Commentaries on Life and Prayer

Wow.  A friend asked why I hadn't blogged in a while.  My answer in a word:  Life.  Life has been happening and it has been wonderful, and emotional, and busy, and savored.

In the last month...

We wrapped up AWANA and children's choir at our church with moments that made this momma proud, my fave being big girl's recitation of John 3:33, "God is truthful..."
Big girl graduated from preschool...
My big girl and I went to the zoo and Orange Leaf (which was much fun for her; I enjoyed her smiles much more than the ice cream)...
We've had several dentist and doctor appointments, some of which are in preparation for kindergarten...
We hosted a Compassion Sunday at our church and 6 kids received a sponsor (so much happy)...
I had a wheat berry grinding and bread baking lesson from a spiritual momma...
We traveled to my hometown for my niece's graduation...
We finished planting our garden and laying our patio (happy, happy, happy!!!!)...
My man went out of town for work and we girls traveled to my sister's and spent a day at the science museum, where we went through mazes, and climbed ever-so-high, and then slid down, down, down, only to climb ever-so-high again and slide down more times than I could count, and we lifted a car, and maneuvered a wheelchair, and saw dinosaurs and honey bees and stars...
We had our last MOPS meeting of the year...
I enjoyed my final MOPS steering team "meeting," which was really a brunch at our mentor's momma's cozy and most inviting home and garden...
The girls and I took an impromptu trip to my hometown in an effort to offer emotional support as my brother with ALS had a feeding tube put in...
His procedure was postponed 5 days and our 2-3 day trip turned into a 7 day trip...
The extended stay was easily filled up spending time with my siblings; one day was divided between my brother's boat (tubing) and my brother-in-law's boat (fishing)...more on that later...
The day of the procedure, my sister and I stayed with our niece's children; my girls had a blast playing with all their cousins...
The next day we drove home; we pulled in the driveway around 9 pm...
VBS was happening at our church the next two nights, but I couldn't make it happen...
We spend the next couple of days catching up on sleep and laundry and gardening...and trying to counteract a week's worth of fast food with some grilled veggies...
We've had birthday parties, and impromptu play dates, and a friend in yoga pants dropped by for a cup of water (I had coffee) who wound up staying for six hours (I love those days), and a "cool off" party with kiddie pools and sprinklers, and slip'n'slides...
We've gathered eggs for a friend who is out of town...
We've worshiped with the residents of a local nursing home...
We've played outside, and worked in the garden, and watched movies and lots of "Wild Kratts," and made cards for the nursing home residents, and baked a lot of bread, and ruined a batch of bread, and argued and laughed hard and slept little and had far too little quiet time...
And I haven't opened this computer more than 5 times in as many weeks, and a couple of those times were probably to look up recipes.

I have so much I want to say about all of that...

My sweet aunt has emailed three times and has yet to receive a response from me because I only read emails on my phone, but if they require more than a few words in response, they lie there in my inbox until I can use a real keyboard to type out a reply.

My girls had an absolute blast on their uncle Tod's boat.  They have not stopped asking when they can go on "that" boat again, the one with the tube.  Big girl got a head-full of water at one point.  She gasped until we pulled her on the boat, then had a good cry, then was ready to get back on the tube.  Mommy was not ready.  That's when we moved to the fishing boat.

We really enjoyed our time with my family.  I didn't feel like we were in a tornado the whole time we were there.  We actually got to sit and visit and see everyone.  It was good.

And though it may seem to many such a little thing, I think we have been so extremely blessed this last week or two with fresh foods.  I have relished plucking mint straight from my garden each night and drinking mint tea with fresh local honey.  Fresh basil has hit the table almost daily this week, topping tomatoes with mozzarella, spaghetti sauce, and even cheesy bread.  We've had at least a handful of strawberries every day.  We have farm-fresh eggs in our frig and milk straight from the cow.  I really can not tell you how grateful I am for these whole foods.  I get a little giddy every time I get to use fresh ingredients.  It's a weird passion, I know.

And then there is my brother and his stoic fight with ALS.  His wonderful wife who cares for him so diligently and never complains, but rather smiles and encourages and is so strong.  My momma who is living a mother's worst nightmare.  His children, his grandchildren, and us, his siblings, who watch helplessly and so desperately want to help, but there is nothing to be done.  We pray.  Oh, we pray.

On our drive home after the feeding tube procedure, big girl's belly was aching.  I had received multiple updates on my brother's condition through text; one said he was sick at his stomach and having a lot of pain. I told the girls and we prayed.  Big girl prayed that his belly would feel better than hers.

And speaking of prayer, here a few smiles to wrap this up.  We pray each night before the girls to go bed.  Recently, both of the girls' prayers made me smile.

Big girl:
"Thank you, God, for black widows, because we know you made them and they are good."
I'm paraphrasing a bit, but that prayer was a true mimicry of this momma's prayers.  In our battle with the wretched black things, I have had to remind myself that they, too, have a purpose and a place in the circle of life.  In my effort to "give thanks in all things," and overcome what was once a nearly paralyzing fear, I have shifted my focus from the horrors they can cause to the reason they were created.

Baby girl:
"Thank you, God, for earthworms and the fun that they have..."
I wonder if she meant "the fun we have with them?"  We had just cut one in two that same day while turning the compost pile.  They saw the worm's blood, which fascinated them, and watched as it burrowed back into the ground to regenerate.
"And thank you for wolf spiders..."
I've told them these are the good spiders that eat the bad ones, aka black widows, so we do not want to kill them.
"And thank you for the wolves and foxes we see in our backyard."
I'm assuming this was triggered by the wolf spiders because we have never seen a wolf in our backyard.