A Wonderful Life

Pieces of this have been going around in my mind and my heart during the last month or so. I believe the Lord is trying to use this time to get my attention, while everything slows down, and I’m guessing God may be doing the same in you too. Yet, I'm struggling to not fill the quiet with more distractions of my own, even though many of the external ones have quieted. Are you? God has prompting me to wonder a lot of things. What if this time is an opportunity for us, individually and as a culture, to redefine a few words, like… Productivity: What if productivity doesn’t mean accomplishing our entire to-do lists, but rather,  leaving things undone to have meaningful, quality time with our people, God or ourselves? Who’s keeping track of our home stuff right now besides having food, water and clean-ish clothes and dishes anyway?  Success: What if being successful means I model for my loved ones (and littles) listening to my body, heart and needs and expressing myself in ...

Reflections of a mama to a wonderful boy, who has a rare genetic syndrome, near his birthday. Every year, I forget that Zach’s birthday isn’t only celebratory for me. It can also be a trigger for parts of grief of the things that are not yet and may never be. It’s a remembrance of both the gift of the sweet season where we had no idea that he was different from any other kid and the gift of finding out that, in fact, he is quite different. In big and small ways, our little joy-bringer has brought so much to our lives and to those around him. His joy is contagious, his energy seemingly endless, his passion fierce, his love of music infectious, his warmth and friendliness welcoming. And he also needs a lot of support, interpretation, advocacy, patience, understanding, brainstorming with teachers, redirecting and so on.  As I’ve learned many times before, Joy and Grief often accompany each other; the two are not mutually exclusive. But that can make it hard for me to identify wh...