up, down and all over

it has been a day, a week, a month...

specifically today...there have been lows like a child not feeling well or knowing that a friend is going through an organ transplant in another city today and highs like a quiet moment with God, time with family or some encouragement on a recent endeavor.

i have been happy today, in tears, tired and encouraged.

i think i will sleep very soundly tonight...i have been all over today.

beautiful day

we are in the middle of january and we played outside in the backyard today...

without coats!  soccer and basketball and on the swingset.

just a beautiful, spring-like winter day!

one foot in front of the other

there are times when things seem to come so easy and naturally and others where it feels like everything is simply a struggle.  i have really been struggling with some things lately.  i have done my best to not worry, to take things as they come, one step at a time.

lately, i have heard of so many struggles.  it is hard not to become overwhelmed by it all...by those all around us that are struggling emotionally, physically, financially, spiritually...  i am so grateful for a God that asks us to come and lay it all before Him because He always has a plan for our best in all things.

left...right...left...right...i will just keep putting one foot in front of the other, knowing that God will help sustain and direct and guide.

a little more today

lately, i have been in awe at watching my boys grow up and feeling just a little of the ache of letting them go just a little more each day.  it is good that they are growing up and stretching their wings, preparing for the flight that will inevitably come...  as a mom, i am learning how to hold them a little looser and entrusting them to the One that so lovingly has let me care for them here.

today, carter officially begins his basketball season.  his team has had a few practices and it is time to put what they have been working on into practice.  we approach the season with a little concern--two years ago, they were the 'undefeated losers.' we can laugh now at this. :) last year, some things started to come together--in the last half of the season.  for this year, i think we are just hoping that there are enough victories to help build some confidence, yet enough losses for them to realize the need to continue learning, practicing, and focusing on the concept of working together as a team.  i am in awe of the life lessons that can be taught through a recreational activity.  i hope today is a good day for carter--not necessarily winning a game, but in learning valuable lessons.

for colin, everything is about the word 'no' right now.  he hates it, despises it, throws a temper tantrum when the word is uttered to him.  he really perplexes me as he struggles through this.  his brother has been a 'parent pleaser', understanding the directive 'listen and obey.'  the whole concept of obeying when you disagree with the direction and having to go along with something different than you would like is just foreign to him.  colin loves doing things his way--even if it is harder or not always in his best interest.  he keeps me on my knees talking to God...yet i see an incredible vivaciousness in him that is just contagious.  i think he will be a very effective, strong man someday if he learns that 'no' is not always a bad thing...

i will watch them grow a little each day, praying that they become the incredible, strong, gifted, effective men of God that He created them to be...that they will be blessed far beyond anything i could ever hope for them.

so i let go just a little more today.

whoa

the more i think i know about who God is, the more awestruck i am.

He is unfathomable, awe-inspiring, incomprehensible.

bloggy

i have been catching up on some blog reading lately.  i have to say that it has been an incredibly encouraging, motivating, enlightening, humbling, thought-provoking, challenging, driving time.

it amazes me to read the beautiful, creative, powerful thoughts of so many.  it whispers in a voice that encourages me to dream and hope and feel and create.

i am grateful for these bloggy moments today--they are incredible reminders of a creative spirit that is always growing and can be attributed to an all-creative, all-powerful God.

blog on, people...blog on.

a most monday monday

it is the monday after holiday break.  this is one of the most monday mondays that i have experienced in quite awhile.

looking forward to tuesday :)

tearing up at beauty

i was driving early to church this morning with the goal of not missing the before-rehearsal meeting.  was singing along to the ipod and then i turned a corner and was silenced.  there was a breath-taking sunrise that truly was beyond explanation.

a cool blue accented by a pink clouds that i don't know how to describe.  the pink stretched low along the horizon and where the sun was just beginning to peer up was the distinct pillar of pink, completely perpendicular to the horizon.  it was so...divine, etheral...it made me feel something because all of a sudden i was wiping my eyes to clear the tears.  i don't know what i was feeling...but was moved.  it felt like God painted this beautiful picture in the sky just for me to marvel all.  it was a beautiful way to start a sunday morning.