Wednesday, August 29, 2012

The Gift of Voting......

Do you remember the first time you were able to vote?

My grandfather always told me "Always, always value your right to vote.  Never take it for granted."
I am trying to instill these wise words in my own children, especially my firstborn who will be old enough to vote this upcoming presidential election.

That part is the easiest part.  I think he is excited to vote but wants to make sure he makes an educated vote as well.  So......he has a lot of questions.






This is the hard part......
How to you educate and be unbiased at the same time?

My husband and I have tried to raise our children with certain morals, values and beliefs that are certainly our own. However, we have tried to encourage and nurture their separate
 gifts and passions also.  
Now we have a young man-child who we need to allow the independence and growth 
to let personal opinions develop and mature.  We want to create room for convicted beliefs even if they are not exactly our own.
It's a slippery slope......
There are so many issues to ponder and many are deeply guided by our faith and our love for our heavenly Father.  I see my son trying to wrap his head around some of these conflicting issues and am looking forward to seeing how his own relationship with God reflects those sometimes political decisions....

Whatever he decides I will be proud of him for using his voice to stand up for what he believes in.  
It sometimes takes courage, compassion and a genuine love to stand shoulder to shoulder with each other, no matter what our differences are, politically or otherwise.....

I pray for that same forthright courage to inspire us all to let our voice be heard this election....

May we take the time we need, individually, to ponder, to educate and to pray about those votes....

May they be filled with righteousness, grace and love.....

May God Bless us and help us to continue to seek the knowledge He desires for our prosperity....

Saturday, August 25, 2012

The Eve of 47..........

A few days ago I posted about recovering my hope chest with the freezer paper stencil I created.  
My hope chest has a broken lock and everyone has been trying to pick it to no avail.
The hope chest may be late 1800's so the lock is not easy.
I will follow up on that post when we figure out the lock.

Its a beautiful day here in So. Cal........a cornflower, cloudless blue sky........a perfect cool coastal breeze.....Its iconic postcard weather....
I am so blessed...

This is the eve of my 47th Birthday......
My husband and I were figuring out that our lives are probably more than half over by this age...
I am so thankful for the 46 years I have so graciously been gifted.....
My dreams to be a wife and mother are even more than I imagined as I was engineering them....
They are filled with more love, more laughter and more joy than I could have ever so creatively hoped they would be.....

I hoped I would finally meet and marry a man with a heart for Jesus....and I did!!!
I imagineered gorgeous children who were as beautiful as they were smart and even more loving.....
I imagined they would love God as much as my husband and I did....and I think they do.....I pray they do......

My life has been so full, not without hardship and pain, but with them....filled to the brim with life and love....

I am so thankful and look forward to many more joyful years with even more love in my little wiseacrewoods with my fabulous family.....

So Loved.....

So Thankful......

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

39 Years and Counting......

39 years ago, in my grandparents backyard, my Mom and my Step-Father were married.  
It was a lovely afternoon......
a small gathering of family and food......
in front of an enormous Koi pond and waterfall my grandfather built for my grandmother years before...

A year ago today, we did not have alot of confidence that my parents would celebrate this day together.
But by the love and grace of God, she is here today, still loving my Father on their anniversary.

Marriage is a gift.....
There are moments between a husband and wife that are so deeply profound, that when you recall them, they make your heart skip a beat.......Those moments are like yarn, knitting and weaving a couple's hearts together, into one.....

Marriage, at times, also reminds me of math......no matter how hard I work at it, there are problems that look like Chinese to me.....I will never completely understand math....

No one knows what makes some marriages successful and others rip apart at the seams....

But for me, remembering that it's not just the relationship between my husband and I that bind us...
It's the relationship that each one of us continues to draw near to, to seek, to call upon, to put first, to embrace and to guide us....

I praise God today for this gift of another celebrated anniversary for my parents....
There is no greater gift they could receive today but these moments, in this life, together....

Thanks be to God.....

Saturday, August 18, 2012

By the Water.........

15 years ago today my sophomore was Baptized.
It was a beautiful celebration filled with love and miracles.
It is truly a miracle and a gift this child is mine.
My life is forever changed by God and by him.
May he continue to seek God in everyday miracles....
May he feel God's presence in every breath....
May he serve God in every action....
May he continue to love God with all his heart....


Thursday, August 16, 2012

A First and A Last......

Today was my Sophomore's first day of school.
It may also be the last day we drive hime to school on his "first" day.
He will be turning "sweet" this year.
That means I will have two of my most precious treasures out on the open road.....
Terrifying....


We always do a first-day-of-school picture:


This picture is not digitally clear, but this young man is a light to all he meets...
He came into my life that way....
He is as bright and he is luminate..
He is a joy to parent.....

He is an old soul, confident in his own skin and a leader...
He is rightous, but courageously unbound by the obvious...
He hunts for the answers that elude him........

He is motivated by relationship....
He offers soothing words to wounded friends....
He is loyal, deeply loving and intensly sensitive....
He is relentless to seek the experiences he pursues....

He has made my world so sweet with his presence...
He has parented me through many circumstances.....
He has made my life bloom with technicolor...
and gifted me with hugs when I dont ask for them....

I am thankful for all that he is...
for all the joyful devotion he unselfishly shares....
For the spirit that spills from inside him when he doesnt even know it....
For all of him......





Thursday, July 26, 2012

A Few Weeks Left.....

Can it be true? 
 Can there really only be a few weeks of Summer left?
Today I spent ordering textbooks, book soxs and backpacks........my husband and I discussed the possible chaos of this year's school calendar and all the extra curricular activities that come with it.....

This is definitely a different culture than when I was a child.  I remember having alot more extra time than seems conducive now.  There were many slow days of summer and time for spending with friends, playing in the street and walking to the corner store for candy.....

Time is such a luxury these days, even in the heat of summer....By the time school begins schedules can become so tightly wound its hard to breathe......

I find it hard sometimes to find the balance of it all......Sometimes it just feels so overwhelming trying to keep up with all the responsibilities of motherhood, marriage, work obligations and church commitments....I wish I had more time to see friends and even family.....I wish I had more time to spend focusing on my health and more time to spend with God.

I know, not very far from these fast-moving moments in time, I will look over my shoulder and in the quiet stillness, wonder where it went...this fast-forward life....I will yearningly long for these days that move without pause.....that run on auto-pilot without room for error....

For now I will try and remember to be thankful for just being together.....Someday, my firstborn won't spend his summer's with us, he will have his own home and just visit when time permits....
My sophomore wont need us to walk through his summer school "pace chart" with him because he will be organizing his own life and his own schedule.....
My final child wont need me to take her to riding lessons and doctor appointments because she will be driving herself to see her pony and her doctors.

I will miss these days...
I am so blessed to have this chaos.....
These days are what I have always dreamed of....

I am more blessed than I deserve......

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

A Pony and His Girl.....

The love between a pony and his girl is one of legends.......It is a story told over and over, in movies and books......I suppose it isn't unlike the tales of a relationship between a man and his dog.

Pets are extraordinary in how they teach us about love.  
Its utterly unconditional, fearlessly faithful and uniquely loyal.......

We could learn alot about the way they love us.

But truly, watching this experience and this relationship take place between my daughter and her pony is priceless.......

He loves everything about her.....
the way she says his name, the scent of her hair, the tiny crook of her neck...
He loves to kiss her and he loves when she wraps her arms around him.
He is obedient beyond measure and if she falls from the safety of his back he stays right by her side kissing her and worriedly nudges her until she is back on her feet.
It is adoration in all its glory.......
I am so blessed and so thankful to be able to observe this special pony and his love for my daughter.