college visit

photo from: lillebarn: designs for baby and you, on etsy

There comes a time when the living beings that pupate in a cocoon must escape from it, and they can do this either by cutting a way out, by secreting fluids that soften the cocoon, escaping through built-in lines of weakness, or leaving via an exit hole that allows a one-way passage out. (Wikipedia)

our cocoon so carefully placed into our arms many years ago is beginning to show fissures and cracks

if signs of weakness had appeared earlier, concern would have enveloped us like thick fog

we would have tried to patch the chinks…frantically whispering too soon, little one…you cannot safely leave us yet

but the arrival of the developing passageways, the softening…comes at the right time

bringing with them a joy-sadness for the cocoon keepers that defies description

we have taken good care of our cocoon…we have laid our own silk threads of love and mercy, compassion, joy, humor, patience…

wrapping our everything around our precious cocoon…taking over for the other when wrapping exhausted

getting our strength and direction {we’d never had a cocoon before} from her Creator.

the beautiful escape has begun

and we stand, somewhat bewildered, with a mix of pride and grief

{Life is like a vapor, Lord}

the silk in the cocoon can be unraveled to get silk fiber which makes the silk moth very important...

knowing any silk threads we spin now, will simply hamper her departure

but each silk thread we’ve laid…year after year,

will go with her, undetectable to the naked eye

{as truly fine silk strands are} 

but prized and cherished by those she meets {this we pray}

as she takes to the sky....

and flies

facing myself

photo: flikr,  por2able, new forest donkey


i wonder if it's just me who dreads Palm Sunday


after all, it was a happy day for those lining the dirt road


the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: "blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" (Luke 19:37-38)


but those of us on this side of time understand how quickly the crowd turned


shouts of Hosanna! 


became Crucify!


{hypocrites}


i think i dread because i would have been...


i would have said...perhaps hollered................................


{it's so hard to even write}


crucify


because i am a sinner


and perhaps, on this side of time, i don't scream such a hideous word...


but daily i whisper silence!


when i choose the world over Jesus.


my sin nature boldly stares me down on Palm Sunday


{you hypocrite, you!}


making His saving me...His loving me...


all the more beautiful


and amazing


on Easter morn




*taking a few days off from blogging.  enduring palm sunday...walking, with held high {because of Christ}, to Easter.  

sweet surprise

i generally do all my own shopping for my husband and we both love our "system"

{this morning i may be purchasing my mother's day gift. yes, i am usually a few holidays ahead of myself}

last week, my husband bought this amazing tv for me

spur-of-the-moment purchase {so not like him!}

but he knows i really don't like watching tv in our finished basement

{i'm a sky person, not a cave person}



so i had fun dressing our "built-in" armoire (a refitted coat closet)

and have been enjoying my wonderful gift, sitting in our den filled with natural light

i love my new tv

and the love it represents

fairy tale

it's a

merry



fairy

teeny-tiny



birthday party!

Hand in hand, with fairy grace,
We will sing, and bless this place.
--william shakespeare, a midsummer night's dream


*Patty's having a party today and the theme is fairytales, although i chose a fairy tale ;)

beauty all around

one of the reasons i enjoy my new camera so much

{especially now that the sun is shining!}

is because it helps me pause

and think about everyday objects differently

i've learned so much about beauty-in-common-things from bloggers



so when i saw these corks for sale as filler (Target), I grabbed them

believe it or not, i've been wanting corks for decoration

{and since i don't care for the taste of most wines, it was taking me forever to collect them on my own}

aren't they just beautiful?

dare i say i'd choose corks over diamonds?

oh boy...i think i just might!

travelers

my husband comes from a long line of farmers

ancestors who traveled from Germany to lay claim on the Nebraska prairie

planting corn and wheat

building homes and barns

laying down roots. growing seeds and people

when i walk these prairies, i always get a strong sense of the ebb and flow of life. oceans of wheat representing waves of generation after generation...as far as my eye can see

the reaping, the sowing.  people's greatest joys and deepest sorrows, all laid out before me

it's almost like God uses the great expanse of land and sky to remind me that I am traveling well-worn paths

and i feel very small

and very loved



*

photo: visiting great-grandpa, 2003 -- Pee Wee smiled and said "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak."  95 years of traveling, he was ready to finally go home.

farewell kind friends whose tender care
has long engaged my love
your fond embrace i now exchange
for better friends above

motherhood illustrated

no words necessary

join me at Patty's where the photo theme today is motherhood

motherhood

most days i love being a mom

i am thankful that i get to stay home and make our house a home

this morning i put on my cowboy boots and a dress that resembled the fabric of a grain sack

and helped my puritan-for-the-day son and his classmates set up their Pennsylvania Colony in the gym

we baked pies (frozen) and pumpkin bread (from a box) last night and I staged the table with burlap, an old quilt, a campfire coffee pot, some Bibles, a quilted teddy bear...



i left the colony fair to come home and make our daughter chicken noodle soup (from a can) because she is home from school sick (i only got up once last night to check on her)

then i left to go teach college kids

and i mentioned something during our discussion about making my kids' lunches (bagged chips, salami sandwiches, bagged cookies, no veggies, water in a bottle that ends up in a landfill)

and they gasped.  and i was bewildered

they asked if i cooked dinner...did laundry...did we eat supper together?

yes, yes, yes


{and to myself i thought "and some days i feel like a totally lame mother"}



the majority of their moms hadn't done those things for them

so i explained that i'm basically a stay-at-home mom, and their moms probably worked outside the home full-time which, of course, would mean everyone would have to pitch in more...

nope.  their moms stayed home, too

they said my kids are lucky

i'm glad God sends encouragement in surprising ways through unexpected sources

i'm doin' ok...

and so are you, my sweet mama friends

*tomorrow my friend Patty is having a "motherhood" party where we link up with a "motherhood" photo.  sure hope you'll join us.  time spent with Patty is always fun.

carry the tulips

i wanted to carry tulips on my wedding day

but the florist told me they were "too fragile"

and so i walked down the aisle carrying roses

which were beautiful {and expensive}

but they weren't tulips

i'm so glad that one of Age's dearest friends is Wisdom

because if that florist told me the same thing today

i would tell him that life is fragile...

"now please hand over the tulips, bud"

{florist pun by accident}

*

happy monday ya'll --- carry the tulips!





tulips brought to you by....{should I really tell you?}...ok, hold on to your hat, Mildred (and Mrs. Dunbar)...HomeGoods.  WAY!


Be honest, could you tell?!

sure of

Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind


"Pooh?", he whispered.


"Yes, Piglet?"


"Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw.  "I just wanted to be sure of you."


*

we met when our almost-seniors (good Lord!) were in kindergarten 

{the one in the blue was their amazing teacher}

we've got each others' backs

sure {tiddely-pom} friends

*

I'm partying over at Patty's today where the theme is friends

{Come join the fun!}

The artistry of my photo won't win any contest,

but my friends get a Blue Ribbon.

metamorphosis

what happens when you really want a long, narrow farmhouse table to fill up your den,
but you don't have the big, fat pile of money to pay for it?

but, of course!

you lug your mom's old {heavy} wooden table top inside on a winter day

{poor thing has been living in the garage all these years}

and you clean and shine it...

and take a porch table from outside and remove the glass top

and call your neighbor to come help you lift the big wooden table top

but your neighbor isn't home, so you rig up a lever system

{and call yourself brilliant when it works}

and you carefully scooch the new invention into the corner

and you shop your house to accessorize the top...

ta-da -- you get a new table for your den!

and what makes your afternoon even more fun?

your bloggy friend {with exquisite taste} Ruth does the redesign with you

via photos and email!

who knew such a beat up caterpiller could turn into such an interesting butterfly?

my decorating-artsy-move-furniture-around mama would be so proud

ps--don't know what's up with my picture sizes! wow, do I need a fairy godmother for my blog!