God remembered me

My Irish Twins.

The view from Cadillac Mountain, Acadia & surrounding islands
The wind was incredible...(I love that Ben carried this hedgehog with him everywhere we went in Acadia, evidence that he is still my little boy.)
One of the sparkling lakes in Mt. Desert Island, the wild roses were everywhere.
A summer home on the Cape in quaint little Centerville.

Best things on earth.
Okay...this pic of Zibby melts me.

Somewhere in between the chaos of school getting out, a weekend getaway to the Cape with our wonderful new neighbors, the Trull's, and a family camping trip up to Acadia National Park in gorgeous Maine....Aaron was offered a regional management position that will bring us all back to our beloved Silverton, Oregon after the first of the year.

It's starting to feel more like a fairy tale these days.

And I'm just plain blessed.

Compassion

Last September Zibby shared a hospital room at Boston Children's with a little girl named Julia.

Julia was recovering from a double hip replacement. The beautiful, blonde, twelve year old was born with an overwhelming amount of disabilities. Julia's mother was the definition of "vigilance". I have no doubt that for more than a decade she has been Julia's voice, nurse, comforter, & servant. Love fuels her.

While Zibby rested somewhat peacefully, Julia, just on the other side of our "curtain wall", moaned in pain. At times I could hear her mama whispering to her or even singing to her. And I prayed for them both.

Zibby grew more concerned as the night progressed. Neither of us could sleep. We felt uncomfortably helpless.

It took most of that endless night for Julia to find relief and sleep.

By the time the sun rose, both of our girls were feeling a bit better, well enough in fact to take a good look at each other. Although Julia's communication skills were limited, she spoke volumes through her smile. A language that little Zibby clearly understood. Julia had a baby doll that she wanted to show to Zibby, and in their childlike way they communicated encouragement and friendship.

That was over nine months ago, but Zibby has not forgotten her friend. Just last night at prayer time she said, "Mommy, remember my friend Julia? We should pray for her."

More than once on our way to school or just out of the blue, Zibby will say, "Oh! Remember my friend Julia? She was my friend when I was at the hospital. We need to pray for her."

The suffering that we witnessed Julia and her mother endure cannot be forgotten in Zibby's heart. It cultivated the seeds of compassion and intersession in her life.

Julia is one of those souls that I can't wait to meet up with in eternity.

I have a feeling that she and Zibby will have a lot of catching up to do.

Something I wrote for my two little women...

So, we, as women, have proved the ages wrong.

We are inventors, writers, advocates, doctors, lawyers, CEO’s, and astronauts.

We are professors, scientists, government officials, journalists, and soldiers.

We can be a mother and world-class marathoner.

We deserve all of this, because we are women.

No man can argue our value or equality.

We can decide what we want for our bodies.

We can terminate life labeled "inconveniences".

We can fill our chests with silicone.

We have the freedom to express our sexuality regardless of offense.

Because this is America,

Land of the free,

Don’t tread on me.

Yet, we are left…

more addicted,

depressed,

anxious,

and confused than any generation before us.

We are filled with questions that leave us restless.

All of the longed for power has left us

powerless…

powerless in our homes,

powerless in our relationships,

powerless in our souls.

How can this be?

We have accomplished everything we have ever wanted.

That’s what freedom means, right?

If God would stay out of it than we could keep going at this wreck less rate.

But He won’t.

And no matter how intent we are on denying Him,

Or even retro-fitting Him into our lifestyle choices,

He is still God.

The very inventor of woman.

And He created her, above all else, with a need for Him.

She cannot be satisfied until she finds peace with God.

Long before marches and activists,

God liberated woman.

The kind of freedom we long for is, ironically, found in surrender.

Find a satisfied woman and you have found a woman who has submitted her will to God.

She has yielded to the ravages of time and age,

She has acknowledged her own shortcomings and weakness,

She is beauty and completeness;

the woman who finds her liberation in Christ alone.

Today

Today is a big day. The results are in God's hand. He isn't unpredictable like some "High Roller" in the sky. The outcome of today will be good. I'm not worried. I know it will be good because He is good. This ease of faith is the produce of trials, trials that test the very core of who we believe this good God to be. It is the confidence that comes from knowing Him, intimately. No matter how tempted we may be to speculate, discuss, or dissect the plan that He is working out today, we come up with the simplest and most mentally liberating conclusion:

God is good and He loves me.

When babies turn four

Did you know that Aaron was the first person to touch Zibby? He pulled her out. He caught her. He looked at her. He smiled. Then he put her slippery little body on my chest. (I will love Dr. Sarah for the rest of my life for letting Aaron deliver our baby girl!)

That was four years ago yesterday.

Elizabeth Jane loves her Daddy. She talks about him throughout the day. She stands on the stairs blowing kisses to him every morning as he goes away to work, she makes pictures for him at school, she welcomes him with open arms when he gets home. In her world the sun rises and sets on her one and only Daddy.

So, when I read about our little friend Claire, and her pancake birthday party a few weeks ago, I knew right away what we would do to celebrate Zibby's special day.

Zibby's Daddy is religious about his Saturday morning pancakes. The kids count on it. How perfect that this birthday fell on a Saturday!

We invited all of her new friends to join us (in their p.j.'s of course) for a pancake breakfast in honor of our big girl.

Daddy was convinced that Zibby's pancakes had to be pink. He had been looking forward to this birthday party all week and was beyond adorable flippin' flapjacks with pride in his red apron & armed with "The Mantula".

I love being a mom. I mean, I really love it. But, one thing I have learned and believe with all of my (sensitive) heart is that, to be the best mom you must grow thick skin.

Because those babies you love and put all of your heart and soul into caring for will grow up, and before you realize it, they are needing you less and less. They need to know without a doubt that their parents are willing to let them grow, make mistakes, and let them suffer the consequences all for the very best interest of the child.

The thick skin makes them feel secure emotionally, because they realize that no matter how much they change, your love remains.

I'm obviously still wrestling with this whole "growing up" issue.

Whirlwind Tour

My beautiful Mom at the Adams Homestead.
Love this quote!
Peony's at "Peace Field" that reminded me of Tina's wedding.
Me & my Mama in front of the oldest (active) battleship in the world..."Old Ironsides".
On Battle Ground Road in Lexington.
Gramma & her babies in front of Orchard House. (The Alcott Homestead)
Homes of Plimoth Plantation.
Abby Sue, Mom, & I worked on these "floating flowers" all day Friday. I love how they turned out! (Thanks to Kari for the idea:)

Gramma has been here with us for a week now and I'm getting way used too having her around! I don't even want to think about what happens tomorrow....(it has to do with my love/hate relationship with airplanes.)

Anyway, I have not given my Mom a moment to rest. I was determined to give her the fullest New England experience possible, so that meant:

Monday: A full day at the beach (pictured in the "Westport" post.)

Tuesday: Touring the homesteads of John & Abigail Adams & The USS Constitution.

Wednesday: Taking the kiddos out of school to fight the redcoats on the Battle grounds of Lexington & Concord, and walking through The Orchard House (Home of Louisa Mae Alcott.)

Thursday: A quick trip out to Plimoth Plantation

Friday: Sightseeing around town & a visit to The Book Shire (my favorite used book store in the world!)

Saturday: Zibby's PJ & Pancake Party!

Are you tired yet???? (I'm exhausted!)

side note: we were obviously blessed with gorgeous weather!