As Long

There is something about hollyhocks  that I absolutely adore!  Long associated with cottages and a simpler time, these charming blooms evoke whimsy and nostalgia.
This year a good amount of rain and sun have produced showstopping blooms!
Hence a post dedicated to hollyhocks...

                                                    

                                                 
As long as there are   hollyhocks beside a fence in July                                   

And  mothers who sing to keep hope alive.

As long as children play, without thought of tomorrow
Imagination unfurled, unfettered by sorrow.

As long as we pick those flower bouquets,
And place them in vases to brighten our day.

As long as fathers come home after work
To loved ones and laughter and familiar quirks.  

Despair  can be quelled and bad news can't dismay
For we find what we look for at the end of the day

Life can be beautiful, a work of rare art,
A silhouette of the shape of our heart.

As long as there's hollyhocks beside a fence in July
And mothers  who sing to keep hope alive.(L.M.)

Fair Trade?

                                                  

                                                            

                                                                                        

                                                                        
                             The encumbering winter boots will soon be flip flops...

                              The comfort of my sweater will be traded for the sun.

                             I'll leave this sheath of snow, for an endless scope of sand

                             I'll walk the waters edge with my sweetheart hand in hand...

                              The suns rays will immerse me, the sand will soothe me

                              I'll  leave my daily cares in search of pure respite.

                             And when of this calm oasis I've had enough

                                  I will return back  home to the life  I love....

hubby and I are leaving on a wee vacation....(along with some of his family...)

                     our children will have the opportunity to exercise their independence and responsibility, as they are staying home ...
                                   I have my apprehensions   suitcase packed and I am getting excited:)

                 God speed... I will see you soon~ Lucy.

September Makes Me Sentimental

Children never really leave us, they simply walk away.
Our title never changes, just the duties we relay.
In the age of innocence, we tangibly  can show
Our love and our devotion, and help them as they grow.
But each and every summer they leave us bit by bit,
And as the summer turns to fall the air feels bitter sweet.


 I pray I will not live my life with backward glance,
But ever facing forward, with hope and second chance.
Learning as I trust Him, as His grace is here to stay
In the giving, breathing, smiling, shaking heart tugs
We get stronger every day.        

starting in the bottom left...our oldest Brittany Nicole...she is 20,and engaged!!
(oooops, yes next summer will be the big day!)

next my favorite son:) Alexander Dustin, he is 15.


then we have Jasmine Chloe...she is 13 now!

above her is Katrina Brooke...she's 18.
   
last we have Sommer Jade, she is 10! and a really fun ending to our story.

wow, suddenly I feel old:) actually I feel so blessed to be a mother. It is really the best and most daunting career. It may come with sacrifice but what worth having doesn't carry sacrifice?


Blessings to you tonight...I thought it was time to share a little more of my family with you.

They are the fabric of my heart and I love them dearly.
                                                                                                      Lucy.
     

Oh Red Geranium

A friend recently posted this poem on facebook. I love it, and wanted to share it with you......Enjoy!

Red Geraniums"

Life did not bring me silken gowns,
Nor jewels for my hair,
Nor signs of gabled foreign towns
In distant countries fair,
But I can glimpse, beyond my pane, a green and friendly hill,
And red geraniums aflame upon my window sill.

The brambled cares of everyday,
The tiny humdrum things,
May bind my feet when they would stray,
But still my heart has wings
While red geraniums are bloomed against my window glass,
And low above my green-sweet hill the gypsy wind-clouds pass.

And if my dreamings ne'er come true,
The brightest and the best,
But leave me lone my journey through,
I'll set my heart at rest,
And thank God for home-sweet things, a green and friendly hill,
And red geraniums aflame upon my window sill.

~ Martha Haskell Clark

one of my all time favorite flowers is the red geranium. Every year I'd plant them in clay pots for instant cheer. But two years ago we came home and saw that someone had left these two huge stone urns on our sidewalk....found out later..it was my brother in law and wife. They saw them free by someone's driveway and thought Lucy could put them to use. I put red geraniums in this year...love the vibrancy, the free pots and kind family.

Here We Are Already

                                          via pinterest                      

Yes, time flies
Things change.                                                                         
Life can blur
Right on the page.

We're a dot
A speck in time.
Risking all
For a dime.

Keep the Faith,
Don't give up
Make great memories
From every drop.

Sing out loud
Thank God you're free
Hold loves hand
While you dance with me.

Because time flies,
Things change.
Life can blur
Right on the page.


A new week is here ready for the taking.  April will soon be no more than a dot on the page.Don't the months seem to fly by even more as we are older and children become 
replicates of us, even though we've willed them not to.
I hope you had a good weekend. The weather was beautiful here.
Sandals appeared,my girls found their flip flops....backyard trampolines were bouncing with kids high on spring fever energy.

Hope your week is off to a pleasant start.... 

the chives in my herb garden are coming along nicely...also mint and a few things that will surprise me...I tend to forget what I've planted  sometimes,so I look forward to being surprised:)










hubby picked up 25 new laying hens for me...
so I'm looking forward to an abundance of eggs....

(I hope I haven't turned you off of eating eggs)

dead things are being removed,
      empty things 
                are waiting


            to be filled.

I head out in my trusty garden shoes....

                        
                         with hope in every step...


555-chickens &eggs,556-watching Les' Miserables..(WOW and WOW)557-Grace and it's awesome power,558-a relaxing Sunday afternoon,559-baptism service at our church,560-walking with friend on Saturday,561-praying for difficult situation she is in,562-wedding invitations...563-laughing at this,,my youngest says"it smells like wet water in here:)

One Link In A Long Chain

                                                                            
                                    via
Life's chain is long and its links are strong,
because of the way they hold together.
When they are clasped from one to one,
We can stand up in stormy weather.

When one is happy or one is sad,
We feel the real emotion.
And if one's load is rather heavy
We hold out love's devotion.

I pray you will not ever frown
 and feel no worth or measure.
As a one and only obscure link 
And not a useful treasure.


For life is a chain,we are the links
and we all need each other;
Serving, caring, grace and mercy, kindness, understanding.
Living, loving,staying strong; by linking to one another.~LM~

We are all in this together. We need each other. Oh, how we need each other. Those of us who are old need you who are young, and hopefully, you who are young need some of us who are old...

We need deep and satisfying and loyal friendships with each other. These friendships are a necessary source of sustenance. We need to renew our faith every day. We need to lock arms and help build the kingdom so that it will roll forth and fill the whole earth.”      (Marjorie Pay Hinckley)

I was struck the other day, when I was with my family,what a blessed thing it is to be able to love and appreciate one another's differences, and how there can be strength in numbers.

Forever Praise

        You're the Hope in a new sunrise,
         breaking over our desperate lives.
                   (Sanctus Real)



Oh God, when I consider how you hold this great ,big earth
And yet you are the One that gives our lives their worth.
There is so much that we can only begin to understand,
And yet you give us grace as we fumble through this land.

I'm so sorry for the times, when I think that I can do it on my own.
 'Cos Lord I know that it is pride, and not your righteousness I've shown.
You take away the dark, when you give us light.
You make daybreak, from a curtain of night.

The seas rage on by Your control,
And yet You care about each lonely soul,
So Father please extend your love
And your long arm of mercy from up above.

Our lives are vapor, that you have ordained.
To believe we are more, is foolish and vain.
Forever I'll be, here at your feet
As I sing, live and love until one day we meet.

This morning for devotions we read Job 38. The enormity and power of God suddenly overwhelmed me, as I pondered His greatness
 and the heavens up above.



http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job+38&version=NIV

what REALLY matters...

As a mother there is always so much "to do".But there is so much more to being a mother as these lines remind me. I love the vivid word pictures..

I know so well the value of neat rooms,
White curtains and the warmth of polished brass,
Wide window sills with plants in coloured rows,
Serenity that comes in shining glass.
But these, O Lord, are not important things,
Nor will they leave much mark in days to be;
My children will forget their ordered rooms
In after years,but when they think of me,
May they remember I laughed much,and think
Upon the way I shared their gaiety,
And how I read them stories from old books
Of brave fair days, and sometimes made them see
A wider world. O make them understand
That always I have deemed it more my task
To be as understanding as I could,
Than keep clean rugs upon a dusted floor.

                                                             Dorthy Tressider.