Because everyone loves a good story
My Best Piece of Parenting Wisdom
This week I had the privilege of sending a letter to a sweet friend who’s expecting her first baby. She and her husband are absolutely wonderful, and their families are fantastic. She’s the last person who really needs parenting advice from someone like me. Nevertheless, she asked for it, so I attempted it.
Thinking about wisdom to share made me realize how much I still have to grow as a mom. Of course I’ve picked up a few tidbits of what I should be doing, but actually doing it is another matter entirely. As the apostle Paul says, “For what I want to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.”
That being said, the letter shares one bit of wisdom that I strive for every day. It goes against every fiber of my Type A personality, but I know it’s so worthwhile. I know my friend will get it right far more often than I do, but by God’s grace I’ll continue to grow as a mom for years to come.
So, without further ado, the letter:
Dear Friend,
Today is a normal day. I’ve wiped several booties, noses, and countertops. We’ve spent the morning wrestling through homeschool and enjoying Bible stories. I’ve broken up fights and offered gospel truth that seemed to go in one ear and out the other. We enjoyed fall sunshine beneath the same tall trees I walked under when I was their age. We navigated a handful of bad attitudes (half of them mine), and I know there will be plenty more before bedtime. Basically, my friend, motherhood is a mixed bag. It drags me through the seven stages of insanity and back again. Every. Single. Day.
That’s why I feel like the least qualified person to offer parenting advice to you, especially since you’re surrounded by so many wonderful examples. God has given you the most fabulous family and church. He’s also given you a kind heart, deep love, and wisdom beyond your years. Your sweet boy will already have it made in the shade!
But you did ask for advice, so I’ll try to crystalize my whopping six-and-a-half years of experience into something shareable. Here it is—my big truth bomb:
DO less. BE more.
This isn’t new or earth-shattering. I’m sure you’ve had several moms tell you some variation on this theme already. But I know why—it’s because it’s so important and so, SO, SO hard.
It’s true that there are plenty of things that won’t get done unless you do them. But it’s also true that some of those things may not need to be done right now…or at all! That’s a hard pill to swallow for an overachiever, but it’s the truth. Sometimes “good enough” really is good enough.
Moms are great, but they’re not God. They don’t have to hold the universe together.
What your kids will really value is knowing that you enjoy spending time with them. Nothing too earth-shattering. Just being together. When I crawl into bed at night and think back on my day, the times that bring me the most satisfaction aren’t the times I get a lot done. I’m most satisfied when I’ve spent just being with them. Kids thrive on getting messy, playing in water, and being read to. Sounds simple, but it takes great force of will to set aside the to-do list and simply be.
Most days as a mom, I feel like I’m barely scraping by with a C- and a few A- moments sprinkled in. I know you’ll do much better. But if you ever need a small reminder from this mama, just do less and be more. The rest will get done eventually.
Love you, my friend, and I’m so excited for the future of your sweet, sweet family!!
All my love,
Emily
“Earth’s Crammed with Heaven” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
According to Elizabeth Barrett Browning, there are two kinds of people in the world: those who see and those who don’t. We all enjoy the same universe around us, but our reactions depend on whether or not we see God’s signature in the mundane.
Earth’s crammed with heaven
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes—
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries,
And daub their natural faces unaware
More and more from the first similitude.
First, I want to savor a moment of sheer craftsmanship. What beautiful, vivid, allusive, thought-provoking lines. Every word pulls its weight. Every allusion enriches the meaning. This right here exemplifies why poetry is so great: a few sentences can communicate pages of meaning. It’s crystalized content. Bravo, Mrs. Browning!
So yes, it’s lovely and wonderful, but let’s take a quick peek at what on earth she’s talking about.
Crammed with Heaven
Browning’s famous lines are taken from her long book in verse called Aurora Leigh. I haven’t read the whole thing myself, but I did find it helpful to read the larger context around this quotation. Her narrator has been asserting that all of creation is two-fold: it’s equal parts physical and spiritual. To divide the parts or try to enjoy one without the other is foolish and even fatal. The beauty of the physical comes from the significance endowed by the spiritual.
Browning wasn’t proposing transcendental theology. She believed the Bible and was merely echoing God’s truth from verses like Romans 1:20: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” Creation and eternity are inextricably linked.
Burning Bushes and Blackberries
Like the apostle Paul in Romans 1, Browning bemoans the human tendency to ignore the divine source of the world’s wonder. The burning bush, as you no doubt guessed, is an allusion to Moses in the Old Testament. Moses was minding his own business one day when he saw a flaming bush that didn’t burn up. The presence of God spoke to him from the bush, telling him to take off his shoes because he was on holy ground. A common bush communicated the presence of God Almighty.
While God doesn’t usually catch our attention through combusting shrubbery these days, his presence is just as palpable for those who have eyes to see. As for the rest of us, the bush may be burning, but we don’t notice. God may be speaking, but we don’t hear. All we see is a physical reality to satisfy a physical desire. We ignore the flames and pick the blackberries.
The Last Two Lines
The last two lines don’t usually get included in the quotation, and you can kind of see why. They seem odd, almost like they don’t belong. But we can’t, in good conscience, stop the quote at a comma; it’s against literary law. Browning intended us to puzzle through her final lines in order to make sense of the whole. Ergo, here are my best hypotheses based on two connotations of the word “daub.”
Moses’ Veil
First, daub means to paint thickly and inexpertly—in other words, to cover with a layer of paint. Since this part of her poem has been about Moses, I thought Browning could be using another Moses story as a contrast. She may be alluding to the way Moses covered his face with a veil after being with God (Exodus 34). God is so glorious that Moses’ face was painfully bright just because he’d spent time in God’s presence. Afterward, he wore a veil to spare the retinas of the Israelites.
Knowing this, Browning could be condemning the way we cover our faces to mar our likeness to the Creator. Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them…” Yet even in Browning’s day, there were many who were “unaware” of that “first similitude” or likeness. Rather than finding God’s fingerprints on their faces and in their hearts, they would “daub” their natures. Those who ignore the image of God in their lives cover their faces, but not with a veil as Moses did. They cover them to obscure the image of God within.
Forbidden Fruit
But—here’s the zinger—daub can also mean to cover with a dirty or sticky substance. The picture of foolish people sitting around a holy bush, cramming their mouths with fruit, brings another Bible story to mind, doesn’t it? In the Garden of Eden, God was with Adam and Eve. They were quite literally in his presence. But when they chose to disobey him by eating fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they broke fellowship and brought death.
I can picture their mouths dripping with the bloody juices of the fruit like Denethor’s tomato in the Lord of the Rings movie. When Adam and Eve heard God coming, did they “daub” or dab at the sticky evidence in hopes of wiping away the guilt? The image of God was marred, but the guilt remained.
And we, in our foolish pride, ignore God’s holy presence. All creation proclaims His name, but only those who hear will respond. Otherwise, we’ll eat the forbidden fruit and try to wipe our mouths clean, unaware of the “first similitude,” or how much we look like our first forebearers.
What’s Your Take?
And this is the beauty of poetry. A few well-phrased allusions can pack so much meaning. It takes some of the magic out of it to parse and dissect it like this, but sometimes it helps to see each truth laid out clearly. It leaves me with much to ponder, and I hope you feel the same!
I wonder which interpretation of the last two lines seems likelier to you. Do you think Browning intended us to see one of those allusions rather than the other? Or do you think she left it obscure in order to allude to both? Either way, I hope this poem helps us all to be more alert for “burning bushes” around us. The presence of God is often in the mundane.
Masterful Poems: “Pied Beauty”
“Glory be to God for dappled things.”
So begins a poem of praise by my favorite poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins. This little two-stanza gem packs plenty of power in fewer than a dozen lines. Hopkins uses rich descriptions in such a short space that reading it takes a moment but savoring it takes much longer. Won’t you savor it with me?
A Brief Bit of Backstory
In Victorian England, the young Hopkins vowed to become a Jesuit priest. This was a very strict sect of the priesthood, and Hopkins devoted himself to it completely. While his duties included quite a bit of academics (he took and taught many classes throughout his short life), he also had time to take in the beauty of the Irish countryside around him. For this artist, reflection led to verse. His poems are replete with snapshots of God’s creation, from birds and sunsets to a celebration of God’s creativity in general. That’s what this poem is about.
“Pied Beauty”
Glory be to God for dappled things –
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;
And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.
Beauty in Variety
Oh, friends. These descriptions melt my heart. First of all, savor the images of beauty. Hopkins celebrates the uniqueness of pink freckles on a fish and a sky streaked with fine wisps of cloud. (In fact, look up images for “brinded,” won’t you? You’ll know just the kind of clouds he has in mind.)
As he looks around him, the blaze of auburn from a fallen chestnut, the flash of vibrant yellow from a finch’s wing, and the rolling patchwork quilt of farmland draw his eye. Not unlike Walt Whitman, Hopkins finds fodder for interest even in the “gear, tackle, and trim” of everyday laborers. The uniqueness of each calling and duty impresses him with the creativity of the One who made such a world.
Everyday Wonderful
But Hopkins isn’t just luckier than thou; we’re all surrounded by everyday beauty. We may not get to roam in a rural Irish landscape, but I truly believe that beauty is everywhere for those who seek it. Even the beauty that Hopkins celebrates is fairly prosaic, really: sky, fish, nuts, birds, land, tools. But he follows the beauty up to its Source and is duly amazed that all this variety comes from one Maker. His observations lead to praise.
When I moved from Michigan to deep south Texas for a while, the landscape was completely different. Many people have a hard time finding beauty in the flat, dusty, parched terrain. But I was ready to love it, so God showed me plenty to love: cactus in bloom; spindly, swaying palms; blazing sunsets; tiny lizards (even if they were in the bathtub); crashing ocean waves; verdant fields of sugar cane; flocks of parrots overhead; and sizzling, savory tacos. Oh, praise God for those tacos. Amen and amen.
Beauty is there for those who have their eyes (and mouths) open.
Beauty Past Change
We see that nature’s scope and variety spring forth from a God whose beauty encompasses all we see and more. For this he is worthy of praise! But that’s not the only application Hopkins draws here. He also directs our attention to the truth that God’s beauty is “past change.” Let me confess that until I started writing this, I wasn’t sure why Hopkins chose to describe God’s beauty this way. Usually we think of beauty as past description or comparison, but not past change.
Then I realized he was pointing us to James 1:17.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
God’s infinite fecundity fathers forth every good and perfect gift—the unimaginable variety of life—and yet he is beyond variation. He makes all things “swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim,” and yet he will never have a momentary flicker of shadow due to change. The God who made the surprising contradictions of nature will never surprise us by contradicting his own character. The Father of lights can have no shadow. This is great news indeed! Praise him!
Take a Hike
I had hoped to wax eloquent upon the poem’s masterful composition, but I’m afraid it would take too long. I’d like to dwell on the vocabulary, rhyme scheme, imagery, and all his lovely consonance, assonance, and alliteration, but I don’t want to trespass on your time. Suffice it to say that his craftsmanship impresses me as much as his content.
But instead of sitting here reading about things I find beautiful, may I humbly suggest that you take a hike? It’s spring, and I can’t get enough of the outdoors. Even as I write this I’m surrounded by grass, trees, and flowers (and also pollen) on my back patio. So go ahead—take a hike and praise the One who fathers forth all that variety.
Source:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44399/pied-beauty
“Passing and Glassing” by Christina Rossetti
This year, my birthday was on Mother’s Day. It was a lovely day celebrating with family, and I felt doubly spoiled. But it was also a double whammy—a reminder that having kids later in life is like getting hooked up to the “machine of death” in The Princess Bride. Every day the energy and vitality get sucked out of my body at exponential speed. If only someone could bring me a Miracle Max pill.
Of course I’m being (mostly) facetious. And I won’t lie—there are times I miss what I looked and felt like 20 years ago. But would I trade what I have today for a tighter body and smoother skin? Not in a million years. Growing older is a gift, growing with family and friends around me is a blessing, and growing in love for God is priceless.
“Passing and Glassing”
Given my recent reflections, Christina Rossetti’s poem felt apropos as it examines aging from a woman’s perspective. Rossetti published it in 1881, but the sentiments are just as true today. See if you relate more to the feeling in the first or second stanza.
Stanza One: The Sad Reality
“All things that pass [away]/ are woman’s looking glass.” What a sad but accurate observation. All around us, life is falling prey to entropy. Flowers, fruit, and even a woman’s own reflection creep, moment by moment, toward decay. This reality reminds women that their loveliness is fleeting. The joy they have in the beauty and vitality of youth have an expiration date, and it’s fast approaching. Like Captain Hook, they can’t escape the ticking of the clock.
Stanza Two: A Note of Hope
“Tiring-glass” is another name for the mirror in a dressing room, and I think the word “tiring” does double duty by reminding the reader of the process of wearing down. Rossetti symbolizes this in the dead flowers on the woman’s dressing room table. But this stanza begins to introduce an aspect of comfort as well: old lavender and violets, though dried and faded, are still treasured. They are chosen, kept, and cared for. Time has not diminished their value or their sweetness. If she applies this truth to her own heart, a woman can choose comfort over despair.
Stanza Three: A Chance to Choose
Rossetti begins the final stanza by drawing attention to a crucial aspect of aging well: wisdom. Unlike aging itself, wisdom is rare. Rossetti contrasts two ways to spend life: brimful of hope and goodness or brimful of fear and ill (or harm). If a woman chooses to age with grace, there is still much to hope for as the years go by. If, however, she fears change and vilifies aging, she’ll work ill to herself and have nothing good to show for it.
The outcome is up to her own “work and will.” If she seeks wisdom from the fallen flowers, she’ll see that all has faded yesterday, all is fading today, and all will fade tomorrow. There’s no way around it. But despite the faded exterior, the value of the flower—and the woman—can become even richer with time.
Be Counter-Cultural
Our anti-aging obsession is nothing new; people have been seeking the fountain of youth since time began. Unfortunately, the recent Botox and lip filler craze may turn a generation of otherwise-lovely women into an row of grotesque dolls. If today’s pictures don’t scare our future grandchildren, I don’t know what will. Ladies, it doesn’t have to be this way.
To age is inevitable; to age gracefully is a choice. In our shallow, toxic culture, aging gracefully is a fight, but it’s a fight well worth waging. Rather than seeking an unchanging face, we have the privilege of seeking a beautiful soul. As we age, may our hearts grow more beautiful with each passing day, remembering that dried flowers are just as sweet.
Sail Away: Tolkien’s Frodo and Tennyson’s Ulysses
It would be hard to think of two more opposite characters than Homer’s Odysseus (aka Ulysses) and Tolkien’s Frodo Baggins. Odysseus is a mighty warrior, a fierce battle commander, a gutsy sailor, and a vicious avenger. He has no problem stabbing a giant cyclops in the eye with a burning stake so he and his friends can escape. Frodo, on the other hand, is an unassuming hobbit of the Shire, a reluctant hero, a lover of comfort, and the soul-weary bearer of a great burden. The most excitement he ever wanted was an occasional display of Gandalf’s fireworks.
And yet, as I thought about the poem “Ulysses” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, I realized that his depiction of the ancient Greek hero has something important in common with Tolkien’s homebody hobbit. If you haven’t read “Ulysses” yet, take a minute to do it now. It’s not very long, and you’ll be glad you did it. You’d be hard pressed to find a manlier and more inspiring poem.
Odysseus’ Quest for Home
So why was I thinking about “Ulysses” at all? First, it’s one of my favorite poems of all time. Seriously, it’s so manly. That last stanza? Whew! Second, I recently finished reading Homer’s The Odessey, and it got me thinking about the hero. Tennyson’s poem is a conjecture about the latter days of Ulysses. After a decade of combat, strategy, and slaughter during the Trojan war, Ulysses spends another decade struggling against countless obstacles and setbacks on his quest to get home to his beloved wife Penelope and son Telemachus.
When Ulysses finally gets there, he has to purge Ithaca of wasteful, boastful men. Over 100 suitors had been courting Ulysses’ wife (against her will) and wasting Ulysses’ estate. He and Telemachus, along with two faithful servants, slaughter every one of them. At last, after more than two decades of struggle, Ulysses finally has what he’d longed for: a peaceful life at home with his family.
Frodo’s Longing for Hobbiton
This made me think of Frodo. After being thrust into a position of responsibility for the ring, Frodo embarks on a quest that takes just over a year. That doesn’t seem long, but I’m sure it’s worth a couple of decades in Hobbit years. (Any time a hobbit spends away from hearth and home has to be reckoned in something like dog years, right?) And it’s not so much the time that wears down his soul; it’s the terrifying experiences and the evil of the ring itself. Frodo eventually gives up hope of returning to Hobbiton alive, but by the slenderest of miracles he makes it home in the end.
But, like Ulysses, he doesn’t arrive to find the idyllic scene he’d been dreaming of. Instead, he and his friends set about “scouring the Shire” of the evil that had been lurking there too. Once that work is done, Frodo finally has everything he’d wanted. The world is safe, and he is home.
Restless in Ithaca
But after a while, these reunions aren’t enough for our heroes. They long to sail away, but for opposite reasons: the warrior wants adventure, and the hobbit wants healing. First, Tennyson’s poem is written from the viewpoint of Ulysses as an old man. The first lines show exactly how this battle captain would have felt amidst monotonous tranquility.
It little profits that an idle king,
By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Match’d with an aged wife, I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.
After two decades of action, Ulysses feels restless making trivial laws and quelling petty squabbles. He wants to get back out into the action.
Leaving the Shire
On the other end of Middle Earth, Frodo feels equally restless. The experience of war and the memory of evil have left him scarred—literally. The wound from a cursed knife still causes him pain. While Merry, Pippin, and Sam have joyfully resumed their lives in Hobbiton, Frodo feels broken and disconnected. He’s been too deeply changed to pick up where he left off. After a few years, he decides to sail away to the Undying Lands with the last of the elves.
Sam is heartbroken, saying, “’I thought you were going to enjoy the Shire, too, for years and years, after all you have done.’” But Frodo replies, “So I thought too, once. But I have been too deeply hurt, Sam. I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them.” So he sails to Valinor in search of healing and peace.
Setting Sail
And do our heroes get what they set out for? Indeed they do. Odysseus puts his son in charge of the kingdom and rallies his fellow warriors for one final quest: to see where the winds of fate will blow them before the final sunset. “You and I are old,” he tells them,
[But] we are
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
And dear little Frodo sails from the shores of the familiar into the unknown, trusting that peace will find him at the journey’s end. And so it does. As he sails, “the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise.” To his heart, that was better than adventure, better than fireworks, and even better than home.
The Deeper Longing
After their harrowing journeys, both heroes return home but find that it isn’t really home that they’d been longing for. They feel what each of us suspects: that the deepest satisfaction and fulfillment can’t be found on these shores. They were longing for something beyond home—beyond the world’s end—and they set sail to find it.
The fulfillment of our hopes can’t be reached by a ship, but they’re even worthier of pursuit. As C.S. Lewis says, “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” May we, like these heroes, boldly seek it with all our hearts.
Praise and Poetry
My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
For he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For he has visited and redeemed his people
And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of his servant David…
Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!
Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
According to your word;
For my eyes have seen your salvation…
If you spent any time reading the Bible book of Luke this Christmas, then these verses are fresh in your mind. Luke 1 and 2 are the classic Christmas story chapters, and for good reason: they beautifully portray the announcement and birth of Jesus, the long-foretold Messiah.
The words may be familiar, but something different stood out to me as I read them this time. There’s plenty of exposition and dialogue in the story, but there are four poems as well! Four different characters give their inspired speeches not in prose but in poetry. That’s because praise and poetry go together like peanut butter and jelly.
Case In Point: The Magnificat
When the angel Gabriel tells Mary that she will have a child born of the Holy Spirit, she responds in humility and faith. Then she hustles to her cousin Elizabeth’s house—a safe place to ride out some of the awkwardness of being pregnant before being married.
On the way she has plenty of time to meditate on the miracle taking place inside her. We know Mary is a meditator because after the birth of Jesus, the shepherds leave praising God at the top of their voices, “but Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” She has the same response after they find the boy Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem. Mary’s heart is full of meditation.
So when Elizabeth greets Mary with joy over God’s miraculous plan, Mary responds with a long and beautiful poem—what we call the Magnificat. Her ponderings had become a poem. The only way to measure the depths of her heart was in lines of verse. To me, the Magnificat reads just like the Psalms, which are 150 more examples of worship overflowing in poetry.
Zechariah and Simeon’s Poems
In contrast with Mary’s response of faith, Zechariah demanded proof. He didn’t believe the angel who announced the upcoming birth of his miracle son, John the Baptist, so his proof was nine months of muteness. He couldn’t speak, but we know that he could meditate on all that had taken place. The minute he regained his speech, he exploded into a ready-made song of praise for God’s faithfulness.
Simeon was an old man who served God while waiting for the birth of the Messiah. When he saw baby Jesus in the temple, his long years of longing resolved into fulfillment. He praised God in a beautiful poem that celebrated God’s goodness not only to Israel but to the Gentiles as well. His meditation had grasped more than the temple leaders could accept for years to come. And he shared it in a poem.
Heavenly Poetry
Even the angels sing! What is a song but poetry put to music? The angels had centuries to compose a song about Jesus, but they kept it short and sweet. In poetry, less is often more. (Just look at the power-packed Haiku.)
The heavenly host sang not to Herod or the high priest but to the lowly shepherds. Poetry isn’t meant for the high-falutin’ alone; it’s just as rich and meaningful to the simple. Shakespeare felt the same way when he penned (feathered?) his plays in iambic pentameter and shared them with the masses. The rich chuckled and sniffled from their fancy seats, and the poor guffawed and wept on the filthy ground. The lines went to each heart equally. And when it comes to God’s inspired poetry, the impact is infinitely greater.
So What?
Maybe you’re still not convinced. You see that there are some stellar poems in the Bible, and that’s all well and good, but you still don’t love poetry as a general rule. I get it. Some people say they don’t like poetry just like others don’t like cats. But I have a theory about that.
I don’t think people actually hate cats; I think people hate stupid, mean cats. Guess what? Everyone hates stupid, mean cats. After all, they’re stupid and mean. But some cats are as chill as good dog and as cuddly as a baby. If you spent unbiased time with a really good cat, you could like (it if you let yourself).
In the same way, you may think you dislike poetry, but what you really dislike is bad, confusing poetry. Join the club. But if you met a really good poem, I know you’d like it. Understanding them and enjoying them may take exercise, but you’re strong. I know you can do it.
More to Come
To be honest, I’m not a great connoisseur of poetry. I have a few poets I love, and I don’t often branch out. But if you’ll trust me, I’d like to go on a poetry journey with you this year. Not for the whole year, probably, but at least often enough for both of us to strengthen our poetry muscles.
Poetry doesn’t just express praise, although that may be poetry at its finest. It can also express lament, confusion, peace, love, and anything in between. There’s so much variety! If God wrote some of the most important sections of scripture as inspired poetry, I think that’s proof that it’s a genre worth studying. I fully intend to, and I hope you’ll join me!
Pictures of my New House Progress
I love Christmas. I truly do. It’s always a busy time of year, but it’s busy with exciting traditions, you know?
For me, this Christmas has taken busy and exciting to a whole new level. On top of all the other day-to-day things going on and the fun Christmas traditions to keep up with, we’re also planning a birthday party for my son and dealing with a smattering of stressful but unrelated situations, all while packing up our house for moving, praying the house sale goes through without a hitch, and finalizing our new-build home so we can juggle moving in just before Christmas!
While most of these things are truly delightful, they’re also time-consuming and energy-draining. Ergo, this week’s post isn’t a post. It’s just some pictures of what’s kept me busy and excited for the past 11 months. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, and if you don’t hear from me until January, you’ll know why! Merry Christmas, friends!
To be continued… 🙂
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