11-22-12~blessings

Thanksgiving morning.

At 6:00 a.m. exactly, Piper does her usual paws on my back wake up call and I try negotiating with her, “Piper go lay down, not now…30 more minutes”. She doesn’t budge. I mean look at that face? Does she look remotely interested in a compromise?

She will stare me down until I call mercy; she wins, I lose.

So, with a cheerful spirit, I roll out of bed in search of my jacket, boots, and dog leash. Piper’s love language is chasing cows. And the cows? not so much. Therefore, I have to walk her on a leash in order to keep the peace here on the farm. And of course, it’s my most favorite thing to do. EVER. At 6 a.m.

This morning as I walked her and Brody, I got thinking about the blessings I’ve found in the plan B moments of my life:

~It wasn’t my idea to be out walking a dirt road at the crack of dawn, but I experienced the simple stillness of the morning. It was beautiful.

~It wasn’t my desire to have yet one more lower leg issue (the 50 mile week however WAS my idea!), but I’ve rediscovered how much I love gliding through the water. It’s been wonderful.

~It wasn’t my wish to be single with four children at this stage of my life, but the process proved that I was stronger than I thought. It wasn’t wasted.

If your willing to look for it, there is something of value to be found when you’re in an unexpected place. So this was where my heart was this Thanksgiving; giving thanks for the blessings found in the process of an unexpected journey.

~I have wonderful friends because something didn’t go as I had thought.

~I have a home I love, on a farm I adore, because something didn’t go as I had planned.

~I have discovered parts of who I am and my passions because something didn’t go as I had expected.

So as I sit here hiding in the woods, finishing this post {via iPhone} now four days after I started it on Thanksgiving day; I look around and the irony of where I sit strikes me…

…this specific place, tucked away in what has become my all-time favorite place on this trail, I accidentally found one day when I was scared because I was lost, an unexpected journey if you will. I now come here often because it has become a sanctuary for me. And so I grin from ear to ear, with a thankful heart, and lay back on the rocks to let the thoughts linger a while~

Yes, there are definitely blessings in the process of an unexpected journey.

 

It is here…

 

It is here…where her sole frees her soul.

Where she ties together the desires of her heart; double knotting to be sure they won’t come undone.

Where each step takes her farther from where she’s been; closer to where she dreams of being.

 

It is here…where her story shares a message of imperfect progress.

Where she knows the ugly and the beautiful; the miles bring her to both, often in that order.

Where her journey gets a bit dirty; a risky transformation that works from the outside-in.

And yet it is here…where she sees one small footprint against the great big whole; and she worries, will it be enough?

Where a passion has found her and it won’t leave her alone; and she wonders, do I have what it takes?

Where she’s vowed to keep working it out; and so she prays, do not let this go from me, if it is from You!

 

 

 

 

 

boating for bosses

This afternoon:

Madelyn: “Mom, Ms. H says we are supposed to go boating today, it is important~ something about a precedent.”

Andre: “No Mom, I don’t think she has that right”

Madelyn: “oh yes I do Andre, you don’t know”

Ramiro: “Maddie, adults are supposed to vote because of gas”

Madelyn: “Gas? No, Ms. H did not say gas”

 

Andre: “Mom, what does a president do again?”

Ramiro: “He decides about money, mostly I think he bosses people around a lot”

[an odd moment of silence]

Madelyn: very matter of fact, “Mom I hope everyone votes for you and you win”

 

*excellent. At least I have someone who believes in me. I’m just not sure how I should feel about how this went down however.*