Weekending...

 Our weekend in pictures...

::  As always...there was fishing.
    ....and more fishing.
       ......and even more fishing.

 ::  There were fires...
      .....with coffee and Cribbage...and char-broiled lunches.
      ....and fire crackers thrown at the Mama when she went to relieve herself in the bushes.

      There were very naughty boys.  Especially the Largest One.

 ::  There were boatrides and adventures.
      .....and cozy little forts made from some other boys for my own to enjoy.

 ::  There was a bit of inside quiet.
      ....and per their usual, some inside messes of epic porportion, as well.

 ::  There was watering, and weeding
      ....and squirting and spraying.

 ::  There was picking...and more picking...and griping...and picking.

 ::  There was creating by the Jester.
      ....We call this "Robot Jack."
      He's cool.
 ::  There are plans for a spontaneous get away.
      ..... So there was much counting of the waittressing change.

      We were saving it to go to Cancun...but, at this rate, I'll be an old lady by the time we get there.  So instead....when the boys go and see Grammy for a couple of days, we're gonna kick it - just my man and me.  I'm happy anywhere, as long as it's with him.

 ::  There was eating of Amazing Deliciousness.
      ....This is charred romaine salad.  Oh creation of joy and bliss!
      Grilled hearts of romaine brushed with olive oil, honey balsamic vinegarrette, goat cheese, cranberries, toasted walnuts, and a wee bit of turkey bacon.

Heaven on a plate.
 ::  There were boy cookies made.
      .... See above comment about inside messes of epic porportions.
      Yeesh.
::  And there was worship.
    ... Sweet, vulnerable, hearts-full-of-love for Jesus and each other worship.

It was a great weekend.
Happy Monday, Friends!

For the Mamas...

 The days are long, but the years fly by.
This one thing I know to be true.
For my children are growing; they're no longer babes -
One is eight, one is five, one is two.

 Your Word says we're "shadows" - all flesh is "as grass."
And rushing results in nothing.
Your truth - it cuts deeply, and hurry - it hurts.
And harsh words carry with them a sting.
Redeem time for us, Jesus.  May we live this life well ~
In a world fast addicted to speed.
Show us what we must live by - the "must haves" for now ~
And to throw away what we don't need.
 Fill our aches with Your presence, and our hearts with Your life.
Restore us - Revive us anew.
Give us Your eyes to see, God ~ Give us Your ears to hear.
Fill our deep, aching needs up with You.
Confirm for me now, Lord, the works of my hands (Psalm 90:17).
And show me what things will just burn.
In these three lives eternal, will time be well spent.
...These lessons, I always must learn.

*     *     *     *     *

Dedicated to all of my dear Mama friends...
And this crazy, busy, sometimes thankless, and always moving season of motherhood.

"I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the LEAST of these...you did for me!"
~ Jesus.  (Matthew 25:40)

"Motherhood is a sacred enterprise.  God can baptize dirty diapers, sleepless nights, and toddler tantrums in order to transform us into people who reflect the image of Christ.  God will use our kids in our lives to shape us.  They will teach us how to sacrifice and how to handle guilt, they will school us in the art of listening, and they will force us to our knees in prayer.  They will show us how to laugh and how to grieve, they will cause us to live courageously, and they will help us face our inadequacy and our need - and above all, our reliance upon the One who is greater than we are...and the One who gave us these gifts on loan in the first place." ~ Sacred Parenting. 

Sometimes...

In order to get out of your own way... And to try and step out of your yucky funk...
And in an attempt to regain some of that sanity that you seem to have misplaced...

You've got to go through that little bit of extra effort that it takes to get all three hoolies out of the house and into the car... and then you've got to take that drive across town to your dear sister-friend's... who you've already walked through years of life together anyway...

...and you've got to let your hair down a little.

And let your boys run wild with hers.
And share your heart and your hurts.
And swallow your pride...and be a little vulnerable...
And then, let her make you a big ole cup of Heaven and a bagel.


And in the midst of the mess and the crazy... and the hoolies...and the snacks...
right up on her kitchen stool...
...you paint your toes an outlandish color that you could never even begin to pull off and that your eldest asks in horror:  "Mom!  WHAT is on your TOES?!!!"
And you smile sweetly and answer:  "It's blood, baby."
And then he says:  "Cool."

And you sit and you savor that little pocket of time with that dear friendship that doesn't judge, and doesn't tell you how to parent, and doesn't tell you that you're a failure, and who is sad with you when you are sad, and who rejoices in your joys.....

And you laugh together and dream together and swap stories of your crazy-in-this-season-of-life days...

And life begins to right itself again.


My Mama has a dear friend with whom she has walked through life together since they were in college.  They have truly shared in each other's sorrows and in each other's joys.  Although hundreds of miles have separated them for most of their married and parenting years, they have still maintained the most kindred of relationships.

How blessed I am to have a few of those in my own life, as well.

Deep, kindred, soul friends who I may not see or talk to for weeks, months, or even years.
But I know they have my back.
And I have theirs.
And they love me, regardless.

Thanks for taking the clouds away, Dearie...
May I do the same when the time is needed.
For ALL of my friends....


"Keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins."
~ I Peter 4:8

Perspective.

The battle of seeing and walking and living and be-ing and resting and knowing and hearing HIM is found in the journeying...and sometimes in the sludging through...of the mundane and/or crazy and/or sometimes painful day to days of normal life.

This one thing I am learning.

Sadly, "real life" doesn't happen in a vaccum.
Or on a deserted island where nobody knows you.

Deep, abiding, walking with Jesus has to happen in all of the messyness of life and in all of the cooking and cleaning and in-betweening, as well.

It has to happen in the midst.
And this, I am not doing so hot of a job at, as of late.

It's harder for me when ~
:: brothers tease and fight,
:: and when supper meals are hated,
:: and when days are just "survived" rather than really lived,
:: and when money is tight,
:: and when the house is a mess,
:: and when I'm dealing with poison ivy episode #36 of the season,

: and when breakfast spills,

This one was ALL me.  Ransom just offered to help.
:: and when we have an obvious mouse problem in our house,

:: and when my chickens get taken out by a fox,

:: and when we all cry because Smudge is gone,

He's been missing for a week.  We're pretty sure a fox got him, too.
:: and why the heck can't we manage to keep a pet alive for more than a year?

When days gets muddied and messy...
And when words smear and cut deep...
And when life doesn't make sense...
And when people misunderstand...
And when friends walk away...
And when the future seems uncertain...
And when you feel a little aimless...

Well, Jesus is there in those moments, too.
And His grace is sufficient.
And His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

And maybe those are the days where we have to look a little harder...
And count a little longer...
And practice the naming of the gifts a little bit more.

I love what Ann Voskamp writes, because I believe it in my soul ~ "We only deepen the wound of the world when we neglect to give thanks.  The brave who focus on ALL things good and ALL things beautiful and ALL things true, even in the small - who give thanks for it and discover joy - even in the here and now, they are the change agents who bring fullest Light to the world." ~ One Thousand Gifts.

So, maybe if I practice well during the times of smaller, more juvenile hurts and frustrations, inconveniences, and misunderstandings...maybe I will be able to give the harder thanks when the deeply painful arrives, as well.  Maybe I will still be able to see like some of the parent's of murdered children from movie theatre shootings, and the Mamas who leave the hospitals empty handed,  the widows who sleep alone in their beds at night, and the deeply hurt and wounded whose hearts bleed raw from life.

Maybe if my thanks can be genuine in all things that "normal life" throws - I can be raw and real - and still give thanks - when life really hurts.

Because "one act of thanksgiving when things go wrong with us is worth a thousand thanks when things are agreeable to our inclinations." ~ St. John of Avila

And so we carry on....
#4039.  Quiet days at home.
  4040.  Deep fellowship, raw and real.
  4041.  Honesty and acceptance.
  4042.  Sweet Smudge.  God's gift for a year.
  4043.  New fish to ease some hurt.
  4044.  Date nights at home - just him and me.
  4045.  Little conversations - honest and trusting.
  4046.  Sweet child-like faith and acceptance.
  4047.  Relationships.  Always relationships.
  4048.  Gracious boys when Mama's in a funk.
  4049.  Gracious Father when we stumble and trip.
  4050.  Him alone.  Always sufficient. 

"Something always comes to fill the empty places.  And when I give thanks for the seemingly microscopic, I make a place for God to grow within me." ~ Ann Voskamp




Weekending...

 ::  For baking...

 ::  And for family picnics.

 ::  For family bike rides. 

I have been waiting for YEARS to be able to do this.  Training wheels off for the two biggest, and the smallest still able to fit into a bike seat.  A very narrow window.  Next summer, we'll be back to the training wheels stage...

 ::  For wild, little flower beds...

 ::  And for family ice cream dates that end with homemade latte's...

 ::  For gardens growing and producing...

 ::  And for the first of many afternoon pickling sessions.

 ::  For berry picking "forests"....

 ::  And for baby chickens growing...

::  For "picking" our lunch and our suppers...

These are the things I am loving.
It has been a weekend to savor.

"Nothing here below is profane for those who know how to see." ~ Pierre de Chardin


Push to Reset.

You know, there's something refreshing about not being able to blow dry your hair for a week.  Or use a curling iron for that matter.  There's something to be said for living in your swimsuit, for taking baths in the lake, for drinking camp coffee in the evening because it's no big deal if you stay up late, and for capping the day off at the same pace that you started out - slooowly.

When days are slow and when life is simple, the regular household chores - like sweeping the floors and doing the dishes can be almost soothing.  When culture and chaos and computers and... LIFE's... madness get silenced for a few days, and when I totally and completely "unplug" and step away....it's so much easier to SEE. 

To be fully present.
To hear Jesus.
And to respond back.
Retreats from life are soothing for the soul.

Mist over the lake coming up with the sunrise
Sometimes, it's so hard to hear above the din of facebook, and t.v., and email, and the forever list of to do's that will never ever be finished.  I am addicted to speed, I know only one pace, - and I struggle to "live in the moment."

So, when I have a few days where that pace of life changes - and when I am completely plucked out of my world, and my life, and my people, and my "to do's"....

I am stopped.  And I am silenced.
And somehow, these blind eyes are once again made to see.
I am attentive, aware, and I am fully present.
And time is redeemed.

My spot.
Once again, I am made to remember...
"Life is not an emergency." ~ Ann Voskamp
Why do I have such a hard time remembering?

This was my prayer going into this week of vacation ~ that I would be fully here - wherever "here" happened to be at any given moment.  That I wouldn't waste that gift of a few days away.  That I would savor and see.  And that I would remember that hurry always empties the soul.

And maybe, just maybe... that my current life's verse of "We are merely moving shadows and all our busy rushing ends in nothing" could possibly change to a new one.  That maybe instead my life could look like "seek God and let your heart revive" (Psalm 69:32) or "teach me to number my days and satisfy me with you alone all the day long" (Psalm 90). 

Something just a bit more redemptive, perhaps.

When there is a "fast" from all of my time wasters and noise makers - those things that cloud my eyes and stop up my ears from hearing and that I allow to waste so much of my time.....those things that make me my own worst enemy...

It's like a reset button gets pushed.

And the course of my days and the thoughts in my head and my habits that I live by, get synchronized and aligned just a little bit better. 

Cascade Falls
And now that I'm home - back to this peopled life, and my days once again filled with work and responsibility, schedules, and necessary "to-do's"....otherwise known as "the real world" ......

I whisper with the blind beggar ~ "Lord, I want to see."  (Luke 18:14)
However necessary.
As You see fit.

Push to reset.

The Crushfest.

Let the games begin!
 We Bookers love ourselves a good old fashioned bit of competition amongst ourselves.

And since Cribbage has become the game of choice in our household, as of late - we decided to have ourselves a bit of a Crushfest this week at camp.

AND while I am fully aware of where my pride is going to land me as a result of this blogpost, I have taken into consideration the consequences - and the fact that I shall probably not win a game again for a zillion years - as "pride does come before the fall" and I shall post away regardless.

If you will ~

Our week in pictures...
At the beginning of the week, the competition was tight...
And you can clearly see that the evenings at our Island Cabin were wild and crazy...

We are party animals!


But then...something happened.
I got on a bit of a winning streak, if you will.


And the Crushfest?
Well, it began in earnest...


By midweek, Kev could see that he had met his match.
And since our tally sheet was hanging on the wall for all to easily see...

He tried a sneaky plan that he thought would foil any curious minds and wandering eyes as to where this competition was headed...


Hmn.  Nice work, Honey.
I especially like the placement of the stars.
And my itty bitty number seven.

(....that would be four games more than you.....)


Well, then Thursday night rolled around, and in the final moments of a neck and neck fingernail biting match of the century, Kevy pulled out the big win, thus assuring himself (or so he thought) the beginnings of a glorious comeback.

Welp...that there bubble...it got itself busted...


Poor Kevy.
His streak lasted for all of one game.
He was soundly and inhumanely crushed by the Cribbage Queen.

Dareth he demand a rematch?
"Does an ant do war with a boot?" 
Sorry.  I just saw the Avengers.  Thought that was a good line to insert right around here.

So.  Yeah.  Our week in pics.
And while I do take pride in my humility....
And while I fully expect to lose many games as a result of this bragging....

I have to say, I'm willing to risk it.
This was totally worth it...

An Ode to My Boys...and Their Love of Fishing.

The week's first catch -- Jesse's score!

I have three fishing Hoolies...
And one large fishing man.

They like to fish from dawn 'til dusk...
This is their Fishy Plan.

In this case...the world's largest chub.

The grand, elusive "Lunker"...

Some salmon, trout, or bass...

They careth not the fishy "brand"

So long its length will pass!

This was my view of my kids all week....their backsides.
They'll go without their breakfast..
 Or extra sleeping in.

But this girl here? I want them both ~
No food? No sleep? No win!!

Some days, fishing was optional...naps were needed.
So, while they're up REAL early...
Before the sun is up...

I'm hunkered down inside my camp ~
With coffee in my cup! 

Cascade Stream.

Two trouties caught there on Kev's fly rod.
 They'll work their casting muscles...
~ Perfect their reeling in...

I hear their raucous laughter
Above the motor's din!
My one early morning with them.
 Their lead core lines ~ their fly fish rods...
They're happy as can be!

And an hour or two of quiet?
Myself alone with me?
Caught a salmon.  Trying to measure its length.
Well, this grand plan can work for all...
An hour or two each day!

I'll sit and sip my coffee...
While fish flee in dismay!
One inch too small.  Bummer.
When they get back, I'll hear their tales ~
I'll cheer their fishy prize.

They'll settle in - but not for long...
I see it in their eyes.

"It's okay, Buddy.  The next one is OURS!"
 And sure enough, before too long...
One stands and says:  "Let's go!"

I'll smile into the silence...
And grab another cup of Joe.