.Loved Relentlessly.

This afternoon I was surfing Facebook...you know, when you start following links from your newsfeed, to a friend's wall, to their friend's wall, to their friend's wall...and suddenly you're somewhere looking at pictures of people you don't even know, because you found something interesting. (At least, I hope I'm not the only one who does this...haha...) I was looking at some cute photography ideas with kids, and a comment on an adorable shot of a little girl caught my attention. It said something like this - "She's sooo cute...she would be a gorgeous model when she grows up. Too bad her doctor said she will only turn out to be about 5 feet tall. Oh, well." The genuine anger that filled my chest...I can't even explain it - anger that someone would have the gall to insult a masterpiece, created and stitched together by the hands of God Himself. Our value is not defined by the height we achieve, or your chest size, or your waist m...

In November when the wind is red, and the leaves are cold, I feel old. I jotted those lines down today, stopped at an intersection in town.  I have felt that feeling before, but this is the first November that I've been able to put a name to it.  The name is, simply,  old .  I feel aged in November, as if, really, underneath this quarter century of experience there should really be three quarters.  Because I know what's coming.  I know that this turning of seasons in the natural is also a spiritual metaphor.  We are all turning.  Aging.  Changing.  Shifting. But the oldness makes me feel happier, somehow.  Not in some morbid way, but it makes me feel nearer to that which my spirit-man longs for.  Even as I rejoice in the coming spring of my baby's birth, I can't help but ache just a bit for my final autumn.  I feel old, in that I have begun to welcome the changing seasons.  I am not quite...

It's so funny to me how much can change in half of a year... The last blog post I wrote (and just now published) had to do with being a Health Food Nazi, or something or other.  Now, November 1, 2012 finds me being a Eat-Anything-That-Sounds-Appetizing-and-Is-Relatively-Healthy-For-Baby Nazi.  Haha...  Oh, the change time brings.  What felt important last April, now seems not quite so urgent. Our summer was so full of so many good things.  Summer camps at Peachtree kept me busy.  I enjoyed working with the kiddos for the second year in a row.  We did some hiking, kayaking, and cliff jumping on our mutual days off.  Sometime mid-August there were two lines on a pregnancy test... and, you know, we were a bit excited.  The very next week we left for a 7-day, much needed vacation, just the two of us, to Pensacola, FL.  Besides a bit of morning sickness making me feel woozy, we had a wonderful trip.  A week later, on August 31, we ...

As alot of my friends and family know, back in January I set out to be a Whole Foods Nazi.  (Ok, well, not quite...but I wanted to feed us better...)  Since then, my husband has watched as I have poured white sugar into the garbage can, choked down "Mean Green Juice", and almost cried over several whole wheat bread-baking flops.  We have certainly cheated, like with that horrible-for-you peach cobbler on the camping trip...or the hot fudge cake I just had to have at 9:00 at night...or eating out when my spring schedule was crazy.  But I think I can safely say that for the majority of the time we have eaten whole, real, like-God-made-them foods since the first of the year.  This has been even easier to continue since I've been out of school for the summer.  If I have learned one thing about feeding your husband/family real food, it's that you have to spend time at home to do it...at least, to do it without wanting to scream because you have to wa...

Once again, time has slipped away since my last blog post.  Days have begun to blur together recently, as the end of the year approaches for Peachtree.  Songs are being learned, a script is being written, all that has been taught and received in the last two semesters is almost ready to culminate in an end-of-year program and performance.  The process...and laboring...will produce a product.  It's beautiful, really. This year has taught me much...and I thought I was the teacher.  So funny, the notion that any of us are really teachers.  We are all the taught , we are all the learning, we are all the growing.  Standing in front of a classroom of children, something comes out of one of their mouths and a revelation of the Kingdom that I've never heard before breaks my heart with its reality.  Once again I realize how much I have left to learn, and because of this I love the title of "teacher".  I love the daily opportunity to be taught. ...

I was shocked to see the date of my last post - November 3 - when I logged into my Blogger account just now. It's crazy what the holidays will do to you... the chaos seems to put quite a limit on time spent reflecting, at least for me. It's been a very full 4 months for Dan and I. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we enjoyed spending time with my extended family, as well as traveling to Utah for 10 days in December. While there we met our little nephew, Aaden, for the first time. He is quite the charmer. His Aunt Hannah was in her element, having a baby to hold and play with...and Uncle Dan thought he was pretty awesome, too. Hehe... We came back to Tennessee right before New Year's, and celebrated Christmas with my side of the family. My Mom blessed all 3 of her older children and their spouses with very special "Marriage Quilts"... quilts she had made herself to symbolize our individual marriages, which she spent many hours praying over as she wor...

Wow...I haven't posted in a while. Life has been slightly full this fall season. I have enjoyed a quiet morning at home this morning. The rainy weather changed my plans...for the better, I think. Dan is off today, and in the midst of folding laundry, and washing dishes, and writing in my journal, I have heard the steady beat of his hammer from the garage as he builds and creates. I love the feeling - the sounds, the smells, the little realities - of just being home - and being home together. October was an absolutely glorious month. When I think back on September and October 2011 someday, I hope I can remember all the picture-perfect days in a row. And so much color! Deeps reds and vibrant yellows and the most delicious orange. Fall has not been a going to sleep here this year...it has been a coming awake . Delightful. We took a family camping trip to Dale Hollow two weeks ago, on mine and Dan's birthday weekend. A little chilly at night, but the days were fine , in the full...