Monday, January 3, 2011

Right Here



"Momma, why were you just standing there?" Jane asks.

I pull shut the driver's door, "Oh," I say, "it's just so pretty out. I was standing there thinking maybe Jesus would come back just right then." I snap my seatbelt, ease the car into reverse, "But, he didn't so I just thought, Ok. Well, he's with me right here anyway. Then I got in the car." We back up and wheel out out into ice and blue sky. Trees droop with snow.

"God's in the car with us," Jack pipes from the back.

He smiles in the rear-view mirror, "How did you know?" I say, " Did you see him?"

He shakes his head, "I knew," he says "because he is in our hearts."

Janie shakes her head, "I knew, not because anyone told me," she says, "but because HE told me."

I spin out on the snow pack, steady our wheels down the road. HE told me. We settle into the quiet.





Moments flutter by. I hardly take notice. Sunday whittles down bedtime and prayers. "God, thank-you for making Jesus," Jack whispers on bottom bunk, "Actually, thank-you for making Mary so Jesus could be born," he says. "And thank-you for making me and our whole family. Help us grow strong, and healthy, and whole. In Jesus name, AMEN."

Prayer circles around the room. I stop, breathe slow, and try to be still.







Gratitude:

470. Orange and green boy hat, knit in the round.

471. Blue bean bags for Craig and me and the kids piled on top.

472. New floor. New floor that takes four days instead of one to install.

473. Husband's unflappable spirit that spends four days on it.

474. Brother-in-law who helps.

475. Sister-in-law, niece, and nephew who juggle children and bins to organize our kids room for me.

476. Working side by side with people we love.

477. Soaking in the art of service from geniuses.

478. New boots, the kind you shouldn't have even tried on, but did, the kind you wished you didn't even known about until you get them as a gift.

479. A mother who shows me every day the dignity and grace of being a woman, how every moment is her best.

480. A miracle, the one we're praying will happen, the one where God heals little Rockie Amelia's hip whole and perfect.

481. That Great-Grammie was ok when the doctor checked the ear that had blood coming out of it. An infection. Antibiotics.

482. Our tree folded down and tucked away for next year.

483. Only one more broken red ball in the process.

484. Blue sky, white snow, dry crisp cold.

485. A new year.

486. Eye contact. My dogged determination to make eye contact with the children. My realization: I must to stop and look at them when they talk. Look. At. Them. So simple. So huge.









holy     experience

8 comments:

  1. Hey there! I just found your blog through A Holy Experience and I'm so glad I did. I'm looking forward to getting to know you better!

    Meghan
    www.thetuckerstaketennessee.com
    @meghantucker

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  2. Oh, little Rosie looks exactly like her daddy!

    I hear you about the eye contact, especially with my two oldest. I fail so often that sometimes--when I'm intentional about it--I'll recognize some change in their maturing faces. Something that should not have slipped by me.

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  3. Your blog is like eye contact: a moment for gazing into the the deep well of your eye. Connection of the heart. Love you.

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  4. #486, that one hit me--and I have had to learn to rethink how I answer my kids. I have 5 children, and quite often, it is easier for me to just "uh huh" them. Of course, that was until my 2 year old said to me one day after one such "uh huh":

    "Mommy, stop saying that noise at me. I is talking to you."

    Eek and ouch! God's little lessons, eh?
    Blessings, and I can't wait to read more!

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  5. I love your list. Especially the eye contact... it's so easy to forget how important it is...

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  6. Beautiful.

    Simply beautiful.

    This is my first visit to your blog, and I am SO deeply moved by your list, your little one's prayer, waiting/watching for Jesus in everyday moments. Love it.

    Blessings to you! Your words have blessed me today.
    Melanie

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