Hey Mama...

Hey Mama…yes, you...I’m talking to you! 

I saw what you did this year.  

Yes, girl, I saw it all,  you amazing woman! 

Every little thing you did to make everyone’s days just a little more wonderful.  All the reminders you gave and the lost stuff you found.  All the answers to all the questions.  

All the shopping and cooking and ‘driving thru’ you did to keep everyone fed.

Late night trips for cold medicine and science fair backboards and milk for breakfast.

Early morning alarms for field trips and sports practice and pictures day.

I heard the encouraging words you gave…and the ‘I told you so’s’ you chose to swallow!

I saw you there folding clothes and sweeping floors on ordinary days….

Drying tears and kissing booboos on difficult days…

I heard your whispered prayers on impossible days…

You know what?

You are an awesome mom.   It’s not easy what you do every day.

But boy, do you do it well!

This building of people is an exhilarating, exhausting business…

But you are uniquely equipped you to mother those folks around your dining room table.
And you are good at it!  
Know this:  I am proud of you.  I go before you. And I've got your back!

With so much love you can't even imagine...
Your Heavenly Father :)

Happy Mother’s Day !! 

Meltdown @ Magic Kingdom

This past Sunday was one of ‘those’ days.  You know the ones I mean, the anniversary day circled in red on your calendar and around your heart.   October 2 marked eight years since Dave had died.  Yes, life has gone on, and we are doing well, but there is still something about ‘the day’ that makes me want to mark it in some way, both for me and for my girls.

A trip to Disney – his favorite spot- seemed a great way to remember as well as to escape daily life.  The plan was to write messages on a Mickey Balloon to release in front of Cinderella’s Castle (yes, this family of girls is all about the dramatic presentation!)

Then we got to the parking lot…and the meltdown began:

Happy New Year!

For some reason, to me the New Year always begins in the fall, instead of on January 1.  Maybe it’s all those years of ‘back to school’ newness.    Seems like a time for new beginnings…not to mention school supplies. It is ridiculous that everyone in my house gets so excited about shopping for school supplies!   The smell of a fresh box of crayolas always sends me back to Mrs Claussen’s 2^nd grade. 

These days..there are tears mixed in with the excitement of a new school year. 

Slow down, I want to holler. Stop growing up so fast. 

One daughter is looking for her keys as she gets ready to drive herself to high school. Gulp.  Another daughter  is telling me thanks, but no thanks, she can put her own hair in a pony tail and really doesn’t need my help.  Sigh.

The Guy on the Corner

Sunday mornings, there’s a guy on the corner of an intersection not far from my house.  His name is Scott.  And little by little, one red light at a time, we have become  friends. 

Scott sells the Sunday paper on that corner.  Every week.  Rain or shine.  Blistering heat or freezing cold, he is there.  On our way to church, over the course of the past year, we have brought him coffee when it’s cold and water when it’s hot and an umbrella when it’s pouring. He has given us Christmas cards and Halloween candy.   We try to tip big.  He smiles a lot.  Us,  too.

And in the 3 ½ minutes between stoplights, we have forged an unlikely friendship.   

He is always cheerful.   Always.  Standing on a street corner selling papers, the guy is cheerful!

Silence

There have been times in my life when it felt like God was simply everywhere…every time I pick up my Bible, the Word jumps out at me. My prayer life is vibrant and active – I’m talking and He’s listening and He’s talking and I’m listening. Every time I turn on the radio, the perfect song is playing and I’m instantly in tears. Daily devotional? Yep, right on the money. Phone call from a friend? You guessed it, right on time.

And then there are times like the past few weeks. Times when I pick up my Bible and read and in the middle of my reading my mind has wondered to my grocery list. Times when I hear a song on the radio and know it is a great worship opportunity but I just don’t have it in me. Times when I sit in front of the computer and hope for an encouraging e-mail only to find only a pile of spam messages and solicitations for donations. Times when I am living the Psalmist’s words in Psalm 63 – ‘God you are my God, earnestly I seek you, fervently I long for you in this dry and weary land where there is no water…’

At times like this, the silence is deafening.

The lonely is overwhelming.