Tag Archives: focus

Oribi Mom

Oribi Mom: Cheers To a Year of Discovery and Now… A New Word

“The more I thought about my experiences and most recent memories, the more it fit.”

Pixabay

January 19, 2025 

Happy New Year! It’s late, but that feels normal. It’s been a little busy in our patch of the world. It’s not only with general festive craziness but with a few other things, both unexpected and unavoidable. That seems par for the course in this time of life. We’re parenting three littles, trying to scrape together enough to feed said littles, and wondering why on earth we did PGCEs 10 years ago.

There are a lot of ideas on the train track of the mind these days, especially when I’m running, cycling, or walking to keep the crazy slightly at bay. On one recent run, there was a sudden idea – an epiphany, really. This Word of the Year concept isn’t such a waste of time.

Really? Choose Your Word of the Year and Life Will Be Better?

Maybe there have been too many American podcast episodes on my playlist. Choosing a Word of the Year has always felt a bit like one of those trendy How To books. People buy it hoping for answers and then realise it doesn’t have that much to say. It felt like a selling point or a gimmick.

But then, while I was watching a spur-winged goose flying over me and feeling the nine-kilometre tiredness starting to set in, I suddenly had a word flash across my mind: DISCOVERY.

Yes, Really! Discovering That Life Is Full of Newness

Last year, 2024, was most certainly a year of discovery. The more I thought about my experiences and most recent memories, the more it fit. Yes, that was what the year had turned out to be. Discovering (or maybe re-discovering) that I really like to move.

Discovering that sticking to a stricter routine on normal days makes me feel more secure about those times that make me deviate from said routine. Discovering that regaining a few hours of uninterrupted sleep after weaning, truly makes me a nicer, more productive, and more rational person. It was also a year discovering how deeply my soul feels loss, but let’s not get down that rabbit hole for now.

I discovered that showing grace towards my growing children when they were acting out can be relationship-building. I discovered that some birds like to do something called ‘anting.’ I discovered that I am capable of consistent exercise three times weekly for almost a whole year. I discovered that God is closer than I ever imagined.

And 2025’s word? I guess we’ll see. What’s yours?

Published here.

Oribi Mom

Oribi Mom: Febu-Weary Heat and the March of the Ants

“It was war for a while but the farmhouse has mostly been reclaimed.”

The hard-working ant’s diligence ultimately pays off.

 

March 2, 2022

Summer has been an interesting one, but what could we have expected in our currently upside-down world. I know that Proverbs tells us to take note of the hard-working ants and be more like them in our approach to life’s pursuits. But today I was not a happy or passive observer of those little intruders. I think every ant on the farm decided that this was an excellent day to move into the farmhouse.

The lounge, the kitchen, the guest bathroom and anywhere else they could hide their eggs became overrun. It looked like the walls and floors were moving. Millions and millions of red and black ants, marching into every crevice they could access.

It’s a War: Ants vs. Human Farm Dwellers

It was war for a while but the farmhouse has mostly been reclaimed. The spiders are still very much at home, even the sneaky rain spider that has somehow found the only gap under the cupboard. One of the bigger arachnids in the passage ceiling caught a bee today; very impressive.

The swallows in the laundry are also currently raising their second batch for the season, so it will be time to say goodbye soon.

How did it get to February? Febu-weary is what the scorching heat has felt like on a few days but it won’t be long until autumn blows that away.

We are expecting a third addition to our brood. Will it be a second lockdown baby? I would never have imagined that to be a possibility if you had asked me two years ago, when things were different. It’s just as exciting now, though. Like the ants, we will soon be preparing a place for the little one and life marches on.

Febu-Weary For Sure But It’s Just a Season

There was only one word to describe those ants: relentless. Absolutely determined, they were not deterred by vacuums, brooms, or anything else; only singular focus on the purpose at hand. Perhaps, there is a valuable lesson in that after all.

May we be so determined, so enthusiastic to carry out our purpose in life. If it’s raising a family, may we remember to let our lights shine just as brightly as we show our brood how to illuminate theirs in a dark, confusing world.

 

It might also be helpful to remember the ants, no matter our pursuits or the season we find ourselves navigating.

Published here.