Grass greener...it's SIMPLE...it's not

Yes just another...and when I say that another one bites the dust I truly  mean that.  We have a neighborhood where we have all lived for over 20 years. 

Within the last six months in our cul-de-sac two of the father's that have been married for over 25 years have left their families. Yes I said left...as in grab some things and walked out the front door.  
Without going too deep and trying to keep this simple their explanations were that they were not happy.  WOW...

So I started thinking about the things that make me happy because I guess as a mom, wife and daughter, friend to many sometimes it's hard when you stop for that brief moment to stop and think...what is HAPPY?? 

In my 33 years of marriage it has rarely crossed my mind whether I am happy or not. 
So what is happy...got me to thinking...

It's the simple things...warm shower in the morning...the birds singing on a spring day...soft rainfall...lightning and thunder...time with my kids...my grandsons smile...laughter...the dog's greeting me in the morning...a great glass of tea...ride through the countryside...a beautiful sunset...a fire...planting flowers...a phone call from my daughter...my husbands love notes...his kiss in the morning...reading on a rainy day...sitting in the library with a stack of books...just waking up and feeling good...omgoodness

And I could go on and on...

My heart just breaks for each of these families and most of all for the kids as they will wrestle with some uncomfortable feelings for a few years and hopefully at some point can come to grips with the father's and what they have done.  

It is the simple things that make you happy...I believe!

So soak up the goodness where you are and love your wife and love your children and the simple goodness that surrounds you and stop wondering about the grass looking greener on the other side, because it rarely is.  

Celebrate...make it simple

cel·e·bra·tion  /ˌseləˈbrāSHən/Noun

1)  The action of marking one's pleasure at an important event or occasion by engaging in enjoyable, typically social activity.

 Celebrations are what keep us attuned to what fills our hearts with gladness and gratitude.  We should celebrate our celebrations. Making this harder than it has to be can take our joy from our hearts.  Delighting in God, people and these experiences enriches our lives and gives us thankfulness and a joy that  fills our hearts. 

I am always surprised when we have to make our celebrations so planned and perfect.  Celebration's should be everyday and celebrate in the small ways.  

Savoring life's simple pleasures and joys and savoring the goodness in the here and now.  

Take an opportunity to celebrate today.  Tomorrow may be too late.

 

  

Plain and Simple Life is a FULL Life... Proverbs 13:7

I sit tonight on this day of rest, listening to the roll of thunder, the crack of lightning and the rain falling on our tin roof.  It's a precious sound that we have not often heard in the past couple of years.  It brings with it the new beginning of so much.  Today my daffodils showed there beautiful yellow petals and I am always thrilled when they emerge from the hard winter ground.  It signals to me that we are preparing for another one of my favorite times of the year.  
As I reflect on my day that seemed very simple I feel most fulfilled by the simplicity of the daily things that I do.  I seek comfort in knowing that on this day I will worship with my friends and then return home, with no rush to have to be anywhere or go anywhere.  Today we did our leisure walk with our dogs. We walk together when we can and have been doing this for over 20 years.  It's a very simple act of spending time together and sharing and also getting our dogs out and breathing in the fresh air and enjoying fellowship with those that we encounter on the way.  

 I truly believe that God offers us the gift of his peace not only in the wonderful most exceptional times of our lives but also in the ordinary simple daily moments that we share with ourselves and others. This peace is our gift that he hopes our soul can achieve with the simplicity of life.  We must listen to our lives and get that peace.  Remembering that the simple life is also a full life.  God says so.

Not So Big Life

This is the reason I should not be allowed to stay up late...

Not So Big Life… Trying to live a more sustainable and simple life.  Notice patterns in your own life, cyclical periods that you ride in your life year after year.  Stay tuned into the plan that God has for you.  Pay attention to what God places before you.  He would like for you to be an observer.  If you live the life of a student you are always looking and observing the simple things in your life. 

When you are in tune with the plan that God has for you the plan for you begins to work.  You go and observe the simple patterns in life. You have to tune out all the mind noise that fills your life.  Your mind noise could be different from what others have but the normal noise is TV, radio, computer, negativity from you or from others and anything that sucks your concentration away from the simple things. BE HERE NOW in this moment…taking the time to live in the simple moment.  Like pushing a pause button and let the noise slip away. 

We are guided toward the light, it’s a simple notion and it’s the way we are wired and we feel engaged in this.  Everything is a reflection.  Feeling good about your home, family, friends, relationships and yourself helps you to become more engaged with your life.  When you change the outside the inside starts to change and when you change the inside the outside starts to change.

Often we keep repeating things in our lives if we look back.  You must be present in your life and live in the now.  You really don’t realize how much your own heart is part of this planet and the heart of all others.  You must always realize what God is putting on your heart and you become engaged you realize that God is asking you to become more engaged by a moment by moment plan.  We are incredible people on this planet and we must start looking inward.  WE must do a new life design on us.  This will cause you to be more engaged in your life.  Taking what God is giving you and realize that we need to take this gift and see certain situations with a different attitude.   Things are always changing and so by embracing that change and how to think about life differently this can be done at any age.  This realization can change your life forever. 

You might think about making a shift in your life pattern and this is the part of the simple living in our lives.  We need to stop putting things off. Life is the experiencing of the experience.  You don’t have to be figuring out everything that happens next.  It will be figured out for you since life happens. Chill out and calm down and you can figure out that things will happen.  Remember that we are all just people and that you can do things differently.  God has a plan and you don’t need to have a BIG LIFE to have a life.  

 It’s the not so big life we are after.

Easy Does It

Love those mornings when you wake up without the external stimulation and you just let your body wake to it's own peacefulness.  It's not like I sleep my life away as I feel there is time for sleeping one day in the eternal life.  Don't get me wrong I DO feel that there is point of appropriate sleep for body healing and well being.  But I do cherish those mornings when my body just awakes when it wants too.  

Today is a blessed day for me and starts off with the best part first.  I got to spend the morning with our grandson while his mother did a little working from home.  Just holding him while he falls asleep and singing softly to him is the highlight to the day.  Life is SO wonderful and such a gift to us all.  To be healthy and cherish the days we feel good enough to get ourselves out of bed and move forward with each beautiful day that we are given. 

I called this day an easy does it day because I tend on my days off to run at full speed and not embrace the life I "aspire to acquire" which is the take life slow and cherish the moments.  But today I not only have embraced the day but I have my arms around this day with a full circle hug and I am not going to let the busyness take me where I don't need to go.  

I went and had my hair done with Maddie and she is my artist of a hair dresser.  Anyone that can make this "kitten fuzz" look a bit better is my hero.  She does amazing work and let me tell you her head massage knocks me out.  She is an artist with magic fingers and appreciate her more than she will ever know although I tell her everytime. 

I slipped by my daughter's, and my new favorite coffee shop, the Friendly Bean and picked up a raspberry mocha.  Because the day is dark and a bit dreary with the smell of snow in the air this elevated my mood and the rush of caffeine and sugar accelerated my pace just a bit.  

Deciding that the afternoon will be spent reading and doing a bit of laundry is so comforting to my heart.  Not sure that I can say enough how the joys of the little things bring comfort to my heart.  As I begin the weekend a little earlier than most I feel blessed.  Easy does it...

Reality TV what makes it work?? LOVE

Finding myself mesmerized and fascinated by two reality TV shows.  One is Huny Boo Boo and the other is Duck Dynasty.  On face value you find these ridiculous and almost an insult to your intelligence.  As you delve deeper into the craziness and whimsical behavior you and millions maybe even billions of others find some substance in these lives.  What I have concluded is that Loving Relationships can change your lives.  We all seek that kind of love. Here are a few of the observations that I have made about these shows that I feel might draw us in.  They are a families that feel as though everyone is trustworthy, and emotionally available.  They are physically available and show up and give the gift of their time, especially to the grandparents and the children.  They are considerate when they respond to one another and want  the best for the others.  They are quick to repair conflict and apologize and are have humor when doing so.  They seem to do self reflection and they state that they learn and change from the situations or relationships that are going on around them.  And the most important thing that I have determined about these families is that they LOVE one another and it seems to unconditional.  WE are created to live our lives practically and simply reflecting Christ and his love for God and others. 

We all need to invite this true family fellowship into our lives and respond to the love of Christ with all our hearts, minds and souls, and to love our neighbor as our self.  They are taking the message out to the world that so desperately needs love, joy, peace, justice and to be loved and cherished.  
It's another SIMPLE life message. 

March...Spring is coming...garden time..grandbaby time

Crazzy weather...and its almost time for spring cleanup and planting.  Last Friday we broke record temps with 84 degrees and the next day the temperature dropped 40 degrees to a high of 45 for the day.  The hot day allowed the snow outside on the drive that was piled up to about 5 feet to melt and we are thankful for that. Love the snow and appreciate when it  falls but after it sits around for a month and gets dirty and nasty it is always nice to see it melt off.  

We are enjoying time with family and friends and most importantly with our grandson Leeman Murphy.  He is a JOY and we are overwhelmed by his growing up SO fast.  I have decided we are going to document the time we spend with him so that he can one day look back and know how much he has meant to his papa and I and the JOY he brought to our family and lives.  
We do enjoy the simple pleasures of life and are thankful for the time we spend with our children on Sunday afternoons. It's always nice to have them over for a late lunch and early dinner.  Tonight as the rain and sleet falls gently outside coating the ground and trees in a light glaze of of icing we are warm and safe with a fire going eating roasted popcorn and sweet tea. 
                                   
 Let the week begin.  

Here are the pics of the sweet grandbaby.