Mommy's Project 52:30 Spiritual

I find myself uncomfortable with the term "spiritual" and how to define it. I looked at the dictionary definitions and they seem somewhat incomplete to me. We are in the process of finding a new church home. I find myself examining our beliefs and preferences when it comes to how we approach prayer, worship, and traditions. I know that our daily life lived and witnessed by others really demonstrates the kind of "spiritual" person we are and the one we claim to be by showing up for church on Sundays.

Below is a personal list of things that I think contribute to my spiritual life. And I think the more I keep to this list rather than let the negative thoughts and words creep in, the more balanced and the closer I feel to living a spiritual life.

Sunday morning church

Sunday school

meal-time prayers

bedtime prayers

counting my blessings

being thankful

singing

listening to my child's prayers

quiet time

balance

being grateful

connecting with others

reading

MOPS group

exercise

listening to music

random acts of kindness

talking and praying to God

Mommy's Project 52:29 Family

Family are the people you can count on in the worst of times. Yes, they celebrate the good times with you but "family" are the ones that are there for you when times are bad. Your family could be your biological family, adopted family, church family, or neighborhood family. It is important that you have someone or many someones that you can turn to in times of trouble. It gives me great peace and security to know if the worst happened and you can fill in anything you can think might be a terrible situation. I know that my family would be there for me. I don't worry that I could ever be without food or shelter for my family. I am saddened at how many people don't have that basic security net in their lives. I am truly blessed to have many family members who love and support us in our triumphs and struggles.

All the grandparents were present at the Baptism of our youngest in 2010. Even though the closest grandparent is now 6 hours away, I know they would do anything in their power to help us and their grandchildren.

Mommy's Project 52:28 Dancing

Mommy's Project 52:27 Saving

Saving can be cool. For example, my mom saved the dress I wore for my one year old birthday. She gave it to me when I had a little girl and I put the dress on her and took pictures when she turned one. That turned out to be really cool and I was glad my mom had kept up with it all those years.

I have a difficult time with saving too much stuff from my kids. I have an entire tub of clothes from the two of them since they were born. I keep telling myself every time I try to add new things to go through and get rid of a few more outfits. I also have way too many preschool papers from my son. I figure a little time will help me whittle it down to a few dozen good samples.

How do you decide what to save? I am in a year long project to reduce the amount of paper in my house. I am in the process of setting up a virtual filing cabinet and scanning documents and receipts I want to keep. I have a whole file I did the other day waiting to be taken to the shreader. I don't know why but it is very difficult for me to get rid of stuff like that. I can go back and tell you the date of service and find the receipt for every medical claim and dental claim since we were married. Why do I like being able to do that? Will I ever need that knowledge after I file my taxes this year?

I want to be able to have some special stuff to give to my daughter when she grows up that she will appreciate like the one year old dress. Now if I can somehow separate that from all the other stuff I like to save. It seems that people are savers or throwers and I don't know many people that are in between. Are you a saver?