Mrs. Grubb's Urban Homestead

Pickin' Up the Homestead!

2006-08-23T15:07:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers, (both of you!)

As much as I have enjoyed blogging here, I've been inspired to narrow my focus for my blog and to pursue more lucrative opportunities. So, I will no longer be posting at this site. However, you can read my ramblings at my new blog http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mrsgrubb My focus on my new place is "Living Large In A Small Space". Please join me there.

Thank you!

Mrs. Grubb

Multitasking

2006-06-24T14:28:00.000-07:00

One Saturday afternoon, a year ago, my brother called me from Oklahoma.

"What are you up to?" he asked.

"Let's see," I sighed. "I have a load of laundry in the washer and another in the dryer. I have the dishwasher running from lunch. I have bread in the bread machine and soup in the crock pot. I have one child on the computer, one drawing a picture at the table, one in the tub, one taking a nap and I'm pregnant."

Just the usual.

Re-instating the Blog or "Woo-Hoo! I've got a reader!"

2006-06-21T11:30:00.000-07:00

In the last week, two people have mentioned to me that they've actually read my blog! How about that! I thought all along that this was an excercise in narcissism! One, my friend Lisa, said that she would have even left a comment! I now have the basic ingredients to be a writer: a medium and an audience! Now, all I need is something meaningful to say!

Before I get too wrapped up in this, I want to announce that the comment section is on and free to anyone who wants to leave positive remarks. Also, I will more agressively mention my blog on other sites so I can generate traffic. (Does anyone know how to add a counter?)

I was also encouraged to come back to blogging because of this article: http://spunkyhomeschool.blogspot.com/2006/06/wrath-of-stay-at-home-moms.html If Ms. Hirschman should ever visit me, I would like to quietly demonstrate to her (over tea and carrot muffins) the beauty of a well-managed home. I doubt she will accept my invitation, so I will gladly join the ranks of other Mommy bloggers and express my views (muffin, anyone?) while I type with one hand and nurse the baby with the other. After all, if you aren't multi-tasking, you aren't really living!

Ooops! It's time to switch sides!

Weigh In Day Humor

2006-02-27T09:33:00.000-08:00

Top Ten Explanations As To Why I Gained One Pound Last Week

10. Stepped on the scale wearing a gorilla suit.
9. Last night's midnight snack: A bucket of Crisco.
8. After a month of whole grains, vegetables and legumes, I made the delicate and ladylike choice of "holding it in."
7. My new mascara promised longer, fuller lashes! And, boy, did it deliver!
6. All that extra muscle mass in my fingers from checking my e-mail.
5. While I was sleeping, the government installed a microchip in my brain.
4. Weighed in wearing my bronze medal I won in Olympic Curling.
3. It's been a while since I've shaved my legs.
2. Assumed that on Presidents' Day you get to eat an extra cherry pie.
1. Buckshot I received on a recent hunting accident in Texas.

I gained one pound last week! It's frustrating and disappointing. I ate well and exercised well, but I didn't meet my goal!!! For a split second, I considered giving up altogether.

On The Biggest Loser, a few weeks ago, one of the trainers said that ups and downs on the scale were normal. In our pursuit of fitness we shouldn't get too wrapped up in numbers as we'll make ourselves crazy. Our focus should be on our long term goal and the decisions we face moment by moment. Good advice.

Our Spiritual walk is like this too. A bad day or a bad week won't ever be strong enough to remove us from the love of God. Rather than meditating on our failures, we should keep our focus on The One Who Is Our Victory, pick ourselves up and persevere. We will make it, if we do not give up!

Hebrews 10:35-36 (New International Version)

35So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

2005-12-16T10:04:00.000-08:00

This Year's Christmas

Last Christmas was as near perfect as it could be for my family. We were able to indulge a little on ourselves and our children, we had the tree up and decorated days after Thanksgiving, we were prepared, rested and full of joy.

Soon afterward, I remember reflecting on our great holiday and I felt the Holy Spirit tell me, "Yes, enjoy this one, next Christmas will be . . . different." Different? Could it be that the long-awaited renovation of our home would be done? Could it be that my husband's new business would be successful? Different? Does that mean more stuff?

I certainly don't embrace hardship and I could easily argue that we've had our share. But I think now, since the discovery of a new baby on the way, "different" means opportunities to surrender those "perfect" plans, gifts, meals and festivities that make Christmas so special. Even good things have to come under the sovereignty of Christ.

I have known for eight months that medical issues were a possibility. The last two pregnancies were complicated, required bed rest and resulted in inductions at 37 weeks. At several points during this pregnancy, I came to the foot of the cross again, laying down fear, control, anxiety, and an endless number of bad things that keep me from the joy of the Lord.

This November and December, on nearly a weekly basis, my obstetrician threatened me with either an induction or hospitalization. "This might be a Christmas baby," she cheerfully suggested. I wasn't so happy to hear that. My due date isn't until January 19. My plans do NOT include spending my Christmas away from my other four children so that I can go through another long induction. More importantly, my plans don't include medical complications and bed rest that might require me to do so.

With every test result and ultrasound (that results in a furrowed brow from any number of doctors) my plans for Christmas seem to dissolve. I fight back the tears and try to be brave, but the question is not when my little baby girl will be born, but whether I am willing to surrender everything to the will of the Father.

But it is not all death at the cross. With surrender comes resurrection. I distinctively remember a Sunday in August when something broke inside me and instantly I was filled with a hope and joy that I can't explain. I understood, finally, that God didn't want me to suffer just for the sake of suffering, but he wanted to me to let go of my control of the suffering and choose to rest in him, so he could fill me with his perfect peace amidst the trials. I don't understand how it works, I just know that I've endured this pregnancy with more joy and peace than I ever have.

It is this peace that I must hold on to, now that I'm facing the home stretch. I need peace for each medical test and procedure, peace for each diagnosis, peace for surrendering every plan. If I am not willing to lay down these plans at the foot of the cross, then I've completely missed what Christmas is all about.

This Christmas is very different for my children. The decorations are simpler, the visits are cancelled, the gifts aren't as costly; all things that will be swept up in vague memories as they grow up and away from me.

If they remember one thing, it is that this Christmas, Mommy finally understands. And that makes all the difference in the world.

2005-12-13T13:49:00.000-08:00

Without much fanfare, this is the inaugral entry of my blog, Mrs. Grubb's Urban Homestead.

There is a small, magical moment in my household, right after the children do their afternoon chores and right before I pick up the responsibilities of dinner preparation. Today that time is about twenty minutes, I hope. I may have less time if my 23 month old son doesn't keep his socks on. Maybe I can create a blog in that bit of time.

Ooop! The clock is ticking. . . I am a stay-at-home, homeschooling mother living in the outer edges of Boston, Massachusetts, humbly serving God, my dear husband, and my four children. In addition to preparing for our gloriously white New England Christmas, we're also preparing for the arrival of our fifth child. Perhaps between Christmas and New Years? Certainly I won't make my due date of January 19.

We recently listened to "Little House on the Prairie" on audiobook in our homeschool. I loved these books as a child, and I'm thrilled that my daughters, ages 7 and 6 are enjoying them too. This time I viewed them from an adult's perspective. I've gained a new admiration for Caroline Ingalls. From these accounts, she rarely complained, even when facing death, but she worked hard and served her husband and family well.

I wondered, when listening, how well I would fare out in the Kansas prairie. I don't have the survival skills the Ingalls family had. But I hope I could follow Caroline's example of diligence, cheerfulness and strength. My little urban homestead is so different from her prairie home. I live in a first floor apartment of a tall, skinny, three-story house with a postage stamp of a yard and is surrounded by a dense neighborhood. Like Caroline Ingalls, I wish to live simply, faithfully, and face trials with courage. No, I don't face Indians or malaria, and I wouldn't know the first thing about skinning a jackrabbit for dinner, but I am beginning to understand that happiness and peace comes from within, regardless of our setting or circumstances.

I welcome positive and encouraging responses to anything that I post. Thank you for reading.