldn’t mind being read by hundreds of people — and there are some things we share in our small group that only stay within the walls of the room.

In two weeks, our preschool moms’ group starts up again. I can’t wait! We meet once a week in a church, which provides FREE childcare. For most of us, that’s the main reason we can go. I used to be in a church that had a large number of homeschooling families. Our weekday morning women’s ministry provided a special room for homeschooling kids to meet and do their schoolwork, overseen by a paid college student.

Oh … what a refreshing relief it was for us moms to get together. Plus, it was fun for the kids. After a couple hours of schoolwork, they got to go outside and run around on the playground together. My son always accomplished so much more on those days — because kids who didn’t finish their assigned work (assigned by their moms) didn’t get to play!! It worked!

If you’re not already part of a book club, fellowship group, or looseknit group of friends who get together and hang out, this article includes eight tips from author Neta Jackson on how to start your own Yada Yada group. If you’ve recently moved, it might be up to you to reach out and start your own.

Isaiah 43:19 says, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” It’s almost fall, the perfect season to start!

I don’t know what’s gotten into me. Maybe it’s the new school year, the fireworks we watched over the horizon last night, the smell of freshly cut grass. Who knows? But I’m thinking this is the year I want to try some new things.

First off, I’m getting out of the house more, that’s for sure. The past year, it’s been such an ordeal to load my toddler and baby up in the car, I’ve just stayed home. This was fine — because I had lots of work at home to keep me busy.

But since I’ve started blogging at Lively Women and getting some energy back, I’ve had that extra push I need to get us out the door. So this morning, I loaded up my two youngest and went to a fitness center that provides childcare and took my first SPINNING class. As in bicycle wheels spinning around.

I could barely keep up. I was the only person in the class who wasn’t skinny and muscular with a blonde ponytail — but at least I had on my cute Target workout clothes. So I smiled and enjoyed the scenery — which was black lights with lots of glowing things on the walls. My socks glowed. The stripe on my spandex glowed. It was fun to be glowing in the dark and not thinking about laundry.

I made it through the class by just cycling along, doing my own thing. Nobody seemed to care that I’m the most out of shape person who’s ever stepped foot in that glowing room. I even got a little white towel like everyone else did to wipe off sweat. I pretended like I knew what I was doing. Then I went and did some push-ups and sit-ups because that’s what the other fitness girls were doing.

My kids did fine in the nursery — despite the fact that they stuck to me like magnets when I dropped them off. They both cried at first, and I felt cruel and heartless. But this cruel and heartless mom needs to exercise — and be around adults. Who don’t ask questions.

I think I’ll go back tomorrow. If I can move my legs. 🙂

I saw my first glimpse today of this new book! Isn’t the cover gorgeous? I’m so excited — I actually have a story in this book. It’s going to be released in October from Adams Media.

My story is called “The Great Rabbit Chase” and is about the time I was 8 or 9 months pregnant chasing our pet rabbits around the backyard. They’d somehow tunneled through their hutch and gotten loose. I knew my oldest daughter would be devastated if her favorite white bunny, “Frosting,” was gone forever. What happened was so funny, it’s now going to be recorded forever in this book!

I can’t remember where I heard about the deadline, but I submitted the story last summer. I worked with editor Colleen Sell, who did an awesome job of cleaning up and tightening my words. She made me sound so much better.

Now I’m getting emails from the publicist hired by Adams Media. He wants all of the contributors to set up book signings. Once again, this makes me feel like a nervous wreck. How can I ask people to come buy a book?

But wait! It’s actually the PERFECT gift for expectant moms. For all those long hours sitting in the doctor’s office or waiting around during the last trimester or prelabor. It’s hard to think about anything besides impending labor, yet expectant moms need something fun and encouraging to read. This is the book — a companion guide to the bible of childbirth, What to Expect When You’re Expecting. Wow — just typing that title into the computer makes me feel a wave of nausea, since I read it during my first trimester.

So I’ve got to get on this book signing. Who should I bug? Anyone want to host me? I can do more than sign books. I’ll bring chocolate. I can tell funny pregnancy and labor stories. I can show you my “medals of motherhood” (if you’re a mom, you know what those are — they’re there forever.) I can’t sing, but I can do party games. My stomach gets tense just thinking about calling Barnes & Noble. But hey, I gotta do it.

Here’s a description of the book from Amazon:

“A Cup of Comfort for Mothers to Be is a celebration of a very extraordinary time in your life — the nine months that make you into a mother. From joy to fear, from morning sickness to the first kicks, moms to be just like you tell their stories in this new addition to the beloved Cup of Comfort series … These touching accounts of the most exciting months of a new mother’s life are sure to warm your heart — and those of the loved ones who surround you during this emotional and amazing period of your life.”

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Miss Teresa!

I took the kids to the library yesterday, desperate for a new load of books. I’d just found out the unhappy news that our house is not a candidate for cable TV. I was finally exhausted from three years of the same half-dozen fuzzy local channels, and this week we’d decided maybe it was time to branch out and allow a little more variety into our home.

But the cable company came out and informed us our country home sits too far back from the road for cable. Our only option is satellite, which I don’t want. We had satellite several years ago when we lived even further out in the country, and the satellite company was always giving us free “sneak peeks” at upgrades. Our kids were toddlers then, but now that they’re old enough to handle the remote, I don’t even want to take the risk that they might flip to something that would become permanently etched in their minds.

No can do. So we’re back to the books. Which is fine. Better even.

So I walked into the children’s department and asked our librarian, Miss Teresa, what she recommended for our kids’ ages. “I’m especially looking for chapter books for my rising third grade daughter,” I told her. And I added with a whisper, “She still likes checking out picture books, but I want her to move on, you know?”

Miss Teresa smiled at me. “I’ve got the perfect books for you.”

We followed her back to the “L” section, and she showed me Christian author Bevery Lewis writes a children’s series called The Cul-de-Sac Kids. We checked out Pickle Pizza and a few others.

“Look,” she whispered. “These are published by Bethany House. All of their books are Christian!” Her eyes lit up with excitement. “I try to buy as many as I can. These are wonderful.”

I wanted to reach over and give her a gigantic hug — but with a wiggling baby on my hip, tote bag overflowing, it was not possible.

She started pulling more books off the shelf. “Here are some good mysteries your son might like,” she said to me. “The Bloodhound series by Bill Myers are also published by Bethany House.”

Am I the last person in the world to discover Bill Myers? Wow! I looked him up, and his books and videos have sold over six million copies. He’s published with Zondervan, Tommy Nelson, and Bethany House, among others. So we brought home The Ghost of KRZY. I was a little concerned it looked too easy for my almost ten-year-old, who plowed through The Lord of the Rings trilogy this past year, but my son loves this book. In fact, he’s finished it, ready for another.

What a relief to know my kids are reading books by Christian authors, whose faith will be woven into the pages of the book. And it’s pure joy to know my children’s librarian is a kindred spirit. Miss Teresa also told me she bought the Landon Snow books, which are published by Barbour. I reviewed Landon Snow and the Auctor’s Riddle last fall.

So I ask, does your children’s librarian know what kind of books you want your children to read?

P.S. Another great series for kids is the Wilderking trilogy, published by Broadman & Holman. There’s a new interview up with author Jonathan Rogers over at Gina Holmes’ wonderful blog, Novel Journey.

From time to time, I feel a flicker of doubt, and I wonder if I’m wasting my time writing. Then someone will send me a note of encouragement and remind me that this is a ministry God has called me to do for this season of my life. While my children are young, I’m thankful to be able to write while they play or read beside me.

A couple of weeks ago, I was surprised to receive this very kind note from one of you. I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to send this to me!

Dear Heather,

Thank you for your obedience in sharing this info…..and thank you for the great site!!!

This note meant so much to me — because I felt like I’d really connected with a reader. And not only me — I’d connected her to this conference. So I wrote her back and asked if she went to the conference. Well, she told me that not only did she have a fantastic time at the conference, she fell in love with the church and knew this is where she wanted to be! So, she and her family joined this church, as an answer to many months of prayer.

Thank you, Lord, for this encouraging note. I know that you prompted her to write me to show how you’re working not only in my life, but in the lives of those who you deliberately lead here. How awesome you are, and how humbled I am to be a messenger of your mighty work!

We had a victory in our house yesterday when we found a MISSING library book. Huge cheers from Mom! But when I was just about to close the lid of the drop-off container at the library, I noticed … a torn page! In one of the picture books!

What to do … what to do …

I had two kids in my car, and our dog, Jasper. (He gets excited about riding in the car with us.)

What would Jesus do? I know. I know. But Lord, I’ve got kids in my car, and I’ve got three more errands to run. And a million things on my mind. And it’s just one torn page. And they may not even notice. What would Jesus do?

OK. So I didn’t leave that book in the drop-box. I drove to the Dollar Store, bought a roll of scotch tape, taped the page back on both sides (Man, did that thing look shiny and sharp). Drove back to the library. Left the book. And no guilt! Whew.

Maybe God smiled on me because later in the day when I brought in our mail, there was a surprising check addressed to me. But oh no — it was from the church that is sponsoring a marriage retreat I’ve signed us up for this summer. I’ve always thought marriage retreats sounded dorky and boring, but after 12 years of marriage, the whole concept seems fascinating to me. We’re moving to a new season, a new chapter, and I’m excited about all the things God has in store for me and my husband as a couple.

So! Why did I get this check? It was for over half the cost of the retreat! There wasn’t a note of explanation with it, so I emailed the pastor right away and asked if the retreat had been cancelled. He wrote me back and said, “No, we’ve just decided to lower the price, and we’re sending out refunds to those of you who have already paid.”

Wow — so this is really a great deal. Thank you, Lord.

Here’s what else is going on in my life. My kids are out of school tomorrow — summer is here! Today is my kindergarten daughter’s SIXTH birthday (got that, all you aunts and uncles who read my blog?) She’s growing up!

This morning, my fourth grade son is going to receive an award at a ceremony at his school. Here’s a child who hated doing his phonics with me. We homeschooled him three years, and I didn’t know if a more reluctant reader ever existed. Today he’ll receive an award for having won the “Readers Digest Word Power Challenge” for the whole fourth grade. And he said, “Mom, I may get another award for AR points — I think I was pretty close to finishing first, but I’m not sure.”

Yeah. I’m proud. God’s been good to us lately. Sometimes a mama just has to brag. Ain’t that the truth?

[Edit: We just got home, and what a good blogger I am. This is for the grandparents, who are allowed to brag without having to blush: Your grandson got awards for earning All A’s the whole year, 3rd highest average in Language Arts, 2nd highest average in Math, 2nd highest average in Science, Silver Medal in Math Olympics, Top Accelerated Reader points, Super Lion Award, Readers Digest Word Power Challenge, and (my personal favorite) Most Dependable Award. The “most dependable” honor is going to come in very handy when it’s time for him to feed the dog and cats.]

I want to jot down an impression before I forget it. Another one of those times where my camera’s battery was dead, but I felt at peace about it because I memorized the moment in my mind so I could hurry home to write about it. (Do you ever feel this way? It used to frustrate me until I realized writing was just as good, if not better, than taking a picture.)

It was the last day of preschool for my 3-year-old son.

When I arrived mid-morning for the end-of-the-year party, nine little children in his class were all dressed in white T-shirts that had their handprints and names painted on them. My son’s handprint is in the middle, green. I wonder if he chose that color. On the back is an adult handprint, and it says, “Miss Sharon loves you.” Honestly, I love Miss Sharon, because if it weren’t for Miss Sharon, I wouldn’t have this blog.

There were about six other moms there, all of whom I’ve gotten to know a little throughout the year. Once again, I realized how I really don’t get out shopping for myself enough because I’m not dressed stylishly like they are. One mom had on gorgeous black spiked pumps with her pants suit. She looked like a million bucks. I would fall flat on my face if I wore shoes like that, but they looked great on her.

But I digress.

We chatted while the kids ate pizza, and then I was the first to say, “You think anyone would mind if we had a piece of pizza too?” Pretty soon, all of us were admitting “This is my breakfast” or “This is my lunch” and snagging a piece of cheese pizza.

One of the moms had collected tiny pictures of all of our kids and made Miss Sharon a little silver bracelet. Then she gave each of her students a T-shirt that had a class portrait on it — that was just taken a couple of days ago. Thank goodness she called me at home to remind me of the class picture because we would have skipped that day since we’ve been sick.

After pizza, juice, and presents, Miss Sharon said, “It’s time for bubbles!”

We followed her out onto the playground, and the moms talked while Miss Sharon tossed out thousands of bubbles with some kind of fancy bubble blower. The children were all laughing and running in the warm sunshine. I was talking to the other moms about who was going to what beach and when for summer vacation. And trying to encourage another mom who said she was moving over the summer.

Then we all went back to the classroom, and each child picked out a balloon to take home. My son picked out a green one. Here’s what I want to memorize: his happy face in his little handprint T-shirt, holding his green balloon. One day, I imagine he’ll tower over me and roll his eyes at me and say, “Mom!” But today, I was “Mama” and he hugged me and told me he loved his school and would miss it.

The strange thing is that, as I was experiencing all this, I was there, and yet I wasn’t there. The words were already going through my mind, and I was wondering how I would tell you all about it. Isn’t that weird? It’s like you were there with me.

Anyway, maybe if this blog survives the next few years, it will be fun to show it to my son someday. I’m proud of him. And of me, for showing up on time.

I hope you all have a wonderful Mother’s Day, honoring or remembering your mothers. Last year, I enjoyed breakfast in bed, and it was the first year my children were in school, so they made me little Mother’s Day gifts. If you’re a homeschooling dad reading this, be sure to help your children make something special to give your wife tomorrow.

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

Addie	Heather*	Carol
M	Rach	Jeana
Jenn	Amanda	MamaB
GiBee	Boomama	Maria
Blair	Heather	Nancy
Janna	Flipflop	Robin
Sherry	Patricia	Tara
Lauren	HolyMama!	Faith
Christy	Eph2810	Karin
Leann	Rachel	Janice

Reading all of your stories about your moms made me think of one of my favorite memories with my mom. I posted this picture a few months ago, but it’s sitting on my desk and worthy of another story.

Let’s see — I was in my early 20s when this picture was taken. I was living in Osaka, teaching English and working for a church. I LOVED living in Japan. In fact, my mom was afraid I might never come home, so she called me every Sunday. I guess it would be different now with email, but our phone calls and paper letters were our link back then.

She came to visit me in April, at the height of the cherry blossom season. We spent the whole week in various places enjoying Ohanami, as the Japanese say. (“hana” means flower, and “mi” means “to see.”) You spread out a blanket under the cherry blossoms and enjoy a picnic. We traveled to visit friends in Tokyo and were able to stay in a little house, just the two of us. Then we took a train to Hiroshima, so Mom could do some research on the aftermath of the atomic bomb. She’s a high school chemistry teacher, and she’d been corresponding with a Japanese high school science teacher — whom we were able to visit.

Did you know that when a Japanese teacher walks into a classroom, the students all stand up and then bow to the teacher and say, “Thank you for teaching us.” We were of course in total shock. And they all wore sharp navy blue uniforms. A teacher is called SENSEI. If you study the Japanese characters (kanji), the character for “sen” means “before” and “sei” means “life.” So, if you’re a teacher, you’re a life going before your students. To be called a “sensei” is an honor, much the same as it was to call Jesus Christ “Rabbi.”

This picture was made in Kyoto, I think, in front of one of the shrines. One of the best things about living in Osaka is that it’s in the heart of the Kansai region, right in the center of Japan. Within a half-hour train ride, I could get to Kyoto, Nara, or Kobe, three of the most beautiful cities in Japan. I went to each of those places dozens of times. I had some kind of adventure nearly every weekend.

I used to be in such good shape back then — I rode my bike and walked everywhere, teaching about three classes a day in people’s houses or in jukus (after-school schools.) I also studied the Japanese language several times a week in various places. There were volunteer organizations everywhere that offered free lessons in language, culture, and art. I showed up for everything!

When my mom came to visit, she had to run to keep up with me. I didn’t even realize what a fast-paced life I was living. I had to catch the exact bus I needed to make it on time for my lessons, and if I was running late, I just had to jog or pedal faster. I never had to do housework or cook because I lived in a single room both of those years — one year with a Japanese family and another year in a gaijin (foreigner) boarding house. I ate most of my meals out — fast food in Japan means fish and rice, with a side of miso soup.

We spent a great week together, but what Mom was most interested in was, “Heather, when are you coming home?” She made sure I knew that I’d left a gap back in Georgia.

I thought about staying there forever. But, eventually, I came back home to fill in that gap. And I’ve been here ever since.