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Archive for twelve days – Page 4

The List

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12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day Eight

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“One lesson I’ve been reminded of each year in this now 4-year tradition is that the List is best kept daily. Not yearly. In fact, it’s best kept moment by moment, recognizing all the small things that add up to a big, wide, deep life filled with blessing. For life is invariably filled with blessing.”

I wrote that statement last year during my 12 Days of Thanksgiving and I still believe it. In spite of the frustrations and difficulties and now sorrows of this year, I still believe it. Because it’s true. Life is invariably filled with blessing. Little ones and big ones every single day. This year, I’m literally overwhelmed by what we have to be thankful for. By the overwhelming love and support of so many people. By the abundance of so many ordinary things. Facing death and loss in these early months has made ordinary things difficult and overwhelming at times. But, it has also heightened my awareness of just how precious those ordinary experiences are, how indicative they are of real life. The playwrite, Thornton Wilder, described it poignantly, “We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”

Today, I’ve made an effort to be conscious of my treasures and of the ordinary experiences of this particular day that are actually pretty extraordinary.

Early morning wake up sounds from Baby Girl >> Getting to sleep in the same room with Baby Girl for the week >> Unexpected morning correspondence >> The smell of bacon cooking >> iPad apps >> Random occurrences of the “I love you” signs >> Giggles as I remind them you can turn it over and make Spidey’s webbing motion >> Hearing everyone break out in laughter during a movie >> Snoopy >> The opportunity to fetch juice >> A clear blue sky >> Waking up slowly as the sun makes the bedroom lighter >> Gas heaters >> Long walks >> That Little Drummer Boy wants to defend our honor >> The constant love and support of my parents >> Mild November days >> Afternoon naps >> Having a couch in the kitchen >> That Bug is fearless >> Giving permission to break the rules and jump on the bed >> A work structure that allows me to bring my babies to the farm for a week >> The technology that enables me to be a working mom from anywhere >> Having someone cook for me >> That Baby Girl tells a great story >> Fresh air >> The sun filtering through colored leaves >> Movies >> Being asked to sit by one of my kiddos >> Just how close they get when I do >> Good memories >> The longevity of a single place in my life >> Whispers in the hallway >> Books >> Extra time to read them >> Quiet moments >> Overheard conversations >> The sound of imaginations at work >> Picnics in the living room >> Sitting in a deck swing >> Being with them all day long >> Playing together >> Making traditions >> A starry night >> The privilege of a day spent at rest

A Sincere Faith

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12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day Seven

In my mind, being thankful seems to be always tied to praise — praising God. I guess it just seems like thanksgiving requires an object, and when it comes to the blessings of life, and indeed the blessing of life itself, those thanks rightfully rests on God.

Praise has been difficult for me lately. Not because I don’t believe God is worthy of praise, or because I don’t recognize His hand on our lives. He is, and I do. I think it’s been difficult because I feel disheartened. Disillusioned. Like my knees have been knocked out from under me. It’s hard to muster the joy and appreciation and celebration that seems to signify praise. Instead, what I feel is more numbness. The praise or thankfulness that I can pull together in my spirit is centered more in survival than in the bounty that so often motivates declarations of thanksgiving.

I feel and know God’s hand in my situation. I see his “fingerprints” in the months leading up to Mike’s death and in the time since. I see them in very concrete ways, and while it’s difficult for me to glean larger purposes right now, I’ve never questioned His presence here. His sovereignty in all things. This fact as the foundation of my tenuous faith.

So, as I’m searching for ways to praise today — ways to apply a thankful heart, this is what I’ve found. God is so large. He has to be. He is larger than my limited faith. He is larger than my weakness and my confusion and my disappointment. He is so large that nothing takes Him by surprise, not even my questions. In fact, He is big enough to hear those questions and honor the most fragile of faiths.

Sometimes I think we operate under the hidden assumptions that claiming a faith in Jesus exempts us from the hardships of life, from the unexpected devastation or the unexplainable sorrow. We think that we trade in our faith or our “right-ness” for an easier life, as if faith were a bargaining chip.

The problem with this view of faith is that it robs us of endurance. It denies us the very grounding and sustaining power of faith — the thing we were seeking in the first place. As we slam head-long into circumstances that are undeniably “wrong” and suspect and questionable and even damaging, faith as currency for a good life just doesn’t cut it.

The faith growing in me today is different than it was two months ago. A year ago. Three years ago. As I struggle to define it in this place I never imagined I would find myself, only one word seems right — sincere. Not strong or unwavering or joyful or even faithful. Just sincere. The events of the last year of my life have opened up an acceptance of an honest faith. A well-intentioned faith in a God who is larger than the what-ifs and but-onlys and what-abouts of life. My heart has reluctantly undergone the stripping away of pretense, of rote, of because I said so, and arrived squarely at doing the best I can to breathe.

I’m oddly thankful to have arrived here. Because it has allowed me
a faith that asks “why?” and “how?” and “what the hell?” At a time when I very certainly would have lost my mind or my faith completely if I could NOT ask those questions.

Just a sincere faith.

Sincere wandering.
Sincere acceptance.
Sincere searching.
Sincere blessing.
Sincere wrestling.
Sincere questions.
Sincere mistakes.
Sincere seeking.
Sincere avoiding.
Sincere joy.
Sincere sorrow.
Sincere compassion.
Sincere anger.
Sincere disappointment.
Sincere disillusionment.
Sincere everything in between.

A sincere faith.
In a sincere God able to remain God through it all.
And today, that’s enough.

We Are Here

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12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day Six

We are here. At the farm for a week. The kids have been very excited. A week and a half ago they were ready to pack, and I had to apply some Mommy logic to convince them that we might actually need to wear our clothes in that time span before we reached our Thanksgiving holiday destination. They agreed, but each night this week we’ve been in the countdown to arrival. And now, we are here.

There is nothing that blesses me quite like their excitement, particularly in this stage of our lives. Their bodies jumping with anticipation. Their voices talking all at once. Their giggles and spontaneous hugs. The little “thank yous” I get mingled with “I love yous” as their eyes are finally closing.

It’s healing to the soul. Salve to my weary spirit. Because I find myself effortlessly sucked into the excitement. I find myself giggling and jumping and talking along with them. It happens without thought, like all good excitement does. And it’s like a breath of fresh air.

I’m so thankful for those moments of inhibition. It’s joy peeking it’s head out of my heart for a look around. And it lets me know we are coming to life again. The brunt of death doesn’t stand a chance against the unexpected impact of life.

I’m resting in that this evening.

The Wrong Color

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12 Days of Thanksgiving: DAY FIVE

I have a picture hanging in my office. Let’s face it; I’m the mommy of three young children. I have a LOT of pictures hanging in my office. This particular one is a pencil drawing of a fish bowl. The bowl is nicely outfitted with three houses. One petite fish swims above them. There is a sun shining in a partly cloudy sky above the bowl, and a tiny carton of fish food stands beside it.

The picture makes me smile. It’s one of many the kids have made in school that are peppered throughout the house. They’ve grown to have a preference for hanging them in my office. I think it’s because they know that’s where I am during the day while they’re gone to school. And I tell them I miss them so much during those times.

So, it makes me smile. Little Drummer Boy made the picture last year in first grade art class. It’s punctuated with spots of watercolor. Purple and green and yellow and orange houses. An orange goldfish. A yellow sun and fish food jar. I smile because he made it. And it’s a great drawing. And a reminder of him as a first-grader. And I smile because of how he presented it.

LDB went searching for it in his backpack after school. He wanted to show me. He was fairly bursting to talk about everything depicted there. The crux of which seemed to be…

“Mrs. Pugh said we could color things the wrong color if we wanted to.”

The wrong color. It took me a minute to notice it. And my Drummer Boy was quick to fill in the gaps. It was the bubbles. He chose to make the bubbles red. And, I guess it’s true; bubbles in a fish bowl aren’t supposed to be red.

Little Drummer Boy was quite proud of himself for taking Mrs. Pugh up on her generous offer to use the wrong color. And I was too. It was just a small bucking of the expected coloration, but I could see the freedom it gave him to express himself. To color his own picture. His own storyline.

Sometimes to experience a small freedom from our circumstances, we just need permission to color it differently. And if we are unable to find someone to offer that permission, we give it to ourselves. The permission to color our own day, our own lives, independent of the things that may have bound us or been expected of us yesterday.

In times of transition, stroke by stroke, we re-color our lives. As I look at the fish bowl, I’m thankful for the small reminders that each day is new. Each moment is new. And ready to be colored anew. And it’s ok to use the “wrong” color.

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Good.

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12 Days of Thanksgiving: DAY FOUR

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his mercy endures forever.”

When we visited the beach this summer, we searched for shells. We waited as the waves moved in with their endless rhythm. And then as the wateer moved back out, we searched for glimpses of color or glimmering white. We tried to capture the tiny shells with our feet or our hands while it seemed each one was seeking to be buried by the sand or carried out again in the swirling water. They were elusive, but we managed to make it home with a bucket full.

Sometimes I feel like I’m searching for God’s goodness in that same way. I know it’s bound to be there in abundance, but the murky moments of life make it hard to grasp. Still I search for it. To find that glimmer of truth and faith I can hold on to. And keep. And look upon to remember the moments when His goodness made itself known in the face of hard circumstances.

I know God was with Mike in those darkest moments. Those final moments. Even in the betrayal of his own mind. In the cloudiness of his preparations. In the literal final step. I’m grateful for that. I’m comforted by that.

But I can’t help but ask why? And how? How could You let this happen? How could You let that one day happen? How could You let the last few years of my life happen as they did? To this end? And where? Where was my miracle? Where was the miracle for Mike? Where was the miracle for my children that would have allowed them to grow up with a father?

I struggle with the belief that in His ultimate providence, God’s best will prevail. How can this be better for us? How can this be best? All those people in Your recorded history. All those people who saw the unbelievable materialize before their eyes. Was our faith not strong enough? Was our sin too great? Did I not ask or reason or beg or try hard enough? Were the cries of our souls not loud enough? Was our sincerest hope too limited? Did you look on our faith and see not quite the mustard seed required? Was the innocence of my babies not worth preserving? Was my heart just too ripe for crushing?

Where was our miracle?

Even in the wrestling of these almost blasphemous questions, I can see a small glimspe — a shadow really — of an even more difficult truth.

That this WAS best. I can barely even write that sentence. Maybe this was and is God’s best. His best and most perfect allowance in such a flawed and broken situation, in the midst of such flawed and broken hearts. That somehow this DID preserve their innocence, as only God’s providential hand can. That in these times — like now, and like then — we reach and grasp for a faith that is just enough for this moment. And it is enough. Maybe no more, but certainly no less. And that the crushing of my heart can result in a deeper and more complete healing.

I believe this: In spite of the despair and horror of those few moments on September 20th, heaped upon the despair of so many months and years before, Mike never got anything less than the very best of God. I never got anything less than the very best of God. The best of God far exceeds anything my feeble mind can comprehend.

I’m reminded today that God does not make His decisions based on me — what I’m strong enough to withstand or what I’m too weak to handle. His decisions come from His perfect understanding and sovereignty in what was, what is and whatever will be. To accept WHATEVER comes from His hand is to accept my own greatest good.

For, He is good.

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