a picture of joy

Three guesses to describe what’s happening in this picture.  

Ready? 

GO.

1….

2….

3….

Give up?

Women, at a wedding I attended recently, competing in 4 “teams” for which part of the table does the most beautiful “hand-dancing”.   (The winning team - ours - received a bottle of vodka as our prize!)    

The whole time I was waving my hands and twirling my fingers, looking down that long beautiful table, I was thinking...

“Wouldn’t it be thrilling if they were all dancing their hands in praise to Jesus?”

* * * * * 

Something to ponder…

Describe the clearest visual image of joy you’ve seen recently!

(feel free to share in the comments so we can all enjoy it with you!)

William's song:

{May we all overflow with spontaneous songs of childlike joy today!}

* * * * *

[William, in a high-pitched falsetto sing-song]:

If Jesus made me all day,

He will come into my heart, if I ask Him to...

And the clouds and the birds and my heart...

[Top of the lungs, still sing-song]:

WHEN YOU LIKE TO HUG SOMEBODY

YOU COME CLOSER AND CLOSER AND THEN YOU HUG

If you like to hug me, Benjamin, because I love you, and I like to give you a cuddle 

(accompanied by actions)

and I want to give you a kiss

[Clap clap clapclapclap, clap clap clap!]

* * * * * 

Multitudes on Monday: Simple Home Blessings

#366-402 of His simple treasures

366. The sunflower smiling from my kitchen table, which grew from a seed my son planted.

367. Elizabeth Goudge to curl up with at naptime.

368. The Dean’s Watch, its beautiful colors, living characters and deep truths.

369. "Bells" (on my phone!) calling me to prayer three times a day.

370. A fan in my kitchen.

371. A generator (to work the fan!)

372. Apricot jam, made with fruit from our “future trees”.

373. A stove to boil water with.

374. Water to boil.

375. A breezy, cool day after scorching heat.

376. Jam jars lined up, waiting to be washed and filled.

377. Two good naps from two sweet boys.

378. The way their room smells sweetly of sleep after they wake up.

379. A pile of clean, dry laundry waiting to be folded.

380. The person who invented rubber gloves.

381. Rubber gloves (for dealing with messy cloth diapers).

382. Free cloth diapers from this friend.

383. The pleasure of putting away clean dishes.

384. A brand-new flowered kitchen tablecloth.

385. A whole jar of honey.

386. The movement of the breeze billowing the lace curtain across our front door.

387. The pleasurable feeling of putting down the dish I’m washing when the bell rings, picking up a book of prayer, turning to the hour’s page, and (like wiping away steam on a mirror) becoming freshly aware of Jesus’ presence…

388. The interruption of my conscientious eldest running to tell me my youngest is in the wading pool, all alone, and with all his clothes on!

389. The surge of maternal adrenaline through my whole body as I race to fish him out, discipline him, and change his clothes, and the wisdom to dump the water out of the pool. (duh!)

390. (back to prayer) The overwhelming power of the words of these prayers, written so many years ago, to awaken my heart to Scripture, fill me with longing for heaven, and unite my spirit to Christ’s, here, in this present moment!  

391. My renewed heavenward vision as I go back to washing dishes!

392. The laughter of my boys outside, learning how to play together.

393. The cool scent of long-awaited rain.

394. Packaged chicken breast from the city stocking my freezer.

395. Daddy coming home.

396. Dinner ready on the stove.

397. Changing into his favorite shirt on purpose, and how much that changes my mood and outlook.

398. The belly-giggles of two small boys being chased by a roaring Daddy-lion.

399. Apricot jam “jamming” on the stove.

400. Bare feet in the rain.

401. An unsolicited kiss from my youngest, his sweet moist face pressed against mine, sheer joy radiating from his eyes.  

401. The pleasure of being a Mom.

let's make pie!

I made my first pie ever (EVER!) yesterday.  I was in the ridiculous position of finding frozen fruit from last summer left in my freezer, with this summer's raspberries about to arrive any day!  So, I girded up my - er, apron - and decided to tackle pie-making, with two willing helpers standing by.  

Very helpful in the cleaning-up process, as you can see.  

Have you guessed what flavor pie yet?

Cherry-raspberry.

It was delicious.  

(And so was Ben's face!)

entering the Valley of Vision

Stop and refresh your soul here a moment: Sovereign Grace Music - How Deep

I’ve had this book, Valley of Vision, a Collection of Puritan Prayers since my Dad blessed me with it while I was in college… but I haven’t pulled it off the shelf in several years.  It felt so right to pick it up again, and begin to add another element to this “Year of Here:” the discipline of “hard stops”. It’s something Ann talks about a lot, but I just didn’t know how to make it happen… 

...but after reading this post, I decided to try again.  Being given something rich, intimate, and convicting to say to Jesus every three hours made such a difference to my motivation to keep my hard-stop trysts with Him.  

I did the 9am one, finding a little island of quiet by my kitchen counter as I prayed the words softly to Him under my breath, feeling my heart slow down and everything else recede away momentarily.  

I did the 12noon one too, looking forward to seeing what prayer came next, delighting in the feel of the words in my mouth, sensing the pricks of conviction in my heart at various phrases.  

I set my alarm and ended my nap at 3:00 (well, 3:10 - I hit the snooze once!), and found such pleasure in meeting Jesus at the kitchen table before the boys woke up (instead of greedily sleeping until they wake me up and then feeling grouchy, like most days)… and when they arrived tousled and damp, I could welcome them with a smile and a composed, gracious spirit.  

So, Day 1 of this new journey completed successfully, rich blessings received… the challenge will be to take the book with me on our outing tomorrow, and keep myself focused on Him with these hard stops even while not at home… 

{post-script - I did it!  I slipped the book in my bag and followed the prompts, if a bit late... and each time I re-entered my activities with renewed joy and focus.  It's really working!}

I think this must be why monks have set times of prayer - because Practicing His Presence is so challenging for the distractable human heart, we need bells or alarms, or something to call us to remember Him at regular intervals.  

Ann’s suggestions:

1. Begin with the book
2. Print out this "Walking Through the Valley" guide “an organized approach to working through The Valley of Vision prayer book in 13 weeks using 3 daily “appointments” scheduled at 9am, 12pm, and 3pm Monday through Friday.”
3. Set the alarm on your phone, or have email reminders sent at 9am, 12pm, and 3pm Monday through Friday, to bring you to His throne in prayer. Prayer is our delight as He is our Joy — may yours go deeper as you spend time with Him who never leaves us...

Something to ponder...

When was the last time you stopped everything you were doing, 

and focused completely on communing with Jesus, 

even just for one 60-second minute?

How did it feel?

learning how to raise grateful kids

Even a 3.5-yr-old and a 1.5-yr-old can express gratitude, with a little help.  

Starting now, early, writing down gifts together…

that they may treasure the Giver of all good gifts from their youth… 

and that I may learn and grow up with them in this grace of gratitude-giving. 

#350-365 of the continual river of gifts:

Neon post-its of gifts stuck on our windows

Kids learning early how to count gifts

Colossians repetition of gratitude: Ch. 1 “giving joyful thanks”, Ch. 2 “overflowing with thanksgiving”, Ch. 3 “and be thankful...”

A new day with its own brand-new mercies sufficient for everything it will hold

A morning walk, filled with birds and birdsong

Boys quietly playing together

No squabbles!

An orange Dr. Seuss-esque watering can

The fall of fresh water on plants

Little hands held out to catch the droplets

Shrieks of delight

The blessing of running water.  Full stop.  (I will never take it for granted again!)

Jesus, the River of Living Water; Jesus, the River-Maker

Him, the River-Maker, living in my soul-garden

Never soul-thirsting again!

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, 

"If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 

'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.' " 

John 7:37-38

Five Minute Friday: Grateful...

{Grateful to join up here with Lisa-Jo and write for 5 unedited minutes about such a soul-healthy Five Minute Friday prompt…}

Grateful….

GO:

Grateful for all the little things that make up a life.  For our four open sunflowers in our garden, and the blue-winged bumblebee I caught on camera sucking nectar.  Grateful for little green tomatoes growing plumper every day.  

Grateful for the sweep and curve of my eldest’s eyebrows, for the little word-sounding noises coming out of my youngest’s mouth, for his communication triumphs.  Grateful for roses opening, for colors and scents of creation.  Grateful for family, for home (these things aren’t so small anymore!), for all the familiar things that are portable and can be transferred no matter the geographical location.  

Grateful for the words of Scripture rolling around in my mind, for mp3 players and words posted above my sink, for constant listening and reviewing Colossians 1 & 2 in two different languages until it sinks into my soul.

Grateful for politeness from my eldest, even on a day when language learning was less than a joy, for his learning that being polite and greeting well and giving hugs are all a way to show Jesus to our neighbors, even on tired, grumpy days.

Grateful for sticky post-its all over my window, for 3.5 and 1.5-yr-old gratitude, bits of their loved things in their hearts said Thank You to Jesus and stuck up in a collection of neon praise.  Grateful for teaching them while they are young to praise irrespective of mood, and for how it’s teaching me to do the same thing.  Grateful for the blessing and discipline of gratitude, and the sheer joy welling up more and more daily.  Grateful for…  {the list continues!}

STOP.

(Words in brackets written after the timer dinged, links added in afterwards)