As we have talked about so much over the past few... Wow, months now... This is the trick! Resigning myself to suboptimal housing for the indefinite future has proven to be the one thing that fixed it all for me. Instead of focusing on the perfect house I need for all the things I want to do, I am now narrowing my "task list" to "things I can do in a kitchen/yard of this size." It's, ah, not much, but it's honest work. And I feel so much better having just let it go!!!
As someone who is too terrified of blowing my face up to use my InstaPot, I greatly appreciated your analogy here. And thank you for clarifying that the baby isn't one of the ingredients you're getting rid of ;D
You continue to write about motherhood in a stunningly intimate and God-honoring way. God bless you, Leah!
Still laughing about LifePot, but also feel so much of this. There have been so many times in the last several years that feel like we mis-read the directions and are facing imminent explosion. I'm with you in that adjusting the recipe is very humbling. Surely we can't take this much pressure off and be okay? I don't know. I just have to trust that God's got my kids and keep trudging along. I often think of a line I read from someone referencing her motto for the home, "We go in peace or not at all" and while I definitely can't stay there all the time, it is a back of mind goal. What choices can I make to relieve a bit of pressure on me, my children, my husband? It's also maybe similar to some of the Lazy Genius rules that roll around my head, "access compassion" -- usually for myself, so I can extend it to my children. But -- all of these choices force so much humility, because what they really say is, "I am finite and cannot do all I wish to to" and then I have to trust that will be enough.
“I have to trust that God’s got my kids.” Yes. A repeated lesson for me. I have my idea of the kind of life they’re supposed to have, that they are entitled to, but I forget that they are just as much on God’s path for them as I am on His for me. The role is quite humbling and does require faith, as we cannot see the end result.
“We go in peace or not at all” is a beautiful motto. Thanks for sharing it. May your LifePot, full of many ingredients, I know, be in equilibrium. ;)
Another great piece by you, Leah. When I was about 6 weeks PP with our 4th, my husband was out of town for nearly a week for work and my pressure cooker self definitely exploded quite a few times, in tears, frustration, helplessness. It was all too much. We all survived thankfully! Praying for peace in this beautiful, messy, just right season of motherhood for you.
It’s so hard! I think…maybe…I’ve been forgetting that a postpartum mom is still a postpartum mom, no matter how may other children she has. It’s not unreasonable for you to have had an extremely difficult time when your husband was out of town. In fact, it’s unreasonable when we expect ourselves to just push through a hard week, or season, without changing anything else to compensate. Thanks for your kind words, I appreciate hearing from you!
Leah, thanks for sharing all of this. My thoughts lately have echoed a lot of what you've written here. Much different circumstances (other than a husband working extra hours and no outside help), but a lot of the same sentiment. I have to remind myself that sometimes there's no amount of extra planning, hacking, or complaining that will iron it all out so that life looks like I planned. Sometimes there's just a cross to bear, and that is that! I wish I more easily accepted that instead of always thinking I needed to finagle a way to "fix" the situation. Again, thanks for sharing. I value your voice greatly on this platform. :)
Giving up something we desire — a good thing that God has determined is not the best thing for us rightnow — is always hard. But there really is good in what He does give! Thanks for sharing and for the kind words, Baylee.
I was nervous when I had to learn how to bake cheesecake in the oven because I also make that in my instant pot. The demand exceeded my tiny pot springform pan size.
Thanks for reading! Hope you can benefit from my over-capacity conundrums.
I learned how to make yogurt in it recently!! my favorite thing is how it allows you to bypass the necessity of remembering to take the meat out on time. Stick that half frozen roast in the instant pot and it’s still ready by dinner time. Probably some lesson about the Lifepot accelerating our personal development beyond what we thought possible or something there.
Yes absolutely, it’s saved me plenty of times with the frozen roast. I definitely thought of the intense pressure, decreased cooking time as a metaphor for formation but…as we are still cooking l did not feel confident making any claims about our future haha
I love the visuals and the Life Pot analogy here, Leah--there's not a whole lot that you can do to cook safely (literally or figuratively) if you're above that fill line! No hacks there.
Thank you for reading and for your kind words. And I’m so appreciative of your post! It hit me at exactly the right moment. And I will gladly start thinking more about that slow and steady cooking once the overfill is taken care of.
So encouraging as always, Leah. God has used your words as a blessing to me again and again! Will be chewing on this for a while. And may I add that I am glad to hear that the baby gets to stay!
This is wonderful, Leah. I think it's so tempting to say "I can't relieve any of the pressure now, so oh well, I guess I'll just keep things as they are and see if it explodes..." I really like that you instead are saying, "I can't relieve the pressure, so I have to reduce the fill." Very wise, and perhaps the kind of wisdom that is only achieved once we've lived under pressure!
I don't remember exactly what she said but Mother Teresa had some wise words about this that made an impression on me several years ago when I was super pregnant and weepy about the fact that the baseboards were grubby (among a million other problems). It was essentially, "if you don't have the capacity to do something then that thing is not supposed to be done (or at least not by you)." The baseboards were not *supposed* to be cleaned.
I still struggle with this, but it's true! "The Lord knows our capacity better than we do." Well said.
(And isn’t it funny the things that get to us? To someone else, no big deal, but to each of us, there are particular things that are very meaningful at particular moments.)
As we have talked about so much over the past few... Wow, months now... This is the trick! Resigning myself to suboptimal housing for the indefinite future has proven to be the one thing that fixed it all for me. Instead of focusing on the perfect house I need for all the things I want to do, I am now narrowing my "task list" to "things I can do in a kitchen/yard of this size." It's, ah, not much, but it's honest work. And I feel so much better having just let it go!!!
As someone who is too terrified of blowing my face up to use my InstaPot, I greatly appreciated your analogy here. And thank you for clarifying that the baby isn't one of the ingredients you're getting rid of ;D
You continue to write about motherhood in a stunningly intimate and God-honoring way. God bless you, Leah!
Thanks so much, Rachel, for the kind words!
Let me know if you ever get comfortable with the InstantPot. I am so thankful for mine!
Still laughing about LifePot, but also feel so much of this. There have been so many times in the last several years that feel like we mis-read the directions and are facing imminent explosion. I'm with you in that adjusting the recipe is very humbling. Surely we can't take this much pressure off and be okay? I don't know. I just have to trust that God's got my kids and keep trudging along. I often think of a line I read from someone referencing her motto for the home, "We go in peace or not at all" and while I definitely can't stay there all the time, it is a back of mind goal. What choices can I make to relieve a bit of pressure on me, my children, my husband? It's also maybe similar to some of the Lazy Genius rules that roll around my head, "access compassion" -- usually for myself, so I can extend it to my children. But -- all of these choices force so much humility, because what they really say is, "I am finite and cannot do all I wish to to" and then I have to trust that will be enough.
“I have to trust that God’s got my kids.” Yes. A repeated lesson for me. I have my idea of the kind of life they’re supposed to have, that they are entitled to, but I forget that they are just as much on God’s path for them as I am on His for me. The role is quite humbling and does require faith, as we cannot see the end result.
“We go in peace or not at all” is a beautiful motto. Thanks for sharing it. May your LifePot, full of many ingredients, I know, be in equilibrium. ;)
Another great piece by you, Leah. When I was about 6 weeks PP with our 4th, my husband was out of town for nearly a week for work and my pressure cooker self definitely exploded quite a few times, in tears, frustration, helplessness. It was all too much. We all survived thankfully! Praying for peace in this beautiful, messy, just right season of motherhood for you.
It’s so hard! I think…maybe…I’ve been forgetting that a postpartum mom is still a postpartum mom, no matter how may other children she has. It’s not unreasonable for you to have had an extremely difficult time when your husband was out of town. In fact, it’s unreasonable when we expect ourselves to just push through a hard week, or season, without changing anything else to compensate. Thanks for your kind words, I appreciate hearing from you!
Kitchen metaphors are my language too! This was beautiful, encouraging, helpful. Thank you so much for sharing with honesty and courage.
I just listened to a Keller sermon on Mark 9, the Transfiguration, that deals with this topic - you may enjoy it!
Thanks for reading and for the kind words, Katie! It was just Transfiguration Sunday here last week. Thanks for sharing.
Do you happen to have the title or a link? TIA!
Yes!! https://gospelinlife.com/sermon/jesus-on-the-mount-jesus-off-the-mount/
Leah, thanks for sharing all of this. My thoughts lately have echoed a lot of what you've written here. Much different circumstances (other than a husband working extra hours and no outside help), but a lot of the same sentiment. I have to remind myself that sometimes there's no amount of extra planning, hacking, or complaining that will iron it all out so that life looks like I planned. Sometimes there's just a cross to bear, and that is that! I wish I more easily accepted that instead of always thinking I needed to finagle a way to "fix" the situation. Again, thanks for sharing. I value your voice greatly on this platform. :)
Giving up something we desire — a good thing that God has determined is not the best thing for us rightnow — is always hard. But there really is good in what He does give! Thanks for sharing and for the kind words, Baylee.
as a lover of the instant pot this metaphor feels very relevant!! Love these ideas.
It is a dream machine.
I was nervous when I had to learn how to bake cheesecake in the oven because I also make that in my instant pot. The demand exceeded my tiny pot springform pan size.
Thanks for reading! Hope you can benefit from my over-capacity conundrums.
I learned how to make yogurt in it recently!! my favorite thing is how it allows you to bypass the necessity of remembering to take the meat out on time. Stick that half frozen roast in the instant pot and it’s still ready by dinner time. Probably some lesson about the Lifepot accelerating our personal development beyond what we thought possible or something there.
Yes absolutely, it’s saved me plenty of times with the frozen roast. I definitely thought of the intense pressure, decreased cooking time as a metaphor for formation but…as we are still cooking l did not feel confident making any claims about our future haha
Life pot has me cracking up over here. Deeply relatable!
Amen to this!
Thanks for reading, Ivana!
Love this very tangible metaphor!
Thanks, Shelby!
So much wisdom here! I can relate to all of it. Thank you for sharing what he is teaching you right now. 💚
Thank you, Abigail!
I love the visuals and the Life Pot analogy here, Leah--there's not a whole lot that you can do to cook safely (literally or figuratively) if you're above that fill line! No hacks there.
Thank you for reading and for your kind words. And I’m so appreciative of your post! It hit me at exactly the right moment. And I will gladly start thinking more about that slow and steady cooking once the overfill is taken care of.
So encouraging as always, Leah. God has used your words as a blessing to me again and again! Will be chewing on this for a while. And may I add that I am glad to hear that the baby gets to stay!
Hannah, thanks for the kind words. God be praised.
And yes to babies, and yes to this one in particular!
This is wonderful, Leah. I think it's so tempting to say "I can't relieve any of the pressure now, so oh well, I guess I'll just keep things as they are and see if it explodes..." I really like that you instead are saying, "I can't relieve the pressure, so I have to reduce the fill." Very wise, and perhaps the kind of wisdom that is only achieved once we've lived under pressure!
Thank you, Dixie, for taking the time to read and for such generous words.
The Lord knows our capacity better than we do. And in this case, it’s less than I thought I *should* have. There’s peace in that.
I don't remember exactly what she said but Mother Teresa had some wise words about this that made an impression on me several years ago when I was super pregnant and weepy about the fact that the baseboards were grubby (among a million other problems). It was essentially, "if you don't have the capacity to do something then that thing is not supposed to be done (or at least not by you)." The baseboards were not *supposed* to be cleaned.
I still struggle with this, but it's true! "The Lord knows our capacity better than we do." Well said.
Lovely. Thanks for sharing.
(And isn’t it funny the things that get to us? To someone else, no big deal, but to each of us, there are particular things that are very meaningful at particular moments.)