Something Wonderful is About to Happen!

When I wake up
I want to believe
Something wonderful
waits to be seen
waits to be heard
waits to be felt
waits to be hugged
or removed from the shelf
waits to be noticed
waits to be loved
waits to be answered
waits to be held
Wonderful things
waiting for me
waiting for you
waiting for we
Sunrises and sets
clouds of fluff
rain so wet
gently blowing breezes
caressing all my hair
even if I'm dressed up
and headed for somewhere
Home and hearth
warm and cozy
family ties ever tight
loving letters looking rosy
soft sheets all the night
snuggles and kisses
books to cry and to smile
songs for dancing and singing
making merry for many miles
old trees, little saplings
squirrels gathering nuts
berries and cream
and friends come to sup
long lines by good magazines
coffee breaks and a call
loved faces in pictures
covering the wall
prayers go unanswered
leading to stronger belief
but mostly getting answered
filled with awe and relief
when I say "amen," to know and to feel
the Divine will answer
IT IS SO
it is real.

Every single moment
Every single day
Every single person
Many, many ways
Searching for meaning
Looking for the point
Does anyone really believe
Hope does not disappoint?
Posing the question
Shows philosophical age
Perhaps the wisest
Is the youngest sage.

Are We What We Eat?

Eating... I previously discussed how I think that eating is a priority. The balance of eating well is studied and argued and practiced the world over, day after day, century after century. This household has tried many methods of balance and planning. Here is a glimpse at the one we are currently performing:

"What do you think you could indefinitely eat every day and barely tire of it?" That was the question. Their answers led me to draw up a meal plan and delegate kitchen duties accordingly....

Saturday - Avé:

Lunch: Pancakes or Crepes

Supper: Tetrazzini or Alfredo and a veggie (she has a variety of favorites; peas, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, beans, etc)

Breakfast prep: Scones or Muffins


Sunday - Jason:

Lunch:
Eggs and toast (Ideally, the eggs come from our chickens, and the bread is homemade.)

Supper:
Meat (probably something on the grill), potatoes, vegetable (whatever is available)

Breakfast prep:
Onion bagels (store bought) or cereal or something else...

Monday - Savannah:

Lunch: Homemade Pizza Rolls

Supper: Tuna and Buttered Noodles and Veggies

Breakfast prep:
Pie (Which was actually Jason's request and Savannah has kindly agreed to prepare it if he helps to keep onion bagels in the house!) or a Breakfast Cake…


Tuesday - Destiny:

Lunch: Seasoned Baked Potato Wedges

Supper: Soup (using whatever is available), Bread (usually homemade artisan), Salad (optional)

Breakfast prep: Cookies


Wednesday - Shiloh:

Lunch: Oatmeal

Supper: Spaghetti (homemade sauce when ingredients are available), salad (optional)

Breakfast prep: Onion bagels or a Breakfast Cake


Thursday - Amy:

Lunch: Crackers with toppings and leftovers

Supper: Sandwiches and side dishes

Breakfast prep: Toast (Homemade is great! But any kind of bread gets eaten quickly around here.)


Friday - Chester:

Lunch: Oatmeal

Supper: Homemade Pizza

Breakfast prep: A Breakfast Cake or Cereal


There were also snack options requested:
yogurt, pretzels, granola bars, cookies, popcorn, chocolate, jerky, fruit, etc...

And Hazel has the daily backup option of scrambled eggies, pb&j, etc. Which we, of course, prepare for her. :-)

Worth 15,000 Words

Just waiting around for a kiss...

Oh yes, fresh bread from fresh ground wheat... we are THOSE people.

Jewelry Making with Maam and Mimi

Happy Birthday to Shiloh!

Foxglove

Lemon Blossoms in the cold North

Letter from Daddy

New Paint

                                                         

Birds of a Feather

We might be birds of a feather if a bunch of these apply, not all, but the more the better!

You covet roadside berries.
You have taken long walks to see toads mating or other seemingly odd reasons to take a long walk to observe something in nature.
People aren't sure if you are a hippy or a religious fanatic.
If you are way too serious about God stuff.
If you think individual "communion" cups should be much larger and contain real wine and church should not always take place early in the morning, and it should probably be outside around a huge fire more often, but we shouldn't burn anything on it except wood that came from a tree that got knocked down in a storm....
If you think "foot washing" is figurative for cleaning houses.
If you love solitude and people.
If you often sound contradictory.
If money is necessary, but not a main motivation if at all possible.
If you think GMOs should be outlawed.
If you think handing your children over to the government is risky.
If you enjoy a documentary and/or a long biography.
If woodsmoke is aromatherapy.
You drink a pot of coffee a day.
Baking bread from scratch is not something the "superwomen" do, but good therapy.
You collect material and sewing machines.
You at least attempt to garden and occasionally can something.
The words "wives submit" might make your husband spit milk through his nose.
You believe that the Bible is a book of truth, but that it usually gets interpreted wrong.
You are a mystic, or want to be.
You love long, long talks around campfires.
You think that children are the most precious thing in the whole world, but you beg people to watch yours sometimes.
Mowing lots of grass makes very little sense.
You've counted the immature fruits on your fruit tree and your chickens before they've hatched.
If you think hospitality can't ever be overrated, but sometimes/often you don't answer your phone, and you hate pop-ins.
You know you don't make sense.
Only mean people and friends of mean people get unfriended, the depressive sorts make you feel connected, and the encouraging sorts really do make your day sometimes... sometimes they even make your whole life feel worthwhile.
You are a very, very relaxed housekeeper.
You aren't competitive or easily intimidated.
You are comfortable with your body type.
You prefer walking to running.
You consider yourself a goat person, or at least want to come to my house and milk my goats.
If you are a bit of a disappointed idealist.. or a poet.

Petite Ode to the Potty

Potty training, pull-ups, and pig tails... p, p, p.
A toddler, some treats, and a Suess book... wee, wee, wee.
I know I'm not the only mom that questions sanity.

Shedding a tear is common for the loss of infancy,
but diaper changing won't be missed, not by them or me.

Some were inspired by others,
some were inspired by age,
Some were inspired by cereal, but for now,
Organic chocolate bunnies are all the rage.

Curlers, Cartoons and Coffee

Curlers, cartoons and coffee... just the way it should be.
The summertime is upon us, lemonade and humidity.
The son is off for a week, camping out with friends.
The man of the house has a work-a-day job, for the meeting of the ends.
Just me and my girlie girls galore, for several hours each day.
With curly hair, and repeat shows, and java going my way!

Flirting With Empty

A little light to warn me
Some money in my purse
Juggling convenience
With time and chauffeur work
Could put it off no longer
The milk was also gone
Coffee black won't start my day
A key turn and a song
Perhaps I waited just too long
Perhaps I timed it right
The gas ran out before the trip
The wheel I still held tight
We coasted down a little hill
We gently turned the bend
No waiting cars to block us
Just a pump. I thank You, Friend!

Snow is Soothing

The snow is soothing in its coldness
Whiteness blanketing the mud
Seems oblivious to Mondays
Inaugurations and angry thugs

The snow is soothing in its silence
Ordinary, yet divine
Sacred to a singing mother
Praying long for peace with time

Snow is soothing in its power
Seasonal promise from the One
Flakes so steady, calming, gentle
Reminding me, be like a dove

Snow is soothing in its beauty
Like a virginal repose
Bursting soon into the springtime
Full of hetero, fruitful hope

Snow is soothing in its emotion
Seeming wholly not to care
About the whipping, bitter fury
Or the gleeful sledding pair

Snow is soothing in its splendor
Each snowflake unique, yet homo whole
Equality, a desert blanket
A silent snicker at man's dumb goal

"Always winter, never Christmas,"
Has a ring of wicked witch
Curses never fall forever
Blessings bloom through thin or thick

4-Wheel Drive

Reflection is good, until it becomes rumination. Reflection gives meaning and pauses to consider beauty and meaning. Rumination stagnates and paralyses. Reflection is productive thinking, rumination is over and over thinking.  Reflection looks back in order to move forward with improvement. Rumination causes the "wheels to spin in the mud." When my "wheels are spinning in the mud," it would be helpful to realize that this vehicle comes with "4-wheel drive." For me, the 4 wheels are probably as follows:

1. Music: I need music. Music is not so much a hobby or enjoyment for me as it is a need. "The garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness." For some, praise music is found in a specific genre, and to some extent I do think that there are genres that are not praiseworthy, but I believe that "every good and perfect gift is from above." There is a lot of "good" music out there, and so-called praise genres are not always spiritually edifying for me, sometimes they sound a lot like Job's friends. People that limit their genres to "Christian" probably wouldn't listen to the "Song of Songs" genre. Personally, I love anything that lifts me out of heaviness and into thankfulness.

2. Prayer: What a gift to be able to take absolutely everything to our divine benefactor and believe that we are cared for, "beyond what we could even ask or think." What a rest to be told that "all things will work together for good." ALL THINGS! I can't actually make a mistake, because when I hand it over to my God He makes it a non-mistake. The freedom that we are able to live in is a gift we can share with everyone around us, forgive them, pray for them. Sometimes, most of the time, forgiveness and suffering are holding hands. "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted." Don't over think suffering. Forgive, be soft, be compassionate, be broken, rest under the wings of the One who teaches the birds of the fields to build their nests, the One who clothes the lilies, the One who likes to count the stars, the hairs on your head, and the sands on the shore. My God is a savant, some may think of God as an idiot savant, but I don't, I think that God is the savant of idiots, able to make any idiot eternally useful.

3. Necessity: Some days my thoughts can run on and on limited only by the hours in the day, and necessity. I often think of Mary and Martha, sisters of Lazarus, as examples of love and duty. Perhaps the lesson is that duty should not trump those for whom we are dutiful. Perhaps duty should be embraced as a tool for reflection, rather than despised as an interruption from spinning thoughts. Any way that we focus on necessity isn't going to change the fact that there are things to do that are necessary, but seeing those things as reflective is helpful for me.


4. Love: The crux of every matter. Perhaps love is more than a wheel, perhaps love is also the vehicle and the road and the destination and the sunrise and the sunset and the air we breathe and the breathe of life and the hope that is the reason of the Ages, perhaps without love there is nothing except "darkness over the face of the deep."