raising a mommy

raising a mommy

Thursday, July 25, 2013

fmf: broken

Here are the rules:
1. Write for five minutes flat for pure unedited love of the written word.
2. Link back to Lisa Jo Baker's blog with the rest of the Five Minute Friday-ers.
2. Comment on the person who linked up before you.

Please join us!

Today's prompt: Broken

GO

We're moving. A month from right now I will probably be sleeping on an air mattress, if not the floor, because it will be our last night in our apartment. Sad? Yes. Exciting? Very!

Our little apartment, which was formerly taken over by baby toys and books, is...well...still taken over by baby toys and books. But now we've added boxes and bubble wrap and rolls of packing tape and packing paper and God knows what else to the mix. It's a disaster zone, to be quite honest with you.

The other night, Paige was marching around the apartment beating on a little drum that I brought back from my last trip to Tanzania three years ago. (Three years? That makes me so sad! I'm having withdrawls!) Husband looked at her and said, "How are we going to pack that?" I shrugged. I probably said something like: "We can wrap it up and make sure it gets in a tote instead of a box." Then we both realized that we really weren't all that concerned if it got broken. First reason: it's just a little toy. It probably cost us $2, if even that, when we were over there. Paige has probably over a hundred other toys, and would never notice if this one disappeared.

Second reason: it's replaceable. It really is. I know we will go back to Tanzania someday. It's more than a mission trip for us. It's a calling. It's an addiction. It's going to our other home halfway around the world to see our friends again.

Maybe Paige will even be able to pick out her own drum on our next trip.

STOP

32 comments:

  1. Oh I hope you make it back to Tanzania someday!!

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  2. Your perspective is wonderfully refreshing! Safe travels!

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  3. It is so true isn't the material stuff that brakes is replaceable. Thank you for your post. Have a blessed weekend. Tara.

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  4. Refreshing! Thank you for your perspective on this.

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  5. I love this! Things are replaceable. I hope your move goes well! :)

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  6. Love it! Paige picking up her own drum. It's wonderfully refreshing to look at possessions as just possessions, isn't it? Going thru much the same thought process as we sort through our accumulated clutter over here.

    Greetings from FMF! Since its a bit on the "broken" side this week, here's my link. I'd love a visit!

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  7. Psssh, didn't post the link! http://bit.ly/173Q1tM

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  8. Hi Andrea, I passing by from FmF. Paige is adorable. You are a beautiful family. I know how traumatic moving is, done my fair share. Now I'm clever, my stuff moves as soon as we lift the anchor. No more packing tape and boxes.
    Most things can be replaced but sometimes things in your life are broken that can never be repaired or replaced. Then we just have to live with a broken heart or body.
    Where are you moving too?
    Ciao,
    Patricia
    http://mojitoandme.com

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  9. Sounds fun! I've never been to Africa. Wondering what hands crafted that drum, what dreams are burning in the person wrote made it. And now it's all the way here, in America, being loved by your child. A precious object, a long history. keep it safe.

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  10. Nothing material in this world is really important. What is important is God's love, our relationships with people, and the way we use our lives. Stuff is just stuff. It is used, worn out, replaced, and in the end we can't take it with us. Only our faith in God, and our relationships with others can we take with us :-)

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  11. Love this! I'm there with ya in the moving and discovering what really matters through it. I hope you enjoy your new home!

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  12. May God bless your new home! Thanks for sharing.

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  13. I enjoyed your interpretation of "broken". I hope you make it back to the country you love again soon. Have a blessed day. Followed you from FMF.

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  14. What a cute story! I hope you make it back to Tanzania for your daughter to pick out her own drum. Good luck on your move!

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  15. Thanks for sharing this post on FMF!

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  16. great FMF post, and yes. it's replaceable. and I hope you get back!
    http://pleasegivepeasachance.blogspot.com/2013/07/broken-fiveminutefriday-fmfparty.html

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  17. That's an awesome way to look at it and great attitude! Tanzania, that is amazing. Enjoyed your post. (visiting from FMF)

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  18. Tanzania, wow! Will have to read more about on your blog. Good luck on your move!! Have moved several times (with children is the hardest!) and I can relate being surrounded by 'things' and the stress that this causes! Here's to focusing on the excitement and ability to replace all of the material things! Take care, Karen
    http://keeponpath.wordpress.com/2013/07/26/five-minute-friday-broken/

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  19. ahhh i so hear you on belonging to a country on the other side of the world. it's hard to be heart-strung across all those longitudes and latitudes ...
    hope you get to go back :). <3

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  20. How fun! I would love to go.
    I enjoyed this. Good reminder that things are just that, things!

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  21. Oh, I hope you make it back, too. I so understand the feeling of home being so far away, a home stitched in the heart.
    ~Stacy Voss

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  22. Visiting from FMF. Best of luck with your move but remember who ultimately in control.

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  23. Sounds like you will return to Tanzania one day. Beautiful post about the important things in life!
    Judy

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  24. Great ending words...this from a mommy a mommy who is still being "raised" Five sons and seven grand babies later I am still growing, learning to become who I was created to be. The mommy thing is a life commitment and learning journey. You will go back, keep beating those drums.

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  25. When you are packing to move, you sure get a clear perspective. It has been 6 months since my last move and I can still remember the stress, frustration and yet excitement of it all. May God bless you and your family on this new chapter in your life!!

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  26. I love the name of your blog! How fantastic! :) Just stopped in from FMF and loved your post. Blessings on your move and on the future trip to Tanzania! I can hear the longing in this post. Thanks for sharing a bit of your life with me.
    ~Sarah from http://sudryandspecific.wordpress.com/

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  27. Blessings on your move! They can be such chaotic times, with life happening from boxes and buried in paper. How quickly it reminds us that our things do not define or possess us, that they are replaceable. I ended up writing on a similar topic for Five Minute Friday today. The toys and bottles and things broken are the things that are easily destroyed; what's more important is the people we are loving in the midst of the chaos and brokenness. Thanks for sharing your story!

    - Jenni from "Living in the Overlap," unsettledliving.wordpress.com

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  28. Love this one. I think it is a wonderful opportunity that you have to share those blessings with your family. The people we love are always more important than things.

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  29. Moving is very stressful. I've been helping a friend move all day today so I can empathize with you. Thankfully, there is an end! Enjoy your new home and keep looking forward to that place God has placed in your heart. Debra H.

    http://pursuinggrace.com/broken/

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  30. From someone who is also surrounded by a disaster zone of packing tape and boxes in addition to the usual chaos of baby toys, what a wonderful post! Just stuff, but wrapped in memories and in the hope of a future!

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  31. Greetings from FMF. Ah, the air mattress. I remember. We just moved last month. We are still living with boxes all around, but we are settling.
    I have four children. My youngest is 3. I am amazed at how easily they can let go of stuff while I have to raise the bar called "perspective" when it comes to broken things and lost things. They are teaching me.

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