Cherry Blossoms

In 1912, a gift of 3020 Cherry Blossom Trees were given to the United States from the Japanese to be planted in Washington, D.C.  In 1935, the annual Cherry Blossom Festival was created to celebrate the friendship between the two nations and to draw attention to the trees’ beauty as they blossom.

As a kid, I always thought that being in DC during the festival would be one of the most romantic, beautiful places to be.  However, growing up in Nebraska made the possibility of attending a near impossibility.  Every year, though, throughout college, early marriage, and raising kids, I’d watch the news reports and pictures of the festival.  When we moved to the northeast, it became within range of thought that some day I could attend in person.  Each Spring, however, it was never the right timing for our family, or we didn’t have the funds to be able to travel to DC.

This year, I saw that dream realized.  My dear husband called me from work to tell me that he had heard that the trees were in bloom (a full 3 weeks ahead of schedule due to the extremely mild winter) and that I should take off with the kids the next morning to travel down to see them.

So, at 6am the next day, I loaded our van with my 3 younger kids to take a 6 hour drive to Washington, D.C.  Along with our luggage were my hopes, expectations, and dreams.

We arrived in DC around 2pm and stayed walking among the trees until 5pm.  It was a relatively short period of time, but an emotionally long time in coming.

What I didn’t realize until we were on our journey was that this was the 100th anniversary of the planting of the trees.  Once we arrived, we noticed scores of Japanese media filming the events, people, and scenery.

My observations:

* The effect of 1,000s of simultaneously flowering trees is staggering.
* The backdrop of our nation’s monuments is picturesque.
* The sheer number of people who swarm to the Potomac basin to walk among the trees is absolutely overwhelming.  I’m guessing that we chose the busiest time of day to visit. It certainly wasn’t the peaceful, romantic vision of my youth.  It is quite a commercial, port-a-potty-laden, energy-driven event.

I’m not complaining in the least.  It was an amazing fulfillment of a lifetime of hoping and dreaming.  I just would plan to visit a little differently if I ever get the chance again.  A pre-dawn walk or a visit right at dusk would probably be the perfect time to soak in the peaceful element of the natural display.  As it was, we got quite a few lovely pictures.

Besides the trees, we got to surprise my eldest at her university on the way home.  She didn’t know that we were in DC, nor that we would be traveling right through Philadelphia on our way home.  We scheduled a Skype visit with her at a determined time, knowing that she would have to return to her dorm to do so, and were standing outside her dorm when she came back from class.  It was such a delight to surprise her, take her to lunch, and spoil her with yogurt and pastries.

There are so many memories created from living in the northeast, and this right at the top of the list!!

Spring Once Again

Scenes from my backyard.

And the crazy thing is, until my kids and I dedicated our morning to getting the backyard weeded, raked, and cleaned up, I hadn’t even seen the quiet beauty of it all.

It was a distraction to the busy-ness of wrapping up another school year.
It was the weight of guilt of a project uncompleted.
It was the regret of not having started veggies and herbs from seed this year.
It represented a part of me to which I couldn’t tend.

And then we started cleaning.  Mowing.  Raking.  Weeding.  Blowing leaves. Trimming trees.  Laying mulch.  The process of reclaiming part of what is yours – part of your territory.  When we stepped back to see our work, what was left in the wake of energy, arguing, exerting, cleaning, was an representative of the best of nature.  Things we hadn’t noticed before.  Things that were ignored because the path to see them was covered with the product of an area untended.

The effort of reclaiming and purging freed us all to enjoy our backyard again.  It gifted us with excitement about spending time outdoors.  It allowed us to dream of cookouts, fire pits, entertaining, and growing.  It allowed us to recognize spring once again.

Entering Back In

I believe that I am ready to write again.  I’ve spent the first four months of this year really listening to the voice of God, to my family, and to my heart.

I feel more grounded and yet more humbled.
I feel less opinionated and more teachable.
I feel more ignited and stirred.

A handful of the many things I’ve learned:

It is OK to be still.

It is good to listen.

It is equally good to worship with abandon.

A heart of worship overflows to others around, even if they’re not faith-filled.

I hope that today you are able to be still, to listen, and to worship.

Serene Saturdays #34

We are complete again!  Our eldest came home from college on Thursday. Woo hoo!

For us, the holidays will really begin today, as we get to watch my youngest dance in the  Nutcracker.  For over 14 years, we have been attending the Nutcracker to watch one or both of our daughters dance.  This will be the first time we’ve watched the performance with our eldest sitting in the audience with us.

So that I can really focus on my family for the remainder of the holidays, I am not planning on posting this week.  Therefore, I will take this opportunity to say MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!  I hope your holiday is amazing, playful, and replenishing!

This week I am grateful for:

*  Reading aloud with my kids.

*  A furnace that kicks on.

*  Spanish and Art tutors for my kids.

*  A book study with great, wise, and fun ladies.

*  Getting to watch my youngest in the Nutcracker, sitting next to my eldest, my husband, and our dear, dear friend.  Priceless.

Are the Best Things in Life Free?

What do you love that is actually free?

“The best things in life are free.”  This is one of those phrases that parents say to their kids to teach them to value the little things in life or to teach them to be grateful.  Even as adults, we pass this phrase around as if it explains our gratitude for the small things that come our way.

Especially in this holiday season, you’ll probably hear someone say this phrase in reference to spending less on gifts, or in reference to doing volunteer work.

Love.  Memories.  A child’s smile.  Getting a good grade on an exam. Friendship.  A great marriage.  Making it through the first year of a business start-up and living to tell about it!

While each of these may fall into the “best things in life are free” category, I beg to differ with whether or not they are actually free.

I can speak from experience that having a great marriage definitely does not come freely.  It takes commitment, forgiveness, communication and a whole lot of hard work.  Getting a good grade is not a free gift – ask my college daughter going through her first finals week.   Finding the love of your life is a costly proposition for some.  Patience, heartbreak, relational skills, and prayer…

The truth is, anything that is worth something, costs something.

The cost may be intangible, but costly nonetheless.

Dedication. Commitment.  Sacrifice.  Money.  Time.  Tears.  Prayers.  Hope.

Often times the things that don’t have a high monetary value actually require the most work.

When do we value things that truly are free?  Whatever we come by easily or cheaply, we will also value little.  A dandelion inherently has little value compared to a rose because they are so easy to come by.

This holiday season, stop to let the enormity of the “free” things that come your way sink in.  Some cost you a lot financially, and others are precious gifts given to you after years of hard, committed work, after dedication to an ideal or dream, or after years of tending to seeds.  So take a moment to feel, deeply breathe in and wonder at the blessings that you have.

Curbing the Competition

Today, my home is filled with the unbelievably loud antics of my kids playing with each other.  Most of the time it is goofy wrestling (and believe me, that’s not just the boys).  Sometimes it is the made up family game of “Can We Make Them Laugh Hysterically”, with one of my kids who laughs really easily as the main target.  It could also be playing card or board games, playing on the Wii, or any number of activities.

It wasn’t always this way.  Just a few years ago, the kids were constantly operating in strife, angry with each other, so easily offended, and very competitive.

One of the tactics that we employed to end the sibling strife was to cut down on the competition.  One of the phrases that we heard around the house was, “That’s not fair.”  If you hear that statement floating around your house, that is clue that there might be comparison between your kids, and comparison births competition.

As I analyzed where the competition was coming from, I realized that I was treating my children as a group.  When we went anywhere, we went as a group.  If we went grocery shopping, my goal was to get all 4 into the store, get all 4 to keep their hands to themselves, and to have all 4 not screaming at the same time. Keeping them alive, safe, and quiet was a huge task, and thinking of them as one unit instead of four little individuals allowed me to wrap my brain around my overwhelming goal.

I called them my herd.  My herd went in, my herd went out.  My herd went to bed, my herd got up.  For me it meant that each one had been grouped as a collective to make my job easier.

Recognizing this, I started to change the way that I talked and thought.Instead of giving time to the herd, I started pulling each one aside for individual time.  Instead of planning my days with all of them involved in every activity, I started scheduling outings so that I could take just one or a couple with me.

I also started calling them out individually.  Instead of calling them all to dinner, I started by inviting each individually to come.  Instead of assigning a general clean up time, I started assigning specific chores to specific people, listing them out by name.

What each child wants is to feel individual, unique and special.  When you treat them as individuals and focus on each child alone, you’ll be surprised at how much comparison and competition is limited in your family.

I’m not saying that this simple change of thought – from the herd to individuals – will stop all arguing and fussing in your home, but I am suggesting that it is a good place to start.  After all, we like to be thought of us special and contributing something unique to the family.

In the family of God, He knows us.  He says that He knows the number of hairs on our heads (Luke 12:7), that we’re the apple of His eye (Psalm 17:8), and that He will provide for us (Matthew 6:26).   He says that we were wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) and that He knew us before we were born (Jeremiah 1:5).    I could go on and on – the Bible is full of references to how He special He thinks that we are.

Give it a try!  Make a practice of treating your kids, or kids around you, as unique and special individuals, without trying to treat them all equally or the same. Tell me how it makes a difference!

Serene Saturdays #33

Today has been a might busy day.  Lots of errands, Nutcracker/ballet rehearsal drives, and snacks to be purchased.  Tonight I am hosting a Christmas party for the youth of our church.  It won’t be huge…our church is new and only has a handful of youth.  But nonetheless, I have invested a good deal of time getting things ready for tonight.  I am not normally the party hosting go-to person, but I wanted the kids to have a get together of their own, and thought that I had the emotional energy to do this one!

Because my time is short today, this post will be short.  But I still did want to check in to take a moment to reflect and be grateful.  This week I am thankful for:

*  Christmas ornaments that have so many memories attached to them.

*  Christmas music that also stir memories and nostalgia.

*  Silly Christmas videos.

*  Snow globes.