There are two doors. I was passing by the other after I had called them for dinner and caught this stacking up in the corner of my eye yesterday. Though I no doubt miss many of these moments, this preciousness caught me. Then this morning I realized I had taken a picture of their three older siblings a little earlier in the day.

We had just finished a biology lesson. We take this subject outdoors as much as possible while studying botany especially. Under trees and beside flowers the books come to life. They were having all these aha moments yesterday, “I never thought of fruit as a ripened ovary!” etc. I smiled wide to myself the way this life language was filling their minds & imaginations, and how it would serve them if they let it. I wanted to capture them there so they climbed up into this tree together for me.

More often these days the three oldest and three youngest are divided into groups like this, and I’m doing what I can to both roll with and be intentional about it, but mostly I’m just in awe. And what I’m really thunderstruck about lately? The way everything changes. Relationships too, they change, if they have any life in them at all. That’s what we want, life. Yet life can be disturbing sometimes can’t it?

Never quite knowing when change will slip just past the point of recognition we need treasure every day and not despise it when the change comes, because life is meant to change, the flower’s ovaries are meant to ripen, moments are meant to be cherished and released. 

And as we loosen our grip, I know we’ll find our hands filled again. As I write that I have this image of hands in living water flowing over, past, and through, and it made me think of this image I accidentally captured while on a walk yesterday. 

I know life doesn’t always feel like we are stretching our hands into living water rushing past and over, refreshing or enlivening. It’s more like we feel life is rushing past and over us. So I think it’s up to us to believe the truth about the story. To see the truth about the story.

Homeschooling a couple boys through high school, a gal through junior high, and three more in elementary is where I live lately. It’s a good place and gives me many opportunities to practice this seeing I ache for.

My heart, mind, hands are all indeed full. It requires a lot of choosing the art and responsibility of filling myself with goodness, truth, and beauty so that I have goodness, truth, and beauty to give. This looks like a lot of reading and walking and listening to podcasts that teach, challenge, inspire, and encourage me. It looks like getting enough sleep and enough quiet in the morning before embarking upon the fullness of the day too. This all challenges me.

A few months ago I kept having this phrase, “hold the miracle”, lace through my days and conversations. It felt urgent to rehearse the lessons learned, the truths treasured over the last few years. So I began writing in more earnest again, away from my blog or social media. It’s been filling me up as well and I’m hopeful to share it in book form some day in the future with you all too.

Until then, for all those reasons and more this is a short post to say hello. I am grateful for all of you who read what I share here, who are growing with me, struggling with me, treasuring with me, having aha moments together is one of my favorite things. Thank you. How are you living and seeing lately? Aha moments? Tell me about them.

So much Love,

Raynna
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“The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.” —J.R.R. Tolkien