Monday is MY day!

 

image found here

I actually really love Mondays. Monday is my day to kick things into gear and get the week going the way I want to. It's today--Friday--that is kind of bitter sweet for me; sometimes I love it because I've accomplished so much during the week and can really enjoy a little leisure on the weekend. Other times I hate it because I look back and think, Where did the time go and what did I do with it? I'm not ready for the weekend yet! But that is a topic for another time...

Let's talk MONDAY!

Monday is hopeful. It's full of possibilities and aspirations.
Monday is promising. It is sure to bring new opportunities.
Monday is fresh. It's a new start every seven days. You don't have to wait until a new year to begin again with goals and plans for improvement. And you really don't have to wait for a Monday either, but it is such a good place to start!

On Mondays I like to sit down with my calendar and "To-Do" list and make a master plan for myself--I get my head on straight so that I know where I'm headed that week.

On Mondays I can see the future.

On Mondays I can make a difference.

What do you like about Mondays?

Monday, Monday

I cannot help but think of Monday with out this song popping into my head. And now it will be there the rest of the day.

What is your Monday song?

Recovery

Monday gets a bad rap, don't you think? I've found I like them much more than I used to. When I was working, I very much disliked Mondays. After spending all weekend with my husband and kids, Monday was a snap back to reality. It was the first of three days during the week that I wouldn't see my kids all day, just a little bit in the morning and again after work. You'd think it would get easier the longer I did it, but the whole weekend-Monday cycle would come around, and the adjustment would throw me into the Monday blues all over again.

Now that I'm a SAHM, Mondays are a good day. Sunday at our house isn't usually the "day of rest" it's meant to be. With my husband spending much of his day at church in his current service assignment, I don't get to see him much, and I don't get much rest during the day either. So, when Monday comes around, that's my recovery day. On a typical Monday, here is what I do:

• Exercise (which doesn't happen on Sundays, and usually only happens briefly on Saturdays).
• Put stuff away that was dragged out or tossed aside over the weekend.
• Making a new to-do list (I love lists!) of all that I need and want to get accomplished that week.
• Enjoy the thought of eating leftovers from a delicious Sunday dinner and not cooking anything too involved.
• Plan the night's Family Home Evening lesson and make treats with the kids.
• Go through the mail and/or my "stack" of stuff in my little corner of the kitchen counter (Doesn't everyone have a stack? Please tell me yes.).

So it doesn't sound too exciting, but for someone like me who needs order, it starts my week off on the rightfoot! What do you do on a Monday?

"And she'll know."

Oh, I hate to be a bummer, especially after "Blue Monday" ... but there's something I've been thinking about a lot lately, and especially yesterday. Because it was Martin Luther King Day seven years ago that I miscarried my first pregnancy. Recently, a dear friend experienced a similar loss. So it's been on my mind. And I've gone back and forth on whether to write about it, so I hope it's okay with you if I just go ahead and do it. I hope it makes sense, and I promise I'll try not to be a bummer.

"A miscarriage is a natural and common event. All told, probably more women have lost a child from this world than haven't. Most don't mention it, and they go on from day to day as if it hadn't happened, so people imagine a woman in this situation never really knew or loved what she had.

But ask her sometime: how old would your child be now? And she'll know."
- Barbara Kingsolver, in Animal Dreams

Everyone who comes to motherhood has her own unique experience; and every mother who has ever experienced the loss that comes with miscarriage has a different story to tell. In my particular story, it was weeks before anyone outside my immediate family knew what was happening. During that time, as I thought and thought and thought, it amazed me a little bit that miscarriage was so un-discussed for how common it actually is. I certainly wasn't prepared for the overwhelming amazement I felt after I began to tell friends, when suddenly so many other women seemed to come out of the woodwork with their own stories of loss. And I wanted to hear them all. I didn't want to hear "I know how you feel" - because grief is so unique to each of us - but I wanted, maybe I even needed, their stories. I thought a lot about what we learn in the scriptures, to "mourn with those that mourn" ... I always knew that verse was important, but now it's much more personal.

Again, everyone has her own experience. Although I don't think about my miscarriage very often anymore, it taught me a lot about compassion and motherhood and hope. If you or someone you love is going through a similar experience, might I suggest this website as an excellent resource (I was there almost every day for a few weeks seven years ago, and was pleasantly surprised to see that it's actually still up and running. I admire the dedication of the women behind it to keep helping others through their knowledge and experience).

I'm sure it's not about miscarriage, but I seem to also love this quote today, and it seems to fit my thoughts of late:

"Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws."
- (also, coincidentally) Barbara Kingsolver

Be good to yourself out there, okay?