days that flee.

School is out.  The sun lingers long in the Midwestern sky.  Children play outside until darkness forces them in.  The windows are open, fresh air spilling into the little Cape Cod that we dwell in.  The camera stands ready, preserving the days that flee too fast.

There are so many things to be thankful for today… so many things that tell of His grace, His mercy, His love for us.

• Like the beautiful… amazingly cool… invigorating weather!  It’s my favorite kind, and at this time of the year, it’s a gift!

• Like catching up with a good friend… rekindling a friendship that we’d both inadvertently let slip into mere acquaintance… asking for His grace to be more intentional as days move on.

• Like finally being able to order that lens that I’ve had my eye on for quite some time… It should be arriving today, and I’m ready to play with it!

• Like picking berries in bright green fields and turning them into sweet homemade jam.

• Like talking the little ones into shaking jars of cream so that the homemade jam can be paired with homemade butter on fresh baked bread.

• Like leaving the city, driving long into the countryside to play… to explore the state we now call home

Here’s to Him for giving such a lovely week… to happiness in the details… to extravagant grace in the ordinary days of life…

declaration in blue.

We went to see the butterflies.  We saw the blue instead.

The day was nearing its end, but the sun refused to go.  It lingered long into the evening, spilling warmth and light onto gardens full of blooms.  There were tadpoles turning into frogs.  Caterpillars changing into butterflies.  Buds into roses.

Changing.

And the daily grind of life shifted and morphed into a quiet, pleasant evening of discovery.

We walked shoeless in the soft, green grass.  Spread out a blanket and ate dinner among the blooms.  Drank lemonade from our tiny cups.  Giggled the way 5 year olds and 7 year olds do when they are freed from doing and allowed to simply be.

The earth was truly beautiful, but it was the sky that caught my eye.

At the man-made metal statue in the middle of the garden, we looked up, and the heavens were declaring His glory as they always do.  But today the declaration was blue.  Blue like I’ve never seen.  Blue like I’ve never captured on pixels.  Straight out of the camera.  A gift.

Glorious.

His gifts are so numerous.  The story of His grace never gets old to me.  There are always new discoveries, new ways to see.  It’s about the past… the present… and the future.  So I continue clicking… and I ask Him to continue giving.

little graces

“When we look too far ahead to the destination–the many arrangements and duties and responsibilities that lie in the hours and days ahead–we miss the little graces and moments of joy and reflection that God meant for us to enjoy during the journey. He wants us to learn to live in the joy of the moment and depend on him for the details of tomorrow, for therein lies true peace and complete dependence on God.”

~ Sally Clarkson, in her post “Dishes, Duties, and Datebooks”

blue skies.

Clear, blue skies… A welcomed sight in a storm-tossed week and a rarity in Central Ohio this Spring!

This SOOC shot is pure grace for my eyes… soul.

the little notebook

“Ideas can come from anywhere and at any time.  The problem with making mental notes is that the ink fades very rapidly.”
~ Rolf Smith

Do you carry around a notebook?  Capture ideas on-the-go?  Use the Evernote iPhone app?  That’s a good one, huh!  Maybe you’re a Moleskine fan?  Or a back-of-the-napkin type?

For me, capturing the thoughts & ideas that float across my mind over the course of a day is important.  I’m very forgetful.  I usually don’t the have the ability in the very moment the idea hits to process the thought completely.  After all, there is always some little person who needs something at exactly the same moment revelation strikes.  I kid you not.  But that is everyday grace, isn’t it?

So I carry around a notebook… nearly everywhere I go… to jot down thoughts, quotes, ideas, shopping lists, etc.

The new camera bag is brilliant, and I am quite pleased with how well it is working for me.  I am actually carrying that camera everywhere… which was entire point of getting the bag, right?

However, there isn’t an empty space large enough to fit the notebook I normally carry around, so while I was in the store yesterday, I went looking for a smaller substitute.

After quickly browsing the “notebook” aisle, I found a few that would work – including the famous Moleskines – but I couldn’t pass up on these:

They remind me of the places I’ve been.  Not that I want to be somewhere else right now.  I like where I am.  It’s where God has me and it’s full of His grace.  But once-upon-a-time — before my name changed to “Mom” — I travelled all around the world, saw all of these famous landmarks.  Now my life flutters within about a 5-mile radius, and it’s even more adventurous than the days of planes, trains, hotels, and business associates in far off cities.

That’s how His grace works, isn’t it?  In Christ, the greatest adventures in life occur when we are walking in His presence in obedience to Him.  We can be content with the present — resting daily in Him — right where we are because “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

And in His presence there is fullness of joy!  No lack.

We can dream His dreams for us… desire His desires… pursue His purposes.  And He is the adventure… He is the reward.

The notebooks came in a pack of three — London, Paris, and New York.  Part of me did wish they had one for Kampala.

the possibilities