Wednesday - Storms and Alligator Swamps for Lunch and Authenticity

Inspiration

The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.

Proverbs 11:3 (ESV)

Reading and Learning

If we are not careful we will trade our authenticity for approval and begin hustling for acceptance. Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we're supposed to be and embracing who we are.

"Choosing authenticity means cultivating the courage to be imperfect, to set boundaries, and to allow ourselves to be vulnerable exercising the compassion that comes from knowing that we are all made of strength and struggle. Nurturing the sense of connection and sense of belonging that can only happen when we believe that we are enough. At the end of the day you either walk inside your story and own it and or you stand outside your story and hustle for your worthiness."

~ Brene Brown

Pg. 46

Learning a new song and coloring a poster.

Outdoor Fun

We had the strangest storm here yesterday. I kept thinking I heard rain, but when I would look out the window there was no rain. In fact, the sun was shining. Finally I looked out a window on the other side of the house and discovered it was raining there. A few minutes later it was raining all around the house, big pelting drops of rain that made me check to see if it was hail. The rain continued for a little while, although I could still see patches of blue sky all around as well. Then, there was a sudden violent, churning wind, the front door blew open, and the trees looked like they were being blown several directions at once. I told Michael I thought we should go to the basement, but before we got that far the wind began die down as fast as it had come up. The sky brightened, there was more blue sky showing, there were shadows on the ground from the trees, but it still kept raining fairly hard for about 15 minutes before finally stopping.

I said all that to say - we didn't go outside this morning because the back yard was still so soggy I knew it wouldn't even be fun. Well, maybe it would have been fun for the kids, but not for me. And by this afternoon it was so hot and muggy we didn't want to go out.

Now this evening it's storming again so I don't how the yard will be tomorrow.

In the Kitchen

I made chicken chow mein for lunch today. My mom used to make this and I love it. It's basically chicken and chicken broth, onions, celery, peppers (she didn't use peppers but I do), seasoned with salt and pepper (I also add garlic powder), and thickened with corn starch. This is served over rice and is delicious with a splash of soy sauce added to it. In spite of the fact that I heard Michael muttering something about it looking like a swamp for alligators to swim in, he ate two servings of it.

Other Fun

Since we didn't go outside to play today there were a lot of fun things happening in the playroom instead.