On Mending

One of the reasons I love "The Tale of Despereaux" so much is because of the many meanings found within its pages. Yes, it is a children's book, but I still find myself learning from it. Even some of the smallest phrases in the story carry huge implications and life lessons for those who take the time to see them.

And so it is from Despereaux that I feel I have truly come to grasp why God sometimes sends hardship and suffering. About midway through the book, it says of Roscuro, "...these things helped him to put his heart together again, but, alas, it mended wrong." As I thought about this statement, I pictured a clay heart shape that has been shattered. Someone has tried to mend it, but many of the pieces are out of order, such that it no longer even looks like a heart. This is exactly what happens when we try to put our own broken hearts back together using false, though perhaps comforting, assumptions, and half truths. It is inevitable that things will get mixed up, perhaps with some pieces being left out all together, and we will not end up with a whole heart. Now, if God's plan for us is that we be made whole and holy,* then the only way for these wrongly mended hearts to be made whole again is, sadly, for them to be broken again. Broken, so that One far wiser can help us mend them properly, with everything in its place and no pieces left out. Grounded in truth, rooted in love, whole and holy.



*"How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love." Eph. 1:3-4 MSG

Dreaming

I must confess, I discovered a magical spot yesterday. I'm dreaming of a violin recital here, or perhaps a woodland wedding...or perhaps just a picnic lunch on my way home from class ;)

A Week of Lessons - Friday

Being polite and politically correct is not always necessarily the best course of action. Sometimes it is more important to firmly and kindly stand up for what you believe.

A Week of Lessons - Thursday

"When you care too much about what someone else thinks of you, you give them a degree of power that is not rightfully theirs." ~myself

A Week of Lessons - Wednesday

Wow, is it already Wednesday? The week seems to be flying by. The main message from today seems to be...

Some times it is the smallest things that make someone's day.

For instance:

*How much little kids enjoy getting to pick out a sticker after their violin lesson (if they were cooperative that is ;), that strategy is really helping with the kids at school)
*A student randomly bursting out singing happy birthday to me - so cute
*Hot chocolate with cool whip during a lesson here at home
*This song!
*Tall black boots to wear with my skirts this winter ;)

Oh and lets see, just to make this fun, if you comment on this post, you have to share at least one small thing that has made your day recently ;)

A Week of Lessons - Tuesday

*chuckle* This day had many lessons, so many that at one point I questioned my sanity for having asked God for a specific lesson each day this week ;) They are all sort of interconnected though...

*Live in accordance to your values!

*Do not put things off!

*Do not waste mental energy on past problems!

*Do it now, don't wait!

*Live consciously - choose what is most important!

(And yes, each lesson came with an exclamation point ;) )

A Week of Lessons - Monday

Today's lesson:


Don't take advice as criticism when it was not meant as such. You can't take everything personally in this life!

Quote of the week

"Keeping living things requires time and attention." ~N. Dickson

Welcome, Fall Break!!!

I've been so busy recently with teaching and school work that the days have gone by quickly and fall break from my college classes is already here! And just in time to prevent burnout on my end ;) I'll still be teaching my students and at Atlas, so it really just means that I'll have free mornings for a week but even that is something to celebrate!

So far my plans include:

*lots of resting and reading
*knitting :) I'm in the middle of a sweater and the most wonderful hat (pictures to come ;) )
*sewing - some for myself, some for gifts for friends and students
*sleeping! I was still feeling under the weather from my cold this morning so I just went back to bed after breakfast with the family and it was soooo wonderful
*taking care of some appointments and phone calls I've been putting off [gulp]
*baby sitting a friends kids on Friday evening
*drawing for fun, not just for my art class ;)
*lots of tea and some fall baking too

Wishing you all a wonderful week of Fall!

A New Season

Thank you all so much for your prayers and thoughts! It has been a very hard week with many difficult things but I have had a lot of peace these last few days inspite of it all.


These days seem to be characterized by...

• anesthetic peace - the pain of betrayal is still there, but it is covered in peace
• hunkering down for the long haul - having been looking forward to moving in a month, it has been a disappointment to have to wait until March, especially with family life these days.
• nurturing vs. pain management - things like taking my breakfast to the lake with my journal for some time away with God instead of sleeping to forget the pain

The hardest thing to get used to has been how different life will be without this close friend who has decided that her life would be better off without me in it. And yet, in an odd way, it has also been freeing. I feel liberated to be my authentic self without the constant antagonizing judgment that has been present in this relationship for several months.

In many ways I feel that I am entering a new season of life. Old things put to rest, new beginnings, exciting things to look forward to in the next few months. I don't know all that this next season will entail, but I will walk into it confidently, knowing that whatever happens, "good" or "bad", it will all be exactly as God intended it to be, and so it will be good.