A Sappy Soul am I!

I am such a romantic...but do not play it out very often.  It's usually when I am alone, buried in a book, or melted into a movie!  Suffice it to say, I'm a sap!

Tonight, I did not move, while watching "To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday."  Yes, it is sappy, but the scenery, OH!----struck such a chord in me, that I pushed the "stop" button so that I could stare at the beaches, the sand dunes.

Someday, I WILL live by the sea.

Sunday afternoon, especially THIS one, as I was alone, was sedentary, solitary, and soul-FULL.  While leafing through magazines and ogling cozy cottages, ANOTHER chord was struck.  I could live in a nest.  Our home is not that large; yet...I do not even need this.

...I think I'm leaning toward getting lean.  We need a bedroom, a kitchen, a bedroom for #2 Son when he returns and for guests, and a room full of books.  Throw in a couple of potties, ok, ok.  Really!  What else does one NEED??????

My  Guy shall return tomorrow.  I've had four nights by myself with much time to think.  I wonder what HE'LL think!!!???

Now, all of this processing could very well be due to the fact that on August 1 I head off to India for 11 days.  The Lord has been preparing me for that journey - and I am absolutely thrilled to go.   I've had a visual of a cork or a stopper on my soul...and HE wants ME to pop.  So, pop I shall, in INDIA!

These times of solitude really do a number on my soul.

Panhandle Perks!

Road trips - we love 'em!  They most often begin with...


JUNK FOOD!

...and good tunes!

My Guy can SING this one!

We arrive at THE warmest home in the panhandle of Texas 

and share a libation...

Mornings on the porch are cool.   Doves coo.  And trains whistle.

Fun is not an option.  My sister + brother-in-law host well.

We girls tend to drift from Our Guys.  A girl's gotta do

what a girl's gotta do...

Shop, laugh, get pedis, shop, hit antique stores, eat, shop.

Pete's Greenhouse is a MUST! We played "Where's Patty?"

Time to eat again.  A throwback, The Golden Light!

A little tomfoolery while antiquing!

Friends of all ages are in Amarillo.  A good time for all!

Nary a garage sale escapes us!

"Gabby" got us to our destinations.

(inside joke)

Note The Driver's focus...

"Seriously?  There's a LOOP in Amarillo?"

Seriously....we drove a ways out in the country for this garage sale!

For July 4th, Our Guys even got into Pinterest!   The end result was a hit!

Meet Max.  I tried kidnapping taking him home.  I think he'd really like Houston!

Amarillo behind us, heading south on 287...

home again, home again, jiggety-jig.

...and I agree.  Life IS beautiful!

Miracle Grow???

How are your miracles growing?  

 
When I glanced at this very old photo yesterday, it made me feel warm and fuzzy.  On THAT day, it was a miracle that we captured any love-joy.  The minutes up to this photo were wild!  #2 Son was running through the blue bonnet fields like a whirling dervish.  We begged #1 Son to lasso his little brother.  Got 'em!   How I love this bunch of hugging boys!

And so they grew....now into 22 and almost 29 year old young men. 

Had I known what was ahead of me, I could not have handled it.  

Today's Jesus Calling tells it like it is...

Six months down and six to go in 2012.  Have you been part of any miracles?  I have!  

I'm not a green thumb; but have learned I CAN grow miracles.  Thought you might like to know how.  (It is readily available AND easy to use!)  Focus on God above.  As our beloved Tracy Porter espouses, "...eyes up!"   IF I focus on the overwhelming issue or the current 'whirling dervish' of life... I am sucked right up into it!

Take a moment to soak in that devotional: "rest with Me, focus on Me, I will equip you...." Oh, it works, it works, it works.

Miracles are popping up all over my family.  They are HUGE!  I wish I could tell you all of them; but some of my peeps are a tad more private than I am.  Just trust me.  Miracles DO happen!

Open up that 'miracle grow' of YOURS!!!  


Dig deep - place your 'stuff' at the cross - cover it all with prayer - and believe!  Believe that NOTHING is too hard for Him!


I've decided to track my miracles.  A little notebook is devoted to them - big and small.  Wanna join me?????  In six months, let's see how many {more} grew?  

Get planting...

 

 

 

The Harvest Season!

I cannot wait for fall.  What you say?  Summer has just begun.  Yes, BUT...fall is my most favorite time of year.  Perhaps because it is the time of my birthday, or that it was when I got new school supplies.  "See you in September" forces me to close my eyes and sway a bit.  Fall is my 'spring' - time of renewal.


AND, everything I listen to or have read in the past few days points to a HARVEST OF JOY around the corner.  Promises in the Bible, in songs, in my readings.  


Definition of harvest:

• a yield
• the consequence of an effort or activity
• the gathering
• the season

#2 Son is to return home in September - these past 10 months have  been a Season, with a capital "S", a consequence of certain "activities" of his.  The YIELD will be repentance & restoration.  And the gathering.......oh, the reunion!  


We will have one 8-hour day with him in August - his furlough, before his sentence is over.  See?  August - fall'ish.  So much to look forward to...


Today, I was led to this Psalm of restoration:

He is bringing our family out of captivity.  Better than we ever dreamed.  We are filled with joy.  We have shed many a tear, but will reap with songs of JOY!  


Can I hear a chorus of woo-hoo's please??????


JOY to you...

No-Holds-Barred

He is poetry to me.  Strong, yet restrained.  Calm and accepting.  Loving.  So filled with love, that in his presence, I can sense it.  We don't get to hold him, hug him, or even peck him on the cheek.  But the love was pinging all around us.


We had 90 minutes today...which is 30 extra.  He wears a blue smock now - an outward signal that he is a leader.  They call those in blue "Structure."  He had to be voted on among his peers and the promotion brings perks:  more visiting time, first in line at chow.


My Guy snapped a picture while we were waiting.  What you may not be able to see is the smile.  This picture speaks a thousand words.  My boy behind bars, held back, fenced in, restricted, guarded.  You can see where this is going...

And so from here we were let in through the gate to a large room - set up in a "U" - where we sat across from #2 Son.  I then became a prisoner....restrained, held back, forbidden.  To touch.  {I did sneak a hand holding when I was sure the guard's gaze was averted}.  


I stared at him.  He looked good.  No, actually GREAT - with a touch of sunburn/tan to his face...which made him appear healthy.  As I looked at him, I couldn't help but watch him watch My Guy, his Dad.  


We womenfolk tend to notice what our guys may not.  #2 Son rarely took his eyes off of his Dad.  He'd catch me staring and I'd wink.  I wanted to capture his face on film SO badly.


My Guy has been over-the-top supportive these past 7 months and #2 Son now knows the love his Dad has for him.  I'VE known of it, but #2 Son perceived a lack.  


An interesting way to spend a Saturday: arrive early, spend an hour listening to a counselor, then 90 minutes with him.  There were varying degrees of emotion.  Faces of frustration, smiles of forgiveness, and unconditional love.   A mish-mash of humanity!


We have June, July, August and 10 days in September to ramp up and become strong and able.  He'll return home to us.  Transformed. This journey is not only about him, though.  My Guy and I must be transformed.  


What is my take-away today?  Well, appreciate what you've got people.  A dear friend is going through a very rough season with her very ill husband.  She asks us to do the same: do not take anything for granted.  I don't.


I thank God for my family.  My Guy, My Sons and the extended peeps I love.  


Blessed am I!  And in a few months, our family will be FREE. 


No-holds-barred.

I Know My Own Strength(s)

"When can we start?" is a recurring question in my life.  Always rearranging my furniture, switching my calendar system, starting a new book, trying the latest product.  StrengthsFinder 2.0 helped me to understand why! 


When I learned what my "strengths" were - my brain was exploding with those 'aha' moments: AHA, that's why!  AHA, no kidding.  AHA, cannot wait to explore that one!  It is empowering to see - in black and white - my strengths.  We women can play the humility game all too well, right?  As long as Christ is at the center, our strengths are a blessing.


The on-line test revealed mine as:


1.  positivity
2.  empathy
3.  woo
4.  communication
5.  activator

• I see the glass half full.
• I often put myself in your shoes.
• I love to win others over (WOO).
• I enjoy communicating (blog, FB, face to face).
• I dig action - moving furniture,  "make a party," anything spontaneous!

There are sensitive aspects of a strength - I witnessed this recently with someone I love.  I sensed this person feeling left out, perhaps intimidated, inadequate.  So much so, that I did not want to make eye contact as I did not want him/her to know that I know.  My heart and gut hurt.  

A couple of hours later, I processed WHY I "felt" that person so much.  THAT would be the empathy trait.  Many, many times I have had that gut-ache and could not articulate WHAT it was.  Empathy aches.  Those lacking the empathy gene might not have the gut/heart aches; they are a bit more inconsiderate or distant.  Give me the aches!

 "Let Your Life Speak" by Parker J. Palmer is a little book I read prior to the strengths book.  The title is a time-honored Quaker mantra.   I devoured it, took notes and highlighted it to pieces!   May has been a good month for good books!

I believe life teaches me something most days.  I don't want to just slip n' slide through it but welcome the LARGENESS of life that now lies open to our souls ("Let Your Life Speak").  

A REALLY Good Friday!

It's Good Friday...and it really is!   First pedi in ages - pale toes for Spring.  Date Night with My Guy.  Good Friday.  A phone call from #2 Son.


What's the big deal you ask about a phone call?  Well, #2 Son was transferred to "the program."  It is an intense one at that...starting with 35 days of Orientation (translation: no contact other than letters).  However, he completed his "modules" 15 days early AND was rewarded a call to his Dad.  My Guy relayed how strong he is, how positive he is, and how "other-focused" he is.  He asks about us.... 


He is in a Mental Health Residential Program mandated by the courts.  We miss him.  Crazily.  I have to confess, it took three months or so for ME to miss him.  But, oh how God restores the heart - especially between a child and his parents!  

It's timely that I just started Beth Moore's "James" study.  In the intro, she talks of how we fill our emptiness with girl friends and people who think like us.  If we are at odds with family members OR if we think our family is odd, it hurts.  I agree.  No matter how brave and bold I am when I say: "oh, I'm ok.  Haven't seen so & so in ages, we have nothing in common."  Deep down, I ache for a connection with that family member.  "Have you discounted His ability to restore your natural family?" {Beth Moore} 


...and until restoration occurs, there is the One who can fill our aching hearts.  


I'd love to share a portion of one of our son's letters:

If you "knew us when..." Mmm.  And all his letters read like this.  I believe that God is doing a mighty work in our boy.  Our family WILL be restored.   


Oh, yes, it's a GOOD Friday!!!  And to make it even more so... I WON a "giveaway" from House of Turquoise!!!  Yup, that was me who squealed with delight!!   Check out a lovely book by Kathryn Greeley.  


So dear friends, I'm praying we all take time to contemplate what these next three days mean.  And get some happy toes while you're at it!  


Happy Resurrection Day!