Post Category → just life

soak.

Last night was one of pregnancy sleep. You know — the kind where you don’t really sleep? I couldn’t get comfortable, a baby was bouncing on my organs non-stop, and then my heart started squeezing over so many things that overwhelm. Not very restful.

This morning, I wake to skies that are endless cloud and the sound of steady rain. I wrap my afghan, prepare my coffee, and sit.

It’s a day for soaking. For letting Living Water penetrate my heart and mind. For just receiving this truth:

God loves.

Me.

My soul is already perking up. Rain is such a good, good thing.

wildflowers

I love wildflowers.

We don’t have many in our fields, but if I take a walk down our country road on a June morning, there are plenty to bring home.

So many colors. Shapes. Textures. Sizes. Even the grass is worth picking and putting into a vase.

And no one planted these. They’re not there by anyone’s design. The only reason they exist is because God loves wildflowers, too. And that amazes me.

There’s a lot to be learned about the character and nature of God in this little jar of flowers, if you think about it. I think that’s why I love them so much. Something about each perfect shade, each lovely petal brings me incredible comfort and peace.

Oh, how He loves us so.

june 21st: summer

On this, the longest day of the year, we did a few summery things.

First, I didn’t take a shower. Ha! Okay, not exactly news-worthy. The busy and fun day got away from me. Try again tomorrow!

We got our first vegetables from our CSA. It always, always feels like Christmas morning. (Also, Krista dropped off goat cheese. So yes, I’ll be eating veggies and goat cheese ALL WEEK. Yum!)


(To be clear, the radishes are from the CSA, not the bananas. Just in case you thought we’d moved to the equator.)

Ryan said “Sure!” when the kids asked about a picnic dinner, so we packed one up and drove to the St. Lawrence River to enjoy a long evening. The boys were so excited about this being the longest day of the year, though Jameson kept telling William it was Daylight Savings Day, and I couldn’t quite get that straightened out. Oh well.

The moon is almost full tonight, and it was getting brighter as we drove home at dusk — at 9pm. That always amazes me. (Although it’s sort of cheating because of — you guessed it — Daylight Savings.)

june loveliness

Three years ago, I was digging out shrubs and planting any flowers my mom had extra of. I’m certainly still decades away from participating in the Garden Tour, but that’s okay. I’m just amazed that this is all growing, filling in, multiplying. I’m really thankful for the beauty God bothered to create.

Lovely colors to bring inside:

I think I’ve mentioned eggs pretty much as often as I’ve mentioned my kids, but can I just say: sometimes boosting your iron levels is a really yummy activity. Also, Maddie’s eggs taste like sunshine. Really.

And speaking of color:

weekend catch-up

On Friday, we took a field trip — about the only kind of field trip I ever manage to pull off:

We crossed the road, walked through our neighbor’s yard, and stood at the edge adjoining a huge hayfield, where tractors were pulling super cool equipment and shaping cut, dried grass into huge bales. The kids thought it was really neat, I loved the breeze and smell of dried hay, and the farmers must have enjoyed the late afternoon pick-me-up of three cute and enthusiastic kids pointing and waving as they rolled by.

Field trip: Check.

On Saturday, I cut up a watermelon for an after dinner treat. It was a hit. And of course, watching Beatrice discover the wonderfulness of holding a huge slice of juicy sweetness in her little hands? Priceless. (Last summer she was still a crawling, nursing infant. This summer is all about discovery!)

Today, I grabbed a few pics while attempting to gather these three crazies for a “Happy Father’s Day” video. Beatrice doesn’t like being moved around like a baby, and she also is prone to totally cheese out when asked to smile. As you can see:

And this guy. He is the world to three little people. They adore him, but why wouldn’t they? He loves them all the time, as deeply and fully as he can.

“The glory of children is their father.” –Proverbs 17.6

glory of it all

Sometimes, at the end of a perfectly good day that the Lord has made, my soul is rumpled with all sorts of, well, bad attitude. (Wasn’t it just this morning that I prayed, in front my little accountability partners, “Lord, thank You that we can start the day declaring Your lovingkindness, and thank You that tonight we’ll be able to proclaim Your faithfulness”? Well, that’s not exactly where my evening was heading.)

Sometimes, I wander into the entry to put a finally stamped and addressed envelope on the front table, and I hear the song Ryan’s playing in his office as he works.

Sometimes, I sit right down and happily say, “Yes. Please. An attitude check, and soul realignment, and some Truth and Reality, please.”

And the Holy Spirit does that. Right here, right in my house — the one I was just complaining is such a mess. He comes in, anyway, and does His thing.

*****

[the song:]

At the start
He was there, He was there
In the end,
He’ll be there, He’ll be there

And after all our hands have wrought
He forgives

Oh the Glory of it all is:
He came here
For the rescue of us all
that we may live
for the glory of it all
for the glory of it all

All is lost
find Him there, find Him there
After night
Dawn is there, Dawn is there

After all falls apart
He repairs He repairs

Oh the Glory of it all is:
He came here
for the rescue of us all
that we may live
for the glory of it all

oh He is here
for redemption from the fall
that we may live
for the glory of it all
oh the glory of it all
the glory of it all
oh the glory of it all

After night
comes the light
dawn is here
dawn is here
it’s a new day
it’s a new day
everything will change
things will never be the same
we will never be the same…

Oh, the glory of it all is
You came here
for the rescue of us all
that we may live
for the glory of it all

Oh You are here
with redemption for us all
that we may live
for the glory of it all
for the glory of it all
oh the glory of it all