Five Minute Friday: Change

Ahhh, Five Minute Fridays. A place to set your timer, clear your head, and for five minutes freely write without worrying about getting it right...

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community.

Today's prompt: change.


GO.

"Lutherans hate change."  That was the phrase I remember being tossed around jokingly at my church when I was growing up. When I left for college and soon after got married and moved away, my church was on the verge of a split because of music style. I remember in high school trying to introduce new songs to my church and even having a friend play guitar (along with the piano we had). It was received very coldly.

Why is music such a dividing point within the church? Does it really boil down to "old-people's-music" and "young-people's-music"? I love many hymns. And I love newer praise songs. I'm on the worship planning committee at my current church, and we are very deliberate about choosing both modern and traditional music for every service. We include the organ as well as guitars and drums each Sunday (heck, I'm the one who plays the drums!).

It's so hard to hear negative comments from people about music styles within the church. Music has changed over the years, even over centuries. Most churches don't use Gregorian-chant-type music anymore. Does that mean it's a bad style of music? No. It just means there are now other options out there.

Finding the balance between loving the "old" and embracing the "new" can be so difficult... But it's something that needs to happen.

STOP.


Wow I had no idea that's the direction my post would go. I guess that's what I love about FMF. :)

Check out other people's posts here!

Sleep, blessed sleep...

My 3-week-old cutie

 Over the years I've come to grips with the fact that I need sleep. And not just some sleep, I need quite a bit of sleep. To function properly, to keep my emotions in check, to simply enjoy life, my body really does need 8-9 hours of sleep in a night/day.

I was the boring one in college who would fall asleep watching movies with friends, or bum out of an event because it was too late at night. I felt like an old person. Now my friends just realize it's who I am, and we joke about "pulling a Carrie" - aka falling asleep at night while others converse, watch a movie, etc.

My husband is one who can get less sleep and still function well. He will often stay up an hour or two later than me at night, or during the school year will get up extra early (4:30) to grade papers and lesson plan.

Abby has always been a great sleeper. She was sleeping through the night (8+ hour stretches) at 6 weeks old. Even now she still sleeps 10-11 hours at night and 2-3+ hours in the afternoon. So when Ellie came around, I was dreading the idea that I might have a more "normal" baby who wakes up constantly in the night to eat.

The first couple of nights home were rough, but now she will easily sleep 3-4 hours at night and occasionally 5-6 in the first stretch. I've been nursing in the middle of the night and pumping & bottle feeding during the day, so for awhile my dear husband was getting up at 7 with both girls and feeding Ellie a bottle while I got an extra hour of sleep (school starts next week though...)

While I've given up on napping in the afternoons (Ellie's schedule is still pretty unpredictable), I'm doing alright overall in the sleep category. I might not be getting my 8-9 hours of sleep straight through, but I'm getting enough to function well. And so far Ellie is on the same track as Abby was for sleeping through the night early.

Are you someone who needs a lot of sleep or do you function well on less than "recommended"?

Ellie's Birth Story

Well folks, it finally happened! Eleanor Gracelyn (Ellie Grace) was born last Saturday, August 4th at 11:17 am. She was 8 lbs 9 oz and 22 inches long. The first couple nights at home were rough, but she's been really good to us the last few nights... Here's to hoping for an easy transition from one child to two!

For those of you who like details, read on... For those who don't, skip to the bottom for photos. ;-)

It's been a rough last 6 weeks. I'm not a fan of summer anyway, plus we've had record heat, plus it's been the last 6 weeks of pregnancy. Yuck. In the back of my mind I was hoping to go early. Even a week early would have been great. But as the days went by, I realized this little one was following in her sister's footsteps (Abby was 8 days late).

I had a scheduled checkup on Friday morning (August 3 -- 5 days overdue), including an ultrasound and non-stress test. Everything looked just fine. The doctor stripped my membranes and we set up an induction appointment for Monday. I was at 3cm at that point. Rocky and I then walked a bit at the mall, saw a movie, had steak and corn on the cob for dinner, and took a pontoon boat ride that night.

I woke up Saturday morning around 3am needing to use the bathroom (like always...), but couldn't fall back to sleep. Contractions had started (I'd been feeling some cramping the last month or so but this was definitely steady and measurable). I started timing them, then told Rocky about it around 4:30. They were definitely getting stronger and closer together, so I called doctor shortly before 6am. We brought Abby to the Rocky's dad's house, then headed to the hospital.

I got into a room at 7:15am and was at 5cm. They started the first bag of antibiotic (I was group b strep positive), and I got an epidural at 8:45am. Checked again, and was up to 7cm. My water broke on its own shortly after 9am. Rocky and I watched women's tennis -- the Olympic gold medal final, Williams beat Sharapova easily. We joked about this match deciding whether we'd name our daughter Serena or Maria. It lasted until about 10:30am.

The resident doctors came in right at end of match, checked me, and I was already complete! I wasn't feeling a need to push (although I didn't know what I was looking for...), so we decided to wait until after 11:00 so we could start another bag of antibiotics then. The feelings of pressure changed around 10:45, so they quickly started the antibiotic and got things ready for delivery. My doctor arrived, and I started pushing around 11am. Ellie was born at 11:17am Saturday August 4. 8 pounds 9 ounces, 22 inches long. Total labor: 8 hours. Pushing: 15 minutes.

God is good: On August 4, 2004, Rocky's mom passed away from cancer. Eight years later, God turned a day of sorrow into a day to celebrate. :)