A Chihuly Day

The Lord smiled on Texas this summer and instead of our regular 100 plus degree days of August, a cold front blew through, leaving us with wonderful weather.  Maybe last years record 100 plus days gave us these wonderful two weeks, leaving us able to enjoy the summer with outdoor adventures.  The Chihuly Exhibit at Dallas Arboretum was on display, so off our adventures feet took us, to soak in the last of summer.  All of these were created out of blown glass. The large yellow glass tree took three weeks to assemble.

Dallas Arboretum gives an August special pricing 1/3 of the regular price...I am sure to bring in visitors on what would normally be too hot to attend.  We took advantage of both..the reduce price and the wonderful weather.

 I hope you enjoyed our walk through pictures.  Now I am not a photographer..and yes, I should probably take classes...but this is what my little point and shot captured.  I am sure this is magical at night.  It was even more magical for us since just  weeks before our son had proposed to his wife-to-be...blown glass never looked so beautiful.

If you come our way...take time to be inspired also.  We sure were.  It was a wonderful day in August.

Summer's Reflections

I begrudgingly put away my sand pail until next summer.  The summer of 2012 will go down in history as the summer I learned a new depth of "intentional" living.  This was my season for inspirational sand scoops placed into a fictional sand pail.  Where our budget doesn't allow for the "American-envisioned" vacation, I would instead fill my bucket with "inspiration" provided through sources around me...the library, nature, free events, exercise, Olympics, movies.....and time for pondering.

I began the summer with this quote and watched the quote unfold for me throughout our summer break.  As my two sons leave out the door for their first day of class, I will stop to reflect and recall what we did this past summer.

A great painting or symphony or play doesn't diminish us, but enlarges us, and we, too, want to make our own cry of affirmation to the power of creation behind the universe.  This surge of creativity has nothing to do with competition, or degree of talent.  Madeleine L'Engle - A Circle of Quiet

Art Inspirations

• Five free outdoor concerts 
• Shakespeare Play in the Park
• Chihuly blown-glass Exhibit

standing in dinosaur tracks!!!

Nature Inspirations

• camping trip under the stars to Mineral Wells State Park...just a few miles from home
• camping trip allowing us to walk in dinosaur tracks - Dinosaur State Park...another park a few miles from home
• multiple bike rides through trails near our home
• picking grapes at our neighborhood park
• picking blueberries at an East-Texas farm

Literature Inspiration

• reading books with Benjamin and finishing the summer reading program at the library
• multiple books read by me that challenged, nudged and inspired

Movie Inspiration and Enjoyment

• dollar movies with Benjamin...and a bag of popcorn
• two movies with Hubby

What is left after consumption and sharing jars of goodies with others

Kitchen/Cooking Inspiration

• canning: 

1. tomatoes
2. salsa
3. grape juice - provided from our grapes during our bike ride
4. grape jam
5. strawberry chipotle jam
6. strawberry kiwi
7. peach jam infused with lavender
8. bags of frozen blueberries and blackberries from our visit to a farm

Finding the Silly in Myself

• bought a bathing suit and wore it - it has been 15 years since I had a bathing suit and this was the first time for Benjamin to see me in one
• went to the pool and swam with Benjamin - I even rode my bike to the pool while wearing that new suit with a long black skirt cover over it, flowing in the wind as I pedaled - that was daring
• had a weekend with "Ethel" - my friend
• had lunch and made time for friends here in my city - some I hadn't seen in a year
• went to a grape stomp....and yes, stomped grapes

Creative Inspiration

• sewed over a half dozen purses and gave them all away
• sewed myself a fun top and bought more patterns and material for other clothes

Energized through Regular Exercise

• went regularly to the gym...inspired by the athletes of the Olympics
• didn't lose any weight, but feel more energized physically and mentally
• walked/jogged through neighborhood trails outdoors
• countless miles ridden on my bike...a huge milestone and Benjamin clocked miles with me
• went roller skating
• went bowling

I actually beat my son in the first game...he came back to smear me!!!

Son's Engagement!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pondering Inspiration

• I took out time to stop and listen.  To sit under the trees...lay down on a bench..soak in the air..as Madeleine L'Engle describes it "to be"
• I stopped and allowed myself the time to DREAM again.  To take that dream and write it down on paper.  To write out steps to pursue that dream.  Releasing the final results to Him, while taking the steps of obedience to bring the dream to fulfillment.
• Telling the enemy to get off my back in so many areas where he taunts "failure" over me.  Reminding him that at age 51, God still hasn't finished his work in me.

At the end I really understood that what you make of life is your own choice.  I could continue to mourn our "have nots" in a constant "pity party" or take all the "haves" around us and fill my bucket.

As I put my bucket back on the shelf I know God has more in store for this fall.  I look to Him to unveil His purpose for this new season of the year and also my life.

"Often we forget that He has a special gift for each one of us, because we tend to weigh and measure such gifts with the coin of the world's market place"  Madeleine L" Engle

(for all those with word verification...I am visiting and commenting on your blogs, however, my computer isn't showing me the picture for the word verification and, therefore, doesn't post my comments...sorry...I have come and visited)

Time to Ponder

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As our summer comes to an end...only 13 days left before school is in full swing...I stop to pick up my last scoop of inspirational sand to add to my overflowing sand pail.

This scoop takes me back to decades ago when I knew how to just stop and ponder.  My mind whisked me back to a tree on my grandparents' farm.  The tree held a very long, strong vine that drooped down the side of the tree, allowing you to climb on the vine and swing.  It was "nature's swing".  I would wander off from the farmhouse to quietly sit and swing among nature where I could ponder.  I have always had a very busy mind...one that can wear out my husband, but never my maker.  I would pour out all the questions and ponderings of my mind before my God.  There, in His creation, we would sort them out.

Later, it would be the swings in the schoolyard across from my teenage home.  As an adult, it was my porch rockers and walking among the pecan trees adjacent to our family home.  Today, I look for those places that allow me to ponder and and question...today's places don't have the sentimental heart's tie my past places have, but the familiar time with the Lord still energizes.

All that to say....my last scoop of sand is that...pondering and questioning.  The Lord has allowed these non-scheduled days of summer to bring scoops of  hours of reading... therefore, prompting a season to digest what He is saying.  These ponderings have been prompted by my sand scoops, as well as two books and a movie.  I am taking the pieces from each scoop and digesting them.

Almost Amish - Nancy Sleeth
Lioness Arising, Wake Up and Change Your World - Lisa Bevere
Movie - Hope Springs

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As I ponder, I feel I need to go find my tree...my swing...and listen. Therefore, I will be taking a blogging break in order to process.  I will also train for my small, part-time job....it is just keeping children at church for conferences and recovery classes.  I look forward to being able to minister to families as their parents grow in the Lord...it is still a change. The first conference is three days next week.  This allows me to remain at home with Benjamin, my heart's desire, while adding a small amount to our income.

So I leave this week with my sand pail in hand....scooping up the inspirational sand the Lord has for me as I ponder and question what He is saying for me in this season of life.

Cry out for insight and understanding.  Search for them as you would for lost money or hidden treasures.  Proverbs 2: 3-4

I pray you take the time needed to ponder under a wonderful tree, while swinging in the Lord's goodness.