From Where I Sit…

Well. From where I sit, I see furniture in the wrong spots, a nervous poodle wondering why his world is changing, bags of purged clothes and STUFF from around the house, a very happy baby trying to crawl, a 10-year-old nearing the end of a very successful soccer season, a husband and son driving around in the Model A, and a daughter in a pink tutu. It’s moving time!!!

Today is highly nostalgic for me – or bittersweet, or something – as the moving company went to my childhood home this morning and picked up my baby grand that has been there – without me! – for 20 years. It was given to me as a gift in about 1987, and I had it for 2 years in high school, and for college breaks, but since becoming a grown up [as if..] it’s continued to be in my folks’ living room – standing alone as a reminder of all the high school nights I spent playing it with all of my friends over. I am delighted that it will be at our new home, but I’m not looking forward to being at Mom and Dad’s and seeing it with no piano… first time in 32 years.

The seasons, they continue on….. I’ll keep you posted as the move draws ever nearer. T-minus-9 days until they come to pack us!!

Grateful!
Steph

From Where I Sit…

 

…the dog is chomping on his pig’s ear, the oldest is diagramming sentences, the middle boy is playing pod racer with his legos, the girl is coloring, and the baby is sleeping. The remnants of the pancake breakfast still linger, but it’s mostly cleaned up – just needs another wipe down. It’s standard issue here this morning.

 

This weekend we’ll have our annual congregational meeting at St. Michael’s, where the now-public news of the Assistant Rector’s upcoming departure, will be discussed. This is significant because the Assistant Rector happens to be my husband.  The economy has hit St. Mike’s hard – I suppose like any other place. But they can only afford an assistant until June 1. So we’re on the move again!  And it’s ok. We are eager to land somewhere and be part of a community for our children to settle in and make friends, but these years of our sojourning have been good – so good - for our family. For we are knit together… we are dependent on one another… our children are inseparable… we have the greatest dog ever… and we have the blessing of being connected to another community of faith. What a privilege!

 

Ministry life seems to me to be a transient life. And that, too, is ok with me, because it teaches me the greater truth that this life – this whole life – is a transient life, and this world is certainly not my home, nor my prize, nor my goal. 

 

My 2009 calendar is filling up with lots of fun events, lots of great gigs. My hands are healing up wonderfully – I am so grateful for that, I can’t even really describe it, and in fact I look down sometimes and I think, “I canNOT believe these surgeries happened! This thing for which I’ve been waiting for years is over and done..”. What a joy!

 

Back to it. Pray for Dad if you think of him. His heart, which has been a miracle heart since 1976, is failing. And pray for Terry, a dear friend whose heart is working at 10% capacity and has just been moved to the transplant list. Pray that he stays stable enough to receive the transplant.

 

With gratitude….

Steph

From Where I Sit II

…a bottomless pot of french press…
…fresh scones right out of the oven – white chocolate chip and craisin… oh my…
…wicked snowstorm out my window, but cozy inside…
…4 happy kids and a husband doing his ironing [yesss!]
…one best friend, a teacher, who came for dinner, stayed overnight, and has a snow day. How fun is that for a mommy?!?

… today, I rest beside the weary road and.. well, can you hear it? I think I just might hear the blessed angels sing. Thank you, Lord!

From where I sit….

….I see a kitchen that’s suffering from the spaghetti dinner I just cooked.. I see a 6 year old boy eating ‘just one more piece of bread’… I see a poodle doing laps, finding all the treasures on the floor… I see Daddy, working hard to prepare the house for a gathering we’re having here on Monday night… I see a 9 year old, whose cheeks are just regaining the proper color after a frostbite scare this afternoon… I see a baby swing in full swing mode with no baby… hmm… oh, that’s right – the baby is laying across my arms here at the table, drinking his bottle – which i’m holding in his mouth with my face in order to free up my hands to type… and he finishes the bottle, I look down at his perfect little face, and he grins the drunken baby ‘I’m full and SOOO content.. and you’re awesome!’ grin.

When we found out we were expecting #4, one of my first thoughts that quickly turned into a matter for prayer was ‘oh dear. this one has GOT to be mellow or I’m not going to make it’. Oh, the Lord knows what a mommy heart needs! Number Four is 11 1/2 weeks old… and sleeps for an 8-hour shift every night – has been doing so for more than a week. None of my other kids did that until they were 2! [Yes. I know. I created monsters.] Number Four seriously ONLY cries when he’s hungry (except, that is, for yesterday, when he had his shots. For the record.. he doesn’t like shots.)

But, the fact of the matter is, the one who needed mellowing was… me. For a procrastinator, I sure get on my son when he’s not finishing his work. For a clutterbug, I sure get on my middle kids when their rooms are cluttery. For a woman who has wrestled with weight issues my whole life, I sure restrict treats from my kids. Sure, I want them to excel where I struggle… but I needed to ease up. And I have. And I’m learning. And I’m more aware than ever of the grace and mercy that the Lord has extended to me to cover all of my sins.

I spent a week with Anne Graham Lotz in November. She taught from Genesis on the life of Abraham. For every great, obedient choice this friend of God made, he made a stinker or two along the way as well. But oh, the way he pleaded with God for the lives of the people he loved! When did I last pray with such passion for my own children? I was so convicted of my need to make right choices, and to receive God’s free grace – lavish forgiveness – when I don’t. And, hopefully, to change the scales on those two measures as I walk with Jesus over the years of my life. The ones who are with me 24/7 take the brunt of my failures. I want them to look back on these years as magic. By God’s grace, may it be so!

So from where I sit, it looks… good. A little cluttery, overflowing… and very right. Thank You, Lord.