Small mercies

Remember my weekend theme of quiet and contemplation?

Yesterday I received a small gift. Tim signed up for a photography class, which means I'll get every Wednesday night alone, quiet, at home for 4 weeks in June and July. Yeah! Amazing how things work out.

Just when I'm thinking I need some more quiet in my life, I get it in a pretty easy way. I'd like to be purposeful in my use of those hours, but I've got a couple weeks to think about it.

Wonderful!

Life

Have I made my marriage sound perfect? I sure hope not, because it isn't. But I made a decision when I started this blog that I wouldn't write nasty stuff about people in my life...or crazy drivers I encounter...or weird ladies in the grocery store line...unless that would be a funny story. :-)

I just didn't want to air my dirty laundry.

This week the truth of how many people in my life are hurting has been renewed in my mind. A friend newly diagnosed with cancer, my dad is sick, hurting marriages, dating friends breaking up, struggles with kids, parents, families. There is so much hurting in the world.

Sure wish I could do more to help, but I know those struggles aren't my burden to carry. Except in prayer and love given. Those things I can do.

If you haven't noticed, I write about me. Me! I guess that's what a lot of blogs are about. I just want to make sure my life isn't all about me. I know there's a time and a place for protecting my own space and energy, focusing on the things that will help give me peace, but I also want to be sure I'm giving away enough of me.

Balance. It's all about balance.

A theme

Contemplation. Quiet. Time alone.

It seemed there was a theme to my weekend. Saturday morning was filled with quiet, and I loved it. Sunday morning I woke up wishing I could have a day of absolute quiet in each week, and how could I accomplish that. In addition, I was scheming about how to glean for myself a whole week of quiet sometime this summer or fall. All this was roiling about in my head when I went to church on Sunday and...the message was about contemplation, quiet, and time alone with God.

A divinely inspired theme!

So, it seems all signs are pointing toward more quiet in my life. How can I achieve this? What do I need to adjust in my life? Which things should I sluff off, and what things should I just rearrange? Is it merely a need to be more purposeful?

I'll give this some thought and experiment a little over the next couple weeks. The idea of more quiet sounds wonderful, as does the idea of living each day with a little more purpose, both in what I do and don't do.

Isn't it great to have a goal higher than just getting the laundry done? :-)

Weekend

It has been a good one. In such a quiet way.

I washed clothes and dishes. I put together a no-cook meal for hubby and me. I enjoyed a very quiet Saturday morning at home.

And now Sunday's here, and it will be filled with people I love. The sun is shining, there's a picnic I might go on, and I got to sleep in. What could be more lovely?

Look what I made!

I'm so proud...because aren't they cute?

Free day

I have a Saturday just for me! Nothing scheduled except a phone conversation with a great friend many miles away, and a walk with another friend. The sun is shining, Tim is out of the house, my kittie is napping, and I have nothing I have to do!

Granted, my to-do list is quite long, but I think today I'll ignore it and do just what I want. Not sure what that is, but over this steaming, sweet mug of tea I'll figure that out.

Maybe I'll weed and start my vegetable garden. Maybe I'll finish The Bonesetter's Daughter. Maybe I'll write book reviews for my long-neglected book blog. The day is wide open with the lovely possibility of long, quiet hours.

Wonderful!

Words

Isn't the ambiguity of words a strange thing? In English, we have some very precise words, and yet when they are read they can connote very different meanings to different readers, and particularly different nuances from what the writer intended. I find this fascinating, especially in this particular time of humanity when so much of how we communicate is through written words - e-mails, texts and blogs!

I don't think I'll do this very often, but I feel like backtracking from what I wrote last time...or at least saying something more about it. I'll make it short, though.

I'm pretty sure my last blog adequately conveyed this tough time of the year for me, but I don't think I communicated just how buoyed and encouraged I was feeling, particularly by the fun and joy of beautiful music. That's really what I wanted to share. How those strains filling my house seemed to fill my heart with a little bubble of happiness.

Thanks, though, to all of you who in the past week have shared with me your love and care. It touched me and buoyed me up even more! ?