- I hate church on Mother’s Day
If you are living, Mother’s Day touches your life. Whether male or female, you have, at some point, had a mother. And if you’re a woman, you may also be a mother.
The problem is that Mother’s Day can be so deeply painful for so many people.
In the past, I have attended churches that passed out flowers and gave gifts during the Mother’s Day Sunday morning service. I learned ….
to dread those mornings …
and even find a reason to not attend.
Because every carnation held in the hand of an openly proud mother
causes deep pain and regret for the women around her whose hands are empty
because they have not yet had a child,
they have given up a child,
they have lost a child,
or they haven chosen to end a pregnancy.
These women … are often … nearly … or completely … invisible.
The Mother that is applauded for having the most children
reminds the woman who has had none that
God hasn’t answered her prayers.
She wonders why she is not favored.
The Mother who has traveled the greatest distance to visit her children
is an open wound for the daughters and sons who have a mom around the corner
who will not speak to them…
and refuses to visit
because she is angry, hurt or just too busy.
The youngest Mother in the congregation that is asked to stand
reminds that young teenage girl that
she would have been the youngest mother there
had she not aborted her child
or even been forced or coerced to do so.
And then there is the daughter or son who lost their mother recently ….
days, weeks, months or even years ago …
but the pain is so great that it still haunts their soul.
I learned to avoid church on Mother’s Day. Or at least make sure that the church that I attended didn’t have such fanfare.
But, it’s still a little bit difficult to watch on Facebook …
because I know there are so many souls that ache.
So, I just wanted to offer a {{hug}}, if your soul cries out.
If you have lost a mom and miss her dearly, know that there are others who weep with you.
If you are one of those that sits barren, know that others have shared your pain. You are not alone.
If you have lost a child to miscarriage, sickness or accident, others ache along with you.
And if you made a desperate decision to end a pregnancy and feel guilt or remorse,
know that all you need do is ask and you will be forgiven.
Just as important as asking for forgiveness ….
I beg you to also forgive yourself. Give yourself the permission to heal from that wound.
We all make mistakes. We must forgive ourselves.
On this beautiful Mother’s Day,
may you find a way to celebrate …
the goodness of your own mother …
the kindness of someone who acted as a mother ….
or the guidance of someone who loved you like a mother.
Search for and focus upon the ways to be thankful.
Matthew 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. (NIV)
- Makes Me Happy Monday : Spring Break Edition
For nine straight days, she was beside me.
We didn’t travel this year for spring break. Last year, Joy and I went to Stone Mountain and Lake Lanier. We played and explored and adventured and paddled.
This year, we stayed home. We had guests stay with us while they worked the Masters Tournament. We only live a few miles from the Augusta National, so traffic can be quite grizzly at times. I had an ambitious list of projects to work on while we spent the week intentionally holed up and still in our abode.
Joy had only one goal for the week: remain in pj’s all week long.
Seriously.
Throughout the week, when I asked her if she wanted to go with me …. here or there ….. movies, kayaking, walking at the tow path ….. she would quip,
“Nope. That would require me to put on clothes. I’m good.”
And she almost met her goal, though she did leave the house dressed twice. I’ll tell you about one of those excursions in a later post.
So, she wore zebra striped footie pj’s at the start of the week when the temps were cooler …..
and switched to Supergirl boxers by midweek.
In the early morning, when the air was just slightly chilly,
she donned a men’s Sears Roebuck robe from the 70′s, a Goodwill find that thrilled her!
It hangs on her not unlike a tent, but she loves it! She makes me laugh.
I’m pretty sure the clash of prints and colors increases the value of the outfit on her style radar.
And it’s not that she didn’t go outside. She helped take out the trash, she ran errands and and she helped me clean the entire front yard, for example
……… all-the-while wearing her pj’s.
The week … was lovely.
It was so nice for her to be here. We enjoyed our morning coffee together. It was like I had special company for lunch every.day! We went about our days … her playing instruments, talking with me while I played with paints and brushes ……
her surfing the web and the two of us sharing videos and stories back and forth. She worked on several school projects throughout the week.
Because we had company, she slept in my bedroom on a pallet on the floor. Every night was like a slumber party. When the lights were turned off, chatting began. But … by the time the clock had ticked past around forty-five minutes, my ability to concentrate had fizzled and she would begin to lose me. But, those were super sweet conversations.
Now her guitar sits idle
at the foot of her bed …. 
… and her computer sits in her chair …. her entire room still and lifeless.
It reminded me all over again what a homeschooling-mama’s-heart I have. I know that I was built to live with, work with and teach my own children. To train up a child in the way he/she should go …. takes time. And time is lost when she is away at school. I.miss.her.
Memories of an entire week spent fellowshipping with my youngest child
make me so happy.
What makes YOU happy this marvelous Monday morning?
- These are the days
These ….
are the days of beauty.
These are the days that we are cleansed.
Our town is busying ….. traffic mildly deeper and denser as people come to Augusta, GA for one of the most prestigious golf events in the world. We’ve had a few weeks of more favorable weather … nights in the 50′s and days in the 70′s. Azaleas and Dogwoods are announcing spring.
We have had a taste of warmth … longer days … more intense sun.
But days like today …. hold a beauty of their own.
Rain is falling steady and gentle. The temperature outside is not warm enough to keep my thermostat set on 65 from tripping the heater into action. The weatherman says we have a day or two of this …. gentle rain and cooler temps.
And I love it
because the pine will still continue to bloom
and the flowers will continue to blossom
but the pollen will be gently washed away. 
It speckles the porch from gentle splashes.
It puddles in the drive and on the streets
where obstructions of uneven sidewalk
or dams of pine, leaves and sticks hold it captive
like an oil slick floating upon the water.
The haze that fills the spring air tinting the world yellow
is cleansed from the air
and washed from our presence.
While I yearn from warmer days
and the return of the summer humidity in the air,
these days are beautiful, too.
It is a glorious thing
to be cleansed.
I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me. Jeremiah 33:8
- Makes Me Happy Monday : Spring Winds
I receive a weather report bright and early every morning
from our local television station, WJBF.
This was this morning’s text.
As soon as I read it, I realized that I could already hear the air moving briskly outside the house.
Here in Georgia, we only receive a few days that seem to fit the idiom for March,
“In like a lion and out like a lamb.”
This year, March came in a bit like a …..
Golden Retriever who just climbed out of the lake … wet and sloshy.
And here at the tip end of March,
the wind is brisk, fierce and forceful.
But, these are some of the most cleansing days of spring.
I expect the dome above us will be a crisp, light blue today with
tufts and pillows of clouds being swiftly pushed from end to end
at speeds that will surprise and entertain. 
With a forecast that calls for winds between 25 to 30 and gusts up to 45 miles per hour,
pollen will have little hope of dusting cars or lawn furniture.
Having experienced a fairly mild yet intensely wet and still winter,
I am looking forward to a beautiful day of fierce spring wind.
Spring winds Make Me Happy this week.
What makes YOU happy this marvelous Monday morning?
- Spring Light
warmer light.
longer illumination.
brighter reflection.
more intense color.
so very thankful for the equinox
and the return of a fresh, new spring.
- Death of a Cybershot
I have lost a friend.
I’ve written before about how much I love the Sony Cyber-shot.
I believe I have owned four.
One is LONG gone.
But, these three have been around for a while. 
I keep one in my purse and one in my backpack.
I keep extra batteries charged and an extra SD card nearby.
When my older black Sony began to issues with the lens cover sticking,
I found the red one on clearance for right around $100.
That was at least a year ago.
The aging version has held on this long,
snapping and filming faithfully, though crippled and mangled physically.
But, alas,
finally ….
I must let her go.
And the proper ending to a productive life?
I’m handing her over to my youngest investigator
to dismantle.
Soon …. my sweet friend
will lay in pieces
on this desk. 
Thank you, Sony, for creating such a durable
and talented little machine.
Thank you, Cybershot,
for your dependable, faithful talent.
I’m thankful that I have two of your siblings
to stand in your place.
- The Concentric Circles of Life
I wrote yesterday about concentric circles
painted in acrylic and
inspired by Jane LaFazio’s beautiful work.
In the same way that almost every photo that I see seems to lilt a song or melody,
many pieces of artwork, too, have their own energy or emotion.
They tell a story.
I can’t speak for other artists, but I can at least say that
I want my pieces to have a message … to be valuable.
Matthew 12:36 states
“But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.”
If God cares about our idle words,
then surely our idle messages are important, too.
I don’t want my artwork to be “idle” ….
As I painted, I thought about how relationships are represented by these circles.
Each circle has four different distinct sections.
Each of those four distinct sections has a pattern that is unlike any other on the canvas.
Each circle could represent a life …. distinctly separate from any other circle …. with sections that are very individual.
Each circle nests inside another circle … all part of one overall piece of art.
Some patterns come from familiar places …. trees, leaves, vines, scales, atoms, flowers, rocks, bones.
But some … are not recognizable as familiar designs.
Like these varied, unique circles,
our lives have distinct segments with different rhythms.
Some portions are chaotic and messy … while others are soothing and calm.
Each of us live our lives
nested inside other lives ….
butted right up next to other’s chaos, serenity or whimsy.
And even if we try, it is absolutely impossible to live our lives
without touching …. overlapping e.v.e.n … into the space of others.
Will all this closeness, shouldn’t we strive to do what we can to
bless the circles that touch ours?
Shouldn’t we do the best we can to make each section of our life – no matter how long or short ….
whether invited or unplanned ….
whether familiar or completely foreign ….
be as beautiful as we can
with the colors, brush and inspiration that we have to work with?
There will be beautiful with the joy of song and expected pattern.
There will be cacophony with struggle and strife.
And there will be mistakes with pain, grief and tears
But, it all works together to create the beautiful symphony of life.
Live. Love. Give. Offer.
Dance. Support. Encourage. Look for the best in others.
Forgive. Make amends. Embrace. Offer grace.
These are the things that I see in this painting.
Circles … that touch … that overlap …
that together
create a piece of art
that represents how our lives operate …
one beside another ….. one inside the other …. nested and concentric.
