by Tessa | Book Notes
Title: Hula Hoop Girl
Author: September McCarthy
Publication Date: 2012
Price: $4.99
Place Acquired: Homemaking Bundle
About the author: September lives nestled in the rural hills of the Finger Lakes in Upstate New York. She has been married to her husband for twenty-three years and they have ten children. She home schools, writes on her web-site, and serves the Lord through sharing her life-story, while striving to raise the next generation with virtue. If you were to stop in for a visit, you would find a child (or two): on her lap, books strewn across the couch, a collection of pet frogs in a canning jar on her table, and a row of rain boots by the door.
Describe: This book was written to the people who have so much going on in their lives that they have trouble keeping up with it all. So many people living in Western cultures have gotten used to feeling the need to accomplish and commit to more than is possible, or even healthy. September’s goal is to let her readers know that our identity isn’t tied to our to do lists. She gives some practical steps to help you identify your “hula hoops” and choose which ones are worth continuing to spin and which ones could be put on the shelf, either temporarily or permanently.
Analyze: She dives right in with her hula hoop analogy and keeps that theme running throughout the book. It felt like she overdid it a little bit on the analogy use but I can see how many moms could relate to that constant motion. I did relate very much to her desire to learn to find “balance, flexibility, and acceptance to keep a focus on what is truly important.” She mentions walking through seasons of exhaustion and defeat and how these seasons can affect our physical, emotional, and spiritual state. Since I have just come through one of those seasons and walked into a season of peace, I was intrigued enough to keep reading. I was curious to know how another mother (and one of 10 children at that!) found her way through that season, and I’m always looking for help on finding ways to stay centered on the One who gives me rest.
Evaluate: The book was written in a very easy to follow format. I really liked her step-by-step chapter sequence: Step 1: Find your Center/Purpose. Step 2: Figure out what’s is causing your stress. Step 3: Encouragement and reminders that it is worth it to move forward through this season and so on. (That’s my own paraphrase/interpretation of her first few chapter titles.) It is a very similar process that I have taught in business enrichment seminars in the past and it is great to see it applied to the whole of living life. The very first note that I wrote down while reading this book was to pray to God to reveal my unique gifts and how me how to use them. Another challenging thought was the sin of coveting. McCarthy put out the challenge that when we compare ourselves to those who seem to have it all, we are not focusing on who God created us to be. She also stated the humbling truth that this line of thinking sends God the message that you think He forgot something when he created you – the very something that you are coveting. Her final chapters are about prioritizing your relationship with God, your health, and discovering which hula hoops He wants you to spin.
Recommendation: Mothers, all people nowadays actually, are held to an unreasonable and unhealthy standard of busyness and we live in a perpetual state of fatigue. McCarthy writes to those who are feeling the burden of wanting to keep up with everything and everyone. I think that we could all use a reminder on the importance of rest and how to get more of it. If you’re looking for advice on how to choose which hula hoops are meant for you and which ones you can (and, dare I say, should) put on the shelf, this book is worth a read.
Disclosure: This post contains an affiliate link. This means that, if you purchase and item through a link above, I will make a commission. I was not compensated in any way for this review and purchased, read, and reviewed the book on my own accord. I always give my honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers’ own.
by Tessa | Faith
I came to Christ at a very young age and truly can’t remember a time when I didn’t have the gift of salvation. I feel so blessed that I was allowed the opportunity to know God my entire life but that also means that I forget how big of a gift salvation really is.
I chose this verse this week to remind myself that salvation is a cause to celebrate. It is a prayer to ask God to reignite the joy and appreciation in my heart. Even in times when circumstances aren’t perfect, I can (and should) still find joy in the fact that Christ is my Saviour.
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by Tessa | Faith
We do not run our family as a democracy. We respect each other and listen to everyone’s thoughts and opinions, but the final decision is not based on majority.
Sometimes the majority is wrong.
This is why I married a man who is after God’s heart and listens to His voice. I can’t say that I’ve always agreed with his judgment on certain things (and you can be certain that I let him know when I don’t) but I have always agreed that he is the head of our household. He has different insights than I do and, most importantly, it is His God given role. Does this mean he “rules” over us with an iron fist? Absolutely not. There are areas where I take the lead and there are areas where he does. We discuss things to come to conclusions that work for all. We make use of each other’s strengths and even give our children the chance to speak up and voice their thoughts on certain things.
A family is a unit. It works best when it works together. But, at the end of the day, everyone still knows that my husband is the leader. And I trust that God has provided our family with a leader worth following. After all, with my husband keeping his eye on the Lord, he is headed in the right direction.
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by Tessa | Motherhood
According to Wikipedia, “The primary defining characteristic of shyness is a largely ego-driven fear of what other people will think of a person’s behavior, which results in the person becoming scared of doing or saying what he or she wants to, out of fear of negative reactions, criticism, rejection, and simply opting to avoid social situations instead.”
I was called “shy” frequently while growing up.
The truth is that I wasn’t. I simply chose not to speak in certain situations. If I wanted a straw for my drink at a restaurant, I asked my sister to ask the waitress. I was perfectly capable of asking but made the choice not to. I didn’t speak in class at school because a)it was against the rules and b) I didn’t have that strong a desire to be heard by the people in my class.
The problem was that, after being told that I was shy for so long, I eventually started to believe it, and act accordingly. By Jr High I decided it was better to be named shy than have to expend the energy in being friendly to everyone. Only my close friends knew that I was anything but quiet. Unfortunately, this more quiet public demeanor also earned me some other labels. Labels such as snob or stuck-up, anti-social, boring, etc.
Then came the work force. Low and behold, one of my first jobs was waitressing. If you know any truly shy people (or perhaps you’re shy yourself!), you will wonder how in the world a “shy” person ended up in such a social job. And I was good at it. Once I got the hang of writing down orders in such a way as to please the cooks, I thrived. Customers loved me and told me so and my tips were nearly always higher than those of the other waitresses (I’m not saying that to boast, just to make a point). I came home exhausted and needing some serious quiet time to recharge but I truly enjoyed chatting with my customers, new and regular.
My next career was with a company that required a lot of personal skills. I learned a lot with that company about marketing and sales, leading a team, training new people, educating a wide variety of people, and public speaking. Once again, I did very well with the social aspects of that career. Next, I started my own company. Sales again. Strangely enough, I don’t get called “shy” anymore. I am called bold, opinionated, well-spoken, sociable, outgoing, and have even been accused of talking too much! Quite the opposite of “shy.”
Some would say that I overcame my shyness. While it’s true that I have learned certain skills about communicating with people over the years, I will stand by the fact that I was never shy to begin with. I have always had strong opinions and would be bold with them if I chose to voice them and was given the chance.
I’m reminded of “Uh huh” in The Little Rascals. There is a part near the end where he talks about his extensive vocabulary and grasp of grammar and how it’s always been there. He says he “simply chose not to employ them.”
My sons are both regularly labeled shy by other people. I am always quick to correct by saying that my boys are not shy. In fact, they are quite the opposite, if they choose to be and once they are given the chance.
by Tessa | Faith
For this week’s look into the Word on Wednesday, I chose a verse about working. When your husband only gets a handful of days off each year, you have to learn to appreciate the value of hard work an find blessings within it. The fact that I, as a mother, haven’t had a single day off in over 5 years means that I go through phases of frustration between the phases of appreciation.
This verse is a great reminder to me when I’m watching my husband go to the barn and knowing that, as much as he works to support his family, his work is done to glorify God. It is a verse that God whispers into my ear when I’m grouchy about the fact that I need to wash dishes. Again. It helps me gain perspective when my toddler comes in the house after playing outside and is covered, head to toe, in mud. He (usually) has a great big smile on his face and tells me of some great adventure that he has been on. And I remind myself to be patient and appreciate that this little monkey, and all the extra laundry he creates, are part of my work for the Lord.
At this point, I don’t volunteer in church, I don’t do ministry projects and I’m not ever planning to be a missionary overseas (though if that was God’s plan for me, I would go). My mission field is my home and my family. Caring for them, mothering them, feeding them, cleaning up after (and with) them, teaching them. I do because I love them, but it is the Lord who is looking over my shoulder making sure that I’m doing His work to the best of my ability.
