Inspiration, Magic, and Whimsy!

Enjoy the wonders that have spoken to me this week!

extremely romantic dinners

ornery children freezing underwear

extravagant sunsets

hanging chairs

a good find 

clothesline children

and the beauty and inspiration of daisy fields...;)



Men as Trees



 Then they came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to Him (Jesus) and begged Him to touch him.  He took the blind man by the hand and brought him out of the village.  Spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him, he asked, “Do you see anything?”  He looked up and said, “I see men - they look to me like trees walking.”  [Mark 8:23,24]
These two verses have always interested me.  They feel pregnant with more meaning than I myself could ever gather.  I’ve read theological interpretations, basically all agreeing that the mans sight was initially healed in part (seeing men like blurry trees) so that his own faith could help bring about complete healing.  Although that sounds nice, it didn’t seem to click with me as being ‘it.’
 I began reading a book called “Who Switched Off My Brain? Controlling Toxic Thoughts and Emotions by Dr. Caroline Leaf.  This book is revolutionary in proving the Proverb that states “For as he thinks in his heart, so he is.”  Dr. Leaf discusses the notion of epigenetics, which simply put, is that our perceptions of life shape our biology.
 I did a little more studying on the concept of the epigenome to find that it is basically cellular material that will tell your genes how to express themselves and their resulting appearance. When we consciously use our free will and simply ‘think,’ we are making the determination of which genes will be expressed; which genes will shout, and which ones will whisper.  Simply said, what we think about shapes and forms the appearance and function of our genes, which in turn, tells our bodies how to maneuver and its overall health. 
 The way that our body acts is all due to the fact that our thoughts are either healthy or not.
So it’s easy to then add that our behavior, along with our genes, follows our thought life.  The way we believe things to be is our filter for everything else.  We react out of those filters and produce either healthy or unhealthy reactions.  If our minds are negative, we will act out of fear based and insecure reactions.  But if our minds are renewed, cleansed, and focused upon what God has called us to think upon (whatever is lovely, pure, noble etc.) than we will naturally act out of those things.  Whatever we act on originates from what we think and believe first. Actions are simply reactions to thoughts and beliefs.
 Thoughts in our brain, look like little trees.  They are electrical impulses that grow stronger and have more interconnectedness the more that you meditate upon and believe in them.  So going back to the whole men as trees thought from earlier.  I think that as this man whose entire life was transitioning from being physically blind to suddenly seeing, displays our own spiritual blindness of believing lies as truth, which really does make you blind.  The blind man first saw men as trees walking, and in a sense, he was right.  I don’t think his eyes were foggy, I think his sight was very keen.  Discerning that men were nothing more than walking thoughts, acting out of their beliefs, and that those beliefs, regardless of the accuracy or truth, have the potential to root us down with great strength.
 The good news however, is that God calls us to daily renew our thinking.  How do we do that?  By meditating upon His truth...nothing more, nothing less.  And when we consistently have our thoughts upon him, our brains are hard at work creating new branches, healthy branches, that can tie our entire network of thoughts together and be created new and fresh.  We are all men as trees walking, let’s just make sure we are not dead trees to ourselves, or this world!

A Mild Tangent

Disclaimer:  This piece is intended to be facetious, annoying, and mildly thought-provoking.  Don't get all offended on me!



  So with tomorrow being the day that is representative of the anniversary of the Resurrection of Jesus, I would like to say this.  Eh hem...
  It's not called "Easter."  "Easter" is a pagan holiday in celebration of a goddess named Ishtar; a goddess of fertility - hence all of the egg paraphernalia.  It's no longer 'politically correct' to call Christmas, Christmas, we're supposed to say happy holidays.  But what if I am just as offended by the "Easter bunny," as some are of Jesus Christ?
  What if some people don't celebrate with pagan eggs and chocolate?  I think we should change our festive greeting from "Happy Easter," to "Happy Resurrection Day,"  or at worst, "Happy Spring."  It does seem less hypocritical to deem all serious days of reflection mere 'holidays' since they could all eventually be perceived insensitively.  But what I think is more insensitive than the title something holds, is that a man can die a ghastly, unspeakably horrendous death for every person that walks this earth, only to be shamed out of defining the holiday we are actually celebrating by changing its name to something less offensive.
  I don't celebrate weird mutated bunnies that happen to lay chocolate eggs.  That's unrealistic.  What's very real though, is a man named Jesus Christ who died a terrible and beautiful death to free us from moronic thinking and being so easily offended instead of quick to love.
  A man who is willing to die for a people who hate him, that is something to be in some serious celebration for!  So celebrate we shall!  And if you party by eating some chocolate and peeps, then do so while remembering that we now live in freedom and love, and that the breath inside of your lungs is now redeemed.  And above all, have an abysmal thankfulness that your life is now worth living!
   Happy Resurrection Day!  Happy Spring!  And even Happy Easter!  Whatever...

One + One + One + One = Infinite Love

  One little baby...slobbery kisses.
  One seven year old growing...hidden kisses.
  One harboring husband...life-giving kisses.

The kind of love that keeps a mother going...the type of shield a woman needs. 
The affections of her family, she wears like designer clothes.  Tailored.  Adorning.

  One tiny giggle...three uproarious laughs to follow.
  Joy embedded in the pure skin of two beautiful boys that make her world intact.
 
Hearts so full, they are like balloons with endless helium.
Lifting hopes high to the sky above.  Limitless.  Never landing. 
 
  One innocent baby with hopes undiscovered.
  One little big boy who breathes love itself
  One longing woman with pristine imaginations
  One passionate man who hands her dreams on a cloud.

Infinite love from an infinite God who expresses Himself beautifully and intimately through my perfect family!




   

Another Dreamy Day at the Park

It was a lovely day for the first time in a LONG time! 80 degrees, cool breeze...couldn't have been better weather!  We've been itchin' to get outside and get our feet in the dirt for some time now, and today was the perfect opportunity.  With the two kiddos and my husband actually not working or at school, we ventured to the castle park. 
We ran and played tag, pushed River ever-so-gently in the baby swing, laughing at his sweet giggles and innocence.  We chased Israel up the big hill, watched him slide down the same hill on his dirty little bum.  Ran around in the woods and saw a huge mama snake with her cute little baby.   Knowing dinnertime was lurking around the corner, we headed to the creek to look for crayfish and water bugs. 
We walked along the creek as Israel splashed and played in the cold springtime water.  Nearing the tunnel at the end of the creek I decided that I would skip from side-to-side as the rushing water ran down the middle.  Israel joined me while Daddy stayed behind with little fat boy.  I didn't get more than a few steps in, when my right sandal got caught in the current and was whisked away by nature.  I played along and flew down the tunnel chasing shortly behind.  Unable to catch up to it, I threw in my other sandal wondering what good it would do someone to find only one shoe!
 Barefoot and happy, we all walked hand-in-hand back to the car where we drove home in the beauty of the day and the silence of peace and love in our hearts.

Inspirational, Magical, Whimsical Wednesday!!

African children

graffiti art

old people dancing!  yay

 portabella's

romantic and dreamy days with my family

mature dreads

Richard Swift and all of his magic!

and nothing beats a lovely nook to sit and enjoy a good read!



Why Do I Even Bother?

  We recently bought a set of baby monitors for what was supposed to be a long distance relationship with our five month old son at nighttime.  However, this was not a very realistic assumption.  We don't really use the monitors, even though they are plugged in and turned on.   I would like to say we don't use them because River sleeps through the night, rendering them useless.  Noooo...I would not consider it a waste of money if that were the case.  They stay turned on, and we gruelingly fall asleep to their hum and static, while River snoozes away, using me as his mattress.

   I'm not really certain what happened.  One day he was being laid down in his crib fully awake, cooing and laughing himself to sleep.  I considered it a bad night when he was mildly fussy as he put himself to sleep.  Boo hoo.  I long for those days once again.  Now I cannot lay that mama's boy down in his crib before he has fallen asleep.  Oh no, and not only has he recently realized he wants to fall asleep in someones arms, but he has also established that he is on a binky boycott.  Nothing can soothe him in the middle of the night except mom sitting very uncomfortably upright against the wall, with an all-you-can-eat buffet....ALL night long. 
  He will be in the kind of deep sleep where he's snoring cute baby snores and drool is dripping from the corners of his chubby little cheeks, and if I dare lay him down, he realizes once again that he is hungry.  If I try to bogart his happiness with a binky, his new found coordination slaps that binky from my hand every time I get it close to his lips!  Not kidding!
  Hopefully one day soon I will be able to say that I am using them for their intended purpose, but until then, we will just have to have fun spying on our neighbors, or maybe even using them as a security system as Israel has suggested...our neighborhood is rather precarious.  But for now, we'll just let River hold it and play with the buttons.  Keeping children occupied=money well spent.

Anti-Social Networking

  At our core, we as humans are meant to live in community.  We thrive best with a strong sense of loyalty and support.  It feels natural to be able to live in an environment where we are close, interdependent, caring for those around us.  Relationship and intimacy are what life is all about.  So it's only natural that all of these new modes of communication have been birthed out of this universal need.  Social networking; facebook, myspace, twitter...even texting.  We have come up with all of these ways to stayed locked in and connected to those around us. 
  What's interesting to me is how this method of "intimacy" has backfired.  Have you ever been in line at the store and witnessed people talking on their cell phone while checking out?  How about keeping track of personal events through status updates on facebook?  I think that we are all guilty of these things.  What's ironic is that while our motive is to stay interlaced with peoples lives, we have actually become more detached.  If I am in line at the store, carrying on a conversation to my friend on the phone, than I am missing the opportunity to extend myself to the person standing right in front of me...the cashier.  If I'm checking status updates on other peoples lives, I am missing the intimacy of hearing their voice in person, being a shoulder to lean on and seeing the expression of their heart, through the expressions on their face. 
  We have somehow become a culture who has learned to keep intimacy at bay.  Attached just enough to stay in tuned with others ongoings, yet detached enough that we can throw up our facades, and people have no choice but to believe what they see.  I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with these mediums, I use them too. They're enjoyable and fun, yet we need to make sure that we are not trading human contact in for a cheaper version of what it means to be relational.  It's good to be cautious and not to forget that we all need human touch, and a revealing look in the eye.  We were created to live in community, so let's do it!