The Neatest Adventure Ever

So last week the kids and I drove out to my parents' house in Alabama. They spent a few days with their Mamaw and Paw while I had to travel somewhere. I spent the first night at my parents' house with the kids.

Neela and Olive wanted to go outside and explore the woods. The weather felt wonderful, so of course I agreed.  It started off like a regular outside adventure: picking flowers, finding giant rocks, discovering little bugs and "aminals", etc. Little did I know, we were about to discover the neatest find ever!!

As we went a little deeper into the woods behind my parents house, we found this old abandoned and weather damaged shed. 

Of course, being explorers we had to check it out. I walked Olive back to the house before we started exploring. It seemed like a big kid adventure (nails, thorns, etc.). So it was just me and Neela; we were both super excited to start digging around. 

(the inside of the building)

As we started to dig around, we soon discovered that this old building was full of random, neat objects from the 1980's. We dug around for awhile and found some super neat stuff, but it was all extremely weather damaged.

(We found a ton of vintage Barbie's, a Dreamhouse, and several old Barbie cars) 

(Piles of old Matchbox Cars)

Digging up those old toys was super fun, but besides the Matchbox cars they were way too ruined to play with or enjoy. However, as we were walking out, Neela noticed two boxes that were sealed shut. We both freaked out from excitement. It was seriously so exciting. The neatest part was they were so heavy and we had no clue what was inside of them. So after quite a few minutes of digging and prying I was about to drag them out of the old building.

Neela wanted to open them right then, but I convinced her that we (meaning Seth) should carry (drag) them back to the house. hahaha. So we did. They were extremely heavy and super well built. Anyways, once we reached the house, Neela ran inside and got the kids for the big unveiling of what was in our two surprise treasure boxes. We hadn't even peaked inside of them until this moment, so I took a video of them being opened. (It's super short but so neat).

So fun!

I honestly can't even imagine how excited they were. I mean as an adult and finding boxes of unopened toys I was beside myself. Can you even imagine being a kid and finding wooden "treasure chests" full of vintage unopened toys?!?! 

Here's close ups at some of the things we found in the boxes...

There was also an old journal (no name) with some old flyers of concerts, 

some killer shades, and some 45 records.

The other neat part was the we found some real "not live" grenades at the bottom of the box. Then we noticed the box was labeled "USA DOD" and "Special Fireworks". hahahaha. Again, don't worry they are not live. 

It was seriously one of my favorite events ever! We still have the boxes and are using them in Titus's room to keep his toys in. :D

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing,

Seth 

Top Ten Reasons Kids are Cooler than Adults

10) Better conversationalists

Adults:
“Have you heard of Dave Ramsey?”

“Looks like it’s about to rain…”

“Is this sandwich Gluten Free?”

Kids:
“Thinking too hard makes my brain melt.”

“I love having stinky feet. It’s like having skunk superpowers”

“Do you know what a worm looks like when you eat one and poop it out? Cause I do.”

9) Honest about their eating habits

Adults:
Adult 1- “I’ve been eating ultra healthy lately
Adult 2- “Is that a Wendy’s bag?”
Adult 1- Pauses “… I picked up hitchhiker eating French fries.”

Kids:
“I’m not hungry for dinner. I just ate a roll of Bubbletape Gum.”

8) Kids truly love

Adults
“I can’t stand that guy. He’s a jerk, his breath smells like cheese, and I heard he steals toilet paper from the rest stop. Oh yeah, he also spreads ridiculous gossip about everyone.” 

Kids
“A mean boy at school stole my Pokemon card today. Tomorrow, I’m bringing all my cards and going to let him pick out some that he likes to keep. I think it would his heart happy. Then he won’t have to steal anymore."

7) They embrace and love their body image

Adults:
“I look disgusting. My hair is the worst and these love handles drive me crazy.”

Kids:
*Pulling up shirt* “I like having a big belly. When I slap it, it sounds like a drum. Plus, it gives me more room to draw on with my new markers.”

6) Not overly concerned with public opinion

Adults:
“I’m not going out there to dance. There’s no one even on the dance floor yet, and everyone will stare at me.”

Kids:
Child- “DAD! There’s an empty stage! Can I go dance?”
Dad – “Well, I would say yes. But that’s not a stage, it’s a pulpit… and we are at a funeral.”

5) Heightened Senses

Adults:
“This tastes like chicken.”

“Did I hear what?”

Kids:
“I know there’s broccoli in this soup. I can see the tree trunks. Nice try.”

*Dad quietly sneaks from the couch and heads outside. After double checking no one is around nor followed him, quietly settles into an inconspicuous spot in the back yard . Trying his best to avoid the crinkle noise, he carefully creates a small slit in the Snickers bar wrapper with his finger nail while simultaneously being watchfully vigilant of his surroundings. He goes in for the first bite…* 

Child (who apparently appeared from thin air) - “Whatca’ eating dad”

4) Imagination

Adults:
“My life is boring… I need a boat... I’m going to buy a boat.”

Kids:
“Hey dad! I just floated down the rain gutter on a garbage can lid. I named my new boat ‘Trashie’ because it smells like trash. It’s so fun! Hey, want to see my spaceship?!”

3) They don’t worry about putting a facade when taking selfies

Adults:

“Take my picture from this angle. I look better. Also make sure to use a good filter to clear up my skin.”

Kids:

 “I took a selfie! I look so great!

2) Natural encouragers

Adults:

“I’m so behind on life. I mean just look at the yard. It’s so bad that I’m getting grass stains on my knees when I check the mail." 

Kids:

“But look at the pretty wildflowers that grew! Yellow flowers are my favorite, and now I get to pick one every morning before school for my teacher."

1) Uninhibited

Adults: 

“I hate elevator rides. They are so awkward and uncomfortable. It’s just a weird silence.”

Kid (talking to a middle aged woman in the elevator): 

“If you give me a quarter, I won’t fart in here.”


Be Blessed and Be a Blessing,

Seth

Seth's Parenting Confessionals

I think as a parent, there’s so much pressure to be perfect. We always just project a perfect image in our heads of what “parenting” should look like to impress other people. Everyone thinks that everyone else has it together. Really, no one does. I know some amazing parents, but I promise even the “pro’est of pro parents” have their little secrets ;) My favorite quote about is “Raising kids is like trying to nail jello to a tree”. Hahaha.  So here’s a list of stuff that I own up to. Not proud of them, just telling it like it is.

Seth’s parenting confessionals:

My kids probably eat too much pizza and chicken nuggets.

Before house guests, I have been known to throw all of the mounds of laundry into my bedroom, lock the door from the inside, climb out through the window, and go in through the front door. Then I know no one will wander into my bedroom during the event.

I probably dress them in the wrong season or let them wear “cleanish” clothes more than I should.

They watch tv when I get time to nap.

I sometimes am secretly so happy when a kid in public is having a total meltdown and it’s not one of mine.

Most of the veggies they eat are either steamable packs or out of the can.

My kids know the tooth fairy isn’t real.  A few days after receiving their dollar in exchange, they found their tooth in our “junk drawer”

I yell at my kids more than I should.

At times, I’m looking at my phone rather than watching them play or playing with them.

Kool-aid is the drink of choice of the Megow kids (besides Stevie, she’s all water)

Sometimes instead of showing them how to do a certain task, I just do it myself because it’s so much faster.

At times, when I feel overly frustrated I will send everyone to their rooms (even if only maybe one or two deserve it)

I don’t read to my kids as much as I should.

We have had one of those slap sticky hands stuck to the ceiling for about 2 months.

I still have one kid or another in my bed at night every night.

I taught my kids how to churn up fake throw up in their mouth.

Sometimes, I tell my kids that “I’m doing work” so I can watch a tv show.

When they were younger, it was a struggle trying to remember to brush teeth.

Every single plant brought home from school dies the same day.

I keep forgetting to change the lightbulb in my bathroom toilet room, so we poop/pee in the dark in the bathroom .

I’ve used “being a parent” to get out of certain events. (yikes)

I’m not as involved in my kids school as I should be.

I’ve never done those little worksheets with my kids, that they send home after children’s church on Sunday.

Sometimes, I put my kids to bed in their school clothes just to save time.

I sometimes "stage" social media pictures of the kids to make them seem cuter or funner.

During cooler months, we’ve been known to skip baths probably more than we should.

Sometimes, I will just say certain things are off limits (songs, shows, etc.) without actually listening or researching them. I just assume they are bad.

I always check “sack lunch from school” on my kids field trip forms.         

I’ve said more than once “just flip the underwear inside out”

Most days, I will admit that I have no idea what I’m doing. I think we are all just doing this whole parenting thing one step at a time.

However, my kids feel loved and love others. That pretty much trumps everything in my mind.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing,

Seth

Passion vs Purpose

I think a lot of us have heard to “Follow your passion” and “What’s your purpose in life” at some point or another. For a long time, I had those two things personally mixed up. In this post, I wanted to just chat a little about my personal view of my life’s passion/purpose relationship.  

Now, I hope this doesn’t come off like with a “motivational speaker” feel. While I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, I don’t think it’s my cup of tea. Mostly, I like to view my blog as just my views and opinions on life. They fit the way I live. I don’t think everything is universal or believe in specific buzzwords or “7 Steps” for improving someone’s quality of life. Each person is on their own individual journey and God wired each of us uniquely. Just because something that works for me might not be the best for you and vice versa. :)

Ok, back to the topic at hand. I personality have a crap ton of passions and am interested in probably far too many things than I have time for. I guess I figured those are all of the little things that made up what the world knows as “Seth”. I would go through various phases of each of these interests. After a few months of pressing into a specific thing, I would see others extremely more gifted and passionate about it, get discouraged, and move onto something else. For so long, I was so desperate to find out that one thing I could do or something I truly enjoyed more so much that would help me discover my purpose. And it never came. One of the reasons, I think it bothered me so much is that I’m a BIG PICTURE kind of person. I felt like I wanted to find that BIG passion about that will spring me into my BIG purpose. I loved being a husband and a dad, entertaining friends, creating things, doing things for other people, playing piano, making people laugh, etc. There were so so so many things I loved doing, but not one specific area pointed me in a direction of my God given purpose or one that that completed captivated my interest. I think it caused me go get a little depressed for a few years.  I was living a fantastic life, I loved Jesus, my family was amazing, but there was just something I knew I was meant to be doing!

Fast forward a few years. Now it’s just me and the kids. I’m doing my single dad thing and still doing all of my hobbies when I had time, but I still felt this tiny little thing inside me (my purpose) that was dying to know. I knew it was more than being a good dad, working hard at my job, being there for friends, etc. I think I drew closer to God a lot over those past few years, but still never really figured it out. However as more and more time went by, finding my purpose just kind of got put on hold. I quit focusing on finding it, so that desire just kind of went into hibernation.

Well, of course God revealed all of this to me in the most unique and simple way. I’ll try to explain it the best I can. Hahahaha. Sometimes I feel like trying to explain what’s going inside my brain is like trying to dump out a can of Alphabet soup and trying to alphabetize each letter in order. :D I know everything I have is right there in front of me, but organizing it all can be tough. 

Anyways, I was just doing my morning routine. I dropped all of my kids off at their schools and was headed to work. Normally, I don’t make stops on the way to work. I prefer to maximize my time at work to get the most done. However, this morning I was in the car just listening to some worship music and driving some backroad route to avoid school buses and get me to work faster. So I was just driving and just kind of hanging out with God, when I noticed this patch of sunflowers. They were all lined up just facing the sun and just soaking up the rays. I actually pulled my car over on the side of the road and got out to look at them because it was just so mesmerizingly beautiful. Suddenly, the subject of my purpose came back up to my brain. I was just standing there on the side of the road talking to God about these little flowers getting life from the sun. I again started to ponder how I could be affect people and fulfill that desire & life that everyone needs that way the sun did for these flowers. I was so tired of being this generic human and Christian. I know he made each of us so unique; I wanted to fulfill His vision for my life.

I just stood there for a few minutes staring off into space. I’m sure people driving were so confused by this guy in a shirt and tie just standing in the ditch on the side of the road. My car was still running and I wasn’t flagging anyone for help, so people probably thought I was just waiting until no traffic was coming so I could take an emergency ditch poop. Hahah!  Come on now, who hasn’t take a ditch poop? ;)

After a few minutes of just standing there and wondering for the 7,435^th time what I was put on this earth to do, like that sun was feeding those flowers, I felt God speak to me The sun shining on these little flowers represented my passions, but nourishing those little flowers was definitely not the sole purpose of the sun. The sun brings light and life on a grand scale; those flowers are just attracted to it because it’s doing what it’s supposed to be doing. For so long, I was trying to find that one thing that would give me my purpose, but I was going about it completely backwards. God told me to quit worrying about focusing on finding those one or two things I was completely passionate about. I was focusing way too narrow. My passions start and flow from my purpose. For so long, I was trying to work up. I realized my purpose is first, that would lead down and overflow into all of the things I was interested in.  It was definitely an eye opening, life changing event (in a ditch, hahahah).  I didn’t get a revelation that morning about what my purpose was, but I felt like I knew how to find it.

So I started to pray and focus on my big picture, instead of individually focusing on all of the little. It was so similar to the last time I was looking for my purpose, except for this time I started to find it. I didn’t hear it immediately or over a couple of days, rather I would just start to encounter people or little situations that I felt drawn to. Sometimes I would find myself telling encouraging or funny stories or doing something small to help someone; however this time around I could feel something  growing in me. For the first time, I felt like I was becoming the real “Seth” that I had been looking for this entire time.  As I started really putting myself out there, I found I was so drawn to two specific things. So I focused on those two things and I felt my life just kind of click. “Encouragement and Helping” That’s my purpose. :) Those two simple concepts are what I was designed to do. It’s so funny to me, how I struggled for years with all of these intricate plans and methods trying to come up with this master plan, and I finally realize it’s all about those two simple words.

I love that God showed me those two simple little things for two reasons:

First, there’s no specific target audience. I don’t care where I am, there’s always someone that needs what I am put here to do. I do think that my purpose in life is pretty simple and I’m sure other people have way more complex  purposes; however, I don’t believe that anyone’s reason for being is important than anyone else’s. We were all created one of a kind and I feel that no one is more important to God than anyone else. But it’s nice being able to do what I feel I was meant to do wherever I am.

Second, I feel like my passions FINALLY make sense to me. I promise my entire life, I’ve always been so frustrated because I wanted to be extremely good or talented at something. I would see my friends who are incredibly athletic, intelligent, musically included, make you cry hilarious, had hobbies they absolutely loved to do, etc. I just never felt like I was super awesome or ultra-interested at one thing. Instead, I was semi-good and semi-interested in odd variety of things. I absolutely love the way God wired me know that I know my mission and purpose. Although, I might not be the best or even close to it at anyone specific thing, I believe God wired me to be able to relate with a broad audience of people because of my natural gifting of “being kinda good and moderately interested in at a lot of stuff”. Hahaha. If someone needs something or I can do something to encourage them, chances are I have enough random talents to make it work for just about anyone. I love knowing how God designed me to encourage and help by giving me these random passions and interests. If someone needs help with a birthday party, I can make balloon animals or design the invitation. If someone is sad, I can make them a little craft or piece of jewelry to brighten their day. Or if someone needs a laugh, I can sit down to make up a silly song or tell them a funny story about me accidentally taking a sip of pee in a Mountain Dew can one time.  

So now after all of this time, I don’t feel inferior for not having a specialty. Rather, I feel special not having just one. :) God uses my averageness to encourage and help. That makes me happy.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing,

Seth