Guess how much God loves you?

The gift of Jesus.  That much.

The dark sky at night, full of brilliant stars.  That much.

A playground full of laughing children.  That much.

The different colors, movements, and depth of the sea.  That much.

Words -as good medicine to the soul- put down just for you, on paper.  That much.

Sacredness, Holiness, hearts full of love, in the very trenches of life.  That much.

The gift of something you need, at just the right time.  That much.

Knowing you can wait.  Knowing you can let go.  Because He is to be trusted.  That much.

Always belonging to Him.  That much.

no matter what!  That much.

Accepted fully, because He is your Father God.  That much.

He is your Anchor, your Rock, your Beacon of light, your Home.  That much.

Knowing your life is eternal and you’re journeying to Heaven.  That much.

and I could go on and on……….

Actually, it’s impossible to FULLY grasp how much He loves His very own, precious and darling children…….this is definitely an area that we can dream BIG……

When the Morning comes, we will finally see the Light as it is meant to be.

For now, there are dazzling glimpses all around and that is enough (overwhelming, really). Our eyes fill with grateful tears.

In the small, ordinary world of common life, there is so much to see of Him.  His blessings and gifts are scattered though each day.

Dear Thia, I hope you see this photo!  I wasn’t even looking for violets yet!  I happened to look down as I was going into the house this weekend and this one was blooming, sort of ragged-like, but THERE!, in the stone path by the door.  I bent right down and pointed my finger at it so Sarah could see, too.  The photo is for YOU, my friend.  (first violet of the season)

Which prompted me to go check on the other places violets grow.  David and Sarah came along.

We didn’t see any others, but we very much enjoyed a short jaunt.

The snow has melted away……

I was surprised by these bright orange mushroomy things growing on a fallen down tree.  When I pushed on one with my finger, water came up on the entire surface and immediately dripped out!  They were like water logged sponges.

I ate an apple from home, along with any dandelion greens I found on our walk.  What a yummy snack this made….the bitter of the greens and sweet of the apple were a good combination.  A walking along sort of salad.

Well, David is growing very much these days.  He is 13 and a half and almost, almost as tall as his brother Ethan.  Sometimes when I see him out of the corner of my eye, walk by me through the house, I think he IS Ethan.  He thinks he’s trouble but I tell him no way is he ever trouble.  Curious and busy?  Yes, but that is a sign of his bright mind…..this weekend he decided to make himself a perfect pot of rice, and he did just that.  Following a youtube video made by a professional chef, he made rice.  When it was done, he packed it into a buttered teacup, and tipped it over onto a plate.  As it was in a domed shape, he put a pat of butter on top to melt through, salt and pepper, and then pushed his spoon in to take a bite…..he shared one with me!  And it WAS perfect.

He also determined to use his allowance to purchase a pair of sunglasses, which I find him lovingly polishing in the kitchen with Windex.

Because they are like mirrors.

We found out last week that yes, as suspected, Sarah Joy has hydronephrosis of her right kidney, the very same one that the Doctor had to clean stones from.  So the doctor thinks that the stones were possibly caused by a blockage somewhere in her kidney which causes it to not drain properly (and collect fluid, rather like a stagnant pond, he says).  This would be a satisfying explanation of her kidney stone woes.  Of course, knowing this (as of last wednesday) means she will have further testing done to see what to do next.  I have had time to process and we are all in hopeful spirits and I have been able to, by the grace of God, not wrap her up in bubble wrap and keep her in my arms at all times.  She’s allowed to be as wild and free as her siblings………  🙂

Dave kept a walking stick with him.  Or maybe it was a sword?  Regardless, we did see frog eggs and talk about how we hope they survived last weekend’s snow and freezing temperatures.  Will the frog population be down?

Jesus is the Source of Living Water….water is so refreshing and satisfies thirst….we can’t help but think of Him even as we walk along the trails in the forest.  A Bible word study on water is always fascinating….and google makes it oh so easy now.

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

I think this might be witch hazel coming into bloom?

“I want to take a nap here!” ~Sarah

Then I got a text!  It said that Seth had practice at 3!  And it was 2:10!  And Rich was gone on a 10 day business trip!  Oh, what to do?  I had already spent the MORNING at the baseball complex for Caleb’s practice.  I was out in the woods!  *sigh*  David wanted to turn and go in a straight line home but Sarah and I wanted to go around a longer way.  He said, “I can’t leave you unprotected in the woods.”  but then he said, “Bye” when Sarah and I started going the other way, our way!  And I said, “You said you couldn’t leave us unprotected in the woods!” and that is when he smiled and I took his picture.

Sarah is a photographer!  She told me just what to do and say for my photo.  “Smile like this” (shows teeth).  “Say Cheese” (clicks)  “Good.  Say it again.” (clicks picture).  “Good.”

“You’re a natural photographer, Sarah!” ~ me

She was dismayed several times on the walk.  1) when she walked through water and got her sneakers wet through to her sock.  2) a stick scrubbed her leg.  3) a briar scratched her.

To make getting back home faster and easier, I carried her across the swampy parts.  There was no one to take a picture of THAT.  She was quite heavy, as she is now a big *almost 6 year old* and tall for her age.  We both said “oomph” a lot.

Guess what?

I drove to the field just in time for practice with Seth, Caleb, and Sarah, and no one was there.  It had been cancelled.

We enthusiastically hummed, and drummed our hands on the car seats, all the way home.