TreasuresInTerraCotta

I shouldn't hate birthdays as much as I do.  And it's not for the reasons most women quintessentially hate birthdays.  It's not about getting older or the passage of time.  It is really all about expectations.  Call me crazy, but I just want the day to be special.  I have had trouble defining what I want to be "special," but the more I ponder it, the more it comes down to being known.  I want to be known and celebrated.  I don't want to choose the restaurant, I want someone to suggest the one they know I'll love.  I don't want to have to ask to not cook, I want it to be offered.  I don't want to do things out of obligation, I want to have a day of joy.  I don't want to ask for a gift and be given that exact thing, I want to be known enough to have inspired gift-giving.  I don't want to have to ask for everything, I want it to be offered, as a gift, because I am known.  That is the gift! No wonder I...

In a long line of small events and steps over the past year or so, we have now entered the world of foster care.  In the spring we were licensed and shortly thereafter, we had our first placement. She arrived with a grocery bag of clothes and a sheet of paper with her basic information.  She was with us for several weeks and then was placed with friends of her family.      She was an itty-bitty thing and needed all the care of a two month old!  But she was a good eater and a good sleeper and it didn't take long to enjoy snuggling.  After a bit of a break, we now have another little girl.  She arrived with the clothes she was wearing, a stuffed animal and the all-important, but virtually useless, piece of paper.  She is a walker and a climber and a giggler.  She doesn't have nearly enough language to express her year-and-a-half-old self.  She has adorable curls and big eyes....

For Christmas we received a few new CDs for the kids.   Seeds Family Worship puts scripture to music and some of it is quite catchy.  The kids already have their favorites. This song has been running around in my mind for several days: Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks the mouth speaks Matthew 12:34 I know this verse.  We've memorized this verse.  The passage goes on to talk about good and evil stored up in the heart.  I know that too.  I understand the message.  But this week, as the soundtrack played in my mind, I began to think about the words I say and what my mouth speaks and what that has to say about the overflow of my heart. I am not prone to vulgarities.  Cuss words do not zip to the tip of my tongue.  "Bad words" do not "slip out."  I just wasn't raised that way.  That is not my struggle. And because I am not typically tempted by profanities I have felt removed from the implications of th...

Here it is the end of November and I have just now reached the middle of my little MoleSkin, as noted by the cute stitching down the page.  As you can tell, I should have been memorizing this section back in July.   I got a little off track and decided to slow down.  It was hard to stay on task each week when I knew I was already behind.  But here I am about half way through Romans 8.  Trying to believe that the words I need at just the right time might be perfectly timed because I am four months behind. It makes me think of our recent craft project that was really just a salvage from the trash.  And a personal salvaging of a big, ugly reaction to something that shouldn't have been such a big deal.   One of the boys obliterated a couple sticks of chalk.  Now, this is something I have asked them not to do, scolded them for and required payment for replacement.  My logical, first-born, ordered, adult mind says, "If the ...

The weather in Southern Arizona turned the slightest bit cool and my mind began swirling with craft projects.  It wasn't intentional, but one day in early October, I looked around and discovered I had about six crafty projects in various stages of incomplete. It seems no coincidence that in early October I also started reading an enlightening blog by Emily over at Chatting at the Sky .  During the course of the month, I've read along as Emily has discussed art.  Not just the painting or symphony writing kind of art.  Not just a commissioned artist or professional art teacher kind of art.  But the art of living as the person you were designed and created and crafted to be.  The art of you!     What if the book, the painting, the meal,  the presentation were all simply evidence of  a deeper art happening within the soul of an artist? Art is what happens when you dare to be who you really are .   Emily'...

A few weeks ago I ran across a comment that went something like this: What if the next time you thought of texting or calling or writing if you instead earnestly and expectantly prayed. I've been trying to put that bit of wisdom into practice, especially during these lazy days of summer, that somehow are also full of visiting and going and doing, and late nights with the kids and early morning sunshine.  So if I've missed your birthday or neglected to write a proper thank you... If you've moved to a new place or are searching for a new church... If you've been having plumbing trouble or marriage trouble... If you've had a breast lump or are traveling a bumpy road... If you've had a funeral to attend or a baby you are expecting... If you've flown out of the country or been on a road trip... Know that instead of calling or emailing or writing, I have (at times) been earnestly and expectantly praying. And I pray that you, being rooted and est...

There are times when you are preparing for something and you don't even know it.  Those are the times when you start hearing the same message repeatedly from all directions.  Bible reading, blogs, devotionals, friends in passing and the news of the day...they all seem to say the same thing. This is the message I have been hearing and reading and seeing before my eyes for several years now.  And I am convinced that there is a scriptural truth embedded in it.  If you water it, it will grow! For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And does not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth It shall not return to me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:10-11 (NKJ) Kanab, Utah But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, ge...

Our first travel day we drove to the Grand Canyon and had a nice camper spot in Trailer Village right in the Park. That first evening we drove to the Bright Angel Trailhead and walked over to the rim.  On the way we almost ran into some elk (quite literally) and then these deer almost walked right up to us.  I guess that's what happens when animals know they are safe in a National Park.   Our first glimpse of the canyon at sunset. The next day we spent the whole day enjoying the park.  The boys rode bikes all over the place.  Tyler spent the day indulging the constant "Can we go for a bike ride" and simultaneously avoiding the rim...because, you know, it's a long way down! First thing in the morning, Truman and I walked to Mather Point to take in the views. We got a little lost and walked about a mile out of the way but we ended up with some pretty views, sited a few condors, had our picture taken and picked up a Junior Ranger Program book for...