blue skies

                                          blue skies ABOVE

                                                 
                                                 clouds ALL puffy

                      


                                      with THESE THINGS called dreams.

                                                        we PUT ON our hearts

the strength to LOVE.   (colossians 3:14)

love,
lea

ps.  please visit joyce to see other pretty pictures.

drunk on my kids

one of my character flaws is my tendency to get my feelings
hurt too easily.  now that my children are young adults with
strong characters and clever opinions, i have tried to laugh at
myself more than wear my feelings on my sleeve.

in fact, i laugh so often with them, that i now consider them a
tonic or a good stiff drink . . .

they don't let me drive them places, because frequently i get the
giggles so bad that i am not a safe driver.

hans will call, and i will not be able to talk coherently.

"are you with the kids?"

giggles.

"are you inebriated on them again?"

snort.

"ARE YOU DRIVING?"

gasp.

he will then call one of the girls to make sure they are
driving.  

embarrassing.

"she can laugh at the days to come."  proverbs 31:25b

love,
lea

moonlight farewell

the orchestra serenaded us with 'moonlight sonata', the soft glow
of candlelight winked at us, and the delicate pink dogwood
branches bowed to us from tall crystal vases.

excited conversation peppered the ballroom like champagne
bubbles, for this was a joyous occasion celebrating the season's
young debutantes.  the two most precious ones belonged to us.

my brother in law bemoaned the fleeting childhood of our daughters,
and i took a sip of water to give myself a moment to blink back hot
tears.  one minute, we are their world, and the next, the world is their
oyster. . . and we are just the sand.

having passed through this valley four times before, though, i tried to
comfort us both with the knowledge that while the pulling away is
painful, it makes the reunion sweeter.

love,
lea

"do not hide your face from me when i am in distress."
psalm 102:2

beauty

i was a plain, introverted little girl, content to be left alone to read

black beauty or little women.

imagine my surprise when my gorgeous mother applied the tiniest

bit of mascara to my pale, puny lashes before the annual church

choir banquet!

it was the most amazing experience to see my pitiful caterpillar

self transform into a choir queen.  i actually did win that title at the

banquet.  what kind of church has a choir queen?

as wonderful as it was to be a butterfly for the moment, i had to wash

off all my beauty before i went to bed.  back to being a caterpillar.  

well, at least i still had black beauty.

his song to sing has a moving video about beauty.

hans and i decided that we wouldn't speak of our little girls' pretty

faces, because we wanted them to be confident in who God made

them to be not in how He made them appear.  we worried that if we 

extolled the outside, they might neglect their inside.

"your beauty should not come from the outward adornment . . . 

instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of

a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."

1 peter 3:3,4

however, even with our good intentions, when the girls hit high 

school and discovered what ignorant, annoying people we were,

we threw out our principles and shouted desperately, "we think

you're beautiful!"

love,

lea

revised from november 2, 2009 for sabbath rest.

"a rose by any other name . . .

. . . would smell as sweet."

welcome to 'friday pretties'
where are all the blogs are
pretty and all the visitors
are prettier.  if you sashay
on over to joyce's you
will even see the prettiest.

"i am the rose of sharon."        song of solomon 2:1

"and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as a rose."    isaiah 35:1

love,
lea

overwhelmed and unhappy?

last night i spent time praying for some sweet young moms who
are exhausted and emotionally wrung out.  fatigue is such a thief
of our contentment and ability to handle even the smallest chores.

almost every challenge can be dealt with better after a good
night's sleep.  my epitaph will read, "man, could she nap!"

if athletes and astronauts need their rest to perform their best, how
much more should moms? what's the big deal about bouncing a
ball or flying around in space?   we have these dear little ones who
deserve our clearest thinking and most loving care.

"it is vain to rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread
of anxious toil; for He gives His beloved sleep."
psalm 127:2

"but how am going to sleep if the baby is up all night, and i
have a toddler awake most of the day?"

desperate times call for desperate measures.  we have to sleep
whenever they do and finish our chores when they are awake.
on weekends, let our precious husbands get up with the baby.

tell them you will reward them for every extra hour's sleep.  :)

love,
lea

the fox and the hound

once upon a time there was a little westie, named jackson.  he was loved
by his humans but a bit bored with them.  they fed him and walked him,
but he longed to chase something with a tail.

so one day, he sneaked out of the fence and found his kindred spirit.

they frolicked in the meadow, and jackson had the time of his life, but
he never felt completely safe with his new playmate.

even though his special friend really liked him, he also seemed to want
to eat him.

"the Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made."
psalm 145:9

love,
lea