Is This The Beginning?

                                        

Hello, sometimes blogging feels like a crazy dance between inspiration and exhaustion for me. When I'm inspired, I often don't have time to write,
 but when I have time to write, I'm not inspired. 
Back and forth I go,until that rare moment when I am in sync with my muse and we mingle momentarily.

The piece below came from sitting through a commencement ceremony for second daughter.This is the final awards/graduation from high school and into life..(aka work or further education etc.)

           
              I forgot my camera,:( thankful my friend had hers for some pics she'll give me.)
                                          so these are from google....
                                       
                                         
My eyes are riveted at the feet passing by. I am a couple chairs away from the aisle.The band is  playing triumphantly to signal the finish of
commencement. 
The finish of commencement. Can you finish a beginning?

The feet draw me. First I  watched their faces, but  soon I dropped my gaze down low to the floor. 
I like shoes, and there  is every kind of shoe here.
Outrageous high heels,classic heels,wonderful wedges, practical flats, flirty flip flops, shiny gentleman shoes, tired running shoes, cowboy boots, hipster boots, no rubber boots I guess:)
Personalities expressed in foot wear passing by in a blur to begin.
Ready to end the formalities and begin reality.

We all walk away from commencement.  We all have shoes to put on.
Shoes we thought would help us navigate  the lifelong lesson of learning.
Learning about ourselves, about others, and this great big but shrinking world.
We learn to look out, away from ourselves for happiness, for belonging. 
We experience love, acceptance, hurt and betrayal. 
We  out grow the shoes purchased for commencement and realise we have a long way to go before we arrive.

The room at commencement was filled with promise and potential.
Three hundred graduates ready to pursue their purpose and calling.

I am inspired sitting in the audience,  just me, but a small sphere of influence in my own small world, encouraged by youth, by passion and vision. 
Encouraged to dream, to live not recklessly, but faithfully.

To walk gracefully and full of grace, in spite of shoes that may not always be comfortable. 

                                   

    
    my daughter kicked off these heels and ran barefoot to our vehicle.
                 It's hard to chase dreams in heels I guess...:)

Blue Monday

Ever since I daringly painted the inside of my front door blue, I have been embracing this colour inside my home with gusto, 
or perhaps restrained gusto.:))

                        a blue welcome covers up the former green...

                             blue pillows pair nicely with the rust...

                   I love the grey-blue shade here in the hallway...

                                        it's okay to be blue for it is a bluetiful colour...

                                      

Do you have a colour you have fallen in love with anew? 

A Song For Your Weekend

      Casting all your cares upon Him, for He careth for you.
                                 1 Peter 5:7

Mid October Hello

                     I am not sure what has happened to my week.

October is half done. Half way- like my feelings for it. I am sorry to anyone who welcomes it wholeheartedly, I simply find summer with the exception of the unduly hot days, to be my favourite.
The fact that I have half way warmed to fall is progress, and that is after all what we should strive for, right?

                               

         This beautiful, old building is a two minute drive from my house. 
It recently opened as a furniture resale shop and art gallery. I have to tell you that when I spied the sign as I sat at the lights one day, I could barely contain my excitement...so much creativity and  inspiration so close to home!

               
                              here is a glimpse of what's inside...and it became clear as I         chatted with the owner that I would pop in quite regularly!

  
              I will share more of this artful place another time...
                             

for now just sit here  a bit....

because sometimes life is simply heavy...

take a load off...

speaking of; I have been reading this book..

Yancey's writing is compelling and honest.

I cannot decide which excerpt to choose, so if you can, find a copy.

It will bless you.

because there are some things that can only be shared

 in a true heart to heart with our heavenly Father in prayer.

Prayer is an expression of who we are...we are a living incompleteness. we are a gap, an emptiness that calls for fulfillment...(Thomas Merton)

Heart Of Thanksgiving

                                                It is thanksgiving weekend in Canada.
                                                                My heart is full.
                                                     My daughter is home for a few days.
                                                       A beautiful wedding yesterday.
                                 A dear friend's mom passed away to glory after suffering pain.

                              Beginnings and endings... joy and sorrow....
                    somehow mingle and entwine  into never ending blessings.


                                                

There's Something In The Air

     The day was equal parts joy and heartache,
but it brought about a journey she would never forget.
                         (Jamie Langston Turner)

thinking about my sister today, 

as her heart strings strain, then give away......

forever.

http://anotherporch.blogspot.ca/

Stark Message

                              This tree caught my attention on my walk last week.....
                            brave beauty seems enhanced by a certain vulnerability.

                                                       
I stare at it's bare and gnarled limbs, feeling a strange connection to it's condition.
I study it's offering,trying to figure out what kind it is.

                                                                     

                                    Fruit clings and holds on, even though the tree is bare.
                                                                   It offers and gives. 

                                                               

                                       For it isn't wealth that makes us generous,
                                           It's generosity that makes us wealthy.

 Aren't nature's lessons always the most profound?

                                                        

On A Branch Somewhere

                                         
              Here I sit with my morning coffee,,,,

the sun is up,  casting shadows across the dew laden  grass ,and  warmth on my face. 
                    The pungent scent of the herbs  add an earthy, aromatic sense,
                                 and I want to breathe in, long.

                                                                  

                                                             
 I contemplate my day. my ambitions and plans, the noble and normal.  
            I like to  dream a little, and ponder.

Every summer seems quicker than it's predecessor. 
When we were picking apples the other day,  my youngest climbed up into the tree ,
 where of course  the best apples were. I looked over and all I saw was her feet standing on the branch. I think about how appropriate it is,  for each season they seem to be on a higher branch, and I wonder if they're ready,  and I hope they don't fall.


                                                                

It's easier, and a whole lot harder than I ever thought it would be, to let my children grow up. Giving them wings is  a process. One that is earned out of necessity and trust.
My second girl is trying hers out in the big city. I'm glad she is experiencing and learning.
I can't do that for her.

I enjoy this stage of being a parent. There is a freedom in knowing though I fumbled much, I still did my best. and that they will experience the greatest of tutors; life.

 They aren't beside me every moment anymore, I am glad that I didn't hurry through the long days,  but rather lived them as a precious allotment ,and not something to be taken for granted.

Well my morning coffee is gone, and as I rise from my post my heart hears a tune,
"Come thou fount of every blessing.  Tune my heart to sing Thy praise."




I wrote the above and took the photos a few days ago, and shortly thereafter I read this...
 http://thinking-about-home.blogspot.ca/2013/10/celebrate-day-2-
ebenezer_2.html
It blessed me,so I wanted to share.

October Debut

                                 October arrived yesterday.
                      The day began in calm and soothing grey.
               

                                  
the fog gave way to sunshine,brilliant benevolent beauty
For after all, it isn't what we keep that makes us happy.
                                   

                             It is what we give away.
                     So October gave  gladly and blithely,
                                                                            


crisp apples.... and pears.













                             

                                                                       

                                                              invitations to  important occasions
                                                                       (wedding invitation in back)

                                                             my lavender has done well...

love zinnias

 

pumpkins....

delicious squash soup with a good friend..

                                  fall decor...    

            

    Hearts were bolstered by it's generosity.
         Courage came to stay, for whatever lay beyond October.
            

Abodes With Appeal

    'Our town' has an abundance of quaint and beautiful homes....
       I'm sharing a sprinkling of them with you today...

        I drive by this bright, yellow door often. I love it's cheery                   ambiance on it's mostly white and grey background.

                    I  find a red door classic and timeless.

           this house had a transformation recently. I love it!(above photo)

                 lovely and nautical looking...( I always thought it would be fun to live in a house with a turret,although I'll take one without the halloween creature.)

                          very manor like....

             I want to sit on that porch and drink tea...

        
                           a mysteriously long house...

                 board and batten,I see this in the country...

sometimes  while driving, my kids and I will play a game we read about in a book, we try and describe who lives in a house that we 
see. It's a fun exercise for imaginations and interesting to hear what each person 'sees' by looking at the outside.
                           hmmmmm, could this be true for people as well?

                                                                    

                    and last but not least, Home Sweet Home.
                             Happy October 1st.
                    I am painting my front door today.....black of all things!! and I love it.....
                                                We're fun on the inside:))