Thursday

I'm sitting down to punch keys this morning a little later than I'd like to.

Because Mama here snoozed a bit longer than usual.

And that's okay.

I'm (slowly) learning to not beat myself up over the occasional slips.

They are to be expected.

Since I failed to stir myself in time to leak out my own words - I'll leave you with the words of others. Theirs have hit me strong lately, anyhow. Perhaps they'll do the same for you?

Be inspired. Carry these memes with you. And have a beautiful day.

“In our own case we accept excuses too easily; in other people’s we do not accept them easily enough.”- C.S Lewis

If you met a truly humble person, you wouldn't think him/her humble, but happy and incredibly interested in you. - Tim Keller


"Religious noise and worship do not necessarily mean the same thing." A.W. Tozer

Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured. -Mark Twain

'So often, a visit to a bookshop reminded me that there are good things in the world.' - Van Gogh

"If you are interested in the country only for the sake of painting it, you'll never learn to see the country.” ― C.S. Lewis

Let's really see today, friends. Hugs to you all.

Wednesday

I just wrapped up my reading of Hebrews.

And I'm sad to see it go.

I know that it's wispy pages are forever bound to my Bible - allowing me to revisit it's profoundness anytime - but I won't be sitting each morning and drinking from it's well like I have been.

From the moment I started in on that book - I felt utterly sucked in and smitten and quenched.

Scholars don't know who penned it..... Paul, Apollos, Barnabas, even Priscilla...have been suggested, but no common consensus has been made.

We may not know who exactly wove the words of this book - but we know that they were skillfully wise in their weaving - and that the Holy Spirit was present when the words were crafted.

Yes, crafted. Hebrews is truth art.
It's a feast.
It's savory.

After one morning reading - I jotted down that I wanted to "pick up a spoon and scoop up the scriptures off the page". 

It was that satisfying.

Before this - I had hit a bit of a dry spell in my studying and taking in of the word. For numerous reasons - I hadn't the wherewithal or drive to consume it.

But then I felt lead to head to Hebrews.

And I was fed to the filling.

If you feel the urge to head there yourself -  go into it understanding that it tastes best in small morsels. Resist the itch to plow through. Really chew on it. And persist to the end.

One of the many nuggets that struck me most was this:

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. - Hebrews 10:39

Odd that the day before I read this, a guest preacher stood on the stage of our church and beamed to us all that self-preservation is what will make you lose your life....that making all of your decisions out of fear and preserval of self will only lead you to making bad decision.

And when he spoke this out - it reverberated loud in me.

And it ran so much against my thread.

I have spent my whole life desperately trying to preserve myself (my health, my energy, my safety) - and here swoops in this preacher and this scripture telling me to not shrink back and preserve myself, but to step forward and instead concentrate on preserving my soul.

Yes.

Ah, the sun is peeping once more, friends.

There is much to plate up and pass around when it comes to Hebrews - but I suppose you'll have to go do some munching yourself. Mama here better get moving - or else!

May the Lord speak to you tenderly and intimately through whatever scripture, song, or sermon you find yourself in today.

Lord, meet and feed each one.

Tuesday

Today will be full.

School.
Piano lessons.
Soccer practice.
Dance class.

I don't usually do well with a plate over piled - but I don't thrive with an empty one, either. So, bring on the runaround.

I'm sitting smack in the calm before the precious storm. It's dim. The sprinklers are on outside. Everyone is still lost in a dream-like state. Shadows flicker on the wall as my lone candle flares. And Mama is wanting to do today.... well. Really well.

I want to smile more than I scowl.
I want to play more than I pout.
I want a soft heart, rather than a harried one.
I want love to shine like a beacon and bounce off these walls and sear their souls.
I want to live in such a way today - that my children desire to join me.

J.C. Ryle - back in 1888 - said this:

"Love should be the silver thread that runs through all your conduct. Kindness, gentleness, long-suffering, forbearance, patience, sympathy, a willingness to enter into childish troubles, a readiness to enter into childish joys, these are the chords by which a child may be led most easily, - these are the clues you must follow if you would find the way to his heart." - from The Upper Room, quoted in Educating the Wholehearted Child by Clay Clarkson.

Just, yes.

I can't even expound.

Oh God - let those things, let those fruits....ring and reign loud and lavishly in this home.

The sheen of light coming from the window, is telling me that day is about to break wide open.

I can sense.... that the blondes will be out of the gate shortly.

Things are stirring....in the home, and in my soul.

Lord fill me and let it overflow.

Monday

It's barely five hours past yesterday.

It's dark and early here, and Mama is up....feeling the urge and itch to scribble something out.

I just checked all three of the littles - and they are rolled up sweet still, in blanketed bunk beds.

As I've noted here before...there is a type of pureness, stillness, freshness...to the early morning.

All crisp and new and waiting and ready. I love that.

Especially today.

Because after the children rise and dress and tend to chores - our first full day of homeschooling begins.

We have much to discover this year. With a big-guy 2nd grader, my kinder girl, and our 2 year old toddle-boy....our days of learning will be full.

Which hopefully....turns into minds and hearts being full, too.

I've set the stage as best I can...

Books all stacked on the kitchen table.
Chalkboard adorned with date and greeting.
Candles throughout.
Daddy surprising with donuts.
New outfits.
A plan.

And prayer. Lots and lots and lots of prayer.

Because a Mama can plan, and light candles, and leave notes, and prep her precious heart out - and it can all fall to pieces the moment the toddler shrieks and shrills.

It will happen....the shrieks and shrills. Kids will end up complaining, and Teacher-Mama will get tired, and laundry will pile up, and lessons will fall flat at some point.

Preparations and donuts and lit wicks won't make real life go away.

They just make real life feel a little warmer for the woman who is carrying it all. :)

My plan is to visit this spot numerous times over the next seven days. Dare I say it - but in my overly determined heart....my desire is to sit and share here on the blog everyday for the next seven go-arounds.

Because yesterday....I sat in a class myself. Two of the finest artists around - put on a course at our church entitled Arts and Faith.

It was all about  using your flair for the arts - to boost faith and Kingdom growth.

It was brilliant.


Afterward, Pastor Tom issued a commission:

Over the next seven days....let excellent art explode in you. Commit to it and see what happens.

And that's all I needed.

As our resident artists said....'set a deadline and do it.'

Yes. Okay.

With homeschooling, and a dear friend's diagnosis, and long prayer lists, and torture turning up in all parts of the world, and beauty turning up in all parts of the world, and family and marriage and the daily happenings of life - there is much that weighs both heavy and light on my spirit these days.

Sharing here - will perhaps makes sense of the load? And I pray - alleviate it for someone else in the undoing.

Gathering our Precious Marbles

 (This post....it leans toward the ladies. All of the following can be said of the male mind too....but from my own recent experiences, and the countless interactions I've had with women on this topic as of late - I feel like I should gear this one in the direction of the gals. 

I started writing this piece last week. Strange and eery that it began just before a storm of much needed awareness erupted over mental health. Love to you all.)



Your mind can become your master.

It can freak you out, and fret your insides, and blow you up, and cause you to seethe.

It can imagine monsters that aren't real, and it can muster up all kinds of untruths, and it can whisper scares, and it can fall head long into every sort of doom and despair imaginable.

It can speak lies, and it can convince you of the worst.

And it can take you right over.

Because we women... the way we're woven - our minds are masterpieces!

They are beautifully laced and wreathed and interconnected. They are sharp and keen and uniquely agog with life.

Yes, a woman's mind is a masterpiece, indeed.

But we often times allow these masterpieces to actually master us....and this shouldn't be so, friends.

As moms, daughters, sisters, workers, aunts, allies,.....we women have got to get healthy in our heads -  if we want to make any kind of a positive impact in this world. In our worlds. In our homes and churches and communities and families.

Because an ill mind can sicken the whole body.

And it can render us useless if we let it.

Uselessness. That's the intent, you know. If the enemy gains ground in a woman's noggin'....a fall is certain. If the adversary of our souls gets any kind of control over a females faculties - she's fruitless.

And this....it gets me fired up.

Do you have any idea how many times I have convinced myself that I have some crazy random illness?
Do you have any idea how many times I have compared myself to other women - leaving me feeling worthless?
Do you have any idea how many times I have supposed that someone has something against me, because for some reason or another I imagined that I was slighted or shoved in some way?
Do you have any idea how many times I have worried myself right into a weary-ridden pit?
Do you have any idea how many times I can replay in my mind the events of my life that make me mad, or sad, or less than?

You are more than certainly nodding yes.

Ah! I'm raging!

We shouldn't be content with this. We shouldn't just accept this as normal. Or hormonal.

Because it's hell.

Literally. I'm not being profane...I'm being prescriptive.

We have got to be able to discern what is Jesus and what isn't.....so we He can turn our heads right side up again.

Enter Hebrews 5:14.

But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (ESV)

Yes! To be women....who are so trained and experienced with discernment - that we can know and recognize what is God and what isn't...this is HUGE.

And it's life-changing.

If we ladies could tell the difference between the whispers of God, the sneerings of Satan, and our own flailing flesh...

If we could recognize the voice of the Shepherd, against the ruthless howl of the wolf....

we would find liberty.

We'd sniff out the lies so fast...the enemy's fiery darts would be snuffed and dismissed immediately.

To be able to differentiate and divvy up our inklings and whims and thoughts..... this is maturity.

It's also freedom.

Getting our minds to mind, as I wrote last summer....is victory. 

But this will look different for each of us.

Some of the ladies scanning this post - need professional counsel in this area.
Some might need medication.
Some might need a journal and a pen.
Some of us just need to take notice - that we are often times speaking utter trash to our very own selves.
Some might need to simply wake up and realize that there is another team on the playing field that is vying to dominate our minds, memories, and imaginations.

But ALL of us need to be asking. All of us need to pray, and petition the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom and discernment when it comes to our thoughts.

ALL of us need to be ingesting scripture....because we know it's truth.

ALL of us need to be in more situations where we have to hear the voice of God....places where we have gone out on a limb for the Lord.... and we must know what's Him and what isn't. Maybe that's the training the verse is talking about.

ALL of us need to be the gatekeepers of what is allowed in, and what we grant ourselves to entertain.

Because we can't always control what comes to our minds.....but we can control what stays there....by the Lord's power...yes we can.

A woman's mind....her artistry, her insight, her originality, her ingenuity.....

is remarkable.

Let's start walking down a path that will allow us to also describe our minds as.....

 redeemed.

Lord, let us be sheep with the sharpest and most discerning of ears. In Jesus' name. Yes and amen.

Simplicity

Our August is awfully full.

I'm typing here - with my calendar spread out before me and my nerves coming undone within - because looking at the agenda is making me quiver a bit.

Most of the penciled in events are favorable.

Some are annoying and mandatory.

But for the most part - the things we have committed to next month and beyond are of the positive variety.

School. Church events. Fellowship. Visitors. Bible studies. Gatherings. Meetings. Appointments.

And so it goes. Such is life.

And this is good. And it is healthy. And it is an honor. And it is growth inspiring.

But while so many of the things on my calendar have the potential of ringing in a lot of light.....they can sometimes feel really heavy.

Like right this moment - I feel like I'm shouldering each square on the August almanac.

It makes me want to build a fortress around our lives and reel in the drawbridge.

But at the same time, I wrestle with that image. I know my propensity to hermit-in at times - could really run with that image and it could be the fall of me.

Let me rephrase that, it would be the fall of me. We are made for community.

It's just the truth that being engaged, being a participant, becoming involved - is right.

Backseat parents.....
sideline Christians....
shore sitting people...

they miss out.

And the world misses out - just as they do.

But too full of an agenda.....can leave one empty.

Too awful much of a grand thing - can truly be a negative.

It's like air.

I think you'd agree that oxygen....it's pretty awesome. We need it to be. But if we humans only went around inhaling all the time - we'd bust.

The exhale is a must.

Filling our lungs up with oxygen is kind of like....a have to.

It's the same with involvement and engagement - our souls need it to thrive.

But just like the lungs need to deflate and expel carbon dioxide out of the body....

Our schedules and agendas need some emptiness.

We can't go around filling up all the time without some releasing and letting go.

Last night - we had nothing.

So the oldest started piecing together PVC pipes - to make little water systems in our backyard.

And this morning - we had nothing in particular scheduled....so I was able to make pancakes.

I was able to mix and stir and splat and scoop and fill happy bellies...because we simply had some margin in our day.

Pipes and pancakes would not have happened otherwise.

I'm grateful for all the opportunities. And for most of them - I'm thrilled to dive in. As I mentioned - it's an absolute honor to be engrossed. But September, onward - I plan for simple to reign. 

Because saying no to good things - so that we can say yes to great things, to spontaneous things - it's what I want. It's what I need.


As all of us here gear up for another school year, another fall season, new commitments and continued old ones....

Let's be faithful, yes.

Let's commit to the things we feel are necessary and needed, of course.

Let's heed the call on those things we hear the Lord pointing us to, most importantly.

But let's allow simplicity to have it's place.

Our homes and hearts will be fuller....

with the few and far between.

A Series of Snapshots

They're outside right now.

Mowers and edgers are roaring through the neighborhood, breaking up bird song and mid-morning silence.

A long black slug is making it's way across our backyard patio, with an audience of blondes - of which, the youngest is completely enamored.

"Ug! Ug, Mama!"

The oldest boy is holding a frog he found this morning, and the girl is eating her breakfast sitting pretty in the seat of a plastic John Deere.

The door just opened, with patters of shoeless feet hitting the floor tiles. I hear humming. They must be looking for something - because a hum usually accompanies their search.

Mama here is about to throw some shoes on and put a backpack together, so we can venture out on a bike stroll.

Storms are coming later in the day - so we need to steal some sunshine while we're able.


**********

It's crisp and early on the flip side.

I'm typing here with chipped finger nail polish and a long to-do list scrawled out to my left.

All three littles are still laying down and the house is calm quiet.

There's a basket of folded laundry along the wall, and a lot of dishes waiting to be stashed in the washer.

David Nevue is playing on Pandora, and a soft pink candle dances on my desk.....Mama's attempt at solace.

Nevue is playing the old hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness.

Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All that I've needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.

I hear stirring and doors creaking down the hall, and I carry those lyrics with me into my morning.

Getting my bottom reluctantly out of the chair to start breakfast, I pray for His help to minister well as a Mama today.

**********

The eggs and toast and granola are all cleaned up from our morning meal.

Bible study (from Luke 7) has been had. Christs' love for both the pharisee and the weeping woman - has been considered, and taken in, and discussed.

There is a fort being made in the living room.

Pillows, cushions, blankets....they are everywhere.

I hear them in there now, discussing the architecture of the thing.

The littlest is sitting at my feet here....still wanting to be close to Mama duck most of the day.

I have pushed send on several emails, and I'm about to read aloud to the wee ones.

The laundry is still waiting it's turn to be done. There is so.much.laundry.

**********

With the house in fort-making disarray - we plopped ourselves right in the middle of it, and read.

A short biography on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, followed by a few of his exquisite poems.

Four by the Clock, hit us real and heavy.

We read it through, with sound effects and drama, three times.

I could have sat as Longfellow's audience all day, but once again....rain ensues.....and there's a yard that needs mowing.

***********

Mid mow, I had to go in to wipe a bottom.

Ah, motherhood.

After the grass was all freshly shorn - I snugged up to the youngest and we read books and sang a song before he fell into a nap of slumber.

I went in and cleaned up the abandoned fort.

The older two sat at the chalkboard and did some school review.

Shapes, and letters, and numbers for the girl.

Adding, subtracting, and clocks for the boy.

Today's review went well. We aren't always so successful.

***********

Right this very moment, the oldest is stretched out on the couch reading an easy chapter book.

I keep being interrupted by this boy - unsure of certain words.

River Flows in You is being played by Yiruma on the ipad.

Mama here should be prepping for tonight's Bible study, but she is sitting here with you....blogging instead.

It's been so long since I've been able to pause here - and hash out, and dream, and create...I feel I could do it for the next several days or so.

But....

On to laundry. And group prep.

********

And so here I sit.

The day is budding new once more.

As I review these little flashes of my week, I wonder if they are odd.

Some people take photos with a camera. I tend to take them with words.

This drives all the grandma's crazy and leaves scrapbooks empty, but letting you form the photo in your mind, by the reading of verse - I think there is something to that, don't you?

It warms me, anyhow.

There are things looming in my heart this morning - that are causing me a bit of anguish.

There are things happening in my world - that are making me war in prayer.

But there are also things, just everyday ordinary things, that ring in all kinds of joy and delight.

Slugs. Frogs. Rain. Grass. Diapered bottoms. Forts. Poems. And the gift of garments to launder and fold.

Little snapshots, in word or in image- when returned to - can flicker gratefulness.

May these do just that.