Freckles

(Blogging the list, post 2)

My youngest child has freckles...sprinkled across the bridge of her nose like so much cinnamon on toast. They are adorable, and they make me happy just to look at them! She's a quiet one, this blue-eyed pixie. She often goes somewhat unnoticed by others. She tends to hover around me almost virtually like my shadow. When people do notice her, it's common for them to say how much they like her freckles--a comment that always elicits a quiet smile and down-cast eyes. I think she captures hearts with those freckles and that sweet smile.
I don't know what it is about freckles that is so appealing. Many people who have them spend a lot of time hoping they will go away--even trying to be rid of them. Anyone else remember the classic, Frecklejuice? (It doesn't work, by the way...I had freckles once, too!). Wikipedia reveals that people with freckles have a lower amount of photoprotective melanin in their system, making them more vulnerable to sun exposure.
Hmmm...I feel an analogy coming on! Probably due to the health challenges that this freckled princess has weathered, I think I've always felt her vulnerability more keenly. No one in our family has needed to be quite as brave as she in what she has had to face in her short life. And the evidences of her vulnerability are still visible in many ways...a bit like freckles--sprinkled across her life. But, I also see how she has an overcoming spirit. I admire her strength, in fact.
One day, it's likely the freckles across her nose will fade away, like mine did. And every day, I see her strength growing and her vulnerability fading. But for now, I will enjoy watching the evidence of her overcoming...and those nose freckles, too. Yep, I know she captures hearts with that sweet, freckled smile. She sure has captured mine!

International Sisterhood

(Blogging The List--post 1)

A while back, I found myself  waiting in the sitting area of a department store dressing room. My teen daughter was trying on dresses for her upcoming dance and I--the mom with the feet tired from covering the mall up and down in our quest--was trying out the chairs which were thoughtfully provided for those in my situation.
As I waited, I observed the others around me. Mostly, it was other mothers and daughters on the same quest as we, but one group caught my eye especially.
It was a group of co-workers from the department store, gathered around to see the result of one of their own, trying on some new outfits. It didn't appear to be for any special occasion, but I was struck by how they intereacted. You see, this group was comprised of about half a dozen women from all areas of the globe. Their skin colors and accents varied widely, but they were all women. It fascinated me that they all seemed to share the goal common to women of finding (or helping a friend find) an outfit that achieves the purpose of all good outfits: to make us look good and feel good about who we are in it! I smiled to myself as they all weighed in on the different outfits their friend modeled. They were all encouraging--they were united.
It made me think about how very much alike we are in our hearts. We have similar aims and goals, dreams and desires as women. We are like an international sisterhood. This thought makes my heart happy. It gives a new meaning to reaching out to others not like me outwardly. It makes me thankful to be a part of the world.

Dancing Leaves

 

One of the unrecognized blessings of having older children is  they are involved in things outside of my influence that require drop-off and pick-up. It is not unusual to have to wait a few minutes at pick-up time. Usually, I bring something to read or occupy myself. Last week, however, I found myself waiting to pick up my daughter with nothing to fill those moments, so I began to pay attention to my surroundings....

It was a blustery day and I found a quiet calm in the warm cocoon of my van as I watched the autumn leaves flying, whooshing, skittering, spinning and dancing about. I found it fascinating how these essentially dead objects seemed to take on a life of their own in their wild ballet--but then it occurred to me that it was actually the wind which was doing the moving and the leaves were only being carried along. In fact, the leaves were merely showcasing what the wind does regularly--but because we cannot see the wind, we remain unaware of the direction it takes.

This thought has been with me a few days...and forming into truth. God's Spirit is like the wind as it says in John 3, "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." (verse 8) God's Spirit is always blowing in our lives...always spinning and dancing and active--we are just unable to see it generally. But, every once in a while--there is something placed in the path of that wind and we see the effects of God's Spirit. And like the leaves--I find it is often the useless, dead things that go careening about in life as if they are in an uncontrollable dance of abandon. But really, those items are just things placed in the path of God's Spirit in our lives. They are not in control of their own path--God is. His Spirit takes them where He wants them to go.

So, maybe...just maybe...I can be grateful for those things in that they are evidence that He is very much at work in my life...and I am being privileged to see the evidence of it.

A Christmas Gift I can use...

Who peed on the floor, again (I'm banking on it not being my girls, but the boys each claim innocence with cherubic faces)? Who's toothpaste spit didn't get rinsed down? Who has been licking the sliding door? Who left a (used) fork on the stairs?

Surprisingly enough, these are not uncommon questions I voice in my own home....but I rarely get anyone owning up to the offense. We are--like many other families--plagued with those household mischief-makers, Not Me and Ida Know.

Well, I have an answer for that...I want an at-home, do-it-yourself DNA kit for Christmas. A quick swab and I have an answer to the above questions and get to save myself time and effort trying to determine who is responsible to take care of said issues.

I think I'm really on to something here. Parents everywhere will be lining up. It'll be bigger than "Tickle-Me-Elmo!"

Feeling thankful

So, before I can post about our trip to the peninsula, I have to fetch pictures from another computer--maybe tomorrow.

Tonight--I'm just feeling thankful....We got to visit for the afternoon with some old friends (old meaning for a long time--10 years!). The kids had a wonderful time and we moms laughed and cried and visited. See, this is a friend of mine who understands about having a sick kid. And while I am slowly moving past all we went through with Jennifer, she is still very much in the thick of things due to her son's long-term, ongoing condition. But, both of us know what it is to be "in the trenches" of waiting with an aching heart by the hospital bed of a sick child--praying desperately for healing, comfort, relief...release. This is the first friend I would call every time I was on my way to Children's Hospital Emergency room--because she knew precisely the emotions roiling inside me. This is the friend with whom I traded and refilled a Tully's card--because she knows how hard it is to keep vigil in the hospital while sporting a killer caffeine headache!

I'm thankful for where Jennifer is right now in her health journey...and I'm thankful for my friend whom God provided as a support for me when I really needed it.

Thankful is a good place to be....