Miracles Happen.

If you have followed or prayed for this precious life over the last few months,  

please click on over and rejoice with so many at the
homecoming of baby Bird.  

Psalm 71:5-8 

New Living Translation (NLT)

 5  O Lord, you alone are my hope.
      I’ve trusted you, O Lord, from childhood.
 6  Yes, you have been with me from birth;
      from my mother’s womb you have cared for me.
      No wonder I am always praising you!
7  My life is an example to many,
      because you have been my strength and protection.
 8  That is why I can never stop praising you;
      I declare your glory all day long.

Miracles happen.  

O Perfect Love

I remember paging through the white vinyl bound book when I was a young girl.
It had already showed signs of aging even though it was only 10 years old.   As I stared at the photos long enough somehow I felt transported to that day.

The day my parents were married.  40 years ago today.  

I loved looking at her wedding gown,  the 1970s fashion,  the familiar and noticeably younger faces of loved ones that stood next to my blonde haired father and fresh faced mother.  It was beyond interesting to think of my parents as a bride and groom and of a time before I came to be.   It felt special and comforting to me at that young age.  It inspired hopes and dreams of one day being a bride myself.   Turning the pages of that album  I knew not the reality of being a bride and becoming a wife.    Little did I understand that the wedding is a day,  the marriage is a lifetime.

Now I understand as my own marriage is nearly 15 years in.  Today we celebrate 40 years of God's faithfulness to a couple of 19 year olds,  who  made a commitment to love and to cherish.   My parents have a great story to tell.  Stories of blessing,  stories of struggle,  stories of God's work and His guidance,  when the path was unclear.    Isn't that what it is all about?   Going on faith and love into a future unknown?   Their union has inspired me all of my days to live and love as they have.   Give and serve as they do,   trust and find contentment in every circumstance. 

I type with tear filled eyes at the wild blessings they are to us and so many others.

We Love You Mom and Dad!

Happy 40th Anniversary!

O perfect Love, all human thought transcending,
Lowly we kneel in prayer before Thy throne,
That theirs may be the love which knows no ending,
Whom Thou forevermore dost join in one.

this is the stuff

I like things the way I like them.

Don't we all?

When you (or me in this case) are faced with something that's downright unlikable,  what is the virtuous response?

I have spent the better part of two weeks getting way ahead of myself and working myself into a tizzy.   Yes,  I just said tizzy.    Making something way too big in my life and letting it push most everything good out of the way.    The specifics of what that was I won't go into because that's not really important, and in the big picture of life---  it wasn't a huge problem.

That is precisely what irks me the most.   When did I dive into shallow waters again?   When or why did I start letting an irritation turn into an infected wound?

When our unborn baby died last year my eyes were opened to the significance (or the insignificance) of stresses in life.    What really matters, and frankly,  what does not.     I welcomed that new perspective,  considered it one of the results of enduring that painful loss.    In the recent past I've lost that perspective.   So now,  kicking myself (which incidentally I seem to be doing a lot lately) I need  to grab it back.

What is important is what I am trying to learn from it.  I have to record this lesson learned,  or I am likely to forget it the next time things don't go my way. 

 My old method of coping:

Get upset.

Talk about it until I am blue in the face and people want to punch me.

Figure out how to manipulate change the situation

Perhaps cry,  but that might be too soft and sensitive this early in the problem

Generally assume a bad attitude.

Resist acceptance.

New plan.   When stuff drives me crazy I have the power of choice. 

Looking anew at the debacle (and future difficulties)  I find myself in, 
I will choose to:

Stay calm.

Pray about it,  asking God for clarity and direction.

Do not try to change manipulate the situation

Cry,   if needed.   A little crying is good for the heart.

Have patience.

Resolve to accept.

This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that's getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use                                ---Fransecsa Battistelli