Lenten Spring

This year Great Lent began 2 days before the official start of spring.  I find it appropriate and beautiful.  

As we make our way down this lenten path, we watch as life renews itself all around us.  The budding trees, the bulbs emerging, grass growing, birds readying for hatching. Life! Full and vibrant.  

At the end of the lenten path we find true life.  We find life that has conquered all that is dark and dead.

I must get ready. Weeding and pruning, scrubbing and cleaning.  Not just the outside world but within my heart. 
Getting ready for life. To really live!

(Since my last blog post I've counted 40+ blessings, so I am not writing them all down here, just an excerpt from my journal.)
Counting....on my way to One Thousand!  Glory to God for all things.
108. Forgiveness: seeking it and receiving it.
109. 4 loads of laundry done.
110. All four beautiful babes at Canon with me & dad. Singing or prostrating, participating.
111. Giggles from girls at bedtime after a tense, angry evening between them.

Red-flowering Currant. The hummingbirds love this.

127. Making dinner with CJ.
128. Planting spinach and sweet peas.
129. 64 degrees
130. Hanging sheets on the line to dry in the sun.

   Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
    For His mercy endures forever. 

 Oh, give thanks to the God of gods!
    For His mercy endures forever. 

 Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords!
    For His mercy endures forever:

Pressing Forward

...but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,  I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.   Philippians 3:13b-14

 It's been two weeks since my last blog post and normally I'd fall into despair at my inability to keep my goal of blogging frequently and counting daily towards the goal of One Thousand.  But today, I feel different.  Today I find encouragement in Paul's words and I stretch and yearn to forget that which is behind (that isn't worth remembering) and press toward the goal instead. 

75. For James' job that gets him up at 5am to feed, shelter and clothe us.
76. A date with a sweet friend at a lovely little place.  Wine & cheese and lovely conversation.
77. Valentine dinner: bacon wrapped shrimp.
78. Homemade Valentines cards from Joseph and Charissa. 
79. A card from Kelsey that she bought and had every one sign, telling us of love and friendship.
80. My love signing to me the song he wrote 19 years ago for his proposal. A song he hasn't sung since that special day.
81. Sun! Crisp and Bright!
82. A day of chopping and wood and hauling it to the shed.
83. Nicholas discovering that it actually feels good to use and grow his muscles when hauling wood.  Discovering manhood!
84. Blue sky & sunshine several days in a row.
85. Charissa discovering the beauty of a clean and organized room. Her room has stayed clean all week!
86.  An alarm clock with a radio --CeeJay
87. Sunshine and green house planning with mom.
88.   Beef--K
89. Putting full trust in God for the unknown future.
90. An evening telling stories & laughing with James and girls. 
   

Day One of Love Week

Nineteen years ago today, my sweet beloved got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife.  He took me to dinner, arranged to have his moms apartment decorated with candles while we were out and when we returned to the candlelit apartment he sang a song that he wrote.
I said yes.  
And today I love him more than I ever could imagine.
We've grown up.
And still grow today.

 Counting today...
71. For 19 years of growth and true love.
72. Girl time, mom time talking and commiserating, encouraging and caring.  
73. A cart full of stipend paid curriculum and fun.
74. James' sweet note on Facebook, "It appears my phone is having trouble with Facebook - probably a good thing. But here is what I was TRYING to "say" publicly to my better half during the commute: 19 years ago today I sang a proposal. Cheesy though the words may now seem and despite all the normal and yet unexpected wear and tear of everyday life that may tend to make us cynics, those words are no less true today than they were in 1994. "I STILL feel like I've never felt before, and all my life I dreamed that it would be this way." fdj"  I love you, James.

Love Week!

I've been looking forward to blogging this post for awhile despite being totally ill prepared for it.  I just knew I wanted to post about this week.  It is special.  I will call it Love Week. I have plans, sort of (because I need to be realistic and make low expectations for myself), to make it an awesome week.  I plan to give of myself daily, with love, extra special.  

The obvious is that on Thursday it is Valentines Day but the not so obvious to you is that tomorrow is the anniversary of my amazing husbands proposal to me ( nineteen years!!! I'm in awe).  So it starts the week, February 11th, the day of proposal, ending with Valentines Day (or close to ending), thus we shall name it Love Week.

(I wish I had pictures to insert here.)

I'm feeling quite blessed as of late.  Maybe it's this awesome counting to one thousand that is helping.  I'm certain it doesn't hurt.  
I know  I am not counting every day like I should be. But when I do take the time to watch and seek God's beauty and blessings, it really does make a difference.

56. Sunny day of 52degrees.
57. Cooking corned beef (1st time ever)  & cabbage for St. Brigid---one day late.
58.  A shower with warm water---CeeJay
59. Pics of wedding & baby years to bring smiles and joy to the dinner table.
60. Sweet kids WANTING to sing Les Mis songs.
61. Sweet girl of 13 hugging me & telling me she loves me, on her own, for no reason.
62. Sweet girl of 13 helping Mrs. Hainly with a tree in her yard.
63.  Lovely girls encouraging mom & dad to date.
64. Clean clothes.
65. Sweet smell of incense.
66. Beautiful blue flowers for the Theotokos.
67. Early morning prayers.
68. Date night, double date with awesome friends, and a movie--Les Miserables in the theater. ( Have I mentioned this movie could change your life?) 
69. Newly built stairs to the cabin---thank you Hickmans.
70. Singing in choir today.

Love Week...I'm so looking forward to Love Week.  

       


 

Feast Day

St. Brigid of Kildare commemorated today, February 1st.

 

St. Brigid is the patroness of our farm and so today we celebrate.  I first wanted to celebrate by butchering chickens, but alas the good deacon must work today and I can't do it alone.  So we'll get some school done and then work in the gardens and farm yards trying to beautify.  It is suppose to clear and be somewhat sunny today and 50 degrees.

 

Counting....counting to find the good and beautiful in every moment of every day. We need it. To look less at the ugly and focus on beauty. 

 

"On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it.  Then he broke it in pieces..."(1 Corinthians 11:23-24). Jesus, on the night before the driving hammer and iron piercing through ligament and sinew, receives what God offers as grace (charis), the germ of His thanksgiving (eucharistia)? Oh. Facing the abandonment of God Himself (does it get any worse than this?), Jesus offers thanksgiving for even that which will break Him and crush Him and wound Him and yield a bounty of joy (chara).     -Ann Voskamp One Thousand Gifts

45. Sheets hanging on the line in January
46. Sweet girl voices singing
47. 4-yr. old Isabelle saying, "I like math too. Will you buy me math?"
48. Bright sun  on wet roads. 
49. The warmth of a fire.
50. Freshly mopped floors.  Thank you, Kelsey.
51. Finished garden gate, built from scratch and hanging straight (sort of)!
52. Fresh ideas for organization.
53. Fresh garlic oil ready to use.
54. Homemade sauerkraut
55. Les Mierables--CeeJay
    

a movie

On Friday my beloved deacon (for those of you who didn't know, James became a deacon in the Orthodox Church on September 23rd, Glory to God for all things!)  and I took our 2 daughters (13 & 16) to see Les Miserables.   

This movie is beyond words. By far one of the most moving movies I have ever seen.  

My father-in-law has always been a fan of Les Miserables the production, and the deacon convinced his dad to go see the movie.  He wrote us after seeing it and said it was by far the best rendition of Les Mis he has ever seen and probably one of the best movies he's seen in his whole life.

You will not regret seeing this movie.

It was the first movie I have seen in a theater in about 10 years.  Despite being totally blown away by how much it cost to go to a dinner and movie with my girls, it was totally worth it!

"To love another person is to see the face of God."

I keep counting, counting towards 1,000. Each day I look for more. Hoping that as the days go by I will find deep gratitude on every level of every day.  Gratitude that will bring me salvation. Take me to God.

26. Fresh carrot/apple juice with a hint of ginger.  The smell of ginger is so alive. 
27. Joseph trying carrot juice. -CJ
28. Soft pillow for my head.
29. Wood to burn
30. Getting school done. -CJ
31. Food...lots of good.

32. Dishes being done by a 13yo at an odd time of the day & I only had to ask once!
33. A mommy who loves to help make dinner & watch boys for date night.
34. Dinner & a movie with 2 beautiful girls and an awesome hubby.
35. A glass of red wine.
36. The smell of coffee, fresh ground & brewing.
37. A Letter to All the World's Daughters.     
38. Les Miserables motion picture that evokes deep emotion and thought. 
39. Strong man brought to tears by the beauty of a movie.
40. Dishes being done by gracious daughter.
41. Digging in the earth in January, cleaning garden beds.
42. Fresh compost that I created!
43. Frugal grocery shopping.
44. Coyotes howling in the night...reminding us, as we sleep, that God's creation is alive and full and all around us.

I will endeavor to blog more often.  Adding to my list more often rather than such a long list every so often. 

I desire to write more.  I've been reading good things lately and the flow of words and the beauty all around have been inspiring me to want to put words on paper (even though it is virtual paper).  I do write in a journal so I guess I am putting words on paper, pen to pad.