It was a lovely day.
Normal, but lovely because sometimes I forget to appreciate how priceless
normal really is.
I drank tea with creamy coconut milk in it, tackled all the regular daily routine,
settled a few ridiculous disputes reminding - always reminding - those silly kids
how much they love each other. O' how I strove to utter sweet life-giving words,
to listen, to see with prudent eyes our heart conditions.
Sheepish grins, hugs, forgivenesses exchanged fellowship restored.
That was the theme all day. Over and over.
My accomplishment?
Surviving the moments with grace and modeling joy. Hard tasks requiring purpose.
This evening I was all ramped up to blog. A zillion thoughts rattle around in my head,
and I have almost that many photos to upload as well.
Instead I peruse a couple other blogs and find my flame smothered by all the great
things other women are doing - feeding their families nothing but the finest organic,
detoxifying their homes of chemicals, cloth diapering, dressing with stylish feminity,
exercising their motherly bodies into slender health, giving their children music lessons,
ballet, soccer... creating artwork, renovating and redecoration their homes, sewing
beautiful clothes.
In fairness, I blog. I know that what you see here is only a piece of the puzzle;
only a tiny glimpse of color on the canvas that is the larger picture - my life.
I am more complex than the few sporadic posts I enter. I have a lot of ideas
and I'm not afraid to blab on about them. Many have been tortured so, and I have
chosen not to use this venue for that purpose. Call me. Join me for coffee; mine always
gets cold before I finish it, but the caffeine primes a pump of endless possibilities :-)
I am also every bit as simple as I look. Maybe more so.
As much as I love all the wonderful, beautiful, lovely and noble things I see happening in
lives around me, and while I slowly strive to raise the bar in every venture I see value...
I am most passionate about what is eternal.
It's seeing the hand of God in my life. His imprint stirs my soul in a thousand ways most
people miss because they just forget to look.
He loved me first; I can see it every day. I love Him back. That's enough.
I will not be sidetracked by what is good. A good cause, endeavor, purpose...
I will keep my eyes fastened on the parts that meet me (that sometimes broadside me)
one moment at a time - interactions with my children, my beloved, my siblings,
my friends and strangers - and make it my life goal to glorify Him in those moments.
What you see here has been, and will continue to be a celebration of His love and mercy
toward me, and what you get when you enter this blog is a taste of the way I thank Him
in return.
Hence the photo I honed in on tonight which seems to express my sentiment best.
All I have to do is stand back a pace, look at my favorite people,
see His abundant love peering back at me through these bright eyes,
and I marvel.
Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully written ! You're such an inspiraton to me :)
ReplyDeleteI love your blogs and pictures!They are such and encouragement to me and I appreciate the way you look at life and famuily.I dont know if you recall because I know life gets so busy with children and etc.but I had left you a message with my email and said that I would like to write and become friends.My husband had just joined the Army and at the time he was gone for a long time.We are settled now but I would still like to write ,I am here with no one I know so I have time to be pen pals if you would like.You can let me know.Thanks and may God keep blessing you and your family!
ReplyDeleteRebekah
Rebekah, thank you!
ReplyDeleteI would be delighted to exchange addresses again. If you leave yours here, I'll delete it from the blog.
I'm afraid that it's difficult to get to actual letter writing in recent times, but I'll try.
Email might be easier for me, so if you have an email address you can leave that too.
Hugs!
Analene~ I love that picture. That quilt. Can you wrap it up and send it to me. It screams of comfort. Those beautiful smiles on those little kiddies - extra sweetness. Enjoy those moments Mama. They will be gone too soon. You will look back on this picture and say "Oh my, weren't they young! How I wish I could go back." It happens to all of us. So enjoy. Snuggle. Laugh. Love. Forgive.
ReplyDeleteYou can sew in a another season. You can blog another day. Re-vamp your eating when the kids are tired of hot dogs :-) Love on that hubby and kiss him often. Squeeze that beautiful baby of yours, over and over. Breathe it all in deeply. Deeply :-)
I know you do all this. You are a wise Mama.
Pull out all those beautiful crayons, pens, colored pencils and let those little artists go at it. They can make a quilt of beautiful pictures and save them in a cute little journal. You will cherish them always.
Gracie said she will come by anytime to play with the kiddos while we chat. She has a neat trick she does with her butterfly knife that will mesmerize your boys and have them begging for one of their own. She rough and tumbles with the best of little ones, makes great pretzels and is in general someone I cannot live without for too long :-)
Sending you a big hug and letter is on it's way come Monday morning. I wrote it last night when I was tired so it probably makes no sense at all :-) ha ha!
~Cinnamon