Tuesday, October 26, 2010

The Unintentional Life

Faithfulness
Intention
Being Prepared
Follow-Through
Time-Management
Action

 
These are some of the words that have been speaking to me lately. Through sermons, bible studies, conversations, and frustrations... any way that I am willing to receive the message, it is given!

Something that our pastor said has been on my mind...

(the clown-like-gnome is not representative of our pastor, but rather what I can potentially become, unintentionally... a clown)


That statement brought all my thoughts, conversations and longings into focus. I cannot float along in life (as I tend to do) and expect to land at a certain destination. My currents of whim and distraction will not deliver me anywhere but stuck in the bank, or possibly be capsized. If I wish to reach a particular place I must make plans, prepare, and then paddle to get there. Ugh, that means work and discipline, doesn't it? This might seem very obvious to many of you, but this has simply not been the way I have gone about life. In fact, I have an example of how I like to travel that illustrates quite the opposite approach...

Before Philip and I were married, my dear cousin Autumn and I traveled together for five weeks; three through Europe and two through Israel. We had Eurail passes, travel books and a loose list of destinations... NO reservations! One of our favorite ways to become more familiar with a city was to wander around, hop on a bus and ride it until we saw someplace interesting, (or until it reached the end of the line, were kicked off and stuck without a way back into town because all the buses had stopped running). The idea was that we could find places that we wouldn't have otherwise known about, and it felt like an adventure! But often we ended up getting dumped somewhere not-so-great and then had hours of wandering and winding our way back to somewhere more appealing (and safe).

Now, having described my approach to travel, I recognize it isn't so different from how I live day to day. Here I thought that my flexibility and "things will work out fine" personality were strengths, but I'm honestly beginning to see how they are holding me back.

It continues to woo me that God speaks so clearly to me, but with great gentleness! He knows that I need the repetition to keep something on my mind, and the frustrations and failures He uses to remind me of my need for Him and for the conviction to be intentional.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Sunny Thoughts in Picture Form





Teddy-bear picnic...


Her favorite color...


Picking "flowers"...


Fluffy dandylion puffs...


Sending little seeds off into the wind... (sorry yard, and neighbors)


Magically making the puff disappear...


Now to make pumpkin bread with this sweet, little helper...

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Funny Girl



You can hear how hilarious I think she is with my embarrassing, air-sucking laugh... please disregard that. :)


Now I Want to Make Something

These inspire me...


Mark Warren Jacques



Richard Pearse










Robert Rauschenberg





Gee's Bend Quilts



What inspires you?



Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Monday, October 18, 2010

Happy Monday


These were just a few of the things that made my Monday a happy one...










All that and a bag full of library books and music...
hope your start to the week was a happy one too!

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Nature Center


I am so thankful for the friends God has given me!
What a fun little playdate we had with our dear friends Erika and Simon.
We met at the Nature Center.


Who wouldn't have fun with this guy?
 

Next time I think we might go for more of a walk on the trails... but we just had fun hanging out under a gazebo and looking around inside. 
 

There were fascinating sticks to look at...
 

And draw in the dirt with...
 

There's something about this picture of Erika and Simon that I really like... it might just be the glimpse of what a wonderful momma she is. Just being around her makes me want to be a better, more intentional momma.
 

It makes me all melty inside to see Evie developing sweet friendships.
I want her to experience the same kind of encouragement, unity-of-heart and spurring on that good friends give. To be inspired by their strengths and gifts, and hopefully to inspire them likewise.
 


Even when that inspiration is just to be a little goofy sometimes...



Inside the center there were all kinds of buttons to push! And if Evie were to review something for it's entertaining qualities... the number of buttons to push would weigh heavily in it's ranking.



And please don't be concerned by this image above, it just looks like water! It's really plastic encasing a turtle and snake that used to be more lively.
 

Don't you want a room painted like this?! It extended onto the ceilings too!
We all loved it.
 

I appreciated this quote, teaching leads to understanding, and understanding to love...
 
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