A Guest Blog from The Link Family Blog

I'm not going to lie, I copied most of this from a blog I wrote earlier in the day...but seriously, running after two little crazies all day long doesn't leave me with much time to write TWO separate blogs in one day...So, parent of the year signing on for the first time in a couple of months...I know you all missed me. Happy first day of Spring, happy snowy first day of Spring.  Seriously??  Have we not enjoyed the snow enough?  I guess not.  I am the worst mother ever because I hate taking my kids out in the snow...I mean hate it.  Which often results in extremely hyper littles later in the day.  So I do laps with them around the living room/kitchen. It also doubles as my exercise some days.  And I need that exercise because of this which I am currently getting ready to try right now.  Don't judge me, I know it's Lent...I also know that I will die if I don't have coffee, and that would be super tough on Marty. So go with me here.

okay we're ready...

In all seriousness we have been working really hard to simplify our lives this Lent and it is HARD with kids to really live simply and actively pray through the day.  A fantastic priest friend of mine told me that the key to holiness is knowing yourself, and knowing that "your self" has changed since becoming a mother. This could not be more incredibly true. There are a lot of days I berate myself for not "spending time in prayer" when in reality I DO spend a lot of time in prayer but my prayer looks much different now that I am a mother.  And I have to not only accept that but embrace it.  My Vocation went from "wife" to "wife and mother" and that is a beautiful thing.

So prayer is different, life is different, and right now my coffee is different, different and delicious.  I mean, seriously, when has Ree ever steered us wrong?  I am going to continue to try this Lent to live simply, Marty and I have talked about a million (or maybe 20 things) that we could do...one of them is not using the stove on Fridays during Lent.  Which is much harder than I thought it would be...but reminds us that there are so many people who don't have hot meals...and I know I sound all preachy and you're thinking to yourself that I'm drinking hot coffee with butter in it but hey, we all have to start somewhere, okay?  Living simply will be different for everyone because, let's be honest, motherhood looks different with everyone...as much as I aspire to the Pinterest mama, it might not be in my immediate (or extended) future.  But doing the best we can with what (and who) we're given is exactly what God calls us to.  Some days that is a marathon of BowToons and some days it's making sure that my babies get out of the house...God calls us all to our own holiness and as long as our eyes are on Him, it's the best path we can walk....so that's that.

...today I just need to drink my coffee and embrace my Vocation....

Thanks for reading, you can always pop over to my blog to get a good laugh and hopefully a little inspiration,

AnnaMarie