Sweet Summertime

Little Miss is at my FAVORITE photography age... the age where you can easily capture those natural smiles, the age where there's an abundance of silliness, the age where they're still able to ignore a camera and just play.

Independence Day Reflections

I can't begin to describe how it felt to have my family of 5 all under the same roof again this weekend. Big Sister had been at her dad's for three weeks and returned tonight for another stretch of visit, but for a brief 36 hours, we were complete again! For a day and a half, the younger two got a tiny taste of the life they're used to, the one with a big sister to direct the games... For a day and a half, I was able to listen to the theories of an almost-ten-year-old, the bizarre and the insightful. For a while, I was able to coax the laughter and silliness from a girl who has seemed out of sorts during our phone conversations.

Independence Day is always a bit of an oxymoron in my life. The years when I get to spend the holiday with Big Sister are like tiny islands in the midst of a sea of six weeks without her, and I am reminded of how much I long for independence from custody arrangements. Each year on Independence Day, I revel in being another year closer to a time when custody arrangements will be mute, when Big Sister will be an adult, fully able to make her own decisions, able to live by a visitation schedule that she chooses.

I can't blame anyone but myself, of course. After all, my decisions led her and I straight to the lives we're living... good lives, but not ones free from the scars of my poor decisions, decisions with outcomes made glorious through God's grace. Tonight, while the countryside explodes with the sparkle and glow of the celebration of freedom, I sit thinking of the empty bed upstairs and pray for God's continued hand in Big Sister's life and trust that she will continue to grow in faith, confidence, and wisdom.

Dipping My Toes Back In...

Well... an unintentional blogging break- have to admit, it's felt great not to bother with my computer past my email account for the last month! My break from the world wide web really started on our family vacation to Colorado the first of June. Having misplaced my car charger, I found myself without a cell phone for the majority of the trip. I checked my messages periodically, but that was it- no ringing potential, no clock, no option to text or call anyone.

HEAVEN.

It made me wish we could cancel our cell service and set up the old land line answering machine. Life is just simpler without the expectation that you'll be available at everyone's beck and call.

And so I decided to let myself neglect the internet in exchange for time with the kids, time to catch up on business, time with family, and most importantly time with God. It's been a peaceful month, one full of craziness, vehicle problems, weddings, and too many day trips, but so much peace through it all. I think we should all soak up a stretch of old-fashioned simplicity once in a while and take the time to enjoy the life around us that God created... not Microsoft or Apple.