Wide Open Spaces

Alone... with My Self.

I think partially because I am such a social being and partially because my soul craves connection with God, I find myself drawn to alone times. I've been finding recently, that my life is full of opposites that create a beautiful rhythm if I will listen to the beat.

Work and play, community and solitude, exercise and rest, talking and listening (I totally suck at the listening part, stop laughing friends I'm working on it.) But that is exactly what I mean, if I find the opposite of what I do excessively I can bring balance to my days. With all the recent ways that have been invented to connect, I find a tranquility in being with myself. My Self. I kind of like myself and I figure she deserves my attention. And with all the noise and conversations I just need some wide open spaces at times to hear her think. :) You know what I mean?

Easter

We had a lovely Easter Sunday with our family and friends. I was so impressed that my mom had all these beautiful roses on her table. She went over to my Grandma's and clipped some fresh flowers for the occasion. She even brought out my great grandmother's chirpy whimsical dishes.

Sunshine Kisses

I was so excited to have time to amble through the fields this afternoon. The lighting was so warm and cozy I actually PUT DOWN my camera and sat there. I tell the children that I work with that sunshine is God's way of giving kisses. You can feel it on your skin, and it's so cuddly. I'll confess I plopped down in the middle of a patch of wild flowers and let God love all over me. :) And surprisingly I feel so soft calm, and clean this evening.

Mothercraft {Part III-Areas 7-9}

Family Ties and Respect for Parents

1. Enjoyment by parents of each other's company

2. Respect for each other's opinions.

3. A truly self-reliant outlook on life.

4. Treatment of the child with respect as an individual, a person worth consulting.

5. Enjoyment in doing things together as a family.

6. Sensible use of family income and joint decisions about its use.

7. Skills or traits in each family member that the others are proud of.

8. Recognition of lasting values rather than desire for excitement and amusement.

9. Acceptance of community responsibility.

Strengthening Values in Family Life

7. If each member of the family has some trait or skill that the rest can be proud of, family unity will tend to be stronger. Even while children are very little they begin to show personality differences. Molly's family is pleased because already, as a 4-year old, she is so friendly that everyone likes her. Two-year-old Mark may have a very different temperament, but he may show a quickness of observation that is very well worth encouraging. If Father is proud of Mother's skill in cake making or house decorating, and if Mother is sure no gardener has a "greener thumb" than Father, the children just naturally expect that things they do well will be pointed out too. It is wholesome for everyone in a family to be proud of everyone else (but totally unnecessary for outsiders to have to hear about it). And there is usually something for which each one can be praised if we stop and hunt for it.

8. Parents who have asked themselves what they mean by "good family life" are trying to find the values in their way of living. Of course, people seldom live up to the ideals they have, but they certainly won't live up to ones they haven't even thought out.

The valuable parts of family life are the byproducts of all the work that goes into making a home. It isn't how varied or well-cooked the food on the table is (though that helps) so much as it is the atmosphere at the family table; it is not the cost of the curtains at the window so much as it is the eagerness with which the children look out of the window to see their father coming home. It isn't what kind of car the family has, how they enjoy themselves when they go out in it.

The family's attitude toward life is what make the difference. If the parents have lived lives in which excitement to fill in the vacant spots was all they hunted for, the values of their family life for their children will be very different from those of parents who never have time enough to do all the creative, interesting things, they have piled up ahead of them.

9. Acceptance of their responsibility in the community in which they live is one way parents can round out family life. Children are very proud of parents who enter into the life about them, who are taking part in and contributing to the community and not just receiving from it.

When a family chooses a home because it is "in a good neighborhood," they immediately have to shoulder part if the responsibility for keeping the neighborhood "good." If they are truly community-minded, they will already have been interested in the school and active in community projects, not just selfishly for their own children but for the good of all children. Having children is what often starts people toward becoming community-minded.

Slow Down Therapy {17}

"Take time just to think. Action is good and necessary, but it's fruitful only if we muse, ponder, and mull."

Saturday at the Park

I've been trying to catch up on some much needed R&R this weekend but with such a beautiful day making itself known outside my windows, I couldn't resist strapping on my pack and heading out of doors. So while my remarkable husband made some dinner, I went outside to play.

After sometime rather than the ring of a dinner bell I received an e-mail on my smartphone announcing that supper would be ready soon. So I jumped back in the car and headed home for some delicious tri-tip, beans, and bread. YUM! But not before snapping a few shots.

Slow Down Therapy {18}

"Make time for play --- the things you like to do. Whatever your age, your inner child needs re-creation."

Second Sowing

Second Sowing

For whom

The milk ungiven in the breast

When the child is gone?

For whom the love locked up in the heart

That is left alone?

That golden yield

Split sod once, overflowed an August field,

Threshed out in pain upon September's floor,

Now hoarded high in barns, a sterile store.

Break down the bolted door;

Rip open, spread and pour

The grain upon the barren ground

Wherever cracks in clod is found.

There is no harvest for the heart alone;

The seed of love must be

Eternally

Resown.

-Anne Lindbergh

"As long as our pain and wisdom and lessons are locked up in the heart or hoarded high in barns, they remain sterile and unfertile. To grow in the midst of difficulties we must rip open the bags of grain and seeds and pour them out wherever we see fertile ground."