The Quiet Heart (re-run)

There is a line in a hymn that I love that says, "In the quiet heart is hidden sorrows that the eye can't see." I love that. It is so true. We all have sorrows past or present. We all have trials and hardships, challenges and difficulties. Some are more obvious to outsiders, and some are perfectly hidden.

There are parts to each of us that we would prefer others not know about. Usually things that we dislike about ourselves or refuse to accept. Some are things we can (or think we should be able to) control, and others are beyond our control.

I believe there is an innate fear surrounding these hidden sorrows. A fear of rejection should anyone discover. We each long for acceptance and true love, but fear holds us back from sharing with one another the things that we believe would bring about the feared rejection. Then, ironically, even when we find "acceptance" and "love" we don't fully trust it, believing that "if they only knew the real me," this love and acceptance would be lost.

In reality, the more we share with one another, the more mutual understanding, the more connected, the more actual love and acceptance we find. I'm not advocating T-shirts advertising our greatest weaknesses, or any of our hidden sorrows. I'm only observing that, in the right time and place, sharing with one another those sorrows that we usually keep hidden can actually be a validating, freeing, and therapeutic exercise. I think exercise is a good word for that, because it's not easy or comfortable.

In the MTC, they taught us not to share 'past transgressions', which I lovingly dubbed, "trans-pastgressions". I do believe there is wisdom in this for the most part -- especially as missionaries who carry that mantle and are teaching those with the first tender shoots of budding faith. There are times, however, when the lessons learned from our trans-pastgressions can and, perhaps should, be appropriately shared; times when that sharing could actually help lift another. Definitely discretion should always be used in this.

I used to put people up on pedestals and think they were completely infallible. Then, when I would find out, to my horror, that they were just regular people, I would be crushed. Boy have I come a long way! Much of my journey came through the trials of my life. I am grateful for the things that I have learned along the way. They have blessed me with more compassion and empathy, and with the sure unwavering knowledge that we truly each have our own sorrows hidden in our quiet hearts. No more pedestals here, just a lot of slack! Slack that I hope is afforded me in return.

Something You Never, NEVER Want to Hear

"Mom! Mom!! Mom!! The BEST news EVER!! They had babies!! They're so cute!!"


Yes, what are the chances that the two snakes he would have for only TWO WEEKS would have FOUR BABIES!!?

I'm outta here .....

Something You Never Want to Hear:

"Uh, Mom, ... the big snake got out up here!"


P.S. They are NOT rattle snakes. I was just trying to be funny. This was not so funny.

Random Thoughts

* "Man cannot live by bread alone" ... just curious, does that include zucchini bread?

* How 'bout banana bread?

* Since living here, we've gone through (which is the detached way of saying "killed") something like 4 toads.

* I'm thinking of putting up a sign on my front door, "Home Sweet Home, the place where amphibians come to die."

* That will also make it easier for PETA to find me after they read this post.

* Does it make me a good mom or a bad mom that I've allowed Ben to catch and keep two snakes?

* We're pretty sure they're not rattle snakes.

* I'm also pretty sure that I'll need a longer sign for my front door: "...amphibians AND reptiles...".

* Does it make me a good mom or a bad mom that I fed my children zucchini bread for dinner last night?

* At least I kept saying, "Eat your vegetables!!"

* James is having a birthday next Friday.

* I think I'm all done shopping for him.

* Although he did give me another gift idea after I said I was done.

* He has a beard.

* He's a babe with or without a beard!

* I'm pretty sure Ben gets his fascination with and lack of fear of reptiles and amphibians from James.

* I think I'm gonna take my kids to a movie this afternoon.

* I'm doing a terrible job being creative with my kids this summer.

* I have taught them how to sort laundry.

* And make their beds.

* Brianna and I cook together a lot.

* Ben can now make great lemonade,

* and strawberry smoothies.

* And we have had a lot of fun this summer.

* But it's the regular day that is most likely filled with too much TV, too many snacks, jammies for most of the day, etc.

* And for that, I beat myself up regularly.

* It seems like I should have amazing activities planned for every day.

* I should be feeding their minds and their creativity.

* Instead, we're mostly hanging out.

* Hmmm. Never know where random posts will lead.

* Have a great day.

* If not, have a great piece of chocolate!

Fun at the Pool

Yes, you read that right: FUN at the pool! Amazingly, the same two children who I had to literally pry off of my body and hand, screaming, to their swim teachers last year, have become little daring fish! They are loving the water and water play! They even rode on an inflated tube pulled behind a ski boat at the lake this weekend! They kept asking to go faster and faster and faster! I guess they'll just continue to do things at their own pace, and I should just chill. :)

Photographer: Brianna, 5 minutes, 37 photos

Summertime Family Adventure!

We just returned from an AWESOME/fun/amazing/wonderful family get-away/adventure/vacation!
This was my botched attempt to show how high we had driven. We have one other picture with this sign, and Ben's cute head blocked the numbers in that also! We felt like we were on top of the world. You could see mountain range after mountain range after mountain range.
Daddy's girl. Both kids were just like little mountain goats. They LOVE hiking, and they are steady, quick and adventurous.

My kids were back and forth across this stream. Honestly, I was glad I had the dog with me who was being a bit timid. It gave me an excuse to not be quite so adventurous as my kiddos.

Caspian LOOOOOVED his adventures. I'm not sure I'd ever seen him smile before. His problematic behaviors were practically non-existent on our trip. Unfortunately, he did sustain a paw injury that we need to treat.

One morning I did two quick loads of laundry at the local laundromat. Now, that may not seem interesting, but I got to do laundry with a whole bunch of AMISH! They, of course, don't like to have their photos taken, but they didn't seem to mind if I snapped a shot of the machines.

Isn't that pretty?? I was enjoying the beauty until James pointed out that we were standing on a bridge between two sides of a fault line. ...Thankfully, no earthquake!

I'm not sure why, I just liked this photo with the wildflowers, rocks and snow.

I took two of these shots, the other one has the mountains in focus and the flowers blurry. I couldn't decide which I liked better. Hope you like this one.

Oooh. Aaaah.

I just liked the visual interest here.

Wow!

The flowers were beautiful.

One of the rarest things in the world: a family photo with everyone smiling and looking at the camera!

I had to show the wildflowers with the snow...in July!

Ben spontaneously thanked us many times for all of the fun adventures! We took him to a mine one morning because he'd wanted to go to a mine for several years and they offered a mine tour. Unfortunately, it should have been called "a really long, dark, awkward ride into a mine, followed by a 50 minute standing lecture." Ben was still grateful, but he did say, "that wasn't quite what I had expected!"

James' awesome new (to him) truck that took us on all of our adventures!

Perty!

Love this photo! I saw this flower just on the side of the road as we were driving. I asked James to back up, and he did! Thanks James! I think it was worth it!

And then, it was over. And we had to come back to real life. Fortunately, real life is pretty sweet! Country roads, take me home!