Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Bite Size Brain Snack

When you pray, it is better to have a heart without words, than words without heart.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

From Bridesmaids to Babies

I know this is the natural progression of life - first you have weddings and then come the babies. I was thinking the other day about my mom. She had four children in a little over five years. That's just hard. It's hard when their babies, hard when their toddlers, hard when their all in school, hard when their teenagers!, and hard when they all grow up. I think there was one year when she had a graduation, a wedding, and a baby all in a 3 month span. Totally doable but that would rattle anybody's cage.

We had Jill's wedding in early May, 2010 and Lori's was in late 2008. It seemed like we lived and breathed in conversations that involved dresses and receptions and flowers. I loved every minute of it. It's so much fun to watch your daughter dream and plan a day that's all about her and man she loves. With very few exceptions we enjoyed every moment....there have to be a few tense moments - really!

And now we have transitioned, at least for the moment, into babyland. Lori and Ethan are having their first baby in a few weeks and Jill is talking about babies. It's what comes naturally but my feelings have caught me off guard. It's not hard to be excited, and I have been, but I'm such an experiential learner, that for a time my full blown enjoyment was still yet to come. Is that weird?

All that changed when the calendar flipped to May. It's here!!! The month our little grand girl will be here (unless she's dreadfully late). The nursery is ready. Mom and Dad are ready. Me and Papa are so ready!!!! Some days it feels like my heart is going to explode. I honestly don't ever remember feeling like this.

So much to come! And now we're counting days and not months or weeks. Yippee!!!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

The Royalty of Family



Royal Wedding Reflections
Cast your vote...happy, healthy family?
I stayed up all night with a bunch of great friends to watch the spectacle of the royal wedding. It was a moment in history and I didn't want to miss a second of it in real time. The sights, sounds, color, pageantry, pomp and protocol were absolutely fascinating.

I couldn't help but think that, with all the millions of dollars spent, I'll bet you a designer hat these folks have all the familiar struggles of family. Maybe even more so. There's no doubt that fame and fortune have their curses, as do poverty and obscurity. The truth is that when it comes to family there is no such thing as perfection.

As much as I love my husband, siblings and kids, we are all just people trying to love and accept each other and make some great memories while we carry on lives of work and responsibilities. Some days it's a joy you can't even put into words and other days it's as much work as being on a chain gang. That's just life in all it's reality.

But in the end - they're all we have, really. When everything else is all stripped away - our stuff, our accomplishments, our dreams - they are the reason we live and breath.