One Little, Two Little, Three Little Indians

    We two H tribes are moving through these January days together. When the natives are restless and the skies outside are so blue and the snow is so..well,....gone, sometimes these mamas reach for their war paint and say, "all you inside---out!"

Young warriors set off to do what it is that young warriors do.

They fashion traps made from ropes vines. 

Then, they must rest while they wait for the young maidens to

 renew their strength with fresh venison cooked over a blazing fire.

 Satisfied, they head away from the village to attend to the work of the day.

  

This involves scaling rugged cliffs to secure an enemy look-out;

and crossing dangerously uncertain frozen waters

to gather wood the villagers need to survive these harsh winter months.

And after a long day on the prairie's edge, the young warriors return.

These mamas have put away their war paint.

They have prepared their peace- offering

 The gift is accepted, and the frontier is not so quiet again.

Today we are linked up at The MOB Society and "Let's Hear it for the Boys!"

Declaration of the Stars

It's before sunrise. The stars are twinkling small and far away on a January morning in Minnesota. The moon is resting low, round and full in my rear view mirror. Hubby will be flying out soon to a different time zone and I am driving home to sleeping sons and daughters and daughters' sons.

 Those stars, they remind me of words I have kept in a cardboard box and have moved from house to house. They are the words I found lying among household trinkets and discarded treasures on a garage sale table for fifty cents. I don't know how they caught my eye, framed in square gold ridges, but they did, so I gave the lady some pocket change and took them home. And I'm thinking them over, as I have done so often, how they ring true and I agree and I should take them out of that box and find a home for them near a wide open window where they belong. I wonder if the words were breathed out frosty on a morning like this?

I never behold the stars that I do not feel that I am looking in the face of God. I can see how it might be possible for a person to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how one could look into the heavens and say there is no God.   ~         Abraham Lincoln

So when I look just around the perimeters of my own life, this eye-level view crowded by people and events passing in and out of focus, into the face of all of it, and if this were the only view I had, then yes, I might begin to wonder. But when I look up and see the expanse of beauty, beauty in the dark even,  I am sure that the words of the Psalmist are true: 

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.  Psalm 19: 1 - 4  

And into the corners of my little world. The heavens declare to me the vastness of God. They tell me of the way He is everywhere. The way He is certain. The way He is above and over and around me and those I love.  And I remember how He said "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8 and 9. Whew, I am thankful, because my ways and my thoughts are not always so certain. Not always so hopeful. Very often colored by my present circumstances. And bound to change. But He " is the same yesterday and today and forever." Hebrews 3:8 Just as the constellations are sure in the heavens.

Such peace in that.

Love You To Infinity and Beyond!!........I win!

It's how we begin our mornings around here. Every morning.

I don't remember anymore how it started, but it stuck and now I can't imagine it any other way.

This is what it looks like: The Hubby is the first to get up and going in the morning. He's the early- bird -that catches- the- worm type. No alarm clock needed. He came into this world wired for the morning. While he's out throwing the wood in the woodstove, I'm wondering, "what day is it? what time is it? I didn't sleep yet did I?" And then I roll out of bed, feel around in the dark for my glasses and  o h  s o  v e r y  q u i e t l y  pass the boys' bedroom door and go downstairs to pour up the coffee. We sit in our chairs. His is the rocker and mine is the big one by the window. We talk quietly until it's time for Hubby to go downstairs to his office.

It won't be long now.

It's quiet. Then suddenly-- erupting from his room and proclaiming loudly to the wide-open-- "LOVE YOU TO INFINITY AND BEYOND (trills tongue) I WIN!", there's Josh. (Wired like his Dad.)

I'm not sure either, about how the "I win" came to be, but it has come to be the most important part.

It all probably started one morning, after breakfast and a hug, with a little debate between Josh and me. We have those. I imagine it went something like this: (me) I love you, Josh. (Josh) I love you more. (me) I love you more than that. (Josh) I love you more than you love more. (me) I love you more and more and more than you love more. (Josh) I love you the most. (me) I love you the most-est. (Josh) I love you to infinity and beyond. I win.

He likes to win.

Then maybe the next morning, as he's coming down the stairs before breakfast, it went something like this: (me) I love you, Josh. (Josh) Love you to infinity and beyond! I win!

Ohhh. So probably the next morning I remembered, because sometimes I do, and when I heard him bumping around in his room, (me) Love you to infinity and beyond! I win!
 Whew! Sometimes I like to win, too!

And the rest is history.
Josh's only ambition when he jumps out of bed is to be the first one to make his proclamation of infinitous (is that a word?) love. And now the whole family is in on it.

Samuel is the next one out of bed. He makes his way out of the bedroom, rumpled and rubbing his eyes. And he, too, in his I'm-kinda-waking-up-now voice, announces "love you to infinity and beyond (trills tongue) I win." (No exclamation point. Usually. He's wired a little more like his mama.)Sometimes, it's just "(trill tongue) I win." Because it's early and what day is it? It doesn't matter to him if Josh already said it first, he just wants in on it.

Then, when someone gives the holler down to Hubby that his breakfast is ready, the boys wait in anticipation for him to come through the door, and then all three of them are loudly racing through the words to see who can say it the fastest. "LOVE YOU TO INFINITY AND BEYOND! I WIN!"

I'm thinkin' that this loud proclamation of infinitous love is a good way to start the day!


This post is linked to The MOB Society and "Let's Hear it for the Boys!"

A Resolution for the New Year

 Almost everywhere I read is the encouragement for this year to "be the year" when those resolutions are finally realized. Some of it really is encouraging, and some of it just ... makes me tired. My resolutions are shaping up to be somewhat of the same- ol'- same- ol'.  I guess I'm not very "resolute".   I sat down to ponder whether I should give myself another "do over" year, or make a whole new list altogether, or maybe just forget the whole thing. In my head I kept hearing, "failure to plan is planning to fail". I'm not the greatest of planners. Maybe that really is the reason for all these failed resolutions??

So, there was that blank piece of scratch paper there on the counter before me. On the 2nd of January, 2012. Did I say that I'm not very good at planning? I could see the list clearly, although to anyone else happening by, it was just a blank piece of paper. How many years has the list been this? Maybe not always in this order of priority, but always the same: Lose weight, eat healthier, start/ keep up on my journal, memorize scripture, get my scrapbooks going, pray more, plan a better school year, be more intentional with my time and relationships, write more letters. I didn't need to write it down. It really is still the same list, and somehow writing it down again seemed to be so disappointing. So, I didn't.

I sat back in my chair and saw in front of me Morning by Morning, a daily devotional by Charles H. Spurgeon. I picked it up and turned to this day, January 2nd, and this is a portion of what was printed on the page:
"...Prayer is the lisping of the believing infant, the shout of the fighting believer, the requiem of the dying saint falling asleep in Christ.  It is the breath, the watchword, the comfort, the strength, the honor of a Christian. If you are a child of God, you will seek your Father's face, and live for your Father's love. Pray that this year may be holy, humble, zealous, and patient; have closer communion with Christ, and enter oftener into the banqueting-house of His love. Pray that you may be an example and a blessing unto others, and that you may live more to the glory of your Master.  The motto for this year must be: 'Devote yourself to prayer'."

And there it was. The motto for this year. My only real new year's resolution.  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

My pen and paper list of resolutions for the year would be the same as they've been. But the resolution of my heart is to become a pray-er. Pray more often than I do. Pray more specifically. Pray with more confidence and belief. Pray with thanksgiving in all circumstances. Pray that I will "be an example and a blessing unto others...(and)live more to the glory of my Master".

For this is God's will for us in Christ Jesus!

And I wonder about how that would change the outcome of my would-be goals? Would they finally become realized? Would they be suddenly less-important in the scheme of things? My heart would certainly be healthier. The "weight of this world" would certainly be lighter. Maybe I would have greater success in planning? More time? Closer relationships?

Yes, I will devote myself to prayer. A resolution of the heart.



And because I couldn't be this long without a post and pictures, following are some frames of our days-a photo essay of these past weeks.  :o)



Happy New Year!!