dads...

Isn't it true?

Dads are the most ordinary men turned by love into heroes, adventurers, story-tellers, and singers of songs.

 

I love the Dad he is to our kids... tender, strong, funny. They have kept him on his toes in the very best ways, and one of the three is always up to something funny. When their laughter, overlapping, rolls into the next room, my heart falls in love all over again. I am thankful for their fun, for the love that he continually shows - especially in the moments that make him a little uncomfortable.

I am also thankful for this man, who saved our family and always loves, just as a father should. Hero? He's one of the biggest heroes of my life.

I may be a little late for Father's Day, but their love is always on time. 

sundays

Sometimes I have loved the peacefulness of an ordinary Sunday.It is like standing in a newly planted garden after a warm rain. You can feel the silent and invisible life. -Marilynne Robinson

the state of this heart...

I have spent some time reflecting on my writing... or the absence of it. The words dance through my heart, ready to speak, and when I sit down, they seem to evaporate. Or I simply procrastinate them away. I feel busy, but I'm not. All of the words you have praised over the years have come easily... flowed right out of my heart in a rush of love. My heart isn't lacking love these days, but perhaps just the flow-y.  Maybe the opposite of flow-y is limbo, and limbo is one of those phases of life I am not-so-good at.

When I think about this year, there has been a lot of limbo... and not too much ordinary. The year has been wonderful, full of celebrations and joy... but the transitions from one event to another have felt pretty limbo-y... waiting with too much time, or not quite enough. We threw two Eagle Scout parties, all the while pressing Cam to work on scholarship applications. And then, of course, there was the college decision hanging over all our heads... talking it out when he wanted to, holding my own hopes back while he figured it out, all the while wondering how we would actually pay for it. The decision was ultimately his, but oh what a toll it took on our day to day lives while we waited. The graduation festivities carried on through the whole of May, all the while I was making trips to the doctor getting antibiotic & steroid shots to hold off the pneumonia.

Summer was too short, and too long... we all struggled with the balance of getting ready for Iowa, and fitting in all the fun and making all the memories of these last couple of months before life changed. I miscalculated and lost a week in August, and then was thrilled to find it again... although even that "extra" week moved too quickly. I was so thankful when we pulled out of the driveway... we had everything, or we didn't, and there was only time to enjoy and let the plan fall into place.

Leaving Iowa wasn't as tough as I thought it would be, and I felt like the end of our to-do list was in sight. Two more items... Disney's Night of Joy, and then my October 1st surgery. I never expected that I would fall apart over a plate of Mickey waffles, but there we were, at the Animal Kingdom Lodge... and I missed Camden so much I could barely breathe. As for my surgery... well, that was more than I had bargained for. Three days more, with a recovery that had me on the verge of tears more than once.

These months have been a checklist of wonderful milestones... and once we shouted off "check!" the next item on the list was always looming before us, pressing my heart to prepare, with little time for rest.

So here I am, with Thanksgiving only two days away. Thankfully, it will be a quiet one, and after a beautiful weekend of celebrations, I am ready for the quiet, and the rest that a few days off will bring. I am aching for the ordinary. We dream of wild and wonderful... but what our hearts truly need is a good dose of ordinary. It is where we gain strength for the unexpected and the celebrating. Our day to day ordinary life is a beautiful gift to be embraced... so that when the exotic and the exciting knocks at our door, we will be well rested and ready to dance.

his sneakers

I saw him wearing new sneakers the other day,  and I wondered if he was done with these...or maybe he just needed a change. I had promised to let him wear these as long as he wanted...the new pair could wait until he was ready.

The look on his face when I had suggested the new told me how attached he was to these.  Torn and worn by the miles he has traveled.  Covered in the red dirt of Africa. I can relate.

I decide not to make a big deal of the switch, and just let it simmer in my heart.  I love the ways he has held tightly to the experience and I have a feeling I haven't seen the last of those trampled laces.

a walk around the block...

My goal is always home.
I pull into the neighborhood, focus on the last road that will get me there, and let the rest of the world become a blur.  The little details of the neighborhood are lost on me, though I pass them every day. Twice.

In the cool, beautiful of the air of the weekend, I headed out for a walk... and the details came alive. Along one end of the road. the sidewalks sweep in curves, while the other end boasts angular lines. textures change along the way, too.  But it is the way the sunlight creates a thousand shades of green in the trees or the grass that catches my eye and amazes me.

Ordinary is beautiful, especially when the sun shares its golden light.

they are why i love this ordinary life...

I have always lived an ordinary life, and always will. 

It's who and what has to do with my job that makes it 'unordinary.'

-Kate Winslet  

even me...

If I live my beliefs everyday, God can use even someone
as ordinary as me to change the world. 

-Brad Wilcox

come on, fiesta... forever...

Some people fiesta for special occasions, and others… well, other think a fiesta is an ordinary way of life. That would be… me. And thankfully, I have a friend who is always willing to fiesta along with me.  We are Mexican food/taco-loving ladies, and I am so thankful to have a friend who understands. 

This past weekend, my fiesta friend went on a little trip... without me.  But it was fun knowing she couldn't help but think about me along the way!  

don't forget...

*** 

the wednesday nights...

A deep sigh of relief bursts from my soul when he walks through the door on Wednesdays, a sigh that breathes thank you, God, for delivering him safely home... again. I know he gets sleepy.  The early mornings, and a long day at school topped off with a couple hours of college prep stuff would exhaust anyone.  I don't worry, but I do pray.  He tells me that his foolproof trick for not being too sleepy is stopping for Chick-fil-a fries, and I just smile as he heads off to start on homework.

After dinner, Eric & Laura head out to choir practice, and we are just two... home with the cat. Sometimes there is more homework, and sometimes... he is done.  I love those nights. We laugh at America's Funniest Home Videos or the Cosby Show, we clean the kitchen together... we carry on with silliness.

It is the ordinary stuff that makes the night special, the stuff that I will miss most when he heads off to college.  It weaves its way through and around our hearts, makes us who we are, and creates the relationships we cherish.

heaven sent...

It has been just over two years since she was healed in the arms of Jesus... and truly, she is still part of my every day. A photo I pass, her smile making me smile right back.  Her handwriting on a card or envelope that has shuffled its way to the top of the mess on my desk. A beautiful thought that passes through my heart.  

God changed me through knowing her... and I can't help but be thankful. Even in my loss. And every time I remember her, it is a gift straight from Heaven. 

I've seen and met angels wearing the disguise of ordinary people leading ordinary lives.

-Tracy Chapman

changing the way i see...

He was shaking out his towel as we were getting ready to pack up and head home...but the wind caught his towel, and I caught the shot. It is one of my favorites... even more so than the few I took after this, as he was running, pretending he was a caped super hero.  

But what happened before the shot?  It may have been years ago, but I still remember... because it is never pretty.  Stand away from us. Make sure you shake it out well, but not in our direction, because I don't want sand in my face.  You know, the normal fun beach/sand conversations. 

Some days I see the sand, and other days I find it quite simple to fine tune my focus on the beautiful backdrop God has given this world. 

With only a change in one's perspective, 

the most ordinary things take on inexpressibly beauty. 

-Karen Maezen Miller

the minutes that save the day...

It is a seven minute ride between her work and mine. I say we'd carpool even if she had her own car, but I'm not so sure. The mornings hardly go beyond pleasantries. Sometimes we revel in the silence, each happy to be with her own thoughts, and some mornings we stew... probably about something between the two of us that has us thinking not-so-nice thoughts {it goes both ways.}

But afternoon comes... and we find our way together once again. Stories of zoo antics and opportunities, the sharing of our days. The exchange of laughter, wonder and conversation make every minute of morning stewing worthwhile... and I'd not trade seeing the joy she has for her job for anything in the world.

make the ordinary come alive...

Do not ask your children to strive for extraordinary lives.

Such striving may seem admirable, but it is a way of foolishness. 

Help them instead to find the wonder and the marvel of an ordinary life. 

Show them the joy of tasting tomatoes, apples and pears.

Show them how to cry when pets and people die. 

Show them the infinite pleasure in the touch of a hand.

And make the ordinary come alive for them.

The extraordinary will take care of itself. 

-William Martin

it takes courage...

I sit here thinking about how much courage it takes to live an ordinary life. 
-Colum McCann