Thankful Thursday: Senses

Have ever been so sick that you felt like your senses were too overwhelmed with physical discomfort to be aware of spirit? That is what my week has been like. Trying to care for my sick little ones, nurture myself, keep up with household responsibilities and writing has been a challenge. My house has suffered and my patience has been short.

Last night my five-year-old layed in her bed crying...it's been a tough week for her too. I sat down, exhausted and let my tired heart open to my little girl. Every once in a while I am utterly amazed at how much I need my kids. This gentle-hearted litte soul held me in her hand as I sat on the end of her bed and assured her of the wonderful journey that we are taking together as she grows up...5 years, 10, 15, 20...I sat and told her stories that I know my children have heard may times, about when I was a little girl and how I couldn't imagine what my life would be like when I grew up. Now I look at my husband and children and I feel so amazed and blessed...Wow, who knew these little people would grace my life?

This morning I woke up early feeling much better, ready to find a quiet place and connect with
my Creator...body no longer overwhelming soul. Deep breath...yes I feel it...spirit moving in, around, through me, holding us all together. Thank God for sweet quiet moments filled with pure awareness of His ever-present nearness. May those moments grow so close together that they mesh into every activity of my life--sensing the sacred in the common.

Thankful Thursday: Friends with Better Memories than Me.

Have you ever heard the quote, "A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words?" Nice, a little hallmarkish, but there's something to this well-known friendship quote.

Today, in the midst of a hearty laugh brought on by a far-away friend, I finally realized what the author of this quote was trying to express. Here's my take on it (though not as flowery): " A friend is someone who reminds you who you are when you have forgotten or when you're trying to be someone else."

On that note, let me say that a friend reminded me today that I once found something profound and noteworthy in a hanger dangling high in a treetop.

Since I've actually been thinking along these lines lately of recapturing or becoming that person I really am (as opposed to the one I sometimes project,) this was another defining moment for me.

Who found joy in a misplaced hanger?....I can guarantee you it was creative and humorous spirit. I embrace that. :)

This is going somewhere and I'm going to follow it...but for now let me say thank you to my friends who so faithfully remind of who I am....with hopes that I can be the same kind of friend in return. :)

Deep Breathes, Crisp Air, Sunshine And Good Movies

For anyone who really keeps up with what's going on in My Woods (or A Path to My Woods), sorry I missed my Thankful Thursday! Besides having sick kiddos this week, I have a lot of thoughts brewing on the back burner. I'm feeling thankful, inspired and refreshed today. I'll write more later on that.

But let me just give you a few tidbits off the top of my head. Honestly, I don't want to spend too much time here this morning. The ground is still covered with snow, but the sun has been breaking occasionally through my window, and taking a deep breathe as I retrieved the mail sent my heart racing and mind reeling for a moment...it's a bit intoxicating to the spirit, and my front porch is beckoning.

In a moment of spontaneity, I popped in one of my all time favorite movies last night, Emma , with Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeremy Northam. No matter how many times I see this movie, I am charmed. I laugh, I swoon, I feel sympathy and exasperation and even a sense of pride, cheering on the young Emma as she grows into a lady, loved faithfully by the unmatchable Mr. Knightly. I'm not a movie critic and I won't waste words comparing this adaptation with Jane Austen's lovely novel or the well-done mini-series with Kate Beckinsale. I will simply say that this is a movie for pure aesthetics.

Thankful Thursday: Baking Soda...and grace.

I'm really into baking soda...it has so many cool uses. I bake with it, clean with it, bath my girls in it, put it in the laundry...so I often have a box of it sitting in various places around the house. In fact, one has a permanent home in the bathroom upstairs. I was a little surprised today to find that box empty...this is not a little box...this is the big box variety. Not only was the box empty, but the bathroom floor was not. I'll let you picture it. Little white footprints led from the bathroom into the girls bedroom....niiiice. I wasn't happy, but the footprints were pretty cute.
After sending the three-year-old culprit to sit on her bed to wait for me, I cleaned up the mess and gave myself some time to figure out how I was going to handle this. When I walked into her room and started the questions she answered in her sweet 3-year-old dialect, "I wanted to be a big girl but I had an accident and I spilled it." That was the first real discipline "talk" she and I have had together. I did not talk to her, I talked with her. I mean, my little one really has become a big girl, she's not a baby anymore. This post really isn't about baking soda (although I still think it's cool stuff), it's about grace and forgiveness and loving a little girl.

I'm thankful that I've learned the biggest lesson of grace...that I can be graceful with myself. I'm not perfect, but I'm growing. I make lots of mistakes, but grace says "Don't wallow...learn!" I don't always handle stressful situations well with my children, but today I did and my daughter experienced forgiveness in the true sense....and her grieving three-year-old heart understood.

This is a spiritual lesson...one that's meant to stop and consider the mother-heart of God. This is not about punishment, it's about learning. That's what it's all about. Hmmmn. And I'm really thankful for that.

Overheard yesterday as my girls were playing on the livingroom floor:

"No, Sarah, princesses can't marry horses!"

Do you have any favorite halfling quotes?

Thankful Thursday: Roller Skates, Snow Shovels and Lentil Soup.

Mid-February...it happens pretty much every year. I get that blah, sort of uninspired feeling. It lingers, wavering, dodging in and out of my spirit until signs of Spring appear...or by chance something like today happens. And I know that this is my chance...my chance to pull myself up...to climb out of this dreary state in an enheartened leap of self-motivation.

I went roller-skating today. Well, really I walked around the roller-rink in soft-soled sneakers helping kindergarteners learn to balance on those tricky little boots with wheels. I held my own daughter's hands and pulled her around on the wooden floor for the first time. I pulled her up when she fell and cheered her on when she bravely set out balancing on her own. The time we spent together was special and we'll both remember it. But the moments of connection and care with many of the other little souls in my daughter's class broadened my heart and made me more certain of the connection we all share on this journey. In Mother Teresa's words, "Children belong to everyone." In the deepest sense, we all belong to each other...and we need each other. There is not a sweeter face than that of a child who senses the genuine care of a kind adult...it is also easy to spot the ones who crave that care.

I shoveled snow, too. Some people dread snow-shoveling...but I love it...honest. The cool, crisp air and rewarding exercize is always invigorating. I've never finished shoveling snow without feeling a sense of accomplishment and over-all well-being. Does that sound crazy? This activity not only gives me a physical boost, but I always feel mentally and spiritually refreshed, too. It must be the quiet repetitive nature of it. Today, as I finished shoveling the driveway and sidewalk, a light powdery blanket started to cover the area I had already cleared. I may have looked a little silly out shoveling while more snow was covering my work, but I was reminded of the beauty of repetition in carrying out our daily tasks and finding the holy in the common.

After warming up inside, dinner was calling. The current lack of inspiration has effected me in the kitchen, too. I don't mind cooking so much...I really enjoy it when I actually have a plan and everything I need to execute it. Naturally, I don't dig the clean-up. But tonight sweet Sophie has the symptoms of a cold coming on and one of her favorites is Lentil Stew with Lemon...a simple meal, but perfect winter comfort food with a loaf of crusty fresh bread.

"For all that has been: thanks. For all that will be: yes."

~Dag Hammarskjöld~

Thankful Thursday: Surprises

Thankful Thursday: Somebody Loves Me

Yes, it's true.

One day I was standing near the computer talking with my sweetheart, and our email alert (a little yapping puppy carrying a letter) came on the the screen. I said, "Let me see if somebody luuuvsme." Now we laugh when Amazon.com or some other thoughtful emailer like iTunes or AllRecipes sends us a message. ebay luuuvsme! Okay, some of you might not think it's that funny. I do. It's funny. But here's my point: Yesterday when I tried to start my Thankful Thursday post, Blogger was inaccessable, I guess the server was down or something...so I didn't get my post done. This morning when I booted up the computer and checked my email I really did get a message from somebody who luuuvsme! The subject line said, "I want my thankful thursday!"

So here it is: I'm thankful for You, Luke. I'm thankful to be loved by you, thankful that you see the authentic me past my outward struggles, and encourage me to keep growing into that person. i love you.

Stuff Happens

“Life is not orderly. No matter how we try to make life so,

right in the middle of it we die, lose a leg, fall in love, drop a jar of applesauce.”

~Natalie Goldberg~

I like this quote...so true.

Thankful Thursday: The Practical Wisdom of Children

Who doesn't love chocolate? Last night we had strawberries (a rare treat in winter) topped with chocolate pudding and a few marshmallows for dessert after dinner. Dessert is a one-helping affair in our house, as we are trying to learn moderation. However, one helping of chocolate anything isn't easy for most kids! So of course, our conversation naturally led to the topic of thankfulness. We talked about children in the world who have never tasted chocolate and how some children have so little, how some children have only tasted things like water (not so clean water) and rice. I encouraged them to eat their dessert slowly, mindfully, savoring the moment and the sweetness...and to be aware of how fortunate we are...to be thankful.

(good mom, wise mom)

Then my 5-year-old daughter says to me, "Mom, it's good to be thankful, but we really should do something for those children."

(still learning mom)

I'm thankful for the wisdom flowering from the brilliant souls I call my children...and how they teach me everyday...