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Cheers to a Broken World
God of peace. God of sound mind. Not confusion. Not flustered. I have this picture posted on my desk, and can see it as I write. I look at it often on my phone. For me, it’s the glimpse of Christmas: swaddling cloths, born into a weary world, yet with great hope. This past year it has been a struggle for me to have a sound mind. I don’t know about you, but it seems like there is a circumstance, or situation, or issue at every turn that either makes the next step more difficult than it already is, or makes it impossible. Don’t get me wrong, there have been…
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Blanket Drop
I can’t believe I have watched the Charlie Brown Christmas and have never noticed this before. You may have already heard what seems to be going viral on social media or maybe you noticed it before it was even mentioned by anyone. Linus drops his beloved blanket as soon as he says the words, “fear not…” Now, me and Linus are connected souls, because blankets are always with me, and certain ones for certain times. I hold them, wrap up in them, carry them. So this is why I am surprised that I haven’t noticed that he completely lets go of his beloved blue blanket. But what a symbol and…
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“Hope is My Favorite Thing to Have”
Let me pause before I start todays post… I must say my heart is deeply grieved for the many who have had their lives completely shattered- by violence, by policy, by “well-educated” people who have no clue what their “self-educated” counterparts are going through, by unacceptable and nasty comments and remarks. The cruelty is at a level that is beyond I could have ever imagined, and I don’t know where or when it will hit the peak for enough of us to shout STOP! So until then, I am just letting you know if you are out there thinking, “am I the only one yelling at the tv?” Let me…
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Volume Up!
There are so many reasons this videos is on my phone all the time. 1. My niece is adorable. She now has much more hair than her adorable blonde strands of hair in this video. Her blue eyes have not changed, they still take my breath away, as someone once told her, “I can see the ocean in your eyes.” And of course, she still can give us this “sneaky” look/laugh once in a while. 😉 2. You can hear my mom, my Paw-Paw, and I laughing. The best laugh in the background is my Paw-Paw’s. Of course none of us knew at the time what the months ahead held,…
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Family Moments
“Family moments are the best souvenirs.” Moments. Maybe a split second decision. A window of time that surprised you, and allowed you to spend time with family. A car ride conversation. A road trip. A stay-cation. It’s the moments within in these times that we remember, that children remember. There is a five year gap between my brother and I, which to some seems like a lot, but honestly, I love it and always have. It’s one of those things, as a kid, you didn’t really think about unless somebody pointed it out. We have always been best friends, partners in sneakiness, and have always loved family. Family trips and…
- "Life" Books, Children, Children Come, Consider This..., Family, Friends & Neighbors, GRANDparents, Grief, Let's be Real, My Little, Pass it On...
Children Grieve Too
“There’s a stillness about grief. A process. An overwhelming hush. Some days it screams about the one I miss. Some days it’s a peace that there is more. Some days it’s a silent mending as tiny broken pieces are put back together. In any form, I don’t mind the quiet — it’s a sign of an endless love, a richness, an undying hope. I’m learning that the quiet is part of the sacred mess of grief, of aching, of mending, of becoming whole when part of you is gone. It’s sacred and holy, and because of that it makes me feel just an inch closer to him. I don’t want…
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Thoughts from a Maker of Lists
Be honest, how many of you just chuckled or said Amen to the above image? There have been so many nights that I have been sound asleep, and wake up so quickly, because my brain decided it was time to remember what I forgot to do that day. If I don’t write something down right away, or type it into my phone, it leaves me the moment I walk away from a conversation or the thing that reminded me to do whatever needed to be done. In the past, I have tried not looking at my phone during the night, which limited me from putting things into my to do…
- "Life" Books, Aunt-ing, Children, Chronic Illness, Consider This..., Family, Friends & Neighbors, GRANDparents, Let's be Real, Memories, Pass it On...
When “Showing Up” Looks Different
“I’m learning to love the pauses, the quiet stretches, where nothing much is happening, but everything feels okay.” -Unknown The man in the picture above, my Paw-Paw, is the closest thing to being a “show up” legend for his grandchildren and even other children he loved! He wasn’t perfect, and he wouldn’t want to be seen as such. But when he started to get to weak to make his two a day visits to my grandma in the nursing home, it was a huge sign that he was extremely tired and his body was giving out. He worked in human resources for quite a while at the end of his…
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Just a Little Conversation, Please.
In all my years of life, on the vast land that I grew up on, never have I experienced the abundance of “cooing” a mourning dove can produce! When we moved to a neighborhood, the noises were all new to me, and quite an adjustment. (I knew that I was sensitive to noise and light, but it must just be how I am wired, because I am still just as sensitive as I was five years ago.) However, we always had bird feeders close to our house, and all around our house. Front yard, back yard, any where you could look out a window, there was a bird feeder. That…
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Heart and Mind
What is your thoughts on comments like these: “Kids will be kids.” “They are just in the terrible twos phase.” “He/She is quite the handful.” “You have your hands full!” My thoughts, can you guess? I’m not a fan. Indeed, I am the first to advocate for kids to be kids! Let them play! Good golly, adults need to chill and join in playing more often. However, this comment is very rarely ever used for this reason. Instead it’s used as an excuse for inappropriate behavior. So is the terrible twos, and all the age related undercutting comments about tweens, teens, and all in between. The latter two comments are…
