Slowing Down to Take It All In

Tonight, while the sun was setting and the chill of the evening was falling, I was able to take a moment longer, than my normal rushed second, to reflect on the beauty of our family and how thankful I am for the memories we share.

Dirty, tired and worn from travel, my children played patiently while we waited for the sun to set over yet another breathtaking scene.  With a camera in hand, I took in more than just the photos recorded on my camera card.  I have these minutes forever embedded in my heart and that is my true treasure.

My family, they know me, and they know I like sunsets.  I'm sure, if asked, they will say they've seen more than they would have decided to see on their own, perched atop some random structure or stopped along the highway, for yet another photo I requested to record or moment watching the colors scatter across the clouds.  Sometimes I forget, how much my family really loves me, how patient they can be with me.

My husband, patiently entertaining our youngest while I shoot a dozen photos, my oldest, enticing his brother to play nearby while I crouch down for another few snaps, my 2nd oldest, cold and chilled from the falling sun, waiting without complaining while I take a few more photos in yet a different location, and my 3rd child, dancing back and forth between me and his siblings while I wait for the colors to reflect on the clouds.  I forget how much they love me.  I forget they love me enough to wait with me, share this short moment and wait.

Look! A bird!

Eli loves birds and giggled with Everett as they flew overhead.

Three silly kids that sat and waited for the sunset with me.

Overlook at Grand View Point, Canyonlands National Park

It is in these quiet times that I am able to see this, and tonight, we were able to capture a bit of the experience with my camera plus a little more, all because of my husband, who was behind me, waiting and watching, and noticed a photo opportunity I would have missed.  A few minutes later I set up the camera, scurried back up on the rock and was able to preserve a little bit of the sunset from his perspective.

Looking at our family silhouette photo, I am transported back to that moment, sitting together, peacefully enjoying the sunset and the adventure we had that day.  Thank you family, I love you!

Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him.  Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. - Colossians 2:7

The Silent Recharge of the Morning

This morning, after a restless night of sleep, I experienced energy that I rarely have at home.  I don't know if it is because of the anticipation of the adventure ahead, or if it was that my body was allowed to wake up gently with the noises of the new day, but even with very little sleep, I felt energized and ready for the day ahead.

I woke before sunrise, fed Eli, placed him back to sleep in his bed, and then made a decision.  Was I going to go back to sleep or was I going to get up for the day?  Well, today, without dishes to be put away, laundry to be folded, or overdue mountains of tasks to be completed for the day, I decided to grab my camera, my jacket, slip on my sandals, and head for the door.  I thought I could grab a photo of the sunrise over the lake, but what I actually took away from the morning stayed with me much longer.

It was in the moment of standing there in the dew, feet soaked and squishy wet, watching the sun come up over the trees, listening to the birds wake all around me that I realized something... sleeping more wasn't what I needed today... I was in need of some time for me, outside in the cool air, reflecting, in silence, and just "being" in the now and present.

I'm normally not a morning person, I often claim to be a night owl, but today I came up with a few reasons that might change my mind, and my daily routine, for the better.

1. The Beauty of the Morning: Oh, the beauty that comes from the morning sun.  I have yet to find a sunrise that has not made me pause and really thank God for it's beauty.  It gets me every time.  Now, granted, I honestly don't see too many sunrises in my daily life (my curtains are usually drawn tightly closed and I hide like a vampire from the morning sun, as it often comes too quickly), but when I do, it momentarily takes my breath away.  Beautiful!

2. The Slower Pace Feels Easier on my Body and My Mind:  Waking up with the morning sun, feels gentle, easy and slow.  It allows me to fully wake up and warm up with the day, rather than feeling like I have just been pushed from a moving vehicle at 60 mph and have to constantly struggle to keep up.  After photographing the sunrise, I walked back to the camper and no longer felt the need to sleep.  Feeling fully awake and ready for the morning, I walked to the other side of the campgrounds to watch the sun hit the hills before I headed back to the camper.

3. Reflection and Admiration of God's Creation:  As the sun illuminated the hillside, I noticed the animals around me.  In the distance, deer grazed in the fields, birds darted and danced around me, singing their morning songs, and the noises of the morning beckoned me to sit and watch.  I returned to the camper, sat down in a chair, opened the Bible app on my phone, and took time to read and reflect.  I forget how nice it is to really sit and meditate on the Word of God, in silence, able to reflect and admire all His hand touches, all of the glorious blessings He provides and all He can speak to my soul, if I just sit and let Him in.

I'm really not sure what this is.  It is the discarded exoskeleton of some insect.  Thoughts?

4. Quiet: It is amazing how uncomfortable sitting quiet and still, was for me.  I rarely do so, and really struggled to just sit in silence, as the time moved past, but with those moments of silence came a blessing.  Little birds, the ones that darted from tree to tree making their morning chatter, joined me in my moment and came very close, allowing me to watch them in their morning tasks.  They searched the tree for tasty treats, and chattered to each other as they did.  It was a really an interesting sight, all the tiny birds, hopping around from branch to branch, running up and down the tree trunk, just feet from my seat, playing, working, and dancing as they ate their morning meal.  I feel like they didn't even know I was there.  The quiet was nice.

5. Better Attitude = Smoother Transitions: This last item I didn't notice until later on, when things that normally would have made me irritable, really didn't register too high on my radar.  I felt more relaxed, more at peace, and more willing to "roll with the punches" as things came up or life with kids tossed me around in uncharted waters.  Waking up early seemed to have prepared me for more of a positive outlook and helped me feel like I had a grip on the day, where I normally could have let the daily events toss me into a negative prospective.

With all that said, I don't know what tomorrow will bring.  I have a busy evening ahead and have done a lot of walking in the rain, so tomorrow I might choose to sleep in, and ignore my own advice.  But that is what is nice about this blog, this post will be there to remind me and bring me back to that one moment of peace that I rarely experience in this busy world of mommy-hood, and maybe someday I will decide to be a morning person and lay down my night owl wings, but for today I am thankful I decided to rise with the sun and share in the beauty of the morning.

The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day.

Proverbs 4:18 NLT

Soak It In...

Sometimes, I will sit... still... on the couch, with the laptop on my lap, playing worship music, daydreaming in and out of prayer and replaying the events of the week as well as reading passages that come to mind when some of my favorite songs play.  I really am completely worthless (in a physical aspect) while I sit here, dishes needing to be washed, laundry needing to be folded, and all the other pressures of life knocking at my door... but sitting here, in worship and in love with my Creator, with my perfect Savior, it is an amazing experience and exactly what I am needing at this moment.  It's kinda like a bubble bath, that you add more hot water to, more times than one, just so you can soak in the moment a little bit longer!!

I am writing this right now to express to you how much I love you all and I thank God that I am right where I am and you are in my life. I am excited as I pray for the future and I feel great things ahead! I'm excited to hear what God is speaking to each and every one of you and hope that you can take a moment this week/end to submerge yourself in (your bubble bath) His amazing love, grace, power and Word!

I am really feeling blessed to have such a wonderful group of people in my life that only God could provide. I feel connected, loved and completely supported in being "ME" and allowing God to use me in the way He wants me to be used.  Love you all!  Mountains of blessings!

What I am reading:

Mark Chapter 9

"Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" Mark 9:24

"My sheep here my voice, and they know me and they follow me." John 10:27

What I'm listening to:

Help Me Find It!

Sometimes (most times) my house gets neglected.  The dishes pile up, the floors go unswept, the laundry sits in piles and I try my hardest not to be home, just so I can avoid the piles of things to sort, filter and file.

Today the neglect is showing.  My poor house.  I look around and wonder... who is the crazy family that lives here?  Seriously, what monkey ate bananas in the living room and then left the peels on the coffee table, right next to someones stinky socks and the slimy dog bowl?

Who decided that it was a good idea to stack the books on the couch, and the table, and the floor, and the... everywhere else but the bookshelf?

What exactly is it that the children are doing?  Shouldn't they be doing school work?  They've built a pretty impressive tower from MagnaTiles, but now they are filling it with red LEGOS?  Like that won't make a mess the moment the tower fails!

Then there is the dog... the sleeping dog in the middle of the living room, WEARING PAJAMAS?  Why? Oh, I see now.  The dog has a disgusting wound that won't stop leaking all over the carpet, so the mother of the home decided to make the best attempt possible to keep a covering over it just so she can keep the last whiff of her SANITY?!  Yes, very logical.

And then there is the kitchen.  Hmmm.  I see why this family must eat out tonight... where is the stove?

But at least she has a bouquet of flowers on the table!  I mean, they distract really nicely from the huge piles of books, crayons, markers, craft supplies and who knows what else is scattered on the table top not to mention the rest of the chaos of the house.  I barely noticed the mess with these flowers on the table!  RIGHT?

That is exactly what I will keep telling myself.  This is why I will continue to purchase myself a bouquet of flowers at Aldi every time I go grocery shopping.  It is well worth the $4 sacrifice to have something beautiful in the middle of my mess, something to inspire me to keep moving forward.  Just like the children, yes, they are probably going to make an even larger disaster of the living room the moment that tower comes crashing to the floor, and I will probably assist again (for the 10th time today) in picking up the mess, just so we can move on to the next event in our lives, but they are playing nicely and really working together... beautifully.

Now, don't get me wrong.  I confess, I decide to live this way sometimes.  I get way to busy with other things, projects, people/animals and I let my house suffer and sometimes other important things in my life.  I take on more than I can handle sometimes, but out of everything I have to neglect, my house can take it... it will forgive me... someday it will be clean again.  It might be when we move out, or when my kids are grown and are no longer the focus of my day, but someday things will be in order, someday I might look like I have it all together.  

Until then, I will just continue to get by, enjoy my $4 flowers, and keep loving my family the best way I know how and keep praying that God will give me the ability to see those in front of me, those that mean so much to me, and what direction He is sending me, even if I can't see over the piles of stuff to get where I need to be going!  Thank you Lord for your love, your strength and your grace, even when my life is a mess, for you are the calm in the middle of the storm, that provides me a moment of rest.  You can help me find my peace, even in this chaos.  Amen.  

This song, by Sidewalk Prophets-Help Me Find it spoke to me today.  I hope it draws you closer to our creator and helps you have some peace in your day.