I do not want my life to look like Pinterest.

I find myself pinning things, ideas, pictures on Pinterest for my life:

Craft ideas, recipes, homeschooling ideas, photos I want to take, 101 great dates for fathers and daughters, great ideas, and ideas for my home. I love Pinterest, and this is in no way a rant on Pinterest... but instead a rant on myself.

I find myself looking at my surroundings and wanting more. Wanting that perfect organized pantry that I just pinned. I want my kid's room to look like it just walked out of a magazine. I want my car to be crumb free.  I want the picture of the super cute laundry room that is yellow and grey chevron with the cute pictures of my kids playing in a wash tub. I want I want I want... my house/my life to look like Pinterest.

My house is clean, things get put away most evenings. My family is very fortunate and have been blessed with a warm, safe home. I am not talking about my home in particular. This is just an example. I am talking about contentment. I am sharing about my failure in having a heart that is content and thankful.

My sister in law, Hannah, shared these words on Facebook this morning :

"Happiness is a state of mind, reached by taking your thoughts captive and choosing thankfulness for what you have over longings for what you want"

This statement struck me. I am happy, I love my family and I have been blessed. Honestly blessed.

But I am guilty of not being content and wanting more. I want to impress people, I want to have nice things, I want things to be organized and easy to find. I want it all to be creative, DIY, and perfect. I want to be that cool mom. I want to have this pretty life that is neat and tidy. Many times I find myself wasting hours on Pinterest dreaming about what I will have someday, getting ideas for the future, planning ahead, dreaming of a life I could have.

I strive to be a Proverbs 31 woman. This is my goal that I set before myself everyday when I get out of bed. Most days I fail. Most days I let my own selfish desires of this world distract me. I am easily distracted. This is when I fail. And one of the greatest tools that Satan uses in my life is Pinterest. He knows me, he has watched me. He has watched me look longingly into the screen at photos of these huge homes on thousands of acres. He has watched me look at photos of family rooms with expensive furniture and 55 inch flat screens mounted on the wall. He knows my selfish desires and he will do anything to discourage me. He uses the wants of my own life to take over and distract me from the needs of my life.

I need to live a life faithful to the Lord. I need my life to reflect him, not Pinterest. I need my home to be full of laughter, hugs, prayer, love, and even a few messes. My girls are learning and growing. I need to teach them. I need to be an example to them of contentment. I need to raise them up to be Godly woman who love and fear the Lord. I need to teach them how to be responsible, fair, respectful, and kind. I need to teach them how to love.  I need to teach them to be honest and have self control. I need to be able to show them how to manage the minutes wisely that they are blessed with on this earth. I need to be an example of Christ's love to them. These are all things I need to do.

My pantry will never look like the one that I just pinned.

My laundry room is always going to be covered in John's work pants, my girl's rubber boots, and socks that do not have their match.

My kid's room is NEVER going to look like it just came out of  pottery barn magazine.

Because my house isn't Pinterest, we live in it, we laugh in it, we make messes in it. We make mistakes here, and we learn to obey and trust in the Lord here. We learn to separate the needs and wants of our lives here, by learning the difference.

My house and my desires are not what defines my life.

I do not want my life to look like Pinterest, I want it to look like Christ.

Christ defines my life.

Holy Guacamole! Where has the time gone?

Where on earth is time going??? My little girls are growing so quickly and it just isn't fair. I cannot believe that KaiLey is starting Kindergarten in the fall! I havent written on this blog for a long time, and I miss it. I miss the journaling aspect of keeping track of memories and photos. My family is a busy one, always running from place to place and usually not taking time to catch our breath! A lot has changed over the past 6 months or so and I felt like this was the right time to get back into this blogging for those  of you that care enough to read it :)

6 months ago John was all scheduled to head off to the police academy and had been hired by the Springfield Police Department. To make a very long story short... we turned it down. We decided that we wanted to pursue our dreams of ranching and try to make a go of it! So here we are! John also is the new High School Youth Leader at Langlois Community Church and is doing an outstanding job. That man works too hard. There is not a doubt about it!

Another exciting addition to our family in this time was NUMERO TRES! MadiLyn Gayle joined our troops in December of 2012. She has just started crawling and decided today that she can communicate by babbling too. She is the sweetest baby and LOVES KaiLey and Emi to pieces. She is just starting to explore the world around her and has had her first "NO" experiences over the last few days :)

EmiLia is doing fantastic. The accident was almost two years ago and we cannot be more excited to be almost done with all the junk that came along with it! EmiLia is quite the character, she has her own little sense of humor and is growing into such a sassy, smart girl! She cannot wait for school to start for KaiLey in the fall so she can do it too! She definitely is not the most gentle little girl... or the most graceful. Not a day goes by that she doesn't fall flat on her face from tripping over nothing. She is a spark in our lives and a joy to watch discover new things and chase (slowly) after her sister!

KaiLey Jo is a blessing. She is growing into the young girl and I am finding myself a little sad that she is growing so fast. She is eager to learn and help. She is fairly shy, and doesn't really like to try new things (but can be usually coaxed into trying them at least once) KaiLey is going to be 6 in November, she loves soccer, and LOVES to sing. Any chance to put on a show for mom or dad... you bet! She has this happy heart, a kindness about her and a child like faith that I find myself striving to example after daily. She loves the Lord and I can see it in her life and this makes my heart happy.

For me.. same old same ole. In June I decided it would be a great idea to move us to a new home, but first help remodel the new home, photograph a wedding, and co-direct VBS at our church. It was a little crazy. But thankfully VBS came off without a hitch again this year and I enjoyed working on that outreach with my friends and church family. We also got all moved and we are SO happy in our new place. We are so at home and really feel like we are where the Lord want us. Well there is the update on the Swensons. I am sure I forgot something, I generally do!