Sunday, March 18, 2012

Gone Truckin


 Beginning early tomorrow morning I will be going with my dad on the road for a 2 week haul!  It's not often that everything works out for me to go with him so this is a happy treat :)  
Where are we headed you ask?  Out where young men and young woman have been "told" to go for many a year - WEST!  
I plan on taking many, many pictures and may possibly get a chance to post some along the way!  
See y'all later!

Happy trails to you. . . . . 

Friday, March 9, 2012

Bitter Sweet


Memories.  Laughter.  
Giggles.
Smiling.  
Running, playing.  
Foot loose and care free. 



Brick wall, SMASH!  
A jolting reminder of the present reality.
Questions.  
Hurts, pain.  
Change.

                     Will I ever remember the past without the jolting realization of the present?

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Meet Patrick and Connor

(left to right) Connor, age 6 and Patrick, just turned 9 on the 26th  
Not long ago I got the chance to spend 10 days with these 2 boys and their mom, while their dad was out of town.   

(Here are some pictures we took using my laptop's camera)





I had so much fun!  Connor and I made a lot of picture "books."  Mostly about animals and many about Elephants - his absolute favorite animal :)  We also played "Angry Birds" using Play-Doug and blocks (it's almost more fun than the virtual game!).  
  Patrick loves to play Uno and since that happens to be my favorite card game as well we played it several times.  
Both boys love to build things with blocks.  We built several zoos, fortresses, towns, and etc.  They are very good at playing hide-and-go-seek.  We shared many laughs and lots of fun!
I also enjoyed the many discussions their mom and I had together, while watching "Say Yes to the Dress," during dinner, while working in the kitchen or just relaxing on the sofa.  Talking about the world and it's many goings-on ;)  
I had such a lovely time getting better acquainted with this family, and hope to see them again soon! 
  

Thursday, February 23, 2012

The Way of Light Wreath: Come with Christ -- From the Cradle to the Cross....

Here's a lovely depiction of Advent, Lent and the journey between.

The Way of Light Wreath: Come with Christ -- From the Cradle to the Cross....: I n the dark before Christmas.... In the dark before Easter... There is a way to keep company with Jesus, A way to begin unforgett...

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

When There's Love At Home



Love At Home
There is beauty all around, when there's love at home.
There is joy in every sound, when there's love at home.
Peace and plenty here abide, smiling sweet on every side,
Time doth softly sweetly glide, when there's love at home.
Chorus: Love at home, Love at home.
Time doth softly, sweetly glide, when there's love at home.

In the cottage there is joy, when there's love at home.
Hate and envy ne'er annoy, when there's love at home.
Roses blossom 'neath our feet all the earth's a garden sweet,
Making life a bliss complete, when there's love at home.
Chorus: Love at home, Love at home.
Making life a bliss complete, when there's love at home.


Kindly heaven smiles above, when there's love at home.
 All the earth is filled with love, when there's love at home.
Sweeter sings the brooklet by, brighter beams the azure sky,
There is One who smiles on high, when there's love at home.
Chorus: Love at home, Love at home.
There is One who smiles on high, when there's love at home.


Jesus, show Thy mercy mine, then there's love at home.
Sweetly whisper I am Thine, then there's love at home.
Source of love, Thy cheering light far exceeds the sun so bright,
Can dispel the gloom of night, then there's love at home.
Chorus: Love at home, Love at home.
Can dispel the gloom of night, then there's love at home. 


Another of the many songs dear to my heart, that I've known and sung with my family, on many occasions, since childhood. 
The melody has been going through my head all day, as I contemplate the second most important and influential love in my life (the first being the love of my Savior).  The love of family, love at home.
Oh the sweetness of love at home.
Though of course no family is perfect.  Why even today there were several heated discussions between siblings (from which I am not excluded).  But after everything cools and the tempers level, though hurt feelings may remain, there's that love, almost in the form of duty, that says; "Let's move on.  This is too small to waste time over."
So many different personalities, so many opinions - and, of course, every single one is the right one.  Love, that certain respect, though at times not very obvious, that looks at the situation and says; "Well my idea would work just as well but yours I think will work a bit better."
And there is love at home.
Though maybe far too often shown in very subtle ways, it is here.
It's what brought us together this evening after a long, hard, and for some of us, nearly exhausting day.  Together, with all our differences, our hearts connected with this loyal, deep, and sometimes hard to show, love.  It's what connects our hearts to the two who couldn't join us for supper tonight, as they are away from home.  It is all that has held us together through many a hard time.
Source of love, Thy cheering light far exceeds the sun so bright,
Can dispel the gloom of night, then there's love at home.
I not for the presence of the Author of Love, all hope for love at home would be for naut.
Only in Him is it possible to aside the differences and say "No!" to self.
To give up what we want in order to further the happiness of the other(s).


What if we all did part to sing so that there might be Love at Home?

Thursday, February 9, 2012

The "C" Word


As the word rolls off, washing my tongue with soap seems necessary.
An almost overwhelming desire for it to be rid.
"It wouldn't be such an unappealing word,"  I've often thought, "if it wasn't accompanied so well by it's meaning."

{change - making or becoming different,  alteration or modification,  
      new experience; substitution of one thing for another}  

So many times I've wished that things would stay "just the way they are and never change."
But "oh Self how silly you are.  Don't you already know that you NEED change?
How would you ever grow and learn without it?
Yes it will hurt but how else will you ever find peace without first knowing pain?
How will you ever know true beauty if you have never seen the ashes?
How would you ever know the difference of when you where a child to where you are now,
if change didn't take it's course and do it's work?"

How much better I might learn these lessons and
my relationship with Father be ever more strengthened if only I'd learn
to look past this twisting hurricane, beyond the wreckage after and strain to get a glimpse of
the masterpiece in the making.

The clay is being shaped and molded.
Twisted and spun in circles.
And see, a shape is forming. . . . .

Monday, January 30, 2012

Hello New Day!

Sun light, chasing away the night.
Fresh breeze, carrying away the reasons to scream
Breathes of clear air, momentarily erasing cares
Blue sky, bringing color into gray and white
Voices filled with innocence, reviving joy in hurting hearts
Work, providing the chance to further grow in mind and body


Monday, January 16, 2012

Monday Happiness

My room seems to be the most active room in the house today. 
Tommy and Zeb are wrestling on the bed.  Boys will be boys ;)
Channing is either playing with my basketball or running from the threat of being tickled by Abby.
Aidon sporadically pops in and out, each time having some sort of grand news about the happenings in the rest of the house. 
And Evelyn, with regal air,  is parading around in her "pwincess dwess." 
In the midst of all this I'm at my desk concentrating on school work, with the "Braveheart" sound track playing on my iTunes to somewhat combat the, almost-too-loud, happy sounds around me. 


I love my life!!!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

By No Other Name As Sweet. . .

Love, who on earth can wholly understand it?

It frightens, yet it comforts

It fights for what is right, yet is ever ready to live in peace

It judges with a righteous anger, yet, when asked, it, without hesitation, forgives with mercy and grace

It demands our very best, yet does not require perfection

It can feel like hurt, yet it heals

It threatens, yet it protects

It is risky even dangerous, yet in it's arms we find complete safety

It is so simple, yet increasingly complex

It can't be bought however it comes at a great cost

None can be worthy of it's presence, yet it none can live without it

It can be rejected but never stopped

It can be persecuted but never extinguished

Many times has it been professed, but only once, nailed to a cross, was it's truest identity ever portrayed
It's agents are joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, self-control,
gentleness, and faithfulness

It is the producer of Hope

The foundation of Faith

The greatest of the three that forever remain

It brings life

It annihilates self

It evokes sacrifice

It is Love.  It . . . is God!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Trés Magnifique!!

I wanted to share some of my recent excitement with all of you.  This year in my co-op art class we've been learning about colors!  This is one of my assignments.  Done completely with colored pencils!!
 Up till now I've used your typical graphite drawing pencils for most of my drawings.  Excepting of course the occasional doodling with crayons or Sharpies, on the side :)
Taking this class has really heightened my sense of the colors around me. 
Not so much that I notice them more but that I am beginning to notice the details of the colors themselves more!
I am immensely enjoying learning more about them!!!





I am so grateful and amazed beyond words at God's creation of color. 
It's so profoundly wondrous to me, to witness color in motion.  The brilliant pinks and reds streaked across the morning sky, melting into the icy blue of the approaching day.  
The blues, blacks, whites, grays, greens, and browns that appear, then disappear, on the surface of a lake's rippling waters.  From a field drenched with the brilliant color of flowers.  To the silencing beauty of a rainbow after the rain, ever reminding us of God promise to mankind (genesis 9:9-12).
And have you ever noticed the hints of purple and red found, in the shadow, on the underside of a leaf?
Just contemplating what life would be like without color is so saddening, yet so exciting to know that we do have and are surrounded by colors!! 
Try to stop and think of how much joy colors alone bring into your life.
A simple thought maybe, but for me it has been mind-blowing.

So look around and enjoy God's creativity reflected by
this marvelous creation of His,
COLOR!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Seemingly Simple


How often do you stop and think of how the seemingly mundane, every day things really have an extravagant      importance in your life?  We are completely surrounded by what we refer to as "simple," "little," or even "unimportant" things.   Are they really so simple?  So little?  
Think of air one of the many necessary things we take for granted.  The ability to inhale and exhale.  In reading the last 2 sentences you've breathed in and out about 5 or 7 times (hey that's not easy to count while you're reading).  
Here's another one.  The single movement of any of your fingers.  Simple right?  You probably just did it without even thinking.  But what about the actual intricacy of that single motion?  How much information has to pass from your brain, through the nervous system, to that specific finger, and at an AMAZING rate of speed!  And  if you just moved your finger again not only were you doing that but you were also contemplating all the work put into that one movement.  In other words, you were multi-tasking!!  
What I'm trying to get at is how simple do we really think the "simple" things of life really are?  How often do we stop ourselves from thinking of the huge "mountains" we may be facing, to find a genuine joy in the "simple" things with which we've been so abundantly blessed?  
A warm ray of sunshine on your face.  
The smell of coffee (can I hear an amen?!).  
A child's carefree giggle.  
The fact that, proven by the pile of dirty dishes, there was enough for everyone to have their fill at the last meal.  Crystal clear water that automatically flows from the spicket, as soon as you turn that little nob.  
And the countless other comforts of a home.
So I ask again, is "simple" really so simple?  Are not the seemingly "simple" things the things that are most important, most complex, and most profound?    

Jesus showed that the "simple" things are just as important to him as the "not-so-simple" things. 
He spoke of lilies in comparison to kings.  
He cares for the sparrows.  Probably the least favored of all birds.  
He won't ignore, but instead honors, the "simple" words, thoughts, and desires of children.    

Simple things wouldn't be so important to us if they really, truthfully weren't so simple in their impact on us.

What is something that you simply take for granted? 
Thank Jesus for the "simple" blessings He's given you.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Fun Diddly-Dee

Good friends, music; jewelry, decor and chocolate stores, coffee shop, a Shakespearian play,
chocolate and more chocolate.
Here is the perfect recipe for the best way to begin ones weekend, and to brighten the whole rest of your week!  I highly recommend giving it a try :)