1 // I AM OBSESSED WITH BAKING BREAD.
It’s hard to believe that just two months ago, I found bread so unfamiliar and intimidating.  In a crazy turn of events, bread has suddenly become a form of self-care.  The process, from start to finish, just fascinates me.  What other food requires four rather blah ingredients and transforms them into something amazing?! 

2 // THE STORY OF MOSES THE BLACK IS SO GOOD.
For Black History Month, Meg Hunter-Kilmer posted the stories of 28 influential saints on her Instagram account.  I already knew a few (including my favorite, St. Josephine Bakhita!) and was introduced to many, many more.  When I read Meg’s post about Moses the Black, I knew I had to share it with my boys – what a great story!  From her post:

St Moses the Black was basically a land pirate. A former slave, he became the ringleader of a band of 75 outlaws. This guy delighted in murder, fornication, and revenge, once swimming the mile-wide Nile with a dagger in his teeth to knife a guy whose dog had barked at him. Eventually, his brigandry got the better of him and he ran to a monastery in an attempt to avoid the police. Once there, he was overcome by the love of Christ and begged to be received as a monk. It took him quite a while to adjust to life as a monk; once four robbers broke in and Moses beat their faces in before remembering himself. He then tied them up and took them to his abbot, sheepishly saying something like, “It used to be I woulda killed them, but I’m thinking that’s not how we do?” His monastic life was extremely difficult, as one might expect of a man accustomed to action and terrible sin, but he fought for years to overcome his temptations and ultimately became a priest and then an abbot himself, leading dozens of souls in the way of holiness. When another group of outlaws was approaching the monastery, Moses urged his men to flee, saying of himself, “Those who live by the sword must die by the sword.” He welcomed his murderers with open arms and was rewarded with a martyr’s crown.

3 // WHEN THEY’RE READY, THEY’RE READY.
We finally potty-trained our fifth child this month…or maybe I should say that he finally decided it was time and potty-trained himself.  At almost three and a half and with two failed attempts under his belt, I was starting to believe he’d be entering college in diapers.  But isn’t life funny?  Just like that, one day he decided to go for it and less than a week later, the diapers are totally gone.  (Even at night!)  When they’re ready, they’re ready.

4 // MUCH OF WHAT I THOUGHT I KNEW ABOUT COLUMBINE IS A MYTH.
As I read through Columbine, I was surprised to learn that much of what I thought I knew was false.  The two biggest: 1) The entire situation was, essentially, a failed bombing attempt.  Should their make-shift contraptions have actually worked, it would have been much more catastrophic.  And 2) Did you ever hear the story about the girl who defended her Christian faith before she died?  Yeah, that never happened.  The questions were actually posed to another girl (who lived) but the stories were intertwined by another student.  A book was still written despite the mix-up.   

5 // SOMETIMES YOU NEED SOME TOUGH LOVE.  THANKS, BATHROOM SCALE.
I have been in full hibernation mode this winter, especially as I stopped exercising to heal a hip injury.  On a whim, I decided to pull out the scale and whew…the numbers don’t lie.  I do think I’m having some hormonal issues, which certainly doesn’t help, but there’s always room for more movement and more vegetables. 

6 // FRESH AIR AND WARM SUNSHINE IS RESTORATIVE.
We had two beautiful days with temperatures in the 70’s – what a gift!  I too often forget that I need the outdoors as much as my children.  I’m often quick to send them all outside while I clean or putter around the house, attached to my to-do list.  Note to self: fresh air and a little sunshine can change the course of the entire day for the better.

7 // NEVER PAINT TEXTURED WALLS.
My home improvement fiasco of the month: I naively thought that painting textured walls would be easy.  You just get the “textured wall brush” and off you go, right?  Oh no.  After two cans of paint and two walls that were still completely splotchy, I gave up.  After a lot of back and forth, Mark and I have decided that we’re just going to paint the walls back the original color and call it good for now.

8 // TO AVOID BURN OUT, TAKE A NAP.
After a few weeks of pushing myself to my limit, I hit a wall last Sunday and ended up taking an unexpected two-hour nap.  It was amazing!  I woke up refreshed, happy and ready to take on the week ahead.  Definitely adding naptime to my to-do list every few weeks.

Your turn…what did you learn this month?