The Waller Way

I usually give Erik a hard time about being an obsessive personality. But really, I'm not too far behind. Here is what I've been obsessing over lately. 1. This BBC two part series called The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs . Dr. Chris lends a very interesting perspective to the modern day health care industry; and the transformations of the people he works with are so encouraging and inspiring. 2. Veganism! Though I probably never would be one (I don't think I would have the conviction to stick with it), I am fascinated with those who are. Sarah Lemkus   is a young mom living in New Zealand. I love their video Six Weird Things My Vegan Toddler Eats...plus the accent is just awesome. 3. Next obsession: zero waste living. Yup... there are people out there who live without making practically any garbage. Like, this lady : And... this lady . Her blog is  here. 4. This whole zero waste kick got me looking on etsy. Here are some cool products I discovered. Unpaper towe...

"Confession should be seen as a wonderful gift that every [relationship] needs. It should be liberating. It should be freeing. It should not be seen as a moment of personal loss but as an opportunity for personal and relational gain. Our confession should be propelled by deep appreciation and gratitude toward God, who has made it possible for us not to be afraid any longer of being exposed. Because of what Jesus has done for us, we do not have to hide or excuse our wrongs. We are freed from posing as if we are perfect, when in our heart of hearts we know we are not. We have been liberated from having to deny our difficulties. We can stare problems in the face with hope and courage, because Christ has made real, lasting, personal, and relational change possible. Fresh beginnings and new starts really do happen, and then can be ours! [Are your relationships] benefiting from the freedom of confession?" - "What Did You Expect?" Paul David Tripp I have taken the libe...

It's been awhile now since I finished "Bittersweet," but Shauna Niequist. But, this one paragraph still resonates with me. It's brutal, making the list of Things I Don't Do, especially for someone like me, who refuses most of the time to acknowledge that there is, in fact, a limit to her personal ability to get things done. But I've discovered that the list sets me free. I have it written in black and white, sitting on my desk, and when I'm tempted to go rogue and bake muffins because all the other moms do, I come back to both lists, and I remind myself about the important things: that time is finite, as is energy. And that one day I'll stand before God and account for what I did with my life. There is work that is only mine to do: a child that is ours to raise, stories that are mine to tell, friends that are mine to walk with. The grandest seduction of all is the myth that DOING EVERYTHING BETTER gets us where we want to be. It gets us somewhere, ce...

It's funny how someone's firsts is always another's lasts. Church services have become rituals of my melancholy. I sit and cry and think about the last time that she sat two seats down from me. And while she visits the new library for the first time, I try to remember the last time I stopped in at the café to say hi. That's the problem with lasts. You don't realize they are the lasts until it's too late. Erik and I have been discussing death much too often these days. This morning I woke up to his arms wrapped tightly around me. "Don't die," we tell each other every day before he leaves for work. I have told him to make sure that a funeral director never touches my body. And then we sit, staring at each other, thinking of ways we could potentially die. Trying to count "lasts" is exhausting. In the end, we just have to be grateful for every moment as it comes and begin to keep our very own list of first...