Making room for the new

My violets have been in desperate need of trimming off the old blossoms and dead leaves, and I finally got around to it this week. You know those tasks you keep rewriting to the next day's to do list? Now I can officially mark it off. As I was pulling the dead leaves off one of my larger plants, my daughter asked me something like, "Mama, why you pull those off?" It must have seemed strange to her to see her mama pulling leaves off a plant after all the lectures she's heard about looking and not touching, being careful with flowers, etc.

"I have to pull off the dead stuff to make room for the new", I replied. 

Then I thought about my response more, and marveled at how true that is in all of my life. How many times have I heard God say lately, "You need to clean out the old stuff, so you can make room for the new seasons I'm bringing you".  Any gardener would laugh at the thought of that African Violet tenaciously clinging to it's dead blossoms despite the promise of new, fresh blossoms and baby leaves.

Yet, how often do I hold on to stuff, memories, old dreams, etc despite God's whispers to me of new seasons with new life.  

As we prepare for our next little one to arrive this year, my mind automatically starts wondering about space.  Where will they sleep? Where am I going to fit his/her clothes? How do I keep track of multiple sizes of diapers? Though I haven't gotten it done yet, I've mentally been making a list of areas that need to be cleaned out and stuff donated so I can fit in our new blessing. And not just 'stuff'', but there is a letting go of activities or old manners of doing things as our family grows.   I've been volunteering at Good News Club at the Elementary school for 6 or 7 years, and my littles have attended with me. But with our new addition coming, I've said farewell to that season.

While there may be grief in letting go of the old, there is also excitement in looking forward to the new. 

Without winter there couldn't be spring. Without a seed giving of itself, we could not have fresh growth. I've been processing what it means to minimize what is not essential, so I can maximize space and time for those people and activities we love most. I have so far to go, so don't look to me for solutions. If anyone has this all figured out, please share your ideas in the comments. :-)

And while it may be a slow process to trim away my old blossoms, I look forward to the new seasons promised me. 

May your seconds feel like minutes and your minutes like hours......

As I sat and rocked her...again...all while wishing I was the one to be heading to bed, I began thinking of this moment.  This perfect moment. Her warm body snuggled to me as we rocked in the antique chair passed on by great grandparents, never mind that her leg hurt or I was anxious to head to bed myself.  In that moment, it was just us. Her soft breath on my neck as she slept on my shoulder, unaware of her leg pain anymore.  And in that moment, I wanted the seconds to feel like minutes, and the minutes like hours......so when that time is gone I could hold on to that moment.

You don't have to tell me how fast time will go. It feels like only yesterday that she was my baby (I often tease her that I'm going to squish her up again to be my baby because she is too big), but yet it feels like tomorrow she will already graduate high school.  You never seem to understand your own parents' sentimentalism until you have your own children.


One of the reasons I love my husband is his sense of urgency with time.  Having lost his sister and dad too early, and lost contact with different close1 friends, he doesn't take time with those closest for granted. He is very aware of not letting anything take him away from our family, and very mindful of being intentional with the moments with our kiddos. At this moment, he's out working in the yard with his little shadow, whose heart was crushed when she thought she may not be able to join him. 

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Time waits for no one. I don't take any day for granted with these little ones, for I know none are guaranteed.


I read or heard once about someone who rocked their baby just one minute longer or snuggled just one minute more for they knew that season would soon be over and they would hold to those moments.  Psalm 90:12 (NIV) says "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."

Today, lets be intentional.  Let's hug one more time, call just because, "be" in the moment, and reach out again.

May your seconds feel like minutes and your minutes like hours...so when that time is gone, you can hold on to that moment.....and know you spent it well.

When your dreams for others feel as elusive as the promise of Spring.

This past weekend we had a blizzard...yes, a full on record breaking blizzard with over a foot of snow dumped in one day. Yet, the calendar says it's spring. My heart is anxiously waiting...

I have hopes to for my little ones, dreams for their future, hopes for their character. Sometimes, those dreams can feel as elusive as my hope for spring. But I must remember that good things start small. If someday I hope for them to wash the dishes along side me, today I must submit to water spilled on the floor, dirty dishes "washed" and placed still dirty in the drain rack, and a constant begging for more water, more soap, and the other scrub brush while she stands next to me to "help".   I wait....

The snow covers my dreams of spring, and makes me anxious for how planting will happen next month. I wait....

But I must remember to look for the 'spring' moments mixed in with the waiting. Though her "But I don't want to!" and her pushing her brother show me her rebellious nature, her "I'm sorry, mama. Please forgive me for not listening to you" shows me her heart softening. She may kick, scream, or protest when she doesn't get her way, but she is one of the first to show compassion when you are sick, to pray for Jesus to heal you, and to pray for the sirens we hear. Spring is coming.

"While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” Genesis 8:22 ESV   It is promised. We won't be stuck in an endless winter.

"Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6 NIV

Whatever your elusive dream is for your child, friend, or loved one, trust that God is working. The spring blizzard may come and all may be buried under 13 inches of snow, but spring will come. The best things start small. As you wait, pray and patiently do your part to model and instruct, God is working to bring forth His new work.  He has blooms and blossoms planned out that we cannot dream of on our own. And one day, the snow will melt away and we'll see the fruit of our prayers, investment......and waiting.

Spring will come.