It's time for my Friday link up with A Little Bit of Everything and Momfessionals.
On Fridays I share things that made me happy from the week - a photo, a song, a quote, a beauty product, a recipe, a pair of cute shoes, etc. If it's a product, sometimes it's something I actually own and sometimes something I just saw online that gave me a smile. Sometimes it's serious and sometimes it's silly. I suppose I believe that God is in the simple details of life and yes, I can even find Him in a tube of lipstick.
Hello. It's Friday - yay - and I'm up early - boo - and on my way to watch Drew's baseball games this weekend - yay. So this will likely be full of typos that I don't have time to correct - boo.
Here are some favorites from the week.
1. Tomato Leaf Candle
I heard someone on a podcast talking about this Tomato Leaf candle from Trader Joe's and she raved about how amazing it smelled. I had no idea what a tomato leaf scent would be like so I was skeptical, but this candle is a delight.
2. Chicken Pasta Salad
I made this chicken pasta salad from The Pioneer Woman last week. It doesn't have a ton of ingredients so it was easy and the baseball bros seemed to like it. 5 stars.
3. The Chair of My Dreams
Yesterday I had a bazillion things to write including a sermon I am supposed to deliver on Wednesday. Instead I spent a few hours by the lake in this chair. And I may never sit in another chair again. Listen, you are not going to find it in Architectural Digest or Elle Decor, but you will find it in my family room in the immediate future until I can get a handle on my neck and shoulder pain. This is the first chair I've been able to sit in for more than 15 minutes in a long time.
4. In the Meantime - Jess Ray
This song was a blessing to me this week. And it brought me to this:
5. The Blessing of the Meantime
Be present. Focus on the now. Savor the moment.
It's the struggle of my life. I suppose the frequency with which we see these phrases means that it's a struggle for most of us. Looking back or striving forward seems so much more instinctive to me. My natural state, I guess. I feel so firmly in the middle of things right now and I don't much like it.
No matter that yesterday marked the first day of spring, the weather's fluctuations tell me I am still in the middle of bitterly cold and delightfully warm temperatures. In the meantime, I wait. I am in the middle of healing because my neck/shoulder pain might be getting a little better, but we're not all the way there yet. In the meantime, I wait. I am in the middle of all of my children being constantly under foot and all of them being completely independent of me. In the meantime, I wait. I am in the middle of leaving the purpose I was absolutely sure of - the raising of my boys - to finding whatever new purpose the Lord has for me. In the meantime, I wait. And as we marked two years without my mom yesterday, I recognized again that I am in between the brutal shock of deep grief and the rejoicing that will happen when I see her again. In the meantime, I wait realizing that the daily garden-variety longing for her will remain in this middle space until I get to heaven's gate.
So many of us find ourselves in this middle place. We are either reminiscing or anticipating. Reflecting or projecting. Wanting what seemed good and right in our past or striving toward what might help us feel that way again.
This meantime. This waiting. It can be difficult. And sad. And chaotic. And stressful. Because the meantime is defined by uncertainty. And I don't know many humans who are big fans of uncertainty.
Last week I heard Ellie Holcomb on the That Sounds Fun podcast and she talked about liminal spaces which are defined as a transistional or in-between areas. Her examples of those spaces were dusk and dawn. That space between day and night. Between darkness and light. Essentially, a sunset.and a sunrise. She went on to mention that the sky is the most beautiful during that in-between time. This is why we rise early in the morning or make sure we reserve outdoor seating at exactly the right time. We are desperate to catch those perfect moments when God shows us the magic of both the past and the future existing together.
My mom chased after sunsets. She loved them. So I was up early at Lake Anna yesterday to see the sunrise and it was stunning. Last night Steve and I went to a brewery on the lake at sunset to toast her life and even though rain and clouds prevented the orange and pink colors we'd seen in the morning, I still was able to see that maybe the space between now and then, between here and heaven, between my mom and me isn't so wide. And in the midst of darkness and light the Lord reminded me. If I can stop gripping so tightly to the past and stop projecting so far into the future, there will be goodness and beauty and wisdom to be found here. Because amidst the uncertainty and the longing and the fear, He is here right smack in the middle of the meantime. And He will not leave.
Have a blessed weekend, friends and chase a sunrise or a sunset while you're at it.
Disclosure: The View From Behind Home Plate is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means to earn small fees by linking to amazon.com. Post might contain other affiliate links as well.
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