When life hands you lemons

Make Lemonade

Or so they say

But I have never seen lemonade

Listed as a recommended substitute

We can be strong like statues

That can crush and shatter

Or we can be strong like a tree

You are not forgotten

you are hidden

Not trapped

but kept

We can’t know where the road will go. Only God can. He is all knowing. And we are not.

I am learning that relationship grows on the other side of

I don’t want to bother

I don’t want to overstep

I don’t want to inconvenience

The Lord is not impressed by our productivity. He is perfectly content with all the things we do not accomplish, because He already accomplished it all. Nothing we produce or earn is done in our own strength. There are times when just working harder will not produce the results that we want. And that is grace. To remind us that we are not in control.

Just the other week I sat with my 3 kids at the park. Almost simultaneously, I heard them shout out “Mom, watch this!” rom 3 different directions. Each child wanted to  share what they were doing with me. They wanted to feel seen and celebrated. Every slide, every climb, every race.

As we say goodbye and leave the place that has been our home for so long, I am struck by the beauty of staying. An interesting observation by someone who I leaving, I am sure.

Even though life was stolen

Before it was even experienced

And all you feel left with

Are dreams that feel like memorials

The chores are delayed as they wait to see if either of the girl will walk past the doorway “regularly”. Each time of the girl passes the opening she is walking differently. Hopping, skipping, back wards, sideways, crab walk, etc.  After while the parents even try imitating the different dances that the girls do unknowingly.