The Beautiful Life

Inspiration Monday

“There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again.” Elizabeth Lawrence

“It is never too late to have a happy childhood.” Tom Robbins

Today, no matter where you are or what you have to do, don’t forget to make some time to play.

*Make a snowman in your yard, even if you don’t have children, build a sandcastle, splash in the rain.
*Get out some paper and a pencil and doodle.
*Eat dessert first.
*Stop everything for five minutes and just look, just listen.
*Make something for someone you care about, just because.

Happy Monday!

Friday Gratitudes

Once a week, I’m going to try to remember to post the things I’ve been grateful for during the week. Last night, I had a really awful headache and the kids were so sweet. This morning, while I was still in bed, they made me a jelly sandwich for breakfast and Graham drew and cut out a bunch of flowers and put them in a mug (vase). Then they brought it all up on a tray so that I could have breakfast in bed. I’ve got such great kids.

This week, I’m thankful for:

1. Red paper flowers, cut out and carefully arranged.
2. A quiet evening in the dark, curled up on the couch with my husband and a good movie.
3. The power of prayer to change despair into hope.
4. A good book to read aloud together on freezing cold afternoons.

Grow

It’s a new year and I’ve been thinking a lot about life and what I want to get out of this whole thing. I have a choice–I can keep going on as usual, getting distracted by the day-to-day drudgery, unable to see the gifts and getting disillusioned by the American dream. Or I can choose something better–to take a risk, to place all my eggs in one basket, to choose to live deliberately, like every choice, every action, every prayer makes a difference.

I’ve been inspired by this post by Randy:

In the next twelve months, I want to believe for more than I believed for in 2009. I want to reach harder and burn hotter than I did in 2009. Should someone want to write my story at the end of my days, I want them to stare at January 1, 2010 wondering “What in God’s name happened to him then?’

That’s what I want from this coming year. To give myself fully to living out this life that I’ve been given, whatever that looks like, whatever it takes, I don’t want to look back and have any regrets. I don’t want this life to go to waste.

My Week in Photos

The Offence of Grace

Note: I wrote this a couple of months ago, and never posted it. Maybe it will speak to you today.

Yesterday I did something really dumb. And I couldn’t fix it myself. I’m so used to being the “super mom”, the one who saves the day. I fix broken toys, broken bodies, broken hearts. It’s my job. But yesterday, I couldn’t fix it. I was dependent on someone else to do it for me. I had to admit that I made a mistake and then wait for it to be fixed. Just wait. I kept being tempted to try to make it better, but knowing that whatever I tried to do would only make things worse. And she wasn’t even mad at me. I wanted her to say, “boy, you sure screwed up.” That’s what I deserved. But she didn’t. She gave me grace. And perspective.

Isn’t it the same with Christ? We screw up. We fall short. We make mistakes. And then we try to fix it ourselves, all the while, making a muddle of everything. And then we have a choice, we can continue on in this mess, “getting what we deserve,” or we can accept that we can’t fix it. Only Jesus can take away my sin, make me clean, change my heart, make things new. It’s offensive, this grace. It’s hard to say, “I give up, I’m at Your mercy, I can’t do it myself.”

He’s not surprised when we fall short. He knew what we were like when He chose us. So we should not be ashamed to come to Him, to crawl into His lap and say, “Abba, I can’t…only You can…” And then He does. He delights in restoring and healing and making new, because He loves us.

So even if it’s offensive, let’s choose grace. Give grace to everyone you know, and receive it from the One who gave up everything for you. It’s so much better this way.

Project 365, Here I Come!

1/365

First photo of the year. If this photo is any indication, it’s gonna be a good year.

Project 52–Week 52

I actually made it through all 52 weeks! Woohoo! I’m thinking about trying out Project 365 next year, but I’m still debating. We’ll see. Anyway, on to the last photo of the year…

Have a happy New Year!

Project 52–Week 51

We just finished reading Peter Pan in school today, so I’ve got a bunch of pirates on my hands now. Aren’t they terrifying?

Project 52–Weeks 49 & 50

Week 49: Owen is Mario Brothers obsessed, so when we saw this project on Sew Mama, Sew! the other day, we had to make them right away!

Week 50: It was really cold here last week and hot ham and bean soup and homemade cornbread muffins were just what we needed!

Project 52–Weeks 46-48

Catch up time!

Week 46: We finally got our house on the market. After years of talking about moving, we are actually going to do it!

Week 47: We took two weeks off from school to just relax and do some fun Thanksgiving-related crafts that I don’t usually have the energy to do after we are in school all morning.

Week 48: We always put up our tree the day after Thanksgiving. Owen is really obsessed with the Mario Brothers, so I took his broken Mario and hot glued some ribbon to his head. Instant Christmas ornament. And I think it made him feel the loss of Mario’s foot a little less.