a happy-weather photo collection

we've so been enjoying these recent days. sun, breeze, birds, and new leaves.

growing things in our teeny garden.

first honeysuckle

supper outside

proud pigtails

so close! if i had a fancy-pants camera, that shot would have been perfect. maybe it still is, though

wandering in our little wilderness with these cuties

i am looking forward to more good gifts this weekend as my sister is coming in a matter of hours. yay! we're planning lunches outside, evenings on the deck and a day at the beach. i'm sure you'll be accosted by photos come monday.

happy weekending everyone.

another reminder that community rocks

a good friend was in my kitchen last week. as we put a dinner together for our families she asked me how i was doing with staying home full-time with my little ones. i had talked with her at the close of last year about my trepidation stepping back into being home all the time.

and i paused. looked at her and said, "i think..."

and she smiled and said, "you seem better."

"i feel better." not perfect. not always easy. but it has gotten just a little easier to put aside my wants in the middle of a wednesday and see the beauty He has laid out before me. to choose my little ones over myself. embarrassing to admit, but that's where i've been folks.

it was one of those moments that sneaks up on you. i hadn't really been looking, hadn't been seeing, but He had been working. growing my heart in places, changing my mind without me knowing. and i arrive better.

but without her in my kitchen, knowing me before and knowing me now, i wouldn't have stopped, taken stock, and praised the Lord for His hand of graceful teaching in my life.

just another reason i'm so thankful He has me surrounded on this journey. so thankful for community and how He uses it.

art by this guy

the promises

He is indeed risen.

and we celebrated again and again the unspeakable gift He has given.

a day at the farm with dozens and dozens of lovely people. and horses. oh the horses.

my little farmer- who insisted on wearing his cowboy hat, "cause that's what you wear on the farm."

we did the egg hunts and had candy (and sugar crashes that followed. i'm sure you're with me here people)

and i tried to soak in all of His good gifts.

because of what our household conversation has been about lately (see previous post), this Easter felt extra sweet. We've been thinking so much about how God made things good, things are far from perfect now, but He came to defeat evil- He conquered death. Put death in his grave and, well, He wins! Sitting with my family on Sunday, as the tears fell down my cheeks, i patted the small boy's knee beside me. very grateful that He has made a way for me to answer my boy's questions with great hope and joy.

i hope your celebrations were filled with goodness. welcome to the week, friends. praying i cling well to the promises i was reminded of this weekend.

samuel and the cosmos

i have to write a little bit about this guy:

he came into the world and surprised me in so many ways. he has shown me so much about myself and the world around me. he's a compassionate thinker. a sweet-souled little boy.

and lately he has been coming to jason and me with a new kind of question. he has always asked many many many questions. most of them have surrounded some division of biology. he started with sounds, "what does a giraffe say" and then food "what does a lion eat?" and then habitat... you get the picture.

as he now learns more about God, there are new questions.

"why do lions eat other animals?"

-"well it's the way God made them."

"why did God make lions eat other animals?"

-"well... actually He didn't really. He made everything perfect- without sadness or pain, but Adam and Eve disobeyed and that's a consequence of that"

and so many similar questions followed. my little philosopher fell and scraped his knee. and as we hobbled into the library afterward, he asked me, "why does God let us get owies? is it because of Adam and Eve and the sin and disobeying mom?"

there has been frustration and tears as he learns more about the sadness of the world. the lamb who had to die for Passover. God asking Abraham to be willing to sacrifice everything for His sake. (and he's on the verge of becoming a vegetarian)

but we've told him how the story ends. and his hope now frequently lies in heaven, where the lion will lie down with the lamb and there will be no more pain or sorrow.

so recently he got a sliver and begged us to leave it alone. "Don't take it out! I'll wait til heaven. I can wait til then."

he keeps making me reach deep into my bag of truth-comfort to answer his cosmic 'why' questions. it has been a wonderful and exhausting exercise. he is daily trying to reconcile his sense that bad things shouldn't happen and the all-powerful good God he's learning about.

it is the question that stops so many of us in our tracks. how do i respond, how do i make sense of the bad i have to face when i rely on a good and powerful God?

this little face has been keeping the big picture of His goodness in my face these days. and it has been good aerobic spiritual exercise. a habit of thought i've been forced into. to see His hand of goodness in the face of my depravity. His gift of a path- a yoke that is easy and light.

looking toward the cross and the empty tomb today, i'm again filled with awe and gratitude. and am praying that He will help me explain this crazy plan of love and grace.

oh how this boy makes me smile. so thankful he's ours for a little bit.

the hose- 15 minutes

i said yes to the hose.

okay, so the high was only 80 yesterday. but for this Minnesota girl, that's seriously warm. swimsuit weather for sure.

and i'll be honest. had a little argument with myself as i considered this 'yes.'

'this is a pain. i have to find kate's swimsuit and make more dirty laundry ON laundry day when it's all getting clean.'

'and what do you have to do today? laundry. that's about it. you can say yes to this.'

so i forced the words out of my mouth. and i was glad.

a hopeful week

went to a fabulous north carolina bakery on saturday. just cause.

stopped at a beautiful nursery to wander and gaze at all the amazing stuff God has made. growing things blow me away.

and we made it to the park. love saturdays.

on Friday i got to spend the night with about two hundred women from our church. they gathered together to fellowship and declare united that our God is awesome. as i stood and sang, hit with a wall of His daughter's voices singing praise to His name, i almost had to stop singing. so incredible.

i've been thinking a lot, lately, about the big picture. the whole story. how God made everything perfect, it all fell apart, He will restore it fully one day. and as i prepare this week for Easter, i'm hoping i can set my eyes on His resurrection morning full of expectation. joyful, hope-filled faith in what is here now (His presence) and what is to come.

birthday garland

made a birthday garland for a sweet friend.

but i didn't think to take pictures of the process of making it. so i don't think i can call this an all-out tutorial, but it was easy and i'm going to try to explain.

take one rectangle of fabric you like, iron on a same-sized rectangle of Heat-n-Bond. then peel the paper back on it, iron onto another fabric you like. ta-da! two sided fabric. cut some circles out.

repeat with two other fabrics.

then i used invisible thread (you wouldn't have to) and shoved them through my machine one after the other- like on the fall garland.

i really liked the result.

i'm looking forward to a saturday spent in the dirt. little plants and little hands. fabulous.

blessings on your weekends, friends. see you monday.