Fall brings with it a quiet stillness in my heart that makes we want to sit and breathe and soak up life all coming before the changing of the leaves.  I am the Fall, my life having passed through child-hoods of Spring with all of its many soaked umbrellas and yellow flowers and wet feet on black pavement as they go run up and down the street.   Pink-polished toes and piggy tails and kites flying high in the wind.  Then just as quickly, my self ran into Summer like tiny bikini-clad bodies running through a backyard sprinkler and the oh so many cones of ice cream and jump rope and skipping stones.  Summer ran so fast through the season of my life that only my child-like view enabled me to soak it all in as I basked in all it’s sunny glory….a free spirit who loves the rising of the summer sun almost as much as bare feet on the beach.  But, alas, I am here in my Adirondack chair with things slowed down to the point of real appreciation.  There is a gentleness which comes with the Fall, the need to sit and wait and watch as the green leaves all turn to red and yellow and orange.  I, wrapped all snug in my lightly pink scarf, sitting patiently and reflectingly on all the many seasons which have come and gone in my life.  I think, perhaps, I like the Fall the best for with it comes the fullness of heart’s appreciation of a childhood well spent and a life well lived.  Now, as I take on the simplest tasks, I breathe each one in with a knowing-ness which comes with age.  Life, with its many seasons is a good reason to be happy, to be joyful, to be grateful and with each season comes a closer appreciation and for me, a still very young heart, who, while loving my Spring and Summer has truly learned to enjoy this season most…..

 

The FALL

 

A Mama Moment……

               with Kenton and Johnson    

                                    May 31, 2013

I remember Dr. David Hager asking me if I wanted to pray before I go too far into the delivery of my unborn sons.  He said, “I’ve learned not to wait because if we wait until we get into hard labor, then at times, things go so fast that we don’t have time to cover them in prayer.  Would you like to cover them in prayer now?”

Those were precious words to me……..and, I have never forgotten them.

And so, just he and I bowed our head in prayer over the hearts, the souls, the lives of my twin sons.  He did this again later with both their Dad and I prior to their birth.

I am grateful that my sons had a physician who knew the importance of prayer.

I am grateful for Dr. Aiken who assisted in us becoming parents to the boys and who, likewise, understood the importance of prayer.

And so, as my sons enter into their season of  “man-hood” by becoming eighteen, I enter a new, more purposeful season of prayer.

Our children cannot survive in this world without the covering of prayer…..

My children are no exception.  Maybe, in fact, they need prayers even more than some…..

So, today, our family begins…..

To pray….

Not just for Madison, Kenton and Johnson….but, for all of our young people….for your children…for your grandchildren….

Prayer is the purest avenue we have to cover them and the most important thing we can do to fortify them...

Join us?

Blessings,

Lesa

 

I thank God often for the ability to place in my head and on my heart the pieces of my life which have formed and grown me.  Like a patchwork quilt or a stain-glass window, there are all the little pieces of me come together to love and nurture and guide.  I gather warmth from their covering and insight as I glance through these colorful, little minute pieces joined together with the mortar of sweat and tears and laughter and joy…..a young girl’s anticipation…

And now, as I head into this second half of life, it is a gift I have as I am able to look back from here and reminiscence of those tiny fragments of life all scooped up in my hand and laid down flat on the table of my soul.  Like a master stain-glass-maker, matching colors and sizes and shapes and laying them out all beautiful waiting for the moment I can lift them up and let them shine for eternity.

It is a labour of love, this binding and joining and forming of a life.  The fact that it is my life made more precious to me as each day is marked off on the calendar.

And, sweet preciousness grows big in my heart as I am looking back to when I was a young girl, all full of hopes and dreams and goals and possibilities….the gift of everything being possible and all things being do-able, unfettered by the burgeoning of life…

Back when the knowing that all I had to do was…..

IMAGINE……..

Push open to the door to my home and look……UP

“Love Lives Here”

The words you see in our home are how I want the world to know me and my family as we live this thing called life.   Not the stereotyped kind of love where it is defined by “doing things and saying things and making things and collecting things” but by the kind you feel soul-deep and which you carry with you in the pocket of your heart.

It’s where laughter rings bell-like and hands are held quietly.  It’s where hearing the breathing of my children as they lay sleeping and listening to the hum of my husband are angel’s chorus in my heart. 

When I walk through our front door, I see life….kids running up the stairs, husband reading his Bible at the kitchen table.  My eye soak up daughter sitting at my make-up table made by the hands of her Poppy.  There are wrinkles on the brown leather couch from too many teens and hand-prints on the walls from “practice dunks”. 

I soak it all in…..

My gift from God….this ability to see the bountiful blessings He has given me….

And, I bow brown head- blue eyes in grateful prayer….

Thank you, Lord….

For my

VIEW

 

 

……As Only Your Mama Can 

Q is for Quab, Quaesitum and Quiet 

Q is for Quab

Dr. Jonas Salk wrote, “Good parents give their children Roots and Wings. Roots to know where home is, Wings to fly away and exercise what's been taught them.” 

There is a lot of truth to what Dr. Salk wrote oh so many years ago…most parents understand this concept and strive hard to do just that as they raise their children.  I am no exception.  Most parents are imperfect in their efforts to do this.  I again, am no exception.

It is and has been my earnest goal, long before you were ever born, to give you solid roots.   To lay a foundation on your heart and in your soul which will carry you through all the days of your life.  And, for a while, I feared that I might damage that through some of the decisions I felt the need to make on your and our family’s behalf.

But, God is merciful.  
                                                                                                                                                                  

And, you are strong.

No longer are you a ‘Quab”…..an immature and unfledged bird. Struggling to figure out where are your roots and how to use your wings.

You know.

You know where “HOME” is….

You know that home is in the heart of those you love and who love you

You know that home is not an address on a street or a room in a house…

You know that home is in heaven and this is just a stopping place where you are to fulfill the mission God has given you while on this earth.

You know that home is in the heart of your family

You know because you have lived it.

You know that anything can be healed and that roots can grow strong and deep and tough…

You know that just as a quab grows into a full-fledged healthy bird soaring in the wind and reaching toward the sky that you are able to soar into your life, working hard, striving…pushing toward all that God would have for you for all the days that He gives you..

You know this….

Because deep are your roots….and wide grows your wing span….

So soar, baby……ask God to be the “wind beneath your wings” and guide you to the best that He has for you!

And, go….go, go, go……

Q is for Quaesitum

We have talked often about the difference between getting what you want and wanting.  Not material things, but opportunities, experiences and at a, times, yes, things.

The difference is in the quaesitum….the search….the placing of value on what you want to do, be, become and walking in that direction.

The more you value something, the more likely you will walk toward it, be it a profession, a school opportunity, a friendship or the ability to travel.

What you lay before your heart on a daily basis is what your heart will pursue…

It cannot help itself….

What you place before yourself…your heart…your spirit is what is knows…what it seeks…what it observes…

If you place God and family and friendship and knowledge and peace and love and compassion, it is so much more likely that that is what you will find…

And, it takes time…it takes purpose….

We have talked before about how frustrating it is to watch ourselves and others doing the same crazy things over and over and over again and expecting different results….there are some who call this the definition of insanity!

I think it is arrogance and pride and ignorance and fear all wrapped up in one!

Don’t do that……as Maya Angelou says, “when you know better, DO better”.

On this path of life….most of us are going to make mistakes or falter and fall…get up, dust off your knees, and do better the next time…learn.

Learn to listen to your heart….HIS heart.

Even today, I know there are things you do which your heart skips a beat at knowing that you maybe, perhaps, probably should not do…

Don’t!

And, just as likely, there are things which your heart shares with you that you maybe, perhaps, probably should do…

Do!!

Don’t live in the insanity of repeating things which are hurtful or harmful…grow through them.

Grow past them.

Grow into the “new”…..

What are you waiting for?? 

Go!  Go, go, go!!

Q is for Quiet

As your Mama is aging, it is becoming clear to me the need for quiet….

Yes, I love the sounds of you children rushing about as you live your lives, the sound of Ian as he makes our house a home…

I love the music we play and the conversations we have…

I love the singing at church and the sweet words of dear friends…

But, I also love the quiet…the stillness

The peace which comes when it is just me and God

God and me

And, I strive hard each day to find that ….

That sweet little bit of time where I don’t have to do, or strive for anything…

Where I can just

Be….

I encourage you to find the time…make the time….commit to a time to just

Be……

It’s in the quiet, in the silence, in the alone-times which I feel closest to Him…

It’s when I am best able to find…

Him…

And, that makes all the difference!

Blessings,  Mama

 

 

 

 

In each of us, there are unspoken words played out in spritely rhythm unique to our individual selves.  This rhythm starts early…really from conception.  Our heart captures the beat as we come into being and it grows and becomes and sets pace with who we are and how we will become.  It is the rhythm of our soul given to us by God when He knit us in our Mother’s womb and it is ours…uniquely.  The thrumming of our heart, set off-center in our chests, captures all that is us.  Some hearts beat strong and steady and others beat quick and lightly.  The thrum of some hearts can barely be discerned and yet others, you can witness the pulse the beat is so large.  So it is with us who dance this dance of life, setting pace with who we are and who we want to become.  We accept this rhythm in our heart, and it is our pleasure to take our beats and put into words the lyrics of our life’s’…

….. Song

Mother’s Day 2013……

I like to write.  And, the way I gift those I love is in writing about them….rather like a wood-craftsman making you a wooden bowl or beautiful pen.  Or, like a quilter making you a much beloved legacy quilt.  Perhaps it is like the crochet-er crafting you beautiful kitchen washrags or maybe even a knitter knitting you a warm and much-loved hat…

We gift to others what we know to do…be it good or average or not even good at all, if it comes from our heart….

There is no greater physical gift…

So, in honor of my much beloved mother…Mama….Mommy….I share with you past blogs I have written…and, would be honored if you would pause and read about my mother….you may find in my writing things shared in like-minded “motherhood” with yours.

But, for this mother’s day, I wanted to lay down my “pen”…a/k/a keyboard and share with you…my family and friends, what my words could never adequately say…

In photo….

Surrounded by her children….

I invite you to share a glimpse into the life of my mother…much beloved….much honored…

Much deserving of all we have as her children to offer…

And more…

Enjoy…

Blogs:

2/4/11 home-is-place-where-you-find-truth.html

2/16/11 home-is-where-you-are-called-mommy.html

3/17/11 I have a little Mama

12/17/11 Papaw Perry

12/30/11 My very sweet and precious Mama

2/24/12 I Am A Praying Woman

5/13/12 I Have a Mother Who loves God

10/21/12 Life is like a ball of yarn

Sorry, but I could not get them to attach to this blog, but you can scroll to the dates on the blog.

Blessings…and A Very Happy Mother’s Day..

This is dedicated to all of our Mothers….May God Bless Them Each and Everyone!

 

 

 

"A Mama Moment"…..with Madison, Kenton and Johnson            


Mother's Day is Sunday, and I have already received my   Mother's Day gift.....

All of my babies are home....

"Chicks are all in the nest" as we say .....

More than any jewelry for my body, parties in my honor, gifts all wrapped up and decked out in large bows, what I really want is...

The presence of my children....
I want time with them....

One on one, two on one, three on one.....

In whatever way God will allow.....I want their time....because I know it is precious.

I awoke this morning to three lightly shut doors, three well-worn laundry baskets ready for Sis's laundry and a garage full of college "stuff" which has found its home in our garage...for the summer.

And, I am brought to my knees in thanksgiving.....

For every moment shared with my children is a moment which adds life to my soul....

and purpose to my days....

They will leave our home some day....and, that will be a good thing. 

They will go with my blessing....

But, while I have them....I want to enjoy them...

Want to enjoy every single "Mama Moment" I am blessed to have....

I thank God for each and every one.....


~A Mama Moment

May I never miss a single one…..

Five Minute Friday:  BRAVE



He walks slowly and with a purpose but head tilted a little down until he comes upon you and then it's all smile and light and joy.  He told me when he was pretty young, "I am a walking man....and, he is.  His journey through this life has been one of many steps.  Some with family, some with friends and often, alone.

He's fought many warrior battles in his life, at times with sword held high and at times with spirit bent low.  But, always in faith.  Always.  Always.

The steps he has taken have led him to places most of us will never know.  The knowledge in his heart is insight most will never find.

There is a gentleness, a compassion, a strength of character that you do not grow in self unless you walk this path.

It is not a journey for the faint at heart.

                     And yet, he has walked one thousand miles.

Where most would quit, and stop and cry and carry on in large and talking ways...

He stands quietly and smiles and hopes.

He is a dear heart....not all will understand.

But, those who take the time to lift, to encourage and pray....

Those are the ones who will be forever changed..

By him....

His light in this world shines differently and you have to look a little harder to see it's rays...

You may even have to stop your own steps to catch his light....

But, when you do, you will be forever changed...

And, blessed....

And, what you will see is...

     all that is....

            the walking .........BRAVE....


written in love and admiration and honor to a man who is one of the bravest men I know.....

….…..As Only Your Mama Can

 

P is for Perseverance, Practice and Pretty

Madison, it is a simple thing to start

Much more difficult it is to finish, to          “persevere”…..

But, that is what God requires…..both the starting and the finishing, and that is what my Mother’s heart prays for you.  Whatever you begin, you finish. 

Learn this lesson now….and work hard to finish everything you start….

 

Most people I know do not figure this out in their life, or, if they do, they are old before the realize the importance of persevering… 

They tire, they grow weary, the give excuse, the lose heart…..it is easy to do.  We are all guilty of this…

But, don’t stay on that path of fatigue, weariness, excuse and lost heart….get back on the path God has set before you and keep walking….. 

And, persevere 

Don’t wait to learn this lesson….chose to learn it now. 

Baby steps 

Baby step after baby step leads to a path in the right direction…. 

And finish…. 

“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me ..”  Acts 20:23

 

P is for Practice 

There are not a lot of things your Mama can promise you, but this is a promise of which I am confident…

If you do not practice what you want to do, you will not do it

If you do not practice your faith on a daily basis, you will not be faithful

If you do not practice being loving and kind and patient, you will not be so 

This applies to everything in our life…

By contrast,

If you do practice guarding your soul, your spirit, your heart, it will become guarded

If you do practice working toward good health, you will grow toward good health

If you do practice morality and intentionality, you will grow that direction 

Practicing is not easy 

But, the more your practice at something, the easier it becomes…. 

Practice what it is you want to accomplish 

And practice, and practice and practice….. 

P is for Pretty

I know you have heard the saying, “pretty is as pretty does”…..it’s an old sage and yet, it is true. 

It does not matter how beautiful you are on the outside if your inside is ugly. 

It does not matter how fine your figure, how tan your skin, how long your eyelashes and how thick your hair.  You can paint your toes and polish your fingernails.  You can arch your eyebrows and apply foundation and eyeshadow all day long.

But, if you have an ugly inside, it will eventually show on your outside. 

I personally am biased.  I believe you to be very pretty and lovely and kind on the inside.   

As your mother, I have been told many times what a sweet and tender and precious heart you have.

 And, I believe you do.

In fact,

                 I claim that you do in Jesus’ name through years and years of praying…..

 

What I pray is for “congruence” 

You and I are both learning in class that to be truly healthy in our lives….to have wellness…our inside and our outside need to match. 

Our physical bodies must give evidence that we care for them and love them. 

Our spirit-filled insides must give evidence that we care for them and love them. 

That does not mean you need to look like a model and act like Mother Teresa. 

That means that you want to grow toward what God made you to be…… 

And only you and God know what that is…. 

But, it starts with having a pretty inside…. 

And, you do. 

Of that, I am confident. 

Blessings Princess....

ILYAOYMC,

Mama

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Journey through Breast Cancer.....in photos....

April 28, 2008 - April 28, 2013

Many people have traveled with me through this journey. And, I am grateful for each and everyone.  But, I am especially thankful for my sister, Frankie who walked beside me all the way...and, still does even today.