Mommin' It Up since 2004!
The winner of the mbook from Intel is Jennifer, One Frugal Lady! Random.org picked her comment, #167. Congrats Jennifer! You have 48 hours to respond to my email, after that I’ll let Random.org pick another winner!
Thanks to everyone who entered and thanks to Intel for the great giveaway!
I do not believe it is a coincidence that the subject of pride has come up for discussion several times for me lately, with several different people, in several different environments. It’s not coincidence, because it’s something I need to think about, and work on. It is something I am sure, that God has been speaking to me about.
I believe that pride is the number one thing that keeps us from forming true relationships with each other. And by “us”, I mean women, although I think it applies to all genders, races, and creeds. Pride is the shiny veneer over a scratched dining table, the thickly-applied concealer over a blemish, the cleverly-placed accessory that covers an ugly scar.
And it’s the Berlin Wall that forms between what could be beautiful relationships. Its size is a wonder, its strength, its mass seemingly impenetrable. It is closely and vigilantly guarded.
It needs to come down.
As I mentioned before, at BlissDom I told Lotus how much her blogging about her depression had meant to me. Her courage to admit her struggles, her realness, her acknowledgment that sometimes she is not okay, gave me the strength to write about my own battle.
How much could we help each other, if we would only ask for help for ourselves? Maybe you call a friend and just ask her to listen as you vent about your frustrations as a mom. And she learns that it is okay to have those frustrations. To admit them. To know she is not alone. Maybe you confess that you have doubts about faith, marital problems, feelings of worthlessness, fears, financial problems, worries that you are screwing up your kids. Maybe you just say, “I need you to take the kids for a couple hours.” Maybe you do this, you give someone the opportunity to help you, to listen to you, to love you as you truly are, and not for how you have been presenting yourself, and you change a life. Maybe two lives. Maybe you blog about it and you change dozens.
Maybe you win yourself one true, intimate friendship. Maybe you become the answer to someone’s prayer.
Maybe you take a sledgehammer to the Berlin Wall. Make a hole big enough for someone else to escape through, to find freedom.
Maybe you find it yourself. Only one way to find out.
I have been trying to post something about BlissDom for over an hour. And apparently, I’m not quite ready to put it into words yet! It was fun, amazing, sweet, wonderful, and so much more. The best part was just spending time with lady bloggers that I LOVE. So courtesy of Flickr’s Valentine’s Day effects, here are some photos of the weekend. A more profound recap is coming soon, I promise!
Cousin love! Emily and me all dressed up for the Thursday night cocktail party.
Cortney, Emily, and me in line to see Harry Connick, Jr. who performed for us. The weekend with these two was a bed of roses! Seriously spending time with them in the car and in our room was one of the highlights of the weekend for sure.
One of 2009’s gifts to me, the beautiful, funny, talented Katie of Domestic Debacle.
The lovely Lotus. I made her cry because I blubbered everywhere and told her that because I’d read her blogs about depression, I knew I could write about mine. I *love* her. And she’s HYSTERICAL!
Susan and Shannan make me want to dance, dance, dance! These two Cincy girls are awwwweeesome!
This photo of Andrea (who I have nicknamed SassySnacks after this weekend!) and Emily makes my heart go pitter-patter. So much love!
More to come this week. Thanks so much again to INTEL for sponsoring our attendance at BlissDom! If you haven’t already, go ENTER our contest to win an mbook pocket PC powered by the Intel Atom processor.
For more BlissDom photos, check out my Flickr phototream.