My Father's Daughter

383. for holding on to calm as a patient's mother lashes out 384. reading to a lovely 3 year old and all the smiles it brought him 385. coming home after a hard night 386. my husband taking care of all that needed to be done this weekend 387. babysitting~a house full of kids 388. Nate sitting so still, listening to stories on cd 389. This youngest boy all dressed as Peter Pan 390. big glass of red wine, on the couch being still 391. my eight year old needing extra hugs 392. my six year old as Peter pan (again) before breakfast 393. Reminders of Galatians 5:22-26 394. Noah's hard work on piano 395. smiles after tears 396. His promise to wipe them all away for good 397. my Nathan sighing and saying "I love our house" 398. for the man who stopped to help my sister 399. for time to sit and talk to my friend 400. the privilege of teaching my children 401. my youngest's clingy-ness at bedtime~teaching me patience and to treasure this time 402. all the boys outside takin...

Five Minute Friday (even though it's Saturday) where I'm joining Gypsy Mama and all the others writing for 5 minutes with a prompt not worrying if it's right.... When the seasons change.... GO When the seasons change, as flowers bloom, trees are becoming full and as the temperature rises I see God and the work of His hand. I see His renewing power. When the seasons change I embrace my life, what has been given and what has not. As I think of the time there is for every purpose under heaven I thank God for this time. Right where I am is right where He has me and I can rest in that. When the seasons change I'll move with them. I'll be renewed by the rhythm He has set. I'll be reminded of what is to come whether it is a frosty winter where the days are cold or beautiful colored spring where all is new again, I'll go through knowing it is all by His hand. STOP.

Counting to find the bridge connecting me to the miracle. Give thanks and then there is always more than enough. (Paraphrasing my little perpetual calendar f illed with Ann's words, which are referencing the miracle of the loaves and fishes...and every other miracle because eucharisteo always precedes the miracle). 357. sweet questions at bedtime 358. good aunt to nephew talks 359. smiling brown eyes 360. bunnies playing in my yard, eating dandelion; really, what is cuter than this?! 361. Grace for another day 362. yawn from little boys boys who lean into me as I read 363. my 8 year old (finally) begging to read on his own 364. Romans 365. afternoon in the park with friends on the best spring day 366. my tall 8 year old bending low to spend time~lots of time~ with his friend's precious 2 year old sister and loving it! 367. watching this boy from across the park, my heart swelling, smiling 368. children big and small all playing together 369. living our lives without being all...

My mind can really be a tangled mess. I can be joyful at the same time I am hurting. I can be humbly grateful and painfully resentful, maybe not simultaneously, but within minutes my mind can take me from one extreme emotion to the other. It's not just the emotions that are tangled either. It's the thoughts and plans; it's the mothering and teaching. It's all the tasks and all the love that are all so intertwined sometimes it can be overwhelming to figure out just what I feel or what needs to be done. So I write. The writing takes the tangle and unwinds it into a linear train of thought. Writing helps me find the way through the maze. It doesn't matter how scattered the words may be, I can only write one word at a time. One letter behind the next. These words turn sentences that give way to paragraphs and suddenly things make a little more sense. Words have always been good friends of mine. Whether they were printed on a page or scratched down by my pen, they have a...

Five minute Friday....writing for five minutes with a prompt, without editing, just letting the words go. Deep Breath.... Go. Deep breath and pray. Give thanks. Thanks for ALL that is given. Every moment. Easy and challenging. The beautiful as well as the ugly. Deep breath and begin again. Live in that place of grace that allows us to wake up new every morning, to new sun, dew on the grass, another chance to get it right. Deep breath and forgive yourself. Don't live in that nasty place of "what if I did it better?" Let it go and do it better next time. And if you don't get it that time either. Be grateful for yet one more chance. Deep breath and LIVE. Live loved. Love others like crazy. Live like you mean it. Deep breath and smile. You don't do it enough. None of us do. If we are giving thanks, beginning again, forgiving ourselves and living loved how could we not be smiling more?! STOP. Ok there it is. I'm at work so I get distracted in my five minutes. I...

310. shopping with excited boys for their daddy's birthday 311. Noah asking to do his spelling 312. all green lights when we are running late 313. piano teacher giving praise and encouraging words 314. wrapping gifts and making birthday banners 315. licking the icing spatula 316. dinner to celebrate 317. chocolate birthday cake~so yummy 318. giving gifts, making my husband smile 319. big birthday parties with in-laws 320. dancing with women who have become my sisters 321. church on Sunday morning for the 2nd week in a row 322. birthdays and more birthdays 323. my littlest sister being a lovely hostess 234. cousins all playing together~laughing 324. a beautiful day at the zoo 325. quiet time with my boys after a busy loud day 326. a morning to talk with mamas 327. dinner with all 5 of us 328. heavy rains suddenly followed by blue 329. for dentists and all of us with clean healthy teeth 330. baseball game date with just my husband 331. waking up to beautiful sun 332. writing down gi...

As Mother's day ended this year all I could think of is why? Why do we set apart these days, arbitrarily as days to honor, be honored. It just puts pressure that things are supposed to be just so. But, see, things are never just so. Life is in the mess and mothering is in the tears. It's loving through the tantrum. It's having patience through the misbehavior. It's not feeling slighted because the 8 year old won't come to breakfast, but it's smiling when he finally decides to emerge from his room, tear stained face and all. The day didn't go as planned. There was all kinds of conflict. But that's ok. Hurt is where mothering shines. And this so reminds me what Paul tells us God says to him in 2 Corinthians...that His strength is made perfect in weakness . My strength or patience so pale in comparison to His (or even MANY other mamas I know) but if there isn't a need for our quiet love and gentle hand then what is the use? What would my purpose he...

Mothers, all you women with your soul shaping hands, being the gentle arms in the middle of the night, or the listening ear on the other end of the phone, the work you do is precious, it's eternal. As you bend low or stand on tip toes to hug and meet your babes where they are, remember how you are changing the world. Giving up time and space and a clean house so you are there make the meals, wipe the tears and play the games, this is what feeds the spirit. You work with the Creator to grow small people into tall ones, babes into men, little girls into women. All you do that seems to go so unnoticed, isn't ~ the bandaids and story telling, the cleaning of their messes, the work that never ends.... To the mothers who do it alone, to the fathers who must be mothers too, to the woman with empty arms that long to be filled and the mamas whose empty arms ache for the babes they've once held....He is near. Lean in. Lean in and know that He sees your struggle, your sacrifice and H...

Five minute Friday....Five minutes of writing on topic with no planning or editing or revisions. hosted by The Gypsy Mama ...Here goes Motherhood should come with... A warning about how your heart will never be the same The knowledge that you will grow much more than they A way to s l o w time A superhuman ability to fore go sleep, food and time for yourself...oh wait it already does :) Roller skates Really good mama friends STOP Ok so that was the first five minute Friday. (Even though technically it's Saturday, after midnight). I'm late but it's my first one.

Giving the gifts names, telling how He loves so I can remember to live that way. 240. leftover scones and smoothies for breakfast 241. boys trying harder and me noticing it 242. sounds of my oldest boy and his daddy hammering nails 243. help from the youngest boy making his favorite meal 244. pretty red wine 245. chocolate cake 246. a movie all to myself 247. candle lit in a house all quiet 248. waking up a sleepy head on a Wednesday morning 240. PLAY! 275. mornings at playgrounds 276. boys jumping and climbing 277. bare toes in the sandbox 278. dinners outside 279. walks through the neighborhood as we talk and laugh 280. this online social community that can be such an answer to prayer 281. sawdust all over Noah~so proud 282. flowering trees 283. spring flowers coloring front lawns 284. pouring rain~loud 285. boys excited about cowboy boots and hats 286. my 6 year old's handwriting, so neat 287. tall eight year old on daddy's lap 288. all of us watching baseball, eating ice c...