Joy Journal {April 26th ~ Happy Birthday to my dear daughter}

πŸ“–Dear Friends,πŸ“–

What is inspiring you or bringing you joy currently? Please join me in comments, in your journal, or on your blog!

🌷I’m grateful today forβ€¦πŸŒ·

||for newly minted 14 yo daughter πŸ₯°||her delight in completing her Redwall Series collection ||reliving memories and enjoying photos of almost 2 months of participating in a local production of The Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe, what a wonderful experience and lots of new friends ||people who devote themselves to care for others in dangerous or difficult places|| those who are adoptive or foster families || new to me music, Sarah Sparks || for Jane Brocket, Sarah Clarkson, Tresta Payne, andTerri Conlin’s email newsletters, full of beauty, encouragement, and delight || for my church ladies Bible study on Philippians||

||sunlight on forsythia and Charlotte Mason, glimpses of spring hope || springy play lists || for little boys who ask for Christmas trees πŸŽ„ during spring snow storms || friends who send me videos and photos of our local Aurora Borealis sightings || prayer πŸ™ || daffodildowndillys and the promise of tulips πŸ’ || clothesline flapping noise|| cat snuggles, whiskers and darling purring with contented closed eyes || lovely return visits to favorite reads, in this case The Alpine Path by LM Montgomery || warm, brown sweatshirt and oversized cozy black sweater || warm, cozy glow of lamps||

|| birds daintily eating dog food on deck|| wrestling with a short piece on Gerald Manley Hopkins for friend’s magazine β™₯οΈπŸŒΏβœ’οΈπŸ“||time away with hubby learning about serving our world with love, with a bit of space for quiet contemplation|| delicious, quiet breakfast with our pastor and his wife|| enjoying the nooks and crannies of our hotel|| long car conversations with my husband ||birthday surprises arriving and special food ingredients waiting on countertop ||little boy excitedly helping me wrap gifts for sister|| trying how to figure out how to send a surprise to Canadian penpals πŸ’œπŸ˜πŸ€“πŸ’ŒπŸ“¬πŸ“¦ πŸ’ΈπŸ€‘πŸ˜‚|| lovely books stacked everywhere here to dip in and out of||

||our friendly local public library || a felted bit of sunrise, gift from a daughter, shining into my soul||magazines +coffee + Trader Joe’s + my sisters = β™₯️β™₯️β™₯️||contemplating books that impacted as a woman/mother/caretaker in an ongoing series|| sunshine 🌞 in Wisconsin, never take it for granted ||plan to take daughter & friend to craft store and fancy ice cream 🍦 soon, she’s so excited ||

I believe this is β€œLa Discessa dello Spirito Santo” mentioned on pg 155, School Education by Charlotte Mason ~ so gorgeous! {Google image} If it’s not the right one, oh well, I still love it! πŸ˜‚β™₯️

Monday Ponderings {April 17th}

Simplicity is the special quality of Kindness; people can be kind only when all their thoughts are given to the person or creature they are kind to, and when there is no backward glance to see how the matter affectsοΏΌ self.

Charlotte Mason, Ourselves, p. 100

Monday Ponderings {April 10th}

Resurrection Sunday β™₯️

…lead by slow degrees, by ever-watchful efforts, by authority never in abeyance and never aggressive…authority is not only a gift, but a grace…

Charlotte Mason, excerpts from School Education, p.22-24

Joy Journal {April 5th}

β€’monochromatic children playing in school yard, black & bright splashes against the drab gray of early springβ€’ puddles fizz-pluming under my tiresβ€’theater life, two children’s makeup-encrusted smiles, as they see me gazing up at them, role reversalβ€’spring yard clean up, imprints left in the soaked grassβ€’ bags of purge waiting to be someone else’s treasureβ€’ruddy grinning cheeks, watery eyes, runny noses, muddy springy play, cold wind grasping at strawsβ€’

β€’bookish mugs for bits & bobs, gifts from friends β€’ soft-colored sticky tags, enough to shareβ€’ splashes of color against red-brown brickβ€’ discussing Grapes of Wrath, sipping oat milk latte, and conversation with a sweet friendβ€’ foam heart on latte, day of small thingsβ€’ little boy with bandana, ninja, he saysβ€’ blocks on book shelf in alternating patternβ€’ epic soundtrack as I slip through gray countryside, just a hint of green under her skirtsβ€’an unexpected flash of stain glassβ€’

β€’little bodies being compass roses, pointing arms northβ€’almost 14 yo birthday gift buying, disconcertingly not little girl things anymore β€’ shafts & shadows of longer sunlight β€’shockingly orange chairsβ€’ midwestern goodbyes β€’surprise book won, Katherine Wentworth by D.E. Stevenson β€’ reviewing, revamping, & renewing rhythmsβ€’ charming nooks & cranniesβ€’

||nourishing newness||

release your hold,

your icy grip off of

Saint Valentine’s wrist,

Janus, you selfish giant you,

you two-faced, greedy,

grasper, holding at

arms length from us

your children, the hint

of green, your snowy

finger still extending

over the land, but your

days are numbered

white witch melt

warmth will rule

once more

A.M. Pine, originally for Peace Poem Project 2023. Drawing from this well.

||living loved||

I cracked the Montana mug

I lost the swallow earring

flea market finds from my man

is this all marriage is

feeling cracked & lost?

but that’s how hope crawls in

through the cracks & crevices

in small corner light is found

loneliness is lumped & kneaded out

not unlike what that

potter did with the clay

back in Montana

turning something

rough into a little something

different one day

the beader who set

my earring soaring

didn’t see a marriage

celebrated as her

dangling art pierced through

my earlobe

the cracked & loss

a little more whole

A.M. Pine, originally written for Peace Poem Project 2023

-drawing from this well β™₯️

Monday Ponderings {January 23rd}

…Oh, it is well to waken with the woods

And feel, as those who wait with God alone,

The forest’s heart in these rare solitudes

Beating against our own.

Close-shut behind us are the gates of care,

Divinity enfolds us, prone to bless,

And our souls kneel. Night in the wilderness

Is one great prayer.

excerpt from β€œMidnight in Camp” by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Monday Ponderings {January 16th}

O God, along with sunny days, life brings its nights of ills…and if fearlessly I face these nights, my soul in rapture thrills…

Each time I face life’s disciplines, unbowed and unafraid…then deep within this heart of mine new courage is displayed…

When disappointments come my way, don’t let me run and hide…for if I stand with head erect, then courage will abide…

It’s not what happens to me, God, but what I do with it…that helps determine whether I shall fall or rise a bit.

β€œDon’t Let Me Run and Hide” by George Bilby Walker, The Quiet Time: A Collection of Prayer-Poems, p.20