{using our pieces}

I put together a new bookshelf for the boys' craft supplies yesterday.

The fact I assembled it unassisted, with minimal cursing, made me pretty darn proud.

But what I want to talk about today are the creations the boys made out of the pieces and scraps of cardboard and styrofoam that came with the packaging.

There were four long and sturdy L-shaped cardboard pieces which first become the frame of a teepee. Then Ben figured out they would make super cool car tracks and tunnels. We tested them with virtually every car they own.

Landon grabbed a bent rectangle of cardboard and turned it into a laptop.

Ben crafted an airplane out of styrofoam and masking tape.

They occupied themselves for literally hours using "trash." Armed with nothing but their imaginations and a few pieces of masking tape, they built amazing things. 

This makes me wonder about the parts of ourselves we overlook or view as less than worthy of attention. I can think of a few about myself...

My anxiety.

The fact that I can get so caught up in a creative venture that I lose track of time and adult responsibilities.

My "mom belly" still going strong 6 years post-partum.

Are those things to be thrown away, shamed, ridiculed? Or instead turned into something beautiful and useful?

In Love Does, Bob Goff says, "It has always seemed to me that broken things, just like broken people, get used more; it's probably because God has more pieces to work with."

So what about those pieces of ourselves we would sometimes like to throw away? What if we embrace them as a collection of precious objects God is using to shape us, and in turn, positively influence others? 

I've already seen how sharing my journey with anxiety has helped others to feel less alone on theirs. I can't make a rad race track out of my muffin top, but surely I can do something useful with it.  

Landon looked at a creased piece of cardboard and saw a computer. 

Are there things about you that look different than you would like, but could be seen in a new and exciting way? Do you have pieces that might help fill someone else's puzzle?

XO,

{yesterday}

I woke up an hour before the boys.

I left my phone untouched on the bedside table.

I made some iced coffee and read this book for an hour.

I woke the boys up with an enthusiastic smile and promises of an adventure.

We took Happy Meals to the park.

The boys went down slides of the bumpy and twisty variety.

We watched a semi truck dump a mountain of soft mulch next to the playground.

We inspected the mountain to see how it felt. 

We admired an allosauraus and a mastadon. 

We looked at coral and fly wings under a microscope. 

We touched a live snake.

We bought mystery books.

The boys drank ginger-ale and ate sweets.

I devoured a grilled cheese with bacon.

We found treasures we couldn't live without at Hobby Lobby.

We watched How to Train a Dragon and napped {OK...I napped}

The boys went on a ghost hunt in the grocery while I filled the cart with milk and grape jam and frozen pizza.

We played tennis in the yard, the concrete driveway between us our net. 

We threw a frisbee.

Ben practiced his yard sliding skills.

Landon filled his new treasure box with crayons.

Ben drew superheroes. 

I drank too much lemonade. {is that possible?}

I think I delivered on my adventure promise. 

I want to have more of these kinds of days. 

Evidence of the allosaurus...

XO,