Listening

My husband offered me some soul time yesterday evening. I didn't have to make dinner, clean up after anyone, entertain a preschooler- just be me. It was heavenly. But the best part was not doing the normal demands of life, but getting quiet enough to listen.

Stillness so I could hear my breath. Solitude so I could hear my thoughts. And after those thoughts tumbled out into my prayer journal, I put the pen down and listened... it isn't exactly a form of the breath prayer or a centering prayer, but rather a contemplative posture of inner stillness so that I could hear God.

I didn't receive any dramatic messages, but I did receive the blessing of profound presence in the silence and solitude. The experience made me hunger for more... but I simply had a few blessed hours... then the husband, kid, and dog came back in with their noisy needs.

I hope to listen again soon...

Vacation Highlights!

Last week turned out to be a terrific vacation at home week! Here are a few highlights of the past eight days! Hope you are well too!

• Sold so much stuff in the garage sale, that I had to close it a day early
• Picked up rocks in my backyard because of you-know-who's-eating habits
• Met Slash, Florence Henderson, Jim Neighbors, Julianne Hough, Christy Yamaguichi (spelling??) while standing in line for the restroom on the Indy 500's race day
• Got to see my husband for more than 1 hour (I had to go to his workplace)
• Moved a double bed mattress and box spring by myself
• Watched The Little Mermaid five times in a row!
• Allergies and now a sinus infection have made my nose Rudulf red

Needless to say, it was a great week, although I am back at work more tired than when I left.

Whew- good to be back! I can rest now.

Vacation blogging

Sorry, folks I will not be blogging next week. Vacation takes precedent. Travel to a tropical paradise is not in the 'gazelle intense' Dave Ramsey Financial Peace budget. But hosting a garage sale and enjoying time with my daughter are!

So, see you after the Memorial Day and we'll blog some more. Hopefully I can collect some better and newer material than my dog's rock eating habit.

Graduations...

You know when you know too many people graduating? When you have to buy graduation congratulations cards in bulk! Geez- that is a lot of cards. (Now I gotta get extra one cent stamps because I have the 'old' stamps.)

Between friends, family and church folks, I know students who are graduating from all levels of scholastic and academic achievement. That also means there are lots of graduation parties to attend this year too.

A few moments ago I witnessed our Calvary Learning Acadmeny kindergarten students graduating. One little girl kept commenting, "This is my first graduation!" And I wanted to add, "And it will not be your last!" High school, college, graduate school, and maybe even a Ph.D await this young student. Or maybe not.

Graduations are a lot of fun though. You have a deep sense of satisfaction for the hard work completed and the next big challenge seems really far off... plus any occasion that has chocolate cake and gifts is a good thing!

Mothering Thoughts

Everyone has a Mom so everyone has a thought about what Mother's Day means. I have heard all sorts of sentimental to thoughtful, quirky to silly, and/or sad to tragic stories about this annual May holiday. Lots of these come via email. Some are in Hallmark cards. Others are whispered over coffee.

Yet, no one has expressed one of the surprises that I encountered with motherhood. All that sappy stuff has been said. All the hard work and crazy unappreciated acts has been discussed. Nobody I know, maybe you know someone, talks about bonding and motherhood.

Especially how bonding is a layering of experiences. Sometimes a moment or crisis bonds you to your child tightly. And sometimes it is a slow growing vine the creeps into your soul and tangles itself there. Often it is all this and more added up together that bonds child to mother and mother to child.

No one told me about how bonding works before I became a mom four years ago. Mostly I got advice about breastfeeding, where to purchase the right baby stuff, and "oh they do grow up fast, don't they" comments.

How we draw close to others, share intimacies of emotion and dreams is the stuff that motherhood (and fatherhood I could argue) is made of. Well, that at least is the stuff I honor as a mother on Mother's Day.

A Dog's Life

For those of you with weak stomachs, this blog is not for you.

Our dog vomited up, not a runaway prophet this morning, but a trinitarian collection of rocks. Rock eating again.

Anyone with free time who would like to now help me pick up all rocks from my yard- stop by this weekend. This is the only way to save a dog's life! Because he obviously cannot save himself.

Unable to Write

For the past three weeks I have been taking an online creative writing class. Online classes represent a stretch in my life experience. It has been fun to learn things and challenging to unlearn old (and poor) writing habits.

Today's lesson stumps me. Selecting the best word and turn of phrase was our topic today. And I am stuck! Writing this blog makes me re-examine every word I choose. ACK! Is there a better word? That was too cliche'. How can I not over write? How can avoid really bad writing?

I don't think I am going to be able to write anymore because I am now too self-conscious.

Sigh.

Gotta go practice with my homework.

Hostess with the Least

I enjoy providing hospitality for guests in our home! It is fun to plan and prepare for a party. Thinking about the menu and shopping etc. bring me a sense of joy that I can offer a relaxing enjoyable experience for folks I care about.

Like this past Saturday night when we hosted our largest gathering yet, 32 people (14 of them youth and kiddos)- what a blast to swap recipes, visit a little bit longer, share more deeply about life and stuff. And the best part was when Officer King let the kids explore his police cruiser! (My neighbors have now just recovered!)

And yes, I am one of those religious nuts who looks forward to guests arriving by actually praying for them and their families. Weird, I know, but it is a spiritual discipline that I started long ago and now have shared with you. It is a great opportunity while cleaning toilets, vaccuming, and removing clutter to prayerfully reflect on how God is present in our life together. Some times the prayers are very simple and thankful and other times they are full of earnest intercession.

This spiritual discipline works beautifully until approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes before the first guests arrive and then something happens. I loose all sense of having any Christian faith at all. Exhausted from all the preparations, I become the house-cleaning Pharisee establishing rigid rules for children and pets. Rules like the following:

• You cannot walk outside and back inside on my clean kitchen floor. You must stay in or out until people get here! I don't care if it is raining!
• You cannot eat or drink in any room in the house. You must fast until the guests arrive.
• You cannot play with any toys that will make a cluttered mess on the floor. Which means you must stand perfectly still and only breath.
• And you definitely cannot unmake your bed 4 times in order to put your baby doll to sleep!

Sigh, I guess I still have a lot to learn about having faith while entertaining!

5:38am wake up

Early this morning the below-mentioned rock reappeared. Our pup decided to vomit it up at the foot of our bed!

I have it in a plastic baggie in my office, if anyone wants to see it!