Eventually, I'll write a "part 2" to that previous post. For now, here are some pictures I took tonight around our house. The Bible verse in that first picture comes from Hebrews chapter 10 - a verse that has become precious to me in the past few days.
The curtains were finished a few weeks ago - and really weren't hard to do at all - the hard part is just making time for sewing. And buckling down and measuring things with a ruler (I'm afraid of rulers and measurements and exact things)...
Our kitchen sink, like anyone else's, is in a constant state of empty, full, empty, full. When I'm done with this post, I'll go make it empty again :)
Grace. My precious girlie - I am so thankful for that smile, that I get to see every morning without fail. I honestly don't remember her waking up in a lousy mood, unless she was sick - this is a blessing I don't want to take for granted! I love how Grace loves to do things repeatedly. Like tickling, or jumping, or drawing, or making funny faces - she rarely seems to get bored.
That last picture is (what we think is) a butterfly bush, in its humble beginnings. Bill's parents planted one for us on Eyre Street - and it grew to gigantic proportions! But since we moved in the dead of winter, and we couldn't take it along with us. Bill found a tiny "sprout" growing close by in a crack of concrete. He took it, planted it in that pot, and there it is - it's grown so much.
This week has been quiet - and good. I am enjoying the simplest things this week. Grace picked up an ear infection, so we've been spending a lot of time indoors. Plus, she inherited Bill's allergies, so I feel bad taking her out of the house too early in the morning. This morning we walked to the mailbox down the street, stopped to enjoy the dandelions, to listen to the birds singing - the sky didn't have one cloud in it. Our pastor said once, "The simplest things are the best things." Being at home with Grace, I find this to be true. I often start the day thinking about how I "need" to get "this, this, and this" done - and then waste time feeling guilty when the list remains unfinished. Awful! My list will never be finished. And that's okay.
The other day in the middle of the dinner/pack lunch/set the table/ hurricane that happens in my kitchen every day around 4 - 5pm, I actually stopped and typed this:
REST. It's okay.
You can't hang out with everyone.
You can't organize everything.
You can't have a "perfect" balance of playing with Grace and doing chores.
You can't live up to your unattainable expectations.
You can't.
And it's okay.
It's supposed to be that way.
That may sound pessimistic, but to this big planner/big dreamer/big creative person, it is actually reassuring, comforting, and freeing.
"It is a release to know that the secret to 'doing it all' is not necessarily doing it all, but rather discovering which part of the 'all' God has given us to do and doing all that. There is something specific set before each one of us, and God will prepare us for that and help us carry it out."
-Jill Briscoe
Psalm 131
O LORD, my heart is not lifted up. My eyes are not raised too high. I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, hope in the LORD, from this time forth and forevermore.
