2015: 365~ Week 7

Day 43/365:

There are no words for the beauty I see in your eyes in this photo…. You are GORGEOUS — inside and out.

 

Day 44/365:

You are growing up so quickly and beginning to take a bigger part in making your own lunches.

 

Day 45/365:

Those clippers still tickle whether you are two or thirteen… sit still Caleb!

 

Day 46/365:

Two of my beautiful nephews.

 

Day 47/365:

Warm Cinnamon Swirl bread on a chilly afternoon.

 

Day 48/365:

You love to keep your nails painted.  Papa did your hands and I did your toes.

 

Day 49/365: 

It has been bitter cold her for weeks. Temperatures in the negative numbers is becoming the norm…. and it’s pushing us to extreme silliness!

 

He’s the Answer

 

I’m a need to know kinda girl.  And in the race to know and understand I often trip myself up.  I get tangled up.  Like a runner who is going down, limbs flailing to find the ground.  I begin to flail.  My thoughts speed through my brain, “I need to know. I need to understand.  I need answers. What if this wrong?  Is this right?”

Psalm 86:11 says, “Teach me your way, O LORD; and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear (honor) Your name.”

The truth of the matter is that I have all the answers I will ever need.  They are already answered.  I only need to seek God’s face.  There I find the ultimate answer for all my needing to know.  It’s in His eyes.  He is the answer!

2015: 355- Week 6

Day 36/365

He’s been working on a creative writing project for months.  Not an assignment, but a story he is writing on his on free time.  I love hearing the plunking of the old key board coming from the school room.  There is creativity taking place and I LOVE that!

Day 37/365

There are just days when you need to lounge on the back of the couch and if you get a following of cats it becomes a train!

Day 38/365

Day 39/365

Ummmm…. when you have three older brothers and they paint your face just for fun— Warrior Princesses Unite!

Day 40/365

Capturing my every day in soapy dishes and the power of God’s word.

Day 41/365

Lunch time… you are becoming more and more independent and the other day you made your whole lunch.

Day 42/365

Below freezing temps, snow and wind…. I couldn’t stay out for long because my face was freezing off, but I had to capture the beauty of our field.

Gaze Higher

 

 

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  ‘I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord…”  Jeremiah 29:13-14

 

I love the paradoxes in the Bible. 

Paradox:  something that is made up of two opposite things and seems impossible but is actually true or possible.  A statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true.

Yesterday as I was folding another mountain of laundry, I was thinking about where Jesus has been taking and asking me to go over the past year; about how I want to deepen my relationship with Him, until I can’t find where I end and He begins.  I want to be so interwoven with Him that when people see me they really see Him.

As I folded a purple, nubby washcloth, He whispered to my spirit, “To go deeper with me you need to lift your gaze higher.”

To go deeper I must draw nearer to God.  To know Him more intimately I must seek His face more intently.  To go  deeper I must look higher.

So often my view is the natural. What is taking place around me fills my head and my heart.  But, Christ is calling me to change my view, alter my perspective, to lift my eyes up, seek His face, His love, His ways.

It’s a paradox full of truth and possibilities—  To go DEEPER you must GAZE HIGHER!

2015: 365- Week 5

 

 

Day 28/365: 

You love your babies and there is always some sort of feeding, changing, or snuggling going on. {Free Lensed}

 

 

Day 29/365:

Isaac’s wood cutting business-  selling a truck load in the snow.  At times it’s hard to believe he’s eighteen and old enough to run a chain saw, it would be a real nail biting experience if I didn’t know that God is ALWAYS watching over Him.

 

 

Day 30/365:

I am so thankful for my boys.  They work hard around our place. I am grateful for the strong work ethic that Joel has instilled in them.  The other day Jacob shoveled off our back deck after a snow storm. The temperature was below zero and as the cats and I watched him from the comfort and warmth I had to take 30 or more photos of my boy working hard.

 

 

Day 31/365:

This baby is spoiled.  She often takes a nap on my bed and Lauren covers her up with a blankey, because you know we must keep her warm when she is sleeping.

 

 

Day 32/365:

Her eyelashes…. SIGH.

 

 

Day 33/365:

Bird watching….  And a little low light photography capturing you being you.

 

 

Day 34/365:

Dance till the stars come down from the rafters

Dance, dance, dance till you drop. ~ W.H. Auden

2015: 365- Week 5

 

 

Day 28/365: 

You love your babies and there is always some sort of feeding, changing, or snuggling going on. {Free Lensed}

 

 

Day 29/365:

Isaac’s wood cutting business-  selling a truck load in the snow.  At times it’s hard to believe he’s eighteen and old enough to run a chain saw, it would be a real nail biting experience if I didn’t know that God is ALWAYS watching over Him.

 

 

Day 30/365:

I am so thankful for my boys.  They work hard around our place. I am grateful for the strong work ethic that Joel has instilled in them.  The other day Jacob shoveled off our back deck after a snow storm. The temperature was below zero and as the cats and I watched him from the comfort and warmth I had to take 30 or more photos of my boy working hard.

 

 

Day 31/365:

This baby is spoiled.  She often takes a nap on my bed and Lauren covers her up with a blankey, because you know we must keep her warm when she is sleeping.

 

 

Day 32/365:

Her eyelashes…. SIGH.

 

 

Day 33/365:

Bird watching….  And a little low light photography capturing you being you.

 

 

Day 34/365:

Dance till the stars come down from the rafters

Dance, dance, dance till you drop. ~ W.H. Auden

 

8

In the Stillness

 

The snow falls flake upon flake upon flake. Hour upon hour it gathers in deep blankets of fluff.  On the winds of white comes a deep sense of peace that comforts my soul.  It’s in the snow and it’s quiet hush that the whirlwind of life comes to a slowing halt. As the snow drifts form in waves and crests I realize I have once again accepted busyness as a way of life.  And in the busyness I allotted God his small portion of time.  I wrote Him in on my to do list, packaged into a nice time slot. And in the midst of my busy days and whirling mind, the crazy has returned. My days are full, I’m a mom of four, that is just plain fact, but I need Jesus with every breath, every decision, every word spoken and thought, thought. I need Him desperately. I need His peace— physically, mentally, and emotionally.

“BE STILL and know that I am God,” Psalm 46:10

As the snow insulates and quiets the world— bringing a heavenly hush, so I must open my mind and heart to a stillness that only God can bring.  I must insulate myself in Christ.  Wrapped, bound, covered, protected in the insulating beauty of my Savior.  I must allow Him into every moment and every situation of every. single. day.

It’s then that the crazies are driven away and the sweet, hush of peace descends.

As I gaze at the snow outside my window and watch as a new layer is blended into the landscape, I’m tempted to run out in the backyard and dig myself into the middle of a drift. I want to lay down in the middle of the softest snow and cover myself in that gorgeous crystallized light.  It’s a great thought, really.  I think I’ll take it and apply it to my day today with Jesus.  I’m going to dig in with Him, get really covered with His words for me. I’m going to snuggle down, resting in His Presence.  And as my day unfolds and I’m required to live this earthly life, I’m going to do it with the peace of God.  Because I’m covered!

I’m covered in the most amazing, glorious, majestic Light and it illuminates me with untold of peace!