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::noticing God's glory
We spent lots of time in the yard last weekend.
Kristin started plants indoors late in the winter and she brought her little
baby tomatoes and peppers over to plant in our ground yesterday. After much
weeding and dirt hauling, a few new whiskey barrels, and a trip to deBaggio’s,
my little piece of suburbia is looking much greener.
::listening to
The cappuccino machine in the orthodontist’s
office. Seriously, this guy makes me want to start drinking coffee again. Then
again, his tea selection is impressive, too.
::clothing myself in
Lightweight jeans above my ankles and an oxford cloth shirt. My feet are happily ensconsed in crocheted TOMS, a Mother’s Day
gift from Mary Beth.
::talking with my children about these books
Shakespeare. Christian is taking a Shakespeare
course this summer and I’ve seized the opportunity to immerse us all in the
bard once again. His first assignment was to read this article and a few
others. Well, that’s interesting! Perhaps Shakespeare wasn’t the Shakespeare we
thought we knew? I’m planning to tweak these plans, gathering baskets of books
today.
::thinking and thinking
that I wish I could see myself the way my
husband sees me. Particularly when I’ve been stung by the words of another
woman, Mike’s insight is always such a revelation to me and I come away from
our conversation wishing that I could just see through his lens
occasionally.
::pondering prayerfully
“When we honestly ask ourselves which persons
in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead
of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and
touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with
us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief
and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face
with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Road to Daybreak: A Spiritual Journey
You know? I think this one suits me again this
week.
::carefully cultivating rhythm
Could we please talk about email management
this week? There are currently 1265 unread “new” emails in my inbox. These do
not include blog emails. Clearly, I am a poor email manager. Everything pretty
much gets dumped into the same box (except blog mail). I read it (or not) and
then move on. If I know it’s an ad or whatever, I’m likely to just skip it. Why
don’t I delete it? I have no idea. I never archive. I never trash. It’s just a
giant mess. So, how do I clean it all up and unclutter without losing something
I might actually need or missing someone with whom I might need to connect? Oh,
and I’d rather not spend hours fixing this. Ideas? Suggestions?
::creating by hand
The girls need some summer clothes as soon as
possible. My sewing mission is critical. This week, I’m focusing on tops.
::learning lessons in
time management. Always. But more than that, I
think I’m learning lessons in emotional investment. There’s only so much of me.
Where is the best place to invest my time and emotional energy, even my
affection?
::encouraging learning
It’s been about five years since I made
detailed plans. I think, back then, that I was planning on paper (or digitally)
because those plans gave me a sense of security and maybe of control. To some
degree, they were also a creative outlet. Sharing them was an opportunity for
community. But then Sarah was born and we leapt as a family into a new season.
Somehow, I’ve been propelled into an incredibly active existence that leaves me little time for pondering with pen
and paper or even keyboard...
Besides, keyboards make me ache: my neck and shoulders and fingers and wrists. Writing is laborious. Words have long been my constant companions and, in many ways, my comfort and joy. They still are. Giving them voice in print, however, is exceedingly challenging for a myriad of reasons. I remind myself all the time that God has a plan.
::begging prayers
for our prayer community, particularly for
veterans and their families, who still struggle mightily with scars both seen
and unseen.
::keeping house
I’ve started to get some deep cleaning,
decluttering, and organizing in the works. My house looks very neglected
lately (probably since I haven't been home nearly enough to keep things running smoothly). I’m trying not to go after it all gung-ho. My style has always been to
make a long list and then prusue it relentlessly until the job is done and
I’m totally spent. That’s not going to happen this summer. I can’t afford to
deplete myself that way. So, I’ll chip away at it, certain that no tragedy will
befall us because my house isn’t ship-shape perfect.
::crafting in the kitchen
I’m going to roast chickens from our co-op
tonight. I’ll smother them with herbs from our garden and garlic from the
farmer’s market. Alongside, we’ll have summer squash from the farmer’s market
and a salad with greens and beets from the same farm. Nothing inspires me more
in the kitchen than local food with which to create.
::loving the moments
When we manage to squeak out a date night
despite the ridiculously demanding weekend kid schedules.
::giving thanks
for good news and the promise of new beginnings.
living the liturgy
This is not some earthshaking revelation, just
a simple truth: the most effective way to live the liturgy is to go to Mass as
often as possible. It’s all there, available every day. You don’t need a craft
closet. You don’t need a grocery shopping list. You don’t even need much
advanced planning. You just need to show up. And a priest who gives relevant
homilies is plus, too.
::planning for the week ahead
Tomorrow is orientation at James Madison
University for Christian. Mike’s taking him. I’m going to spend my day with
Mary Beth at physical therapy and Stephen at a soccer match. I will be actively
working to silence my inner teacher that would very much like to hover.
Nutcracker auditions are this weekend. See?
It’s not my imagination. There is no offseason.
Stephen will play in the State Cup semi-finals
on Saturday. If he wins, the finals are Sunday. It’s seems so incredibly
unlikely that we could have two state champions in the same year. We are,
however, only two games away. Say a prayer for him? It would be most unpleasant
to lose this one;-)
