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He is Risen!

April 12, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 1 Comment

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth shall be able to separate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom.8:29

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

I’ve been thinking……….

March 31, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth Leave a Comment

Ever have one of those days or weeks where you ‘re just lost inside your own dreamy head? And you can’t sleep or remember the last 3 pages of the book you just read? And you eat but you’re not satified? Nothings’ wrong but nothings’ quite right either. A weird sort of holding pattern where everything seems paramount and futile all at the same time.

Yeah? Me too. So I thought I’d jot my thoughts down….in hopes that telling you will help me sort them out.

1. I have a ba-jillion home projects soaring around in my head. Yes, a ba-jillion I said. Painting and cleaning and purging and calling all manner of laborers in to help. As the projects jump and flit around in my head like popcorn popping , I……hesitate. I go to Lowe’s and can’t decide on a paint color. I walk in circles in my house and decide that maybe doing nothing is better than a ba-jillion things. It’s all wrong but it’s so pleasantly right. I’m completely content and at once slightly restless.

2. I have my sister on my heart. She’s recovering from surgery and seeing her ‘incapacitated’ , albeit for a short time, has caused some angst. Maybe it reminds me of my own mortality. Maybe seeing the worry in Elea’s eyes ruffled my mother hen feathers a bit. I wish I could protect those I love from pain. I felt keenly emotional when I saw her lying there helpless in her hospital bed. I’d move mountains for that girl. If she needed me, I wouldn’t flinch…or hesitate….I’d just go. I want her to be with me always.

3. I’m in a homeschooling ‘tizzy’. I want to finish with a bang and there’s so much fun stuff to learn and do. And just thinking about next year makes me giddy. We’ll be studying medieval times. Oh the projects we’ll do and the books we’ll read and the poems we’ll memorize. Just for kicks, I’m rereading The Well Trained Mind. That Susan Wise Bauer is one amazing woman. How can she have accomplished that much already in life? What have I been doing while she published all these books and taught at the university and homeschooled four children? I feel so ‘behind’…….like I shoulda been doing this all along. And then the heaviness comes. Will I continue to feel isolated? Will my girls continue to respect me as their teacher? Are they getting what they need? Will there be a shortage of bubble gum? This is what haunts me at 1:30 in the morning.

4. Taylor’s graduation has me carrying around a heavy heart burden. I wish you could know him. He’s funny and kind and respectful and gentle. He believes in truth and has been unafraid to stand in a crowd that so easily loses its way. I get lost in the memories of his life. I fight back tears. I let them flow. I sit in his room and wander how I will manage without his steady predictable presence in my life. But then I quickly dry the wet hot face and think of invitations and scrapbooks and parties and videos. There happens to be a lot of work to do. And wet hot tears do not beget productivity. At least not for me.

5. Then there’s this whole comment/no-comment thing. It has me befuddled. There are less than two weeks left in Lent. It has been a time of retreat and reflection for me. I had no idea that I needed your kind words and interaction so much and I have really missed the ‘conversation’. I’m so looking forward to our reunion but I needed this period of ‘detachment’. To remind me that technology is not neutral. It has consequences and we should be aware of them. Reading the book Amusing Ourselves to Death shed some light on this for me. We are a culture addicted to distraction. I think I see the line in the sand now. I need to write. And I love sharing my journey with you but I must stay vigilant to keep it in its’ rightful place in my life. Technology worships images and speed and is not often conducive to demanding intellectual and spiritual disciplines. It cannot replace serious bible reading and study and should not trump my attempt to educate myself with classical literature. That said, I am so thankful for delightful people I have met and the way you all inspire me to higher creative pursuits and to an authentic yet simply lived life.

6. Holy Week is fast approaching. I plan to take the week off from blogging to focus on Christ’s passion and to teach my children about the events in Christ’s life during Holy Week. If I do post, it’ll be related to that. I find myself marveling at the breadth of His love for us. I wallow in guilt at how I have repeatedly and unabashedly abused His mercy in my life and I fall on my face and beg His forgiveness. He tells me that He remembers my sin no more. That His atonement has covered me. I rest in His promises. And stand in awe at my Father’s grace.

I am never alone.

So there you have it. Life inside a crazy woman’s head in the wee hours of the morning. Surely you have days like this………you do, right?

comments closed for Lent

On your mark, get set, write……

March 13, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth Leave a Comment

This computer screen, with all manner of half finished posts, is taunting me.

I think this ‘no comments’ thing is messin’ with my head. First, I notice that I’m a little ‘detached’ from blog world. Not in a bad way, but just, well, detached. Then I notice that I sit in front of the computer to write and……..nothing.

I got nothin’.

I mean, I got lots of stuff floating around in this blond little head-o-mine, but it is not coming out easily. I’ve started six posts in the last week that I haven’t finished. And that is so unlike me. I usually can’t narrow it down to just one topic, but for some reason, I’ve lost my mo-jo. So, until Stella gets her groove back, you’ll just have to enjoy my week in pictures.

And as you will see, I have no shortage of inspiration. What is wrong with me??

My grass seed is starting to sprout….and should be full and luscious by Easter.

My tomatoes and herbs are growing like weeds too…..I hope it gets warm soon, so these little babies can go outside.

I’ve been teaching my pupils everything from contractions to the story of Romulus and Remus and filling up these bookshelves with a few more C.S. Lewis books. I’ll soon start The Great Divorce. Read it with me and we’ll discuss.

I’ve been baking brownies and eating grapefruits and reading The Autobiography of Ben Franklin.

I’ve been mistreating my windows with some be-yoo-tee-ful linen fabric…..

and continuing my quest to spray paint everything white. Please, if you love me at all, spray paint something white this weekend. Spring will thank you.

And I’ve even been doin’ a little smoochin’…….

and bread bakin’…….

and gazing at this gorgeous set of handmade, hand-turned wooden salt and pepper mills. Thank you Uncle Troy. Surely they will inspire some writing worthy to be read.

and last but not least……. I have TULIPS! I have tulips and books and grass and basil and one smoochy husband and four delightful children. SO WHY DO I STARE BLANKLY AT THE COMPUTER SCREEN? I do not know. But until my mo-jo or my groove returns, I’m gonna keep painting and baking and reading.

And maybe soon I’ll finish that post on infant baptism…..or that one on strong-willed children….or that update on my new year’s resolutions.

Or maybe I’ll just become a photography blogger.

comments closed for Lent

February 28, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth Leave a Comment

This post has no other purpose but to show you this cute red bird that Lyndsay designed for me…which Steve has informed me is a tree swallow, the best he can tell. I’m working on a post on the subject ‘God’s Law and God’s Gospel’….which I hope to have ready this weekend. Comments will be open for that post so get your typing hands ready. Hope you’re having a fantastical Friday.

Your friend and the goddess of hearth and home,

Hestia

https://www.lifeingraceblog.com/2009/02/219/

Wanted: loving and experienced guardian angel

January 27, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 13 Comments

The day has come. She’s leaving and I can’t stop it. She’s promises that since she’s only moving an hour away, it’ll still be the same. And in some ways, I know she’s right. But the comfort of having her here right beside me has been one of life’s sublime blessings for me. And since I’ve always called her my guardian angel, I tell myself that God must think I’m ‘okay’ for now…..and He must have another someone for her to nurture and protect. I beg to differ. But when I saw that big moving truck pull into my cozy little cul-de-sac, I knew it was time to face the music.

Long story short, I even procrastinate grief. Elea said to me yesterday with teary eyes, “But Ms. Donna has known me my whole life.” Yeah, and you’re one lucky girl to be able to say that. So after a nice lunch with her and Sue and Lenna, we decided that we’re not really gonna say goodbye. We’re just gonna continue our friendship and pretend fifty miles is of no consequence. And it isn’t….really. But there’s a whole host of things that run through my mind that will change. That distance necessarily changes. Whether we want it to or not. I am not quite prepared for those yet. So I agree to not saying goodbye. Not yet.

Good thing my blogging meeting is upcoming. I’ll be on the lookout for a new guardian angel. And boy will those be big wings to fill. Someone who will call me and leave me sweet messages that say ‘Just wanted you to know I love you and am thinking about you’. Or someone who will teach me how to text….and then send me love notes about about how beautiful my Christmas decorations are . Or someone who laughs at all my musings. Someone who will be to me as Christ-like as is possible here on earth. Or someone who thinks I have great kids. And make a killer mocha cake. Someone who will always to be ready to lend an ear, a hand, a cup of sugar, and a free nursing assessment. It’s a tall order I know. If you’d like the job, I’m taking applications and checking references. You should know ahead of time that I’m a complete mess and not easy to keep between the lines. But I reward those who care for me with food….so it’s not a bad trade-off.

So Donna……I’ll see you in 2 weeks. Mocha cake in hand. And thank you for showing us your true colors.

I have this song on my iPod and listened to it as I ran this morning…..and cried my little weary eyes out. It was interrupted at one point by a message from Country Girl that said “I love and am thinking about you today”. God doesn’t waist anytime in recruiting angels.

I’m gettin’ my ‘stretch’ on……

January 24, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 9 Comments

Don’t mind me. I’m just gonna practice my resizing skillz in photobucket…….

My little baby Grace is not a baby anymore….

I know you’re gonna think I’m biased, but Taylor’s band has a new CD out….which is not yet available for purchase…but which I have downloaded onto my iPod…..oh.my.word. It is fantastic. I love ‘running’ to it. It’s hard to believe that it’s someone I know and love….let alone my own son. Very surreal!

Caiti and her dear sweet friend Morgan. Caiti and I raced each other in some dandy indoor go-carts. I put up a mean fight, but she took me down. I saw her texting her victory to a friend who replied to her, “What are doing at Fun Expedition racing go-carts with your mom on Friday night?”

My little ballerinas…

My mantle….which won a day of glory at Christmas….is feeling a little sad and undecorated. What should I do to it next? Although really, I do kinda like it just like this. Maybe I’ll paint it. Who knows.

The girls had to make up a sentence using the homonyms ant/aunt and deer/dear. Here’s what they came up with.

As you know, I’ve hit a little rough patch in the homeschooling. This is Stevie looking for ‘help’ for me on the board at Waffle House. I must really seem desperate. Very thoughtful though.

Maybe my favorite picture of Emme….which took up a whole page originally and then when I resized it smaller…..turned out like this.

Yeah, now I have to limit the TV time of the new puppy. He LOVES watching the Dog Whisperer.

So help a girl out….I set these photos to all be the same size and yet they turn out so different. Why? I ask you, why? It seems that the ones I’ve cropped alot beforehand come out to be way bigger. Any photobucket experts out there? I hate for ya to have to scroll for 10 minutes to look at one picture. Wonder if I just resize it smaller if it’s been previously cropped? However, the few times I’ve tried that, it makes the picture tiny. Enquiring minds want to know.