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Stride
I’m not a runner. But I try to get outside and pretend to be one every now and again. If you’ve had the misfortune of seeing me out there, you know I don’t exactly look like a runner. (More like a sweaty-toothed madman.) But today I actually had a moment. While I was running. Not my standard why-am-I-doing-this type of moment. Like an epiphany kind of moment. I reached a hill. (What felt like a crazy-steep, insurmountable hill that seemed to want to claim my very life.) And so I started to walk. And for the first time in my limited running experience walking felt slow. It was weird. I…
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Letter Number Four (4)
Dear Otto’s Nursery Worker, I don’t know why I do not know your name. I am sorry for that. But I do know something about you. You make me happy. Every. Single. Tuesday. You are a blessing – and here’s what funny. You are a stranger to me. To my ten-month-old son. But every week when you see me enter that nursery room with a grinning baby in my arms, you get excited. Genuinely excited. As if you love my baby too. As if taking care of my son is actually a gift to you. Which made me think. Maybe it is. Sort of. See, I know there will be…
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This Weekend
When you turn sixteen at our house the day might begin normally with a gift or two. But the day picks up momentum quickly. Add a dozen or more friends. An unfortunate parking job. (NOT to the right guys. Not to the right!) Throw in a summer staffer or two (or six or so), who are there specifically for the purpose of livening things up a bit, and things might get a little messy. This was one game (thanks Ben, Chris and Lauren) where the girls made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. With their bare feet. And then the boys? They ate them. Other games may or may not have…
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You Say It’s Your Birthday?
Sixteen. Pretty sure that number must be wrong. Seriously. There is no way that our oldest daughter could be turning sixteen (16) today. Is it possible to just ban a birthday altogether? Oh Riley. Beautiful. Affectionate. Optimistic. Dramatic. Master of Hyperbole. Friendly. Extroverted. Lover of Laughter, Cell Phones and Music. A Diligent Student. A Capable Chef. A Positive Spirit. What I want to say to you is this . . . Slow down. Slow down. Don’t act like how you think the world says a sixteen-year-old should act. Act like you. Dream a dream bigger than your weekend plans, your next paycheck or your first kiss. Oh Riley. Live child.…
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Baking Day
I’ve been pursuing schedule around here – you know? Chasing shalom and striving for order. Conquering chaos and choosing structure. (I have to keep working so hard at it because I keep struggling so mightily.) I made a list of topics/ideas/subjects that I want to teach the kids and I divided those ideas up and picked one or two to focus on each day of the week. (I really had to break this down into its simplest form for me to finally take action. I’m a Big Ideas person. I love The Dream. The Ideal. And I like to write it all down in impossibly tidy rows and schedule the…
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Dear Control: You Have Never Really Belonged To Me
It is possible that the experiences of the past several years of my life have been occurring primarily to lead me to one conclusion – to point me to one truth. I’m not in control. (I don’t think I ever really thought I was. But I have been infatuated with pretending as if I was.) It’s like this is the conversation that has been happening above, around, near me for a few years . . . You like the way your parents make you feel secure? You have a growing reliance on your mom and her role in your life? Got that all figured out – how that should look…
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Virtual
I never really thought you could develop community without meeting someone in person. I didn’t think you could share your life with people virtually. I was wrong. It’s never a replacement for living life with the real people surrounding me, but I have been amazed and honored to begin experiencing a taste of online community through reading and commenting and virtual “meeting” of several women through their raw, tender and beautiful blogs. One blog I stumbled upon one evening last fall brought me to tears. I stayed up late crying while reading Sarah Markley’s incredible story of redemption and grace. And then I did something I rarely do – I…
Keep Reading . . .
Lake Jocassee with the Boys
The Things That We Keep Doing
back of a book, on the porch
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Receiving Good Gifts: Part II
Rain. It’s not that I really mind it. But some days, when I have to run errands in it, tote kids in and out of cars in it and drive sloshing around town in it, well . . . I like it a little less then. And some days, when I am already on a slope down, sitting on that edge, I think I let the rain just come right on inside and settle on my soul. I had one such day like that recently. Fox had a doctor’s appointment – just a routine well-child visit. But we have been struggling with locating a family doctor that we love, like,…
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Truce
The relationship between Piper Finn and Beckett has been turbulent since their first meeting. Their two years together have been filled with highs and lows. The highs – sweet photos, short hugs, occasional sharing. The lows – pushing, smacking, hitting, general lack of kindness. This weekend, a new level of understanding was reached between these young friends. While enjoying a taco together on a recent outing, Beckett and Piper sat beside one another. Beck leaned in and bumped his fist a few times at Piper. Piper leaned in toward him and whispered, “Beckett?” Beckett put down his fist and said, “Huh?” “No fighting today, okay?” Beckett responded, “Okay.” And their…
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How We Roll
Recently Mosely asked if she could dress Piper Finn for our day’s outing. I said yes. Not only because I like to encourage sisterly love and older sibling helping, but because it was a busy morning. Kevin was out of town. Breakfast had not been served. (Or, more accurately, breakfast had not been passed out in cellophane wrapped squares. Hey, I think they were organic pop tarts, does that make it better? Who cares – right?) I still had to dress Wilder. London couldn’t find her other Chuck Taylor and Bergen was not satisfied with the choice of button up shirts I had placed on the table for him to…
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Friday Morning
Friday morning. Remember our breakfast schedule? Now our muffins are dinsoaur-shaped. And this morning, London made them. (Almost) entirely by herself.
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Receiving Good Gifts: Part I
It’s fun to do things for other people. Mosely and I made my mom’s Snickerdoodle recipe this week. (The recipe card is actually in her handwriting. I like using that card.) And when we were done baking, Mosely wanted to give all of our cookies away. To Mandy and Jody and Nate and Lanier and Greg Boone and the guys who were cutting a tree down in our yard right then – Ben and Jim. So she put cookies in two cups and carried them to Ben and Jim. And she bagged some cookies for Nate and Lanier. (Apologies Mandy, Jody and Greg – not sure I remembered to follow…
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Do Numbers Lie?
5: Dentist appointments yesterday. 7: Stops on yesterday’s outing. 3: Outfits Fox wore before 11 a.m. 1:50 a.m.: Numbers on my digital watch when I laid my weary head to rest the previous evening. 6:30 a.m.: Time the alarm went off yesterday morning. 8:30 a.m.: Time I actually got out of bed. 3: Minutes I spent in the shower because I slept past my alarm clock. 2: Hours spent at the dentist’s office yesterday. 25: Dollars earned from selling our old printer/copier. 200: Inventions made by students at the Invention Convention we attended yesterday. 6: Cupcakes consumed by our family at Strossner’s Bakery. 14: Wet feet climbing over the seats…
