YouTube

It's official...I am entering the world of YouTube... mostly to share video with friends and family far away. Here's the first experiment with my new EeePC webcam:

Take a Closer Look!

Everybody scroll down and click on the picture of my sister's family now that I've fixed the link to enlarge it....it's worth an up-close look (: Have a great day!

Sam's Two Cents

Last night my husband was talking with our son, who recently announced that he was no longer as interested in reading as he used to be. They were discussing the importance of knowledge when Samuel said seriously, "That's interesting because Albert Einstein said 'Imagnination is more important than knowledge.' " We couldn't argue with that one. I think he's doing just fine.

Thankful Thursday: Beautiful Souls

Note: I know it's not Thursday, but I wanted to post this older post from my other blog today...thanks for being patient while I slip these in :)

Over the years I have been blessed with many dear friends, but a few seem to have made a really special place for themselves in my heart. As I have grown, changed, moved and moved again, different people have come and gone, leaving lasting impressions with their unique presence in my life. Some of those old friends are far away now, some new friends are near, but they each have something special that I cherish and appreciate about them...something that makes me particularly aware of God's hand in putting them my life. These are the beautiful people who have made me realize lately just how very connected we are and how much we need each other.

I have a friend who is a writer at heart...we've been friends since our late teens. She's seen my best...and my worst through those akward "trying to grow-up years." We live in different states now, far apart. We both have families and our own little worlds. But still, when I'm feeling my most inspired as a writer, she is the one I write to. She is the one who shares those "Anne-ish" qualities that sometimes haunt me, and drive me into the dreamy world of words and stories and the ability to be mesmerized by a certain hue in the sunset or the glistening of sunshine in a drop of dew. She's a kindred.

I have another old friend who recently came back into my world. She is sensitive in the truest way and I have come to cherish and honor her as a growing person whom I can trust and admire on the journey. Let me just share this quote from author Wayne Teasdale, "Sensitivity is...an attribute of presence to others. It is the ability to be fully there for others, without any agendas. This sensitive presence is able to respond through deep listening--real listening with the heart to both what is said and left unspoken...Sensitivity, which is definitely a divine quality, is a form of selfless affection that is free of sentimentality. It is love transformed by divine union or enlightenment." I am blessed to have a friend whom I trust with my heart, someone who is an example of a person growing in the ability to truly see.

Neighbors can make your life sweeter or really test your character! My next door neighbor is one of the sweetest variety. She is thoughtful and kind and generous. I am thankful for dear new friends and God's way of putting people in our lives just when we need each other. That's so cool! I look forward to seeing our friendship grow!

First posted December 23, 2006 on A Path to My Woods

If Sophie Was President

I know my friend Kelli over at Searching Souls will especially appreciate this one. Sophie brought home this paper from school last week from their observation of Presidents Day. The question at the bottom reads, "If you were president, what is one thing you would change?" Her answer: "For in China pepole to have more kids."

It Will Grow

"When something is greening inside us, might it not be best to shelter the tender growth? Too much windy talk about what is going on or too much conscious sunlight can blast or kill the development of what is young and emerging...Spring is an ache. Buds swell on their branches. Bulbs cannot stay in their casings...The Spring of the soul hums and aches. Birthing is full of pain, full of fear, full of exquisite excitement. It must be carefully attended. It must also be left well enough alone. Whatever has the dynamism to develop cannot be stopped. It will grow. It will grow." ~Gunilla Norris, A Mystic Garden.

First posted April 12, 2007 on A Path to My Woods

Good Bye Little Hamster

We lost our little Charlie Thomas this week. He really was the sweetest and best hamster I have ever known. He brought our children so much joy in the 2 1/2 years we had him. We'll really miss the little guy.

New Arrivals!!

My twin sister and her family have had an exciting month. Just about a week ago they moved in three precious children they are adopting, and then yesterday morning their new family of eight was blessed once again to welcome a little baby sister!! I am very excited to meet all of our new neices and nephews!! Just take a look at this sweet family!

Congratulations Sarah and Tony and family!!!

Thankful Thursday: Everything.

Rumi, Pay Homage

If God said,
"Rumi, pay homage to everything
that has helped you
enter my
arms,"

there would not be one experience of my life,
not one thought, not one feeling,
not any act, I
would not
bow
to.

~Rumi~
(translation by Daniel Ladinsky,
Love Poems from God)

I thought this would be a good way to resurrect my Thankful Thursday posts. My children often sum up their prayers, whether at the dinner table or family time, with the words, "God, thank you for everything." A simple prayer, but I can't think of a better one. Simplicity, contentment, gratitude...finding grace in every moment, recognizing the Divine in it all.

Why Woods?

I love woods. I'm not exactly sure what the attraction is. Perhaps it's the innate mystery within those trees or just my love for nature and solitude, I just love woods. The draw is magnetic, alluring. I haven't been in the woods for a few years now...not since our first child was born and not by myself since I met my husband. Sometimes I really miss that quiet alone time in the woods with a notebook and Creator that I revelled in during my single-years in college. I always felt content and at peace...no questions, just beauty and poetry.Have you ever been lost in the woods...or just a bit disoriented? I remember a mountainside in Colorado, hiking with a friend. We weren't far from camp but far enough to be a little worried when we couldn't find our way back. It is easy to get turned around surrounded by a forest of trees. And it's more than a little scary when you can't find your way home. And as much a you love the woods...home sounds sooo good (and so far away.) We made it home, but not without many wrong turns and probably a few backtracks. (reminds me of Pooh, Piglet and Rabbit trying to find their way back out of the woods after trying to lose Tigger)Life is like that sometimes. I can feel very happy and contented in the beautiful woods, but after awhile I'm ready to go home. (Kind of like Alice, growing tired of nonsense after her adventures in wonderland, ready to go home, to embrace something sensible, to grow-up.) Here I am walking through my woods, happy and content with this comfortable place I love, but suddenly I begin to feel a little disoriented as unfamiliar sights come into view. And questions begin to rise...where am I really, what is the truth? The truth...it's like that ever illusive home that we all long for. And this journey, the woods I love. And all of a sudden we just want to know the way home. Because this journey is so much more beautiful when we know the way back home. So here is my journey...where I've been(walking in circles), my current steps and hopefully a little insite into where this path is leading...one post at a time.

First posted on A Path to My Woods, November 9, 2005