yeah. it's been awhile.

I knew it had been quite some time since I'd ventured over to this blog. But five months?! It's not for lack of inspiration - I've been writing in my paper journal, sharing things with my husband and friends, storing away photos that have spoken to me but are patiently resting in the archives. I think it's just this...

life! I have a husband and four kids and a part-time job and hobbies and lots of friends to play with. Sometimes blog number three just has to be set aside. :)

So I'm doing the most freeing thing I can think of.....I'm retiring this blog. I am not deleting it completely because I want to be able to come back here and read over my old posts. It's good to browse through old journal entries once in a while. So catch me over on our family blog or visit my photo blog! 'Cuz you won't find me here no more, no more.

Toodles!

the beggar at my window

Every morning, he looks at me like this:



Time for our walk.

I don't mind, really. We both need the alone time. We like to find things that no one else sees.

Sometimes things are as they are because it's early. Cold. Still. Waiting for someone to notice.

I notice.

He chases rabbits and pheasants, but because he calls me out to be with him....I notice.

He did it again.

This time I was talking to my friend Katie:
"Wow. You should see this sunset. It's incredible!"
"Yeah, I was just looking at it, too!"
It was a sweet feeling to know I was watching the sun set with my friend, even though we're separated by about five miles of gravel roads.
It's nice to know it's a really big sky. :)

last night's sunset

beautiful.

beauty in winter

Most mornings, I try to sneak away after the boys get on the bus and take a walk with the dog through our meadows. It seems good for the both of us to start our day that way.



The scenery's not much to speak of here in the middle of winter. On an overcast morning, it can be pretty drab, and not very enlightening to the soul. But on this particular morning, I had the idea to set my camera setting to black and white, and get in closer, and it changed the way I saw things.

I saw worshippers, with their heads and hands lifted up to God.

Intercessors with their postures bowed low.

And dancers with graceful, twisting limbs.

I wonder - would I miss the chance to see things differently if I wasn't willing to, well... see things differently? Maybe during the drab cold of winter, when spring seems yet so far away, I need to be content to see beauty in ugly places.

thorns

I was troubled with something today, and my frosty morning walk stayed with me long enough to inspire me, even at the end of the day.

Sometimes we walk through thorny places. Uncomfortable places. But hopefully, if we will obey the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we will be able to recognize his marks of beauty as we pass through.

Thoughts from a cold, cold walk.

I love to gaze out of the living room window at the frosty, sparkling morning, steaming cup of coffee in hand.

But to walk into the raw chill of it, boots tied up tight, scarf wrapped twice round the neck, a too-thin pair of gloves quickly giving way to the cold,

it does quite another thing to my soul.

It reminds me that I am not invincible.

I stand alone and listen to - no, I feel the quiet. It's the quiet of a world that is too cold even to take a breath.

Even the wind is held back.

Then I thank God for a world that stands still once in a while.