No Fireworks This Year

Fireworks burst nearby, but all is quiet here. These uncommon moments of silence beckon me to the keyboard. Words trip on the cords of thoughts bumping around the clutter in my head.

This neglected place, this blog, sometimes seems to only add to the pressure, yet when I stop and pound letters a certain peace returns. I remember how quickly these busy days are passing, and I’m grateful I’ve recorded glimpses of my soul in the chaos and the marvel of family.

2008 has come and gone. So many joys, so many trials. 2009 will carry the same. I look forward to discovering them with you.

May you dance with laughter, overflow with love, and rest with peace even if a few tears fall.

Happy New Year!

Campaign Finished, My Concession Speech

Congratulations to Cindy Rushton who won this year’s Homeschool Blog Award for Best Encourager!

It was my privilege to be in the race with such amazing women:

• All You Have to Give
• Encouragement Along the Way
• Garden Glimpses
• Heart of Wisdom
• Holy Experience
• The HomeScholar Helper
• Homeschooling with Encouragement
• HsKube’s Haven at Home
• I Take Joy
• Janne’s Jabberwocky
• Journey to Simplicity
• Meandering Through – No Longer.
• Our Homeschool and Other Such Happenings
• Raising 4 godly men
• Ramblings from the Crazy House

Many of you voted for me and for that I am honored.

Words fail when gratitude swells. Thank you for encouraging me!

We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father…(1 Thessalonians 1:2-3)

This Is Completely Crazy, but Here We Go

My analytical nature results in unnecessary whining and worrying. Peace is fleeting for pessimists. Things are hard, impossible, or will become that way soon. I prefer to think life will get easier. After we escape a hard place, I want to languish in a hammock for a decade or two. I visualize it now.

My children run through the meadow picking daisies and chasing butterflies. My husband and I converse thoughtfully under the swaying trees. The clouds make pictures of castles, and the stream hums a melody of peace. The dog doesn’t bark. The cat doesn’t use the laundry basket as a litter box.

This has yet to happen. My visions seldom become reality.

I thought my husband would find a better job. I thought after a few months of unemployment we would step into riches. We were faithful with small things. I knew we could handle big things. In my mind, that meant a bigger bank account.

Here we are a year and a half later. We’ve been running to make a living dragging our kids behind us.  We are tired and sore, but it was easier to keep going than jump off a stable bridge into the unknown.

Last week, someone waved a flag from a narrow outcropping below. My husband decided to take the jagged path. He’s quitting his dead end, full-time job to take a part-time position and attend university.

This seems foolish, ludicrous, and unsafe. Perhaps, it is all of those things, but we are learning to trust. Every hard thing strengthens our weak faith. Every battle against worry lifts our thoughts towards Heaven.

As much as I long for the smooth, clear waters, they are not meant to nourish through the seasons. In autumn, the brilliant grass decays. In winter, the pond freezes. Roaming comfortably in lush meadows, it is easy to forget I need a shepherd: a shepherd who whispers in the pastures and shouts in the mountains.

Again, I creep up the rocky hillsides where I grow faithful, patient, and more like the vision God has of me. His dreams do become reality.

There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears. (Philippians 1:6- The Message)