This has been a full month of exciting changes in the extended Edmonds family! We celebrated the union of Aaron’s oldest brother, Nathan & Kathy, on September 5th, and then last weekend celebrated the engagement of one of Aaron’s younger brothers, Stephen & Anna. Yes, there are seven boys in his family. We also welcomed a new little niece, Nora Elise Edmonds (that makes four granddaughters to balance out the men a bit!).
Nathan & Kathy Edmonds
I also had the privilege of speaking at the Selah conference, which was an awesome experience (listen to my session here!). Sandwiched between these events, we took a lovely vacation to the Oregon Coast (our favorite spot in Lincoln City) and spent five days as a family just resting, reading, walking the beach, and a bit of shopping.
I am thankful for the ways the Lord has been working and shaping my life this past month. While enduring insomnia and the side-effects of depression, I have experienced the richness of getting away and taking time to plan, set goals, and strategies to complete them. It’s so valuable to schedule in time for such retreats mid-year when I need a refresh boost.
Simply re-committing to rising early, and get dressed before our little ones are up, makes a huge difference on my attitude and the productivity of our home. It’s so easy to get lazy when you are lacking sleep. When I don’t get up early, I don’t have time to spend with the Lord, the most important relationship in my life. When I don’t have a few moments to myself, it is even easier to succumb to moodiness. If you haven’t read Maximize Your Mornings, please do (it’s free)! It is such a great resource for fully utilizing your time most effectively for God’s glory.
The grandkids - Alita, Eva, Karis & Titus - Nora was still in the womb
Another thing the Lord has been encouraging me with is the value of always seeking to learn new things. I want to be faithful in my roles, and yet sometimes it is easy to get discouraged or tired and weary of the same routines. Why not learn something new? A new skill, a new art, a new book. What a huge difference it can make in your attitude! I started dabbing into developing my own sourdough starter, which has been a ton of fun (thanks to Wardeh’s sourdough e-course). I also took a leap and make my first batch of lacto-fermented products (in my case, salsa was a great place to start!). Seeking to learn new things can keep fresh joy and excitement in your homemaking!
So it has been a blessed and rich month, to say the least.
Yes, this is US! They had a photo booth with costumes at the wedding and we all had a blast!
My Bookshelf
Having a nice trip to the beach enabled me to complete some extra reading this month.
Girls Gone Wise in A World Gone Wild by Mary Kassian is a rich and challenging read for women of all ages in our generation. Mary does an amazing job addressing 20 points of contrast between the Proverbs 7 (Woman of Folly – Wild Thing) with the Wise Woman (Wise Thing). She hits the mark and the heart of the matter while addressing the importance of guarding our hearts, counsel, attitude, habits, and lifestyle choices. It is eye-opening and convicting in guiding women in all aspects of life – but especially in understanding our role and the proper manner of interaction with men. Highly recommend!
Depression: A Stubborn Darkness by Ed Welch – I really did not want to read this book, but the Lord kept bringing it to my attention, and I’m still wading through it, but it is a rich read if you deal with any susceptibility to moodiness or depression. How to understand the reality of it and how to deal with it from a beautiful Christ centered approach.
Up next…Heaven at Home by Ginger Plowman!
I wanted to take a moment and thank you all for your continual support and encouragement! We passed our third blog anniversary this month and I totally forgot! It has been an awesome blessing to share with you all through the journey of learning to delight in homemaking. Thank you and many blessings upon you all!
Lindsay, how do you always find something to post about? how do you keep your blogging so inspirational and keep yourself inspired? i blog and most of the time i cant think of anything to write or i think “who am i to write about that, I’m no por”
plus i just recently started “liking” Your posts on facebook. glad to get some of my friends into reading your blog as well!!
Dear Agie, I honestly struggle with this regularly. I often hit brick walls where I don’t know what to post about. I battle discouragement in this respect because I don’t have new and creative ideas all the time. But truthfully, I find that if I pray and ask the Lord to guide me and speak through me, He always gives me inspiration! It’s all about Him!
Okay, the dress-up pic at the wedding is a hoot! Bless you guys!
Hi Lindsay! I have been blessed by your blog and have directed several friends your way! Just wanted to let you know that you have a “lovely blog” award on my blog!
http://blessmynest.blogspot.com/2010/10/one-lovely-blog-award.html
~Paris
Congrats on the wedding & coming up union in your family!
I read & LOVED Heaven at Home & hope you will, too. As a matter of fact, she said so many wonderful things that my highlighter completely threw up in it! And while I haven’t read Girls Gone Wise yet (it’s sitting on my shelf patiently waiting for me), I visit the blog every day & have read some really superb articles there. I’ve heard nothing but good things about the book & am really looking forward to having time to read it soon. Check out the blog when you have time.
Hi Lindsay,
I first want to say I love your blog! Lets rewind about a year ago and I was feeling a little depressed and had insomnia like something fierce. It has a lot to do with being deficienct in the following supplements and let me tell you I now sleep like a baby, as soon as my head hits the pillow I’m gone in to la la land & I feel so good about life its great so I feel compelled to write to you and let you know what I have done. You can look these up and see how a deficiency would cause the insomnia and depression.
Magnesium Citrate: 800mg a day
choline & inosoitol: 800mg a day (this supplement is combined already)
b12 methylcobalamin – sublingual
melatonin 3mg one hour before bed
sea iodine – 1000 mg a day (#1 deficiency in america)
The great thing is these are all pretty cheap, I go to vitacost.com for the all but the sea iodine which i get from Life extensions. Like I said, just look these up and verify for yourself. I promise, I promise, I promise it will make you feel so much better…. You need to sleep to be the best mommy, wife and just to feel good in general.
))
God bless you
I LOVE that crazy pic! So fun! Can’t wait to meet you at Relevant!
Ok. I’m done yelling. I promise not to do that in person…
And I humbly thank you for your kind shout out about the ebook. I’m so glad you like it.
I’ve been a long-time reader, just rarely comment (it’s something I’m working on). I’ve always loved your posts, Lindsay. Very encouraging and yet challenging as well.
Sourdough is something I’ve tried, but never could like. My husband LOVES it …. but I always thought it was too sour and my oldest won’t even eat it. Maybe I’ll give it another go though.
GO YOU. Trying lacto-fermenting!! That’s something that’s always intimidated me, but I actually really do want to try one of these days.
Hey Lindsay I have been blessed by reading your blog for a couple years and use it as a resource all the time. I have prayed for you and your insomnia and wanted to ask if you have ever tried Chiropractic? My husband is a Principled Gonstead Chiropractor and we see people who have had insomnia for years sleep through the night right away, infact even people who dont realize they do not have good sleep report that their sleep is one of the first things they notice improves when under care. If you need a reference in your area we would be happy to look that up for you. Not all Chiropractors are alike.
In Him
Brandi Fano
http://www.verticalchiropractic.com
I read your blog now and then and enjoy it. Thank you for being real and sharing with all of us. Its very refreshing to hear someone actually talk about their struggles with things like insomnia and depression and still being a homemaker and wife and mother. I struggle with those things and feel alone so its nice to hear someone being real about it. Just wanted to encourage you.
Lindsay,
Your family looks beautiful as always. Karis looks so pretty! On a side note, both your dress and Kathy’s seem really nice, could you perhaps post a picture of yours? Maybe as a tip for married women or young mommies on formal wear.
I also wanted to say congratulations on your speech at the conference, I’ve not had a chance to hear it, but it’s great that you’re reaching and inspiring more women!
I’m praying that your insomnia and depression go away, my mother had to deal with depression at one point in her life, but I think our support as a family and her love for us made her recover. You are a young, good and admirable woman and you’re building a beautiful family. God will lead you through this.
Hi, Lindsay! What a beautiful family! I wanted to encourage you in regards to your depression. There is light at the end of the tunnel and I hope you get to feeling better soon. I have Bi-polar 2 which has a lot of the same symptoms as depression. I understand what you are going through and you will be in my prayers. I am glad you can talk so openly about it. Mental illness has such a stigma in our society but if we don’t talk about what we are going through we can’t encourage others and let them know they are not alone.
I hope you enjoy Heaven at Home by Ginger Plowman. I am in the midst of reading it and it has been so encouraging and convicting. I love the role the Lord has given me to be a wife and mother, such a blessing. Also, thank you for posting about the Holiday Planner. I just bought and started to read it. I am so excited to use it this year! Thanks for all of your hard work on this blog!
Hi Lindsay,
I’m new to your blog and already know I’m going to be a regular here.
I love the ideas and information you give for healthy, simple living…things that are very important to me as a mama of three (4 in December!) little people.
As I read this post, I had to laugh…my husband is the oldest of seven boys, and this year two of them got engaged. One was married on Sept. 18, and the other will be married on Oct. 23. The day after my brother-in-law was married, my younger sister got engaged. And, on Sept. 29, we welcomed a little niece into the world. So, I can completely empathize with how busy your life must be right now! It’s wonderful being part of a large extended family and, despite all the busyness, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
God bless!
Oh I’ve read one book by Ginger Plowman (Don’t Make Me Count To Three) and loved it. I’ll have to try and read that one too.
P.S. I listened to your session at Selah the other day and LOVED it. I would absolutely love to see more podcasts like that in the future!
Oh, I saw “Girls Gone Wise…” at my library but, from the table of contents and back of the book, it sounded like it was more fluff than substance. I’m glad you’ve read it and can recommend it, because I trust your opinion! Perhaps I’ll root it back out, next time I stop at the library! Thanks so much!
Your family is absolutely beautiful!!! Love, love, LOVE reading your blog. We tend to live similar lives and I am always learning something new
I lead a MOPS group and was wondering if I can use some of your ideas in our upcoming topic “eating well on a budget”. A lot of the things I do, I have learned from you so I figured I would I ask. Thanks again for all your awesomeness!
Feel free! I’d appreciate if you simply directed them pack to my blog as the source though. Thanks!
I just finished that Mary Kassian book, too, about a week ago! I really liked it, and thought it was great *how much* Scripture she used to back up her points. I was constantly sharing a few paragraphs here and there with my husband, and even he read the whole “Roles” chapter and really liked it!
Sarah M
I really hope you keep up this wonderful blog for many years to come. It is always a joy to read,even if the subject matter is depression because it makes me feel that I am not alone in my daily struggles.
Thanks Angi for your support!