Heartbeats...

I had a dream last night that all the trees on our street had blossomed.  When  I woke up, there were only trees covered in a thin blanket of snow...  Warm up, world!  It's Spring! But there is sunshine, and there are daffodils already braving the chill to bring some cheer.  New beginnings happen slowly, and that's just fine.  We can wait. In the meantime, we can take brisk walks on the damp trails, drink in the sun when it peaks through the blinds and shows us how in need of spring cleaning they are, and put our lives together indoors.  The beds and furniture are in place.  There are some pictures on the walls.  Dan is organizing the garage.  I am keeping my kitchen in order.  Such simple pleasures!

Baby Bump at 3 months

Just a few days ago we heard our baby's heartbeat for the first time.  The beautiful sound, like horses hooves, or a choo-choo train, was such a joy, and such a comfort.  It was perfect, and just what it should be.  Grow, little baby!  We want to hold you already!  But I have heard your heartbeat and have felt you swimming around in there, like butterflies in my stomach.  New life happens slowly, and that's just fine.  We can wait.  In the meantime, I will keep up with the exercise and vitamins and healthy food, and Daddy will keep up with building a savings so he can take time off to be with you when you come. Our friend, Marissa, brought some cute little clothes over for you, and I found the greatest deal on UsedVictoria for maternity clothes -- classy items for five dollars each!  I am beginning to need those accommodating articles of clothing.  Your little 3-inch self is creating quite a bump now. 

We have had so many lovely visits to our new home from friends recently.  Matt, Rachael, Emma, and Faith came for a roast one night, Ellery and Chari for tea, and Steve and Marissa for a tour of our town.  While Dan and Steve went gun hunting at the sports store, Marissa and I found the cutest little shops downtown...actually not so little.  There was an antique shop with so many classic antiques and darling little children's things.  Marissa and I are positive we could make the little frocks they were selling.  And we found a bookstore, and a toy store with hundreds of choices for any kind of kid.  I do wonder if it's a boy or a girl... I can't wait to start collecting trucks or dolls, kitchen sets or bug nets, and building a book collection, too.  Growing a family happens slowly, and that's just fine.  We can wait.  In the meantime, I will enjoy each season in our family's life, and cherish it with my whole heart...

Our View of Mount Prevost

In the span of half a year, Dan and I have lost three precious people in our lives.  Just this week, Dan's friend passed away...a remarkable guy.  The amount of tears we have shared in our marriage thus far seems overwhelming sometimes, but how grateful we are that we can weep with someone and be there for each other.  We know heaven is holding all three of them for us to see again one day, but we also know we will miss them for the rest of our lives.  It makes us realize how delicate, how fragile, how precious life is.  Only God knows the number of heartbeats we have.  When you're young, you subconsciously feel so invincible, and that death is so far off.  But the people we lost were all younger than 24 years old...


I sit here and I think about what I am doing with each heartbeat, each breath.  It makes me realize that, unlike some people might think, living life to the fullest doesn't mean doing something incredible with every moment.  It just means doing those things, big and small, that God inscribed on your soul as having worth in the long run. It means staying faithful to those things alone.  It means forgetting about what people, the world, and your own insecurities tell you to do with your time, energy, will, love, and life.  It's a totally different reality when you remove the world's pressure and replace it with the love of the One who made you.  It's an eternal world, with the courage to give of yourself to others even when it hurts, march to the beat of your own drum, and do only what God tells you to do with each second.  


We will never do this perfectly, but that's just fine.  Reaching heaven happens slowly...but more quickly than you might think.  With each day we are given, we can start to silence the world's loudspeakers and hear God's gentle voice filling our souls.  The world screams so loudly sometimes that it can drown out the soft voices of people and things that need my heart the most.  How much more beautiful life would become if I stopped more often to hear the softer, deeper calls of life...

A Visit from the Neighborhood Socialite while cleaning blinds...on the second story!