Balance!

We made it through the first week of school.  Earlier bedtimes, earlier rising,  breakfast, packed lunches, school papers, home work and baseball practice.  I think I should have automatically lost 10 pounds, but instead I think I gained weight.  I am realizing I am more of an emotional eater, which isn't good for the waist line.

In the midst of the new "norm" of this time of year, and the calendar still filling up, I want balance.  This comes in different forms for different people.   A well organized home, charts on the walls and scheduled routines, for some energizes them, for others, it is a rope around their neck.  We have both styles in our home.  As the home manager, I seem to have to fall between the two or we all go nuts.

Throw in some spontaneous fun, a trip to the lake and I am go to go.  So my balance this first week meant baking "Back to school cookies" for Ben and the grands.  Joshua is being home schooled this year.  Saturday morning I went, "by my self" to the lake to be still and balance my soul and spirit.

 Balance comes back into focus.  I usually find documenting all of these events through my phone camera is a must.  I share on Instagram/FB, it reminds me that nothing is as bad as it seems, when I flip through the treasured photos I snapped. Yes, my phone is used more as camera than it ever is as a phone.

I also had to "grab these moments" in this first week of school.   Three grandsons came for the evening and had dinner with us.  The oldest "Joshua" loves to have candle light and for me to dress the table.  Dress the table we did, with Veggie Tale place mats, napkins and candles.  My heart settled down into the treasure of a day that was booked from beginning to end.

First day of school finished with Dr Seuss movies and brotherly love.

My other balance to missing Benjamin, working on a new job, while trying to learn a CAD program at age 55, came when I was called to help my daughter.

It was truly a throw back to the Andy Griffith Show.  My daughter now lives in a small, rural community. One with only a couple of traffic lights.  Cow pastures surround this little city where you hear the train pass through the downtown blowing its horn.

As I came to help I turned the corner to her street.  To my wonder, coming toward me, was my three grandsons in their battery operated police car!  As they realized it was me, they started to bail out of the car.  This was a block or more from their home.  We piled them into my car when my daughter realized the battery on kid's car was dead...it now needed rescued.  After returning everyone home, the boys and I enjoyed the simple things in life.  TRUCKS. CONSTRUCTION TRUCKS.  As if a movie was playing before their eyes, we spent the morning watching dirt trucks do their job.  One driver hooked his horn for the boys,

Balance...........that place where responsibility doesn't suck all the life out of you.

That place that reminds you what is important and what will be remembered.

That place where you feel  yourself breath and enjoy!

Well! It Didn't!!!

It is over
                                 It is done
                                        It will never be here again!!!

Summer 2016

My heart's cry for the summer was "don't fence me in!"  As school started yesterday the fall calendar became full.  Baseball practice, violin lessons and orchestra, church events and everyday obligations now highlight my desk calendar.  It really does make me want simpler days.  You feel the excited business all around you. Even the pastor addressed it in his sermon, wanting us to all make sure our priorities are in the right place.  Sometimes I wonder how God sees it? 

Now Summer 2016 is now gone and we must conform!

I am not a list writing person, nor a huge planner.  I look to the grander things in life and shoot my arrow in that direction.  I enjoy seizing the moment, more than over planning it and having the planning drag on and on, just sucking the life out of the event.  All that is to say...I Love SUMMER!

It is a time that society allows us to relax and not schedule, if both are not in our nature.  I didn't put charts up on the wall with all the things Ben had to accomplish everyday, even if the guilt crept in.  Instead, we lived the moments.  Summer was fun.  I must recap, because if I don't  then I am not giving the credit to the one who rejoices over us with singing.

My hidden heart's cry all last school year was a desire to go to the beach.

The Lord provided.

My second was to fill our summer with "adventures".  My two...two-year-old grands can now say "adventure".  I must get shirts that cry out - Grand Mommy's Adventures.

So off we went for  adventures.  This meant movies - yes, little ones, food and movies.  We went to a movie grill where they could all set by tables and eat food...in the dark...I still don't know why this is good.  I still never know what I am putting into my mouth  or even what it looks like!

Swimming and splash pads!!!

Yes, with my daughter's help I took all five grands to the splash pad. The movies were just with Grand Mommy and Uncle Ben.

I got to read this summer!  I soaked in my second reading of  The Road to Blessings by Penelope Wilcock.  To be honest the truths in the second reading were so strong I think I will go back through it again this fall. Summer allowed me time to just reflect, to inhale, to listen to the soft voice of God.  Life is just toooooooooooooooooo noisy with all it's demands and drama.

I also was able to design for a client.. I had a kitchen job that allowed me to pour energy into the creative part of me.  We totally removed the old kitchen and started from scratch. This energizes me. I am praying the Lord will open up more doors for me to do what He created me to do.  All Good gifts come from Him.

 Our last summer "adventure" a Vintage Train Ride!

So as I pencil in more "we have to be at or do" on our calendar, I longingly look forward to next summer, but between then and now, I am going to watch for every "Adventure" life has to offer.