Shalom and My #WholeMama Five Commandments

Ok, y’all.  I’m all twitterpated about something right now and I can’t wait to share with you. Very rarely do I see something going on Twitter and I think, I need more of that in my life, especially last week between the McKinney pool party heartbreak and the #RachelDolezal trans racial debacle, I’ve just been like, “Twitter you are dead to me”. But the kids wanted to go play in our pool- again- and I forgot my fluffy lounge-chair read so a-Twitter scrolling I went.  I’m so glad I did, because I  came across this gem of a tweet:

If you’ve spent any amount of time here on Shalom in the City, you’d know that wholeness is a key component to Shalom.  In fact, Shalom is a Hebrew noun that speaks to God’s desire for wholeness, order, prosperity, and fullness in the world.  Often people think Shalom is another word for peace, and to some extent, that’s true, but the peace described in Shalom is a much richer, deeper, life-giving peace that the mere lack of conflict.  It’s so much more than singing along with Mary J. Blige for ‘no more drama in my life”, Shalom is singing along with God in His song of healing for the broken. It’s joining in the symphony of restoration for all the ways sin has separated us from Him, has put us at odds with the Earth, and destroyed unity in our relationships.

When I read Esther’s tweet, my soul sighed “yes!” because I’m a mama and I needed to be called towards shalom this summer.

Maybe your summer looks like mine…

When the babies are home full time and my schedule is full of ways to make this the most epic summer for them, I lose my myself.  For so long, I accepted this, but as y’all know, when the new design of “Shalom in the City” rolls out, I’ll be writing more often. When that happens, I want to have a good rhythm of nurturing my creative self.  I can’t let the creative part of  me step aside to logistics of crafts and road trips and other summer tomfoolery any more. Those are invaluable summer experiences, but come mid-July, I’m begging for an hour to get away and read poetry or walk by the ocean on my own, or go to a dance party downtown.  When I ignore this God-breathed part of me, I invite a fracture in my soul that God sees  and shakes his head in sadness.  He wants so much for me.  He wants me to make space for wholeness and beauty like Him for He, himself is Shalom.  He is both Chaos Wrangler and Creator God.  His dream of healing for me this summer includes play-date arranging and poetry writing.

I think I needed to be reminded of that at the beginning of the summer, which is why I am so grateful for Esther and her team of Whole Mamas for dreaming up this summer fun.  I’m so excited to introduce #WholeMama here on Shalom in the City for the Summer.  From June 16-August 18th, I’m going to embrace wholeness in my mothering and creativity.  I’d love for you to join us- whatever that looks like for you.  For me, it’ll be posts every Tuesday following the prompt and hanging out on Monday’s Fuze encouragement for writers. For you, it might be a DIY, a gorgeous meal, or a hilarious joke.  Whatever is your creative, come join us.

Here’s a few things you’ll need to about #WholeMama from Esther’s post

Tuesdays: a prompted bloggy link-up, on a word related to our #WholeMama mission. We’ll announce the word here and on Twitter the night before, because we want to be just like Five Minute Friday. <

Mondays: FREE face-to-face writing encouragement via Fuze after the prompt word is posted, headed up by Jamie Wright Bagley. If you’re the type who likes to write in a coffee shop but can’t get to a coffee shop, this is for you. Or if you just need somebody to say, “I see you…” JUNE 15-AUG 17, MONDAY NIGHTS, 7PM CENTRAL.

IF YOU ARE NOT ALL ABOUT A BLOG (because, believe it or not, not everybody is… heart attack, GASP) you’ll almost have even more fun, because the games will be on Twitter and Instagram. Twitter and Instagram challenges on hashtags every week. Some silly and some wild and some extremely serious [serious mom face here]. If lots of you get into the photo making fun, we’ll compile tile collages, slideshows and maybe even give away some prizes!

I love this, don’t you!  Esther described is a summer long pajama party for creatives! So, fun.  So. Much. Fun.

In response, I’ve written Five #WholeMama Commandments I’ll live by these next six weeks because Shalom is seeking in myself, my community, and my context.

1: I will SHOW UP and post on Tuesdays. Even if I only have one really lovely sentence or a simple thought or a really honest paragraph.  It’s not the length of the post, but the love of my art that matters.

2:  I will TELL my family that this summer, I’m seeking wholeness and ask them to help me guard that time.  So that may mean I ask my husband to make sure I leave after dinner to write at Starbucks or pay my son $1 to take his sibling to the basketball court for an hour so I can journal.

3: I will NOT FEEL GUILTY, SELF-INDULGENT, OR SHAMEFUL for paying attention to my need to be creative.

4: I will NOT GIVE INTO JEALOUSY, ANNOYANCE, or FEELING INADEQUATE when a fellow #WholeMama writes something amazing and all I could muster was one of those singular sentences.

5: I will BE THANKFUL for every giggle, tweet, share, comment, and encouragement I receive from the other Whole Mamas.

So, will y’all join us in seeking to become #WholeMamas?  Will you claim your wholeness by making time to create in the midst of the busy?  Will you let us encourage you with our words?  I so hope so.

Excited about Monday’s Twitter Party,