Soul Carving

We fancy that God can only manage His world with battalions, when all the while He is doing it with beautiful babies.  When a wrong wants righting, or a truth wants preaching, or a continent needs opening,  God sends a baby into the world . . . perhaps in a simple home of some obscure mother.  And then God puts the idea into the mother's heart,  and she puts it into the baby's mind.  And then God waits.  The greatest forces in the world are not the earthquakes and thunderbolts.  The greatest forces in the world are babies."  -- E.T. Sullivan

"She had seen their birth and the birth of her love for them as miraculous, but it was just as miraculous when they first smiled, first sat up, first babbled a sound that resembled, of course, mama. The tedious days were filled with miracles. When a baby first looks at you; when it gets excited about seeing a ray of light and like a dog pawing a gleam, tries to capture it with his hand; or when it laughs that deep, unselfconscious gurgle; or when it cries and you pick it up and it clings sobbing to you, saved from some terrible shadow moving across the room, or a loud clang in the street, or perhaps, already, a bad dream: then you are -- happy is not the precise word -- filled." Marilyn French The Women's Room         How can something so precious be so achingly fleeting? I could hold this child forever and it would not be long enough. Each new baby seems to grow faster than the last. Each child seems in such a hurry to catch up to...

      Ever since my first child was born, I've harbored a secret wish. I wished to have a "Mama Chair". Over the years we've owned several second-hand rocking chairs. There was the antique wood and wicker rocker that had belonged to a friends grandma. Such a dainty thing, and though not very comfortable, I loved the idea of rocking on stories! We have an old padded, reclining rocker which, judging from its burnt-orange upholstery and shredded sides, must have once graced a 60's home where several cats made use of it. Its unseemly appearance is redeemed by its coziness and usefulness in late-night feedings and soothings. And there's also the traditional wooden glider with the blue cushions that Richard surprised me with to replace one that had broken right before baby # 3 was due to arrive.        Each of these chairs hold special meaning for me. But as the children have grown and moved into their ow...

       Ever read the novel "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens? Neither have I. But I know part of the story. A poor boy, known as Pip, with no connections to speak of, is granted sponsorship from an anonymous benefactor which allows him, among other things, to study at the University and make something better of his life than he would have otherwise been able to.        In a very real sense, I know my Heavenly Father has great expectations for me -- 6 to be exact. Richard and I found out about 4 months ago that we will soon be blessed with a new addition to our family!  I feel much how I imagine the hero of Dickens' novel must have felt. I saw the two lines on my pregnancy test and initially felt absolute shock. (It's absurd, really. I mean, I wouldn't be taking a test unless I had some suspicion that I might be pregnant, so why am I always so surprised when I see the positive result? I think in part it's because I've known the c...

HAPPINESS IS. . . . . . feeling the smoothness of my baby's cheek next to mine and inhaling his sweet baby smell. If I close my eyes, I can almost believe he's still a newborn. . . . soaking up the warmth of the sun's rays into my Winter-weary skin. If I sit long enough in this pool of light that pours in through the windows, I feel like I'm floating - I'm ascending, getting nearer and nearer to the sun until I start glowing. I become light . . . . suggesting math practice without evoking the tsunami of rage and injustice. "Wait, did you just say, 'Okay'? You mean I can come out from the bomb shelter now and I won't find any debris to clear up?" . . . taking a deep, steadying breath when my little one needs to tell me "one last thing" (for the 3rd time) before they go to sleep. Then the reward for my calm response: a heart-felt, wide-eyed expression of love and gratitude -- "Mama,...

I got wind of a chalk art competition over at the Shops at Riverwoods and thought the children might enjoy seeing the artists at their work. We'd found a wonderful  book by Bill Thomson  which inspired us to create our own chalk drawings. The squirrel (on the left) may have been inspired by this incredible  music video  from Coldplay Stoplights and crosswalk We attended the festival, and at first I was a bit disappointed. Not that the drawings weren't impressive, but, as my husband said, there was a lot of artistic ability without much creativity. We saw mostly Disney characters and Superheroes. I'll admit, Iron Man was pretty awesome. Things started to get a little more interesting. . . But when I saw this one, it took my breath away: The brunette on the left is April and she's the one responsible for this gorgeous work of art.     ...