01/52

 

 

I have committed to a photo project where I will take a picture of each little warrior once a week for the entire year.  I wanted a project that revolved around something that my heart was invested in (not to mention that I will have a permanent collection of the week-to-week differences in my fast-growing boys) and also, something that was not super high maintenance to keep up with.  So here is week one, which I really wanted to coincide with the first week of the year, but thanks to my computer, had to wait for it's stubbornness to subside. 

 

 

Week 1 - January 31, 2013

Israel - cool kids go play in the snow

River - 'smile' face

Ahmi - suckling while sleeping

Inspiration, Magic, and Whimsy!

My children are relentless with their creativity, and they have a passion so uncorrupted and pure.  If ever my well feels dry, all I have to do is look to them to be instantly renewed with inspiraion.  They challenge me to create and to teach creatively.  They instill so much magic into our home by being true to themselves.  Wherever they walk, they leave an enchanting trail of hope and brilliance for others to stumble into, and to walk out of changed.....renewed.....and inspired.

 

Here are a few samples of the creativy that proceeds them.  For them, this is what it is to be human;  to be in love with life, and to create. These are awesome, but the creation is never greater than the creator;  these are a mere reflection of a heart and mind that are deeper and more astounding than we even know.

 

 

 

'Sea Creatures' done with Microns and markers

(A compilation of River and Israel's art....whose is whose?  You may never know)

 

 

 

'Ninjas' done on Microsoft Paint

 

 

'Peek-a-boo' A collage done with magazine clippings, marker, and Microns

 

 

'Robots' done on Microsoft Paint

 

 

'Dragon' done with Microns

 

'Duck Hunt' done on Microsoft Paint

 

 

'Cabin' acrylics on canvas

 

 

'Science Nerd' done on Microsoft Paint

 

 

'Warrior Prince' done in pen and marker

 

 

Enjoy the day by creating something lasting.  The greatest work of art is to love and touch someones life in a way that is both undeserved and unachievable for them to do on their own.

 

 

 

Snow Fun

 

 

 

 

Minus little ole Ahmi, the dudes braved the snow.  It was River's first year going sledding, and my how he loved it!  They built a huge snow fort, had a snow ball fight (or tow bah as River says), went sled riding, and topped it off with a huge cup of cocoa that Ahmi and I had waiting for each of them when they returned home.  Winter is the best!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Night of Firsts

Tonight Ahmi grew up before our very eyes.  In a matter of hours his vocabulary expanded from the sound of raspberries to a very controlled and repetitive, 'Eh, eh, eh, eh.'  While Israel beat boxed and made up crazy up-tempo songs, Ahmi bobbed up and down, showing us that he can get down too.  The slow, soft variety, was accompanied with what looked like holding his breath and headbanging.  Very cute. 
His bedtime came and we tucked our big boy in, said our good nights, gave the usual masses of kisses, and closed his door.  A little while later I snuck in to make sure he hadn't grown a beard or something, and I realized this was his first time dozing on his belly.  Sprawled and snoozing, I didn't fear for his life as he slept in this new position.  Why?  Because sadly, he's old enough.  I just doted over how precious he was, and how the world ages him one amazingly fast day at a time.




(If my computer would let me upload things....I would've added the evidence of his total cuteness in maturity, sorry)

Be the Tree

Remember when people used to shake hands to seal a contract?  Can you even imagine that in our world now;  a world where even legal contracts get broken?!  We have conditioned ourselves to live for ourselves.  Our word means nothing, we are too opinionated and outspoken.  We are all about instant and self gratification, and the disloyalty's that are displayed to the people we call friends is mind-boggling.  

 

People no longer seem to have an 'appropriate,' or 'inappropriate' filter through which conversations flow.  Nowadays, it's I think it, I speak it. We are losing something so valuable when we can so easily disregard others and think so highly of ourselves.  But the issue doesn't start on our lips.  It all begins in our hearts.  I know personally, I want God to cleanse me of everything that negates my heart to veer to the ugly.  I don't want ANY assumptions of people,  judgments or criticisms, or even the 'truth' to interfere with the real identity of others.  I want to see people as they were created; pure, lovely, IMperfect, yet very lovable.   When we spew our vomit to other people, we are just building walls up around their identity, and also to ours.  Why waste such precious words on something so ugly?

 

There's a story that comes to mind.  A story that most know if even one Sunday was spent in church as a child.  This story is about a man who wanted to see the Son of God, yet was of short stature and could not see through the crowd.  Jesus was headed their way, so Zacchaeus looked around hurriedly, grasping at something to stand on.  There it was, towering over the entire crowd; a sycamore tree.  He climbed to the highest branch, and when he did, the face of Jesus was as clear as the morning sky.  He stood and gazed in awe. 

 

Our words should mimic the essence of the sycamore tree.  Our words should heal, uplift, and sustain others to the point where as we speak, roots begin to form right beneath their feet.  Our words should be a branch for someone else to climb upon, not something to beat them down with.   Our words should call a tree into action; a tree that is strategically placed directly in front of our Father's face.  So when we help propel them up, the Lord will be looking right back,  call them by name, and proclaim, 'For I am coming to YOUR house today!'

 

***A word in season is a fountain of life***
 

***Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4:29***

Just Your Ordinary Superhero

The completely unrealistic world in my head somehow seems to think that I can cook all meals from scratch, make my own baby food, garden, can, sew my children's clothing, do all of my own home improvement, find time to do the most involved art project in the world, home school, clean, do laundry, look and feel sexy, and somehow make it through the day in one piece.  Pinterest only adds to this madness by introducing me to millions more projects that are impossible to take on.  My 'to do list' is becoming an unrealistic mountain, when in reality the only mountain I need to be focusing on is the dirty laundry that is breeding on my closet floor. 
It's great to have drive.  I might have a little too much.  I want to pursue the things that I am passionate for, but also need balance.  And sometimes balance says...'do I stay up late and collage, or do I sleep and not want to hurt my children the next day?' 
We can't compare ourselves to other women who seem to do EVERYTHING right.  *Gag*  We can't browse Pinterest and let inadequacy grip us because we don't have time to make everything look like magic and rainbows.  It's not about the appearance of what we do.  It's the love we put into it that counts.  My children's birthday parties might not be themed with 3 foot tall birthday cakes made of gold, but my boys know that their sloppy, crooked, BUT DELICIOUS cake was handmade by a mother who loves them down to their favorite flavor.  Kids don't care about how awesome their party hats are, or how intricate the details.  They just want to feel celebrated and loved.  And well folks, that's the easy part.
So just breathe.  Take ten.  Come back at life with the realization that it's not what you do, it's who you are...and how you love.

Indigestion and Parenting

Having children can cause your behavior to become a little erratic.  You basically start living your day-to-day life like a crack head.  Jumping from one thing to the next, yelling indiscriminately, crying your eyes out, then totally just passing out.  (Okay crackheads, I am totally not trying to stereotype you).  Sometimes you just want to reward yourself with an uninterrupted moment of eating.  Lame?......yes!   True?......unfortunately.

Seriously though...all good parents take the brunt of things.  We eat the least appealing fruit in the basket, we NEVER get the last piece of cake, when we finally get to go see a movie, we spend $40 to see option Z (which we love because of the kids' excitement), we wear our clothes a couple days in a row because our kids clothes get washed first, and for goodness sakes people, we wipe butts!

So when I want to have that alluring bite of somethingIdon'twannashare, I hole myself up in a childless corner of the house, and I eat that chocolate like I'm a prisoner with a shiv.  My back becomes an impenetrable wall, and I eat so dang fast I get heartburn.  But was that Lindt bar worth it?  Uh!  You even have to ask?  Well, you must not be a parent then.

Unfolding

God is so deep and far more creative than we can fathom.  In fact, His creativity has been studied since the beginning, and still there are questions we have no answers to.  We have doctors, chemists, scientists, and astronomers (to name a few), that have spent generation after generation unfolding what God created in 6 days.  And although we have made great strides and expanded our understanding, we are still finite in our thinking.  We don't understand it all.  Sometimes we have bursts of genius, but where does that genius take us really?  To more questions.   The depths God has poured into everything has totally outsmarted us all.  I think part of it is for the sake of mystery alone.  God likes us to not know everything.  It's what keeps us coming back to Him.  It is also very exciting to get a glimpse, and only a glimpse.  It keeps us sharp, on our toes, and in awe and adoration for the things we already understand.  It helps us hold those experiences dear to us because of the measure of pain it took to reach that understanding.

Here is a glimpse of God's multi-dimensional ways.  A reflection of the spiritual.  A small and precious unraveling of the eternal.  And a fresh reminder that God doesn't do one thing for one purpose alone.  He slurps up every ounce of significance he can and he crams it into one event that can keep us unfolding and unfolding, and 2,000+ years later, still unfolding.

(You must understand that the Hebrew calendar established Sunday as the first day of the week.  Sabbath was actually celebrated on Saturday.)

Jesus was crucified on what has now become known as Good Friday.  Based on the Hebrew calendar, this was the 6th day of the week,  When we parallel this simple fact to that same day in Creation, we realize that Jesus was killed on the day that 'God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, man and woman,' (Genesis 1:27).  Due to the fall of man, we died to His spirit.  We were no longer 'in the image of God,' so to make His word true, he sent His son to recreate us so that we could, once again, reunite with the Father.  This allowed everyone after Adam to once again be made in the image of God.

The day Jesus was sealed in the tomb was Saturday, the 7th day.  The very day in Creation when 'God finished the work he had been doing; so on this day he rested from all of his work.  And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done, (Genesis 2:2,3).  This symbolizes the supreme rest Jesus had after his descent to hell to set the captives free, to take to heaven those kept safe from harm in Abraham's bosom, and from the pit of hell.  He then rested, knowing that His children could enter into His presence because of the redeeming power of the cross.

The day Jesus arose was on Sunday, the first day of the week, the first day of Creation.  The day that God 'separated the light from the darkness (Genesis 1:3); which is the exact reason that Jesus came to the earth to begin with.  When he awakened from the grave, he awakened the world to the heavenly realm, to His realm.  He opened the eyes and hearts of his children, and showed us truth.  He gave us the power to not only behold the light, but to become it, one sacred step at a time.

Some people might think this is a stretch....that I've read into this too much.  But I don't believe there are such things as coincidences.  I KNOW that it simply reveals another mystery; one more dimension of the God who is infinite and good.  A God who is before ALL things, is in ALL things, and in Him holds ALL things together (Colossians 1:17).

You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello

Hello January!  I am so excited about the many changes coming our way this year...(I will give the details later).  This year I know is full of good things for my family and I, and you too, if you embrace it.  Here is a post that is from the ever-inspirational Shane Claiborne.  This is a fabulous list of how to embrace life a little more fully this year.  So cheers and Happy New Year!

13 Hopes for 2013

1. Do for one person what I wish that I could do for everyone, but can’t.
2. Practice resurrection. Make ugly things beautiful and bring dead things back to life. Paint a new mural in our neighborhood. And make some cool stuff out of t...rash. Look for God in the unlikely places.
3. Interrupt death. Do something regularly to interrupt the patterns of violence, bullying, war, capital punishment and other mean and ugly things. Maybe we can see another few states in the US abolish the death penalty in
2013.
4. Give more money away than I keep. And do it in a way that takes away the power of money and celebrates the power of love.
5. Write letters and notes to people, letting them know I am thankful for them. Write a note asking for forgiveness from someone I need to ask to forgive me.
6. Do something really nice – that no one sees or knows about.
7. Compliment someone I have a hard time complimenting… and mean it.
8. Pause before every potential crisis and ask: “Will this matter in 5 years?”
9. Get outdoors often. And enjoy things like fireflies and shooting stars. Take someone to the beach or the mountains for their first time. And regularly get my hands into the garden… so when I type on the computer I can see dirt under my fingernails.
10. Learn a skill – like welding – and use it for something redemptive, like turning a machine gun into a farm tool.
11. Rather than emphasizing the best of myself and finding the worst in others – let me work on the worst in myself and look for the best in others.
12. Be aware – and beware -- of blessings. Do something to abstain, fast, or delay gratification. And do something to indulge in a gift of God. Then do
something to end inequality and move the world toward God’s dream for every person to have “this day our daily bread”.
13. Believe in miracles. And live in a way that might necessitate one.

See!  Didn't I tell you this list was great?!