The launch. It’s coming.

I’ve been working for hours and hours and days now… getting ready to launch Bloggers for Birth Kits on my other blog.

That day is tomorrow.

And I can’t wait.

Funny how easy it is for a passion to spring up out of nowhere… Something like this that I’d never have dreamed of and yet it makes so much sense.

So many of my interests and passions combined: women’s issues, the developing world, birth, motherhood, service, YWAM, blogging, mobilizing, rallying people together, educating.

It’s a good fit really.

I almost didn’t do it this year because I feared getting too many donations.

Last year I wanted 300… and I got over 2000.

Um… hello.

This year, I don’t know…

I just want what God has.

I almost backed away, but a friend (who I barely know) challenged me. “Isn’t having too many a good problem?” she asked me in earnest. “Surely if that happens, God has a way of helping you handle it, right?”

BAM. Truth.

I suppose I’ve just been busy. And a little tired.

And the thought of lots and lots of emails and lots and lots of responding on social networks like blogs and twitter and facebook… is a bit tiring. (Especially when they’re primarily crammed in after 8:00pm at night when I’m already pretty wasted.)

And yet at the same time I feel completely energized by it all.

Doing something that has no (or little) personal benefit feels good, you know?

it feels right.

So here we go. In eight hours time Bloggers for Birth Kits Mothers Day Drive 2012 will launch.

Wish me luck! And come check it out here.

STOP.

 

Q for you: Have you ever given yourself to something and accidentally discovered a passion because of it?

 

Love,
A

 

Click Clink Five | Five minutes a day, unedited. 

I’m loving this tiny little space

Can I just say how much I’m loving this little blog of mine?

My five minute, unedited, tiny little space for a few words a day.

Yes, it’s sometimes frustrating to “STOP”. I always, always want to go back and re-write and add in words and sentances and correct little mistakes. But, oh thre’s a but…

But I LOVE that I’m actually writing every day.

My life is so hectic right now that if I only ever wrote when I had time to write… it would be almost never. And yet five minutes a day? I can make that happen. (And somedays it actually feels like a stretch – ha!)

So even though i still want and need and crave for time to sit and write and edit and write putting more effort and thought into the creative process, the fact taht I’ve got this little blog means that I’m still writing in teh meantime. And I love that.

Sure, it’s beating out the perfectonist in me. (I still have a long way to go.) Sure, it’s teaching me to not waffle on and on and be more succinct. (Well, hopefully.) Sure, it’s forcing me to sit down and do something every day as a discipline and a creative outlet.

It’s all those things, those wonderful things.

But mostly? It’s becoming this precious place where I just clink out what’s on my mind. Sometimes deep and sometimes not. Incredibly theraputic. And such an amazign way to store up the little slices of life that might get buried or lost otherwise.

Funny taht some of my favorite writing has been here – banged out in just a few mnutes.

Of course it needs polishing and honing… but still, these little sessions have produced some treasures… in my opinion at least.

i think I may have stumbled into somethng that really is changing my life for the better. And I love it.

STOP.

 

Q for you: Are you actively seeking a way that you can be creative in the midst of your busy schedule and responsibilities?

 

Love,
A

 

Click Clink Five | Five minutes a day, unedited.
Adriel also writes (using spell-check!) on motherhood and parenting at The Mommyhood Memos. 

The juices are flowing

I’m a creative person. Always have been. And when my creative juices get flowing, I can’t sleep at night.

Literally.

I toss and turn and ideas swim in my head and it takes everything within me not to get out of bed and start activating them

RIGHT NOW.

I’ve never been one who’s good at being patient.

I’ve always been an activator, a do-er.

I don’t like pondering. I don’t really like considering. It geos against my grain to “weigh the options.”

As an adult I’ve had to learn how to do some of those things of course. (And I do, htough I still someitmes struggle.)

But the “make it happen now” part of me is just that – part of me.

As I’ve realized that it’s helped me to see my weakness, but also see the strength in it.

Some of the absolute best things in my life have been done on a whim.

But it’s more than a whim – it’s an instinct.

My blog (both my blogs ctually) were started that way – with about… oh, three minutes of deliberation before just DOING it.

One of the best years of my life (spent backpacking in Europe) was a string of spontaneity, one instinctual decision after another.

And even bigger, more significant things too – Judah was conceived like that. I won’t go into details, because that’s just too much information – ha! – but I will say it was a very specific divine moment of decision.

Then BOOM here he was (and I’ve never looked back, we’ve never looked back). One of the best decisions of my entire life.

Needless to say my creative juices are flowing lately. (Thank you blogging and thank you Pinterest.)

It’s making it very, very hard for me to keep to my goal of a 10:30pm bedtime. *sigh*

Why do I feel so much more creative after dark?

STOP. (Totally went over time on this post!! By almost a minute!! Bah!)

 

Q for you: When’s the last time you made a gut decision on a “whim” and it turned out beautifully?

Love,
A

Click Clink Five is a blog by Adriel Booker. | Five minutes a day, unedited. | 2012 All rights reserved. | Adriel also writes on parenting and motherhood at The Mommyhood Memos.

A new hobby for a new year

 

It’s been twenty years.

Twenty. Years.

That’s the last time I’ve used a sweing machine.

Until tonight.

I’ve been thinking about sweing for a while now. Since I dnot have a whole lot of “free time” right now I thought I’d wait a few years and then look into getting a sweing maching of my own.

But then after Christmas I saw these $300 machines go on sale for $99. And I just so happened to have Christmas money burning a whole in my pocket.

So I did it. I bought a mchine!

I’ve had some projects in mind, but frankly, I’ve been intimidated!

I couldn’t even remember how to thread a bobbin or whatever else I was supposed to know.

Luckily I have several sewing friends in my life.

Today my neighbor (and friend) Kim came and tutored me through it.

I felt like I was re-learning to ride a bike. Shaking. Nervous. A tiny bit fearful. Hesitant.

But also excited!

And you know what? It was like riding a bike! I picked it back up in no time.

Sure, I need a little practice. But even stil, my first project turned out great. I made super hero capes for Levi and his friend Max for their birthdays. (Shhhh… don’t tell them. It’s a secret!) I love the way they turned out and I’m excited to see them running around in them.

So… sewing, I’m baaa-ack.

How fun. A new hobby for a new year.

Merry Christmas to me.

 

STOP.

Q for you: When is the last time you tried something new? Or old, again?

 

Love,
A

P.S. Have you liked CC5 on facebook yet?

 

Click Clink Five is a blog by Adriel Booker. | Five minutes a day, unedited. | 2012 All rights reserved. | Adriel also writes on parenting and motherhood at The Mommyhood Memos.

 

The one about fishing and photography

Lately many of my friends have been dealing with divorce – their parents divorcing or their own divorces.

I was talking about this with a firend of mine, who said that she thought one of the major reasons is a lack of shared interest between them.

It, of course, made me think about my own marriage.

Ryan likes fishing, kyaking, buiding things, computers and gadgets, cooking, gardening, and sports.

I like reading, writing, decorating, shopping, sunbathing, music, politics, and photography.

We actually have very few similar interests outside of movies and travel and camping and beach-going. And to be honest, we like it this way – we like having things that are our “own”, and we encourage each other to invest time into our personal hobbies and interests, even though we don’t necessarily enjoy most of them together.

But even though we don’t have all that many shared interests, what we do have is shared values.

We’ve never once had an argument that comes down to a value issue and I believe that is one of the reasons our marriage is so strong and so healthy.

Sure, we are flawed. We sometimes get negligent and say things we don’t mean. We sometimes offend. We sometimes act selfishly.

But ultimately we’re on the same page about the issues that really matters.

Maybe someday I’ll take up fishing or Ryan will take up photography, but for now I just enjoy the fact that he can make me dinner and build me a bookshelf… And he enjoys the fact that I can make our home look beautiful and write nice letters to our grandmothers.

It’s working for us. It’s working for us well.

STOP.

 

Q for you: Do you think couples needs more shared interests than individual interests or visa-versa? Why?

Love,
A

p.s. I totally blew this one with the time limit, but here’s the good news: tomorrow is a new day and I will try again.

 

 

Click Clink Five is a blog by Adriel Booker. | Five minutes a day, unedited. | 2012 All rights reserved. | Adriel also writes on parenting and motherhood at The Mommyhood Memos.