Randomness

Sister to Sister {Christian Accountability}

March 17, 2013 by Shannon McKee Leave a Comment

Over the years, I know that some of you have heard me talk about my Accountability Group and how much I appreciate the five women there who come alongside me in so many ways. In fact, many of you have asked me about it. So, this week over at The Better Mom, I’m sharing about us. It’s a two –part series – yesterday’s post was some of the heart and vision behind our group. Today, I’m giving practical suggestions for those who want to start something similar.

Come on over and see what’s on my mind…

Filed Under: Faith, Life, Randomness, Spiritual Disciplines Tagged With: Accountability, Friendship, women

In Honor of Tea and Books {Blustery Day Longings}

March 13, 2013 by Shannon McKee Leave a Comment

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough

or a book long enough to suit me.”

― C.S. Lewis

Thank you, Clive, for just telling it like it is. Someone needed to say it.

And, since you did, it’s quotable.

Filed Under: Books, Creativity, Randomness Tagged With: books, C.S. Lewis, Tea

Inspiration for your Monday

March 4, 2013 by Shannon McKee Leave a Comment

Remember a few months ago when I wrote about Yarn Bombing over at The Better Mom? What’s that? You don’t remember? Because you don’t hang on every word I write and mull it around for months and months?

Dang. I knew it!

Anyway… I DID write about Yarn Bombing and the power of art to redeem. Here’s the link; in case you’re devastated that you forgot.

But, if you were as intrigued by the whole Yarn Bombing concept as I was, you’ll want to check out this post over at BuzzFeed. It’s a bunch of photos of really cool Yarn Bombing incidents. From the Blinged Out Bus to underwear for immodest statues, it’s just a lot of fun. Perfect to make you smile on a Monday.

May it inspire you take beauty with you into your day, no matter what your Monday brings!

Filed Under: Creativity, Randomness

In Which I Share a Few Juicy Tidbits from My Own Mothering Journey

January 20, 2013 by Shannon McKee Leave a Comment

It’s no secret that I think our church is the greatest. Really. It’s such a neat group of people. Sometimes I look around on Sunday morning in awe because of the humility, earnestness, generosity and sacrifice that these people employ as they love the Lord and care for the people around them. We are a family. No “family” is perfect but I can’t believe we get to be part of such a great one.

One of the things we enjoy is how many young families we have in our midst. Rick keeps checking to make sure they all know how babies are made… because we sure do have a lot of them and they just keep coming!! As I serve in the nursery and teach at our women’s Bible studies, I get to have conversations with many of these sweet mamas. My heart for these young moms just grows and grows. I remember those years. I know that some days feel long when tiny ones are under foot. I recall the discouragement that can set in and steal the joy of those precious moments.

I’ll just tell you that I think we women need to do a better job of going to bat for each other. No mom should feel alone in it. We need each other. So, today, I’m over at The Better Mom sharing a reminder. For all of us. Come join me, won’t you?

Filed Under: Family, Life, Parenting, Randomness Tagged With: encouragement, Parenting

Why I Hit Pause on the Online Chatter

December 17, 2012 by Shannon McKee 3 Comments

A few weeks ago I decided that it was going to be best for me to take a break from most of my online interaction. The pace of social media and blogging and reading blogs was crushing me. I have a love-hate relationship with the online world. I really do. I know that technology is neither fully good nor fully bad. It’s a tool. No more, no less. But I was becoming a slave to it – at the expense of other important things in my life. In fact, all the good ideas and socializing were paralyzing to me. Viewing hundreds of Pinterest images and reading about other people’s “perfect” traditions, etc. wasn’t inspiring me; it was putting me under a pile of expectations.

I’m not saying it HAS to be that way. It was my reality but it’s not that way for everyone. For me, it was capitalizing on a few of my greatest weaknesses and the best thing to do was just STOP. So I did. I didn’t even write a post to explain it. I just stopped. Facebook, Twitter, googling, Pinterest, blogging. Everything except messages to which I had to respond and, of course, e-mail.

Instead, I took some time to reflect on the weaknesses in my own heart that cause me to sit in front of Pinterest instead of tackling a larger home project to bless my family. Or posting a pithy tweet or status update to the world instead of writing a letter to a good friend. Or socializing online instead of getting face to face with my family and dearest friends.

Here’s the thing: I realized that I was reading and writing about the woman I want to be. But I wasn’t being the woman I want to be.

So, I prayed. And journaled. I went out to a beautiful, local vineyard for a girls’ night and poured my heart out to my Sistas. I cried with Rick as I realized what a time waster it had become. I even had time to finish re-reading the Hobbit.

And now, here I am. I’m easing back into the online world but I’m setting boundaries with my technology. I’m going to have to limit my online time and stick to the things I know God has laid on my heart.

During the next week, I’d like to just share some of the entries from the Advent book (Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas) I’ve been reading. I hope they’ll encourage you as they have me.

Thankful for you,

Filed Under: Creativity, Randomness, Social Media, Writing & Blogging

Bits of Business

November 3, 2012 by Shannon McKee 2 Comments

Happy Saturday, friends!

I have a few bits of business for us today. So, I’m going to brief and a little less musingish. Forgive me?

First, don’t forget that we’re starting our gratitude list together over at the In A Mirror Dimly Facebook page. I have today’s quote up already. Just add your gratitudes in the comments underneath it. It’s OK if it’s a duplicate of what you’re putting on your personal FB page. This just allows us to all be in one place and rejoice together.

Second, if you’re looking for something a little more musingish, you can find me over at The Better Mom today where I am writing about art and its power to redeem.

Third, Facebook has been going through a lot of changes lately and one of them is that you don’t always see the things you want to see in your news feed. This is a dilemma for many bloggers of late. So, if you want to be sure you see In a Mirror Dimly posts, you might want to go to the right sidebar here on the blog and click the “subscribe” button to start receiving my posts in your inbox. Email is the most reliable way for you to be sure you’re getting them. As I continue to explore the Facebook dilemma, I’ll let you know if I have any other clever ideas for you to be sure you’re seeing it in your feed.

Fourth, I am humbled that you WANT to receive my posts at all. Thanks for joining me as I ponder. You make my heart smile with your comments and encouraging words. I love sharing words with you.

All’s grace,

Filed Under: Randomness

November’s Gratitude {And Why I’m Not Decorating for Christmas Yet}

November 1, 2012 by Shannon McKee 2 Comments

Today is the first day of November. I have taken to calling it the forgotten month. The one stuck in between Halloween and Christmas. Our hunger for the festivities of Christmas has nearly eclipsed it all together.

I find myself fighting hard against this tide. Refusing to turn on the Christmas music or drag out the bins full of Christmas beauties. My soul bristling against the store aisles that already stock ornaments and baubles.

Don’t hate me. I know some of you are hating me. Because I’ve seen your Facebook posts. {wink} Maybe you think it’s sort of Grinch-like of me to refuse to start humming to Bing Crosby. It’s not that I don’t like Christmas. I do. I love Christmas. And, not just because it feels like a magical time full of traditions and precious family memories. But, more importantly, I love it because it’s the celebration of the greatest gift ever. I’m undone when I ponder the miracle of it.

So, yes, I do love Christmas. Just not the way we have forced it into November.

My dilemma…

I’m not exactly sure why it bothers me so much really. I guess there’s nothing inherently wrong about watching It’s a Wonderful Life in November. I mean, who decided that Christmas decorations can’t come out until the weekend after Thanksgiving anyway?

I think I just want some time to pause. A time to focus on thanks. During that scrap of time that comes after the last of the candy corn is gone, but before the headlong rush into the busyness and the spending that comes with Christmas celebrations.

I sometimes wonder if we just don’t quite know what to do with ourselves during November. To be still and give thanks? Pfft. We’re much more comfortable behind a Spidey mask and passing out candy or carving pumpkins with the fam. Or, better yet, let’s get to stringing popcorn and wrapping presents.

But, to be still and choose gratitude? Yikes. Thanks means dependence – on someone bigger than us. Gratitude implies grace. And that whole thing makes us squirm a little bit.

For me, November is the pause in the middle of the all the hub-bub. Because, let’s face it, in America our celebrations are an awful lot of hub-bub. Even when we try to keep them simple and focused.

I’m realizing that I need November’s pause – to refocus my heart.

Here’s what I’m doing about it…

Thanksgiving is on the 22^nd this year. That gives me 22 days to just “be”. To receive bounty from God and remind myself that He is the Giver. To catch final snippets of time to be outside before the snows come and we huddle indoors. To light candles and smell harvest scents. To make Butternut Squash Soup with the last of the garden goodness. To enjoy the final turning of the leaves that have hung on thus far. To read once again about the sacrifices that brought the pilgrims to free shores. To remember how God has taken the hard places of our life and made them beautiful. To whisper thanks over the kids as they sleep at night and even thanks over the 3 we never knew. To remember that even His taking away is somehow a giving. To linger a second longer and notice the way the raindrops cling to the banister. To jot notes to friends who make my life richer. To count them out. Blessing upon blessing. Gifts overflowing.

“Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.” -John Milton

So, please forgive me if I’m not ready to get into the Christmas spirit. To be honest, I feel strongly about this November thing; but I really won’t judge if you’d rather start pulling out the Christmas goodies. As for me, I’m staking off these 22 days for gratitude. I have to. My soul aches for it. (And, ironically, it actually makes me more prepared for Christmas.)

Join me? If you come back tomorrow, I’ll have a few tips and traditions to help you count the gifts and offer thanks.

Filed Under: Celebrations, Faith, Family, Life, Randomness, Spiritual Disciplines Tagged With: November, Seasons, Thanksgiving

Saturday Randomness

October 20, 2012 by Shannon McKee Leave a Comment

Question for you: What are YOU doing to bring creativity and beauty to YOUR world?

Credit: I found this creation downtown Kent. But, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Here’s some more Yarnigami for your enjoyment!

Filed Under: Creativity, Randomness

It’s True, I Like to Write

September 14, 2012 by Shannon McKee 2 Comments

Do you remember the scene in the movie Chariots of Fire when Eric is telling his sister Jenny why he wanted to run in the Olympics? If you recall, she’s a little perturbed with him about it because it’s holding him up from getting to the Mission Field. Here’s what he says: “Jenny, I believe God made me for a purpose. But he also made me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure.”

It wasn’t something he was going to devote his whole life to. But, running was something he really loved. And when he ran, he felt the exhilaration and delight of the Lord.

Do you have anything like that?

Writing is a bit like that for me. Which, right now, finds its outlet in blogging. When I write, I get to string words together. It involves research, reflection, and communication. When I write, I feel God’s pleasure.

But, it still floors me when OTHER people like what I write. It really does.

So, when Rachel and Polly (the creators of Thriving Home) wanted to interview me and spotlight me over at their blog, I didn’t believe it was for real. I thought it was spam or an evil plot to get my info. I’m not kidding. I emailed them with my disbelief. As it turns out, they really did want to spotlight me. Because they had read some of my stuff and liked it. Go figure.

So… if you’re here, I’m guessing you like reading my stuff too. Nutso! But, if you want to join me today, I’m over at their site for a little interview. I hope I didn’t say anything dumb. You’ve got my back, right?

And, by the way, I really like their blog. Like I needed another blog to read. Sigh. Books and blogs. So much to read. So little time. Just don’t tell Rick…

* ps – if you haven’t ever seen Chariots of Fire, you’re dumb {wink}

Filed Under: Creativity, Randomness, Writing & Blogging

Rethinking Mondays

September 10, 2012 by Shannon McKee Leave a Comment

Monday Piles

Sometimes Mondays are hard. Sometimes your daughter has a bumpy start (which usually means you have a bumpy start). And the laundry piles high from a busy weekend. And your schedule gets set a little off kilter because of the daughter drama. And your loose tea is too pulverized so you get little bits of tea floating out of the tea ball into your mug. And you remember that you forgot to plan the menu because you took a nap Sunday afternoon instead… so there’s no real plan for feeding your family dinner tonight. And maybe your to-do list feels a bit too long. And you read the news when you should have been making the bed… and it was more politics to make you feel grumpy inside.

But then there is this from Ann’s book on gratitude: “life change comes when we receive life with thanks and ask for nothing to change.” Receive it all with thanks. All of life. Not just the stuff that’s easy to receive – like the cool Fall air or my favorite hoodie or the lingering hug from my man. But a dare to live fully right where I am.

To give thanks. Thanks that I have a daughter and I’m the one to help her through bumpy starts. Thanks that I work from home so I can rearrange my schedule to wipe tears and offer to come take her out to lunch at Noon. Thanks that I know her teacher who gives me a nod and smile when I explain the morning drama. Thanks for a weekend full of time with family and friends and the dearest church family ever. Thanks for laundry to cover our nakedness and for the four precious bodies that need clothed in this home. Thanks that I got my tea on sale and that the stray leaves can be scooped up and that English Breakfast tea is so darn yummy. Thanks that we live in a country of abundance so there’s always a box of whole wheat pasta and a jar of red sauce in the cupboard when dinner gets forgotten. And even zucchini in the fridge from the local farmers. Thanks that my to-do list is a result of living with purpose and caring for my little domain. Thanks that God has entrusted me with tasks to accomplish and that I can do even the laundry for His glory.

Thanks for the story about the latest teachers union strike in Chicago that made me grumpy with political angst. Well, maybe not. But maybe thanks for democracy and choices. {wink}

Yes. Sometimes Mondays are hard. But I suppose most of it depends on your perspective.

Filed Under: Faith, Randomness Tagged With: thankful

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough

or a book long enough to suit me.”

― C.S. Lewis

My dilemma…

Here’s what I’m doing about it…

My Address