3 hours in an airport
2 hours on a plan
5 minutes on a ferry
20 minutes in a van
and we were here.
The kids were amazing and I am marvelling at God's grace to me in the way my kids behaved and acted throughout the entire travelling day.
WOW!! So thankful, it made a day that could have been looooooong and horrid, pleasant and joyful and enjoyable.
Pictures of how you spend 3 hours in a small airport to follow....trust me, it's good times ;)
March 09, 2011
March 08, 2011
In the dark of night, Love pours down, healing broken, wounded places deep within.
Those who have walked a road of dark, of grief those lessons will not soon be lost,
that Love,
that Mercy,
that Grace....
it fills and spills over,
changing the dark to Light and grief to joy.
His love pouring out on us that we might live Love to those around us.
* * *
Leaving today with the kids for my brother's wedding. I am rejoicing for him. So excited and thankful. I just pray that they will remember that at the end of the day they are still married, it doesn't matter what happens or if things are *perfect*. They will still have each other and that's what matters in the end.
The kids are bouncing off the walls, Owen has no memory of ever being on an airplane, so this will be a *first* for him. And the other two....well, they just can't wait. They remember everything that awaits them at Grandma and Deda's and are just so excited.....
Oh that I would long for heaven that way...to remember what awaits me and live my life accordingly here. Remembering that this earth is temporal and that the real joy, the real happiness is found in His Kingdom.
We got tons of snow yesterday and it is so pretty out there this morning. The frozen slush is now covered in white and the world is silent, covered in a blanket that muffles the noise and chaos.
Those who have walked a road of dark, of grief those lessons will not soon be lost,
that Love,
that Mercy,
that Grace....
it fills and spills over,
changing the dark to Light and grief to joy.
His love pouring out on us that we might live Love to those around us.
* * *
Leaving today with the kids for my brother's wedding. I am rejoicing for him. So excited and thankful. I just pray that they will remember that at the end of the day they are still married, it doesn't matter what happens or if things are *perfect*. They will still have each other and that's what matters in the end.
The kids are bouncing off the walls, Owen has no memory of ever being on an airplane, so this will be a *first* for him. And the other two....well, they just can't wait. They remember everything that awaits them at Grandma and Deda's and are just so excited.....
Oh that I would long for heaven that way...to remember what awaits me and live my life accordingly here. Remembering that this earth is temporal and that the real joy, the real happiness is found in His Kingdom.
We got tons of snow yesterday and it is so pretty out there this morning. The frozen slush is now covered in white and the world is silent, covered in a blanket that muffles the noise and chaos.
March 03, 2011
Dance
"When you were 6, or was it 8?
Your mother thought, as mothers often do.
That you were strong enough and sure enough
To one day be a dancer."
March 02, 2011
Since When....
...did March mean sub-zero temperatures??
Thankful for it though.
When I take a deep breath and it tingles to my toes I know I am alive and it feels wonderful.
Hopefully the van'll start....time to find that extension cord and plug it in!!
February 27, 2011
The Chains of Guilt
We hurry through the day, marking tasks off lists that never end and as mothers, as women, we feel guilty for the time not spent with our kids, the missing out on the watching them grow and play. We feel guilty when we utter "just a minute" or "not now".
On the days we try to slow down, to stop, to enjoy their childhood, that list, that lifestyle of busy, floats through our head and makes us anxious, and we, in turn feel guilty for the fact that the dishes are piling, that the laundry isn't done, that there are crumbs on the floor and sticky toothpaste marks on the sink.
GUILT
What a nasty word.
Don't get me wrong, some guilt is appropriate and justified. I'm talking about the false mommy-guilt that many of us feel 100 times in the course of a day.
God has been teaching me that 'it's ok'.
There are seasons in every life where, at least for me, it is OK to turn the TV on all morning so I can sleep, because it means that I CAN spend the afternoon playing or baking or reading to my kids. Yes the laundry lays in mountains and the dishes pile ever higher but IT IS OK.
God is taking the guilt I used to feel and removing it. It is amazing how much freer I feel, how much more energy I have when I am not consumed by guilt for what I am, or am not, doing.
The depression, and the meds, both make me super tired and I have had to re-focus my priorities. On the days I do have energy and motivation, it is about my kids. About making memories and building relationships with them.
Truly the laundry will wait, the dishes will get done (eventually) but these kids, they grow and change in the blink of an eye and I don't want to come out of this season and realize that I have lost them, that they don't want to talk or play because I took the little time I did have when I felt normal, to clean.
As God has been releasing me of the guilt I find that I am loving my kids more because I am not grumpy at them for getting in the way of what I think needs to be done. That it really doesn't bother me that my house is not neat and tidy (I'm a clean freak....it used to stress me out completely if there were dishes or crumbs or unmade beds.....)
I am thankful.
I never expected this shift, this freeing of guilt, to come out of this seasons of my life, and I am so thankful. So filled with peace and contentment - things that the guilt normally sucks right out of my day.
Take your guilt to God my friends and lay it before Him. Ask Him to release you from the mommy-guilt that consumes our days and causes us to want to be all and do all.
He is faithful to those who strive to follow Him and He will work in your hearts and change your priorities.
On the days we try to slow down, to stop, to enjoy their childhood, that list, that lifestyle of busy, floats through our head and makes us anxious, and we, in turn feel guilty for the fact that the dishes are piling, that the laundry isn't done, that there are crumbs on the floor and sticky toothpaste marks on the sink.
GUILT
What a nasty word.
Don't get me wrong, some guilt is appropriate and justified. I'm talking about the false mommy-guilt that many of us feel 100 times in the course of a day.
God has been teaching me that 'it's ok'.
There are seasons in every life where, at least for me, it is OK to turn the TV on all morning so I can sleep, because it means that I CAN spend the afternoon playing or baking or reading to my kids. Yes the laundry lays in mountains and the dishes pile ever higher but IT IS OK.
God is taking the guilt I used to feel and removing it. It is amazing how much freer I feel, how much more energy I have when I am not consumed by guilt for what I am, or am not, doing.
The depression, and the meds, both make me super tired and I have had to re-focus my priorities. On the days I do have energy and motivation, it is about my kids. About making memories and building relationships with them.
Truly the laundry will wait, the dishes will get done (eventually) but these kids, they grow and change in the blink of an eye and I don't want to come out of this season and realize that I have lost them, that they don't want to talk or play because I took the little time I did have when I felt normal, to clean.
As God has been releasing me of the guilt I find that I am loving my kids more because I am not grumpy at them for getting in the way of what I think needs to be done. That it really doesn't bother me that my house is not neat and tidy (I'm a clean freak....it used to stress me out completely if there were dishes or crumbs or unmade beds.....)
I am thankful.
I never expected this shift, this freeing of guilt, to come out of this seasons of my life, and I am so thankful. So filled with peace and contentment - things that the guilt normally sucks right out of my day.
Take your guilt to God my friends and lay it before Him. Ask Him to release you from the mommy-guilt that consumes our days and causes us to want to be all and do all.
He is faithful to those who strive to follow Him and He will work in your hearts and change your priorities.
February 25, 2011
10 Years....
I woke up to these this morning. . . Aren't they pretty?
Yesterday marked 10 years since our first date.
So, so much has happened in 10 years.
There's been:
marriage
new jobs
4 moves
3 kids
tears
laughter
arguments
struggles
joy
contentment
stress
a learning to lean even more on God
This past year has not been easy for us.
We have struggled with
jobs (or lack of),
finances,
emotions,
our relationship,
depression,
trusting God.
BUT....
By God's grace we are growing,
we are coming out on the other side
and we are stronger for it.
Troy has been incredible, he is learning to listen to the call of God on his life and I am watching how that is changing him.
I am thankful,
from the bottom of my heart.
As much as this past year had been a challenge, I wouldn't change it.
In fact, I would go as far as to say I would do it again if it meant learning and growing even more.
God is God and His ways are not even close to ours.
And for that, I am thankful.
We have learned to
slow down,
to lean on God (even when it makes no human sense)
to let others into our pain and struggle
to trust each other.
We are still growing, changing, learning and it is a life long process, but I am so grateful that God has brought us this far.
February 23, 2011
February 19, 2011
Lee Anthony
My great nephew (yikes....am I really that old!) was born 4 weeks ago weighing 4lbs 3oz. Lee spent 2 and a half weeks in the NICU because he was 8ish weeks early.
We got to meet him today.
We got to meet him today.
To cuddle him and love on him,
To smell that sweet baby smell,
and to marvel at the wonder and miracle that he is.
What a precious little boy.
Fearfully and wonderfully made.
Tiny, yet perfect.
And as a side note...Alexandra is in love...she adores that sweet baby boy and wanted to hold him all.the.time.
February 16, 2011
Opposites
Sorrow - Joy
Darkness - Light
Selfishness - Love
Polar opposites yet, would I be able to recognize one without the other?
Would I yearn for joy and strive to love if I did not know what it felt like for darkness to fall unexpected, to take hold, to consume and control, to engulf me?
Would I seek God with all I am if I did not know what it felt like to feel like He had withdrawn, forgotten me, grown tired of my struggles?
He has not - withdrawn, forgotten - but sometimes those feelings can be all-encompassing, drowning out the truth that longs to fill my soul with peace.
Darkness - Light
Selfishness - Love
Polar opposites yet, would I be able to recognize one without the other?
Would I yearn for joy and strive to love if I did not know what it felt like for darkness to fall unexpected, to take hold, to consume and control, to engulf me?
Would I seek God with all I am if I did not know what it felt like to feel like He had withdrawn, forgotten me, grown tired of my struggles?
He has not - withdrawn, forgotten - but sometimes those feelings can be all-encompassing, drowning out the truth that longs to fill my soul with peace.
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