'Twas a Happy Easter.

I love how Easter has these traditions that are "set in stone"--baskets with goodies and Easter egg hunts, and dyeing eggs, and most especially talking about the resurrection.

I think I love how confident Easter feels, and how I want all of my holidays to possess the same assurance that what we do as a family is just the right fit for our family.  It's my goal that I hope to figure out in the next few years...

Grow.

"On Fridays around these parts we stop, drop, and write.
For fun, for love of the sound of words, for play, for delight, for joy and celebration at the art of communication.
For only five short, bold, beautiful minutes. Unscripted and unedited. We just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.
Won’t you join us?
Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking."
~The Gypsy Mama



Grow.

It's a hope.  It's a longing.  It's a yearning desire for me right now.  I want a few things in my life to grow: 
*my contractions--could you maybe come five minutes apart and just a titch stronger?
*my little baby--oh sweet, glittering star, grow so you'll be ready to enter this world.
*my heart--will you open even wider than you already are to encompass this new little one in the blanket of love?
*my time--will you crescendo to allow all of the extra new baby to-do's fit in our schedule?
*my boys--might you wake up tomorrow with new wisdom shining from your eyes--wisdom to understand that Mommy has to share her time and her heart with another now.
*my faith--may you keep growing and growing and growing, never stopping, always increasing in strength with each new faith-challenging-building experience.

Today I'm feeling purple.

Royal purple.  Life is glorious and full of beauty.  I feel like I am part of something grander than myself...motherhood and the growing and nurturing of my soul, and theirs.

And this duty is Divine.  I have been commissioned from on High for the grandest, holiest, most sacred calling a daughter of God can ever have, that of mother.  How can I ever be enough to give my sweet little ones all that they need, deserve in this life?

But the realization then drapes over me like a velvet cloak of purple assuring me of the royalty that runs through my veins, and thoughts of I can do this and He will be with me rest on my careworn shoulders, bolstering them up to the stature of a princess.  Once again, I am reminded that God is my Father and I am His daughter, which makes me the daughter of the Creator of the whole wide universe, the Divine King of all heaven and earth.  And I am His daughter?  I smile knowing, feeling the reality of this truth.

And I can do this mothering journey because He is my Father, which means He will be there to show me the way.  He will be a lamp unto my feet, a lighthouse glowing to steer me aright.  And I will be the mother He intended because Eucharisteo is always enough.  His grace is always sufficient, and if our grace is coupled with His, it will always be enough.

And this is why I am feeling purple. Deep, majestic, royal, and ready to conquer the world...or just my home, where I am the queen.

Where I Am.

Today I'm feeling the need to take a small break...to look at this year...how far I've come...and how far I still need to go.  I feel tired and exhausted for really no reason at all.  Fall time is hastening on and I finally realized that I'm ready for it to come.  Summer has long been my most favorite time of year and this year I dreaded even the thought of Fall...which meant winter was on its way.  But last week something changed for the better.  I found a few Autumn pieces to display in my home and then a few more and a few more.  Until I found myself surrounded by Autumn decor and I was happy. 

And then there was yesterday.  I happened upon the steal of the century with a $20 beautiful record player.  The record player is long gone, but the piece is stunning and I can't wait to paint it all white.

And therefore, today with summer lingering and autumn forthcoming, I feel the need to stop. Sit. And reflect upon this year.  I have learned much.  I have grown much.  But I need to reflect and remember in order to make the best possible use out of the rest of this year.  I have a little less than 4 months.  I want to make them spectacular...like the grand finale to an already grand year.  But how can I do this unless I first stop and ponder upon where this year has taken me and where I still need to traverse.  Perhaps this poem by Robert Frost sums it up best:


Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there's some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.


The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.