Paying Attention

Hi! I have not been very diligent about posting lately on the old site because the format was very frustrating. Plus Karin and I are so far away from each other and life just gets so busy. So now it is just me. Hope to post on a weekly basis! "Hope to" is the key phrase. 
So here is some food for thought from a book I have been going through and a few pictures of recent days. 

"The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for delight. The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention."
The Artist's Way

Doing Nothing- April 17, 2014

"....But what I like doing best is Nothing." "How do you do Nothing?" asked Pooh, after he had wondered for a long time. "Well, it's when people call out at you just as you're going off to do it, What are you going to do Christopher Robin, and you say, Oh, nothing, and you go and do it." "Oh, I see," said Pooh. "This is a nothing sort of thing that we are doing right now." "Oh I see," said Pooh again. "It means just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear and not bothering." "Oh!" said Pooh. 

A. A. Milne

 After just buying a house, and traveling a lot, and life just getting all kinds of busy without even meaning for it to, we have been trying to be conscious of just doing Nothing more often. After coming out of a life that was so "busy" this is an art I have had to learn. And it not just about learning how to do it, but learning what it actually means....I think it means to just Be. It is difficult sometimes, to slow down. But it isn't necessarily resting, or being lazy, although those are nice too! Doing Nothing is definitely an active thing, it requires presence. And it is slowly  becoming what I like to do best.

Black Water- April 14, 2014

Things have started warming up around here, and the 4 feet of ice that accumulated on the lake has started to melt. It is really beautiful to watch the melting process. One thing I was told by a local is that you will know the ice is about all the way melted through when it turns black. Isn't it always like that? The darkest part of night is right before dawn. Nature speaks truth. 

Here are a few recents...

A Quick Trip- April 4, 2014

Well Liam and I had a great little quick trip to California. We went to the beach, visited all the grandparents, Liam got a cool new hat, got a little tanner, and Liam dubbed all his aunts grandmas and great aunts "Mimi".

I also got the chance to do some wedding flowers, which reminded me how much I love it! Hopefully more of that to come. 

Here are some highlights of our trip!

The Last Days of Winter- March 12, 2014

My Heart feels so full as we stand on the edge of spring. I was talking with one of my favorite people the other day, my sweet cousin Peter, and he was telling me of a simple truth. There is a goodness to waiting and having things in their due time. I have found nothing more true. I am not saying I didn't absolutely love the California weather and miss it terribly. But there is a sweet richness to delayed gratification. One that deepens your ability to feel. The past couple days have been in the forties, and today just tipped into the fifties. After 3-4 months of nothing coming above freezing, I awoke to the feeling of great anticipation! Like a child on Christmas morning. Some people may say that this is a sad existence, ha! That the most exciting thing is a day above freezing?! I am not saying it isn't hard. But oh the Joy! It has made the metaphor of spring, and the anticipation of new life so much more vivid in my mind. That biblical analogy never really resonated with me. But now I understand. The deep, rich feeling of anticipation. How sweet salvation when you know how lost you where. I know this sound melodramatic, but if you go through it all, I think you understand. Whether it is a physical winter, or an emotional one, the feeling of a little sun on your face is the same. 

We have just stepped into the season of Lent, and this is my first year observing it fully. I had always thought of Lent as a time when you are suppose to drudge up some sin to think on and repent of. And it always seemed a bit disingenuous to me. What if you hadn't been convicted at that time to give up something in particular? I have never been one to be somber without occasion. I find life is hard and depressing enough without drudging up things. But this year I see it differently. We do not  look inward during this season, the point is not to go searching around inside to look for hidden sins. No, this leads only to more self focus. But rather lent is a time to clear our lives of things that distract, to think more on Him. This is the opposite of self focus. And I am finding that as I am more focused on Him, I see myself more clearly. It is a simple time of reflection. No huge undertaking. Just sitting quietly, thinking on Him. Waiting for the promise of Spring. 

I can't wait for Easter....to celebrate green, and buds, and chirping bird, and new life. 

And as I sit here writing the kids are exiting the school bus at the bus stop next to our house. And I just heard one shout at the top of his lungs as he raised his hands above his head "IT IS SO WARM! YES!" I feel the same buddy! I feel the same!