in the quiet
of His Presence
it was written
word by word
from the heart
and in the quiet
of His Presence
it was taken in
word by word
into the heart
for giving
to be complete
one must receive
some things
are too precious
to share
and should be
guarded by the heart
this is one of those things
prodigal
son
man
woman
daughter
deserves to be
robed
hugged
celebrated
in coming home
Have you ever noticed, when you’re driving with someone, there’s always something to talk about? I have, but I wasn’t sure if it’s just me or if it happened to everybody. Well, the other day, Katie drove all the way to Magic Mountain and back and had some things to talk about. Continue reading
Sometimes life gets in the way of living. If I sat down and thought about it, there would probably be something to do in the form of worship, prayer, study, etc. every night of the week, and there have been times when I have been caught up in that. Well, this week, I really want to go to a worship thing on Saturday evening, so I’ve been staying home from other events, and it has truly blessed me.
On Monday, after stopping by to check on Lee, I came home to my Carolyn being home. Normally, she’s with her dad. He took so long to pick her up that she ended up staying with me, and we shared some one-on-one time together: we cried (about Lee and my pulled heart); we laughed together…it was good. And last night, I spent some one-on-one time with my Katie. Continue reading
As a mother…
Learning to love
not loving to learn
a broken past
children crushed by my life
raised in darkness
but now live in Light
As a daughter… Continue reading
Tonight, I went to the movie theater with Carolyn because I had two free tickets to use. We went to see “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay.” The previews were hilarious…a little too funny.
If you know me, I have a rather loud laugh. Well, unannounced, it comes out of my mouth, and there were a lot of funny scenes in these previews, so I was laughing a lot. There are times where I’ve learned to hold it back, but a movie theater isn’t one of those times I feel it’s needed, so if something’s found funny to me, I laugh. It’s just the way it works.
There was a scene that was SO funny that this loud laugh came out of me…uncontrollable, and these two women sitting one row below us and about four seats over leaned way forward, gave me the dirtiest looks, and said, “Are you serious?!!” They were SO rude about it and made us feel so uncomfortable that my daughter and I got up to leave. There was no way I could sit there and not laugh, and I certainly didn’t want to get into a fight, so we left.
I went to the front, explained the situation, and asked for two free tickets for another time. With no questions asked, they gave them to me. As we walked outside, I began to cry because…well, just because, but then, I pictured the scene on the movie screen that had made me laugh, and I started busting up, laughing. Carolyn was so confused. She didn’t know what was going on.
When I could speak through the laughter, I told her, “All I keep picturing is that scene with the gun,” and she started laughing hysterically. The beautiful part of all this is that, before the movie, Carolyn had been grumpy, yet because of all this, we ended up laughing all the way home. We bonded so closely. We still want to see that movie. We just want the freedom to laugh during it. I love God, and I love the laugh He gave me, and I pray those ladies learn to love laughter someday.
It’s very rare that I get time alone with each of my kids, so I need to “make” that time, which I did last night. On Saturday, I saw a yummy recipe online and asked Katie if I could make dinner for her on Tuesday night and spend the evening with her. (At times, I either have the little ones or head to Red Seal.) She said, “Yes,” so I blocked off the evening for her and her alone. (I love the word “alone” because it comes from “all one.” Last night, I was “all one” with Katie.)
A couple months ago, I attempted to make her breaded zucchini and it turned out horrible, so this was going to be my redemption night. She even said, “It won’t be like last time, right?” Ha! I hoped not. I made this one-pot-pasta, where you put all the ingredients into the pan at the same time and let it cook. The whole process from cutting to cooking probably took about thirty minutes. It turned out SO YUMMY!
Katie receives love best in different ways: having food cooked for her, washing the dishes by hand, leaving little notes. She wasn’t raised with “hugs,” so they don’t speak very loudly to her. I am honored to have this chance to “love” her well. There are many distractions in this world, many things to do, many places to be. I am so grateful that God reminds me where I need to be and when I need to be there. Every moment alive counts.
Yesterday, on the freeway in the rain, I noticed some erratic driving and had this thought: if I died, I believe my kids would be okay because they are in the best place ever. They have seen enough of God through my living to have a solid foundation. They are so close amongst themselves that I know they would stay together. They would know where I was at. They would hurt but they would be okay. (But I really don’t think that I’m going to die any time soon.)
Worship Flags and Infinity Scarfs 