Come and sit awhile

The anticipation is building as the countdown is now in full swing. The tasks at hand range from short and sweet to drawn out and lengthy. End-of-the-year school shenanigans are rampant, birthday planning for a certain almost 10-year old is underway, outdoor/indoor projects are alive and well, summer planning for a variety of things is slowly but surely happening, etc...etc....etc... ;)


Mother's Day was a great reprieve to the hustle and bustle as of lately. A day with just my boys...all 4 of them. God's creation provided the perfect backdrop to a day of rest and near solitude as hills were hiked, waters tested, magazines read (yes--I actually DID that!), more fun memories made. We revisited Martin Creek and this gal soaked up the laughter and relaxing and all-around fun of the day!

My LOVES!

exploring the little cave

  

 

creek time!

 

We saw a lot of this type of action from mr. Mason....

 

...and then it finally happened. :)

love his little reflection ;)

I just love this little guy :)

 

How is he almost ten?! Oh my heart! LOVE!!

This guy...LOVE him to pieces!!!

Getting one of those 'handmade' and oh-so-precious gifts from my CJ

 

my lil' explorers

brothers & best friends!

Carson made it to the top!!

 

 

During these last few weeks of school...ok, let's be honest, nearly all year...the endless lists of demands, to-do's, daily norms, etc . don't necessarily come with an extra shot of espresso that's needed to tackle those lists.  Although they should. Coffee IV anyone? But lately, two shots of espresso would have deemed most helpful. Family and friends alike have been bombarded with things and situations beyond the 'normal' aspects of life albeit health issues, house projects, job changes, major life decisions, minor life decisions, decisions in general, you get the point. But as much as one more cup of coffee downed in order to stay awake or exuberate that needed burst of energy could have been the "go-to", I was humbly reminded of something quite different that provides an even greater outcome. As the mind raced and the anxious pacing, finger-tapping, run-on sentence praying, phone glancing continued, the knock on my heart grew louder as Jesus kept prompting, "come and sit awhile." And so I did just that, with my back-up cup o' joe sitting on the ocean-blue ceramic coaster nonetheless. ;) Oh the silence. (yes...I shut my bedroom door with a movie on for mini-man, so I really did have some purposeful silence) The Word. The words jumping off the pages of the Word as if they were written for that very moment. You know how you can read a verse from the Bible a hundred times but it's that one hundred and first time you read it that it suddenly takes on a whole new meaning? A new depth. A new revelation of the Creator Himself....and yep, you're pretty sure those words were written just for you. I had such a moment recently. It was sweet. It was raw. And it was real. And whenever those moments come, I always find myself in awe. Awe that the God of the universe chooses to give me such encouragement, such rich fellowship with Him when I am just a speck in the midst of this ever-revolving world. It wasn't the same day, but I was reminded how much He really does care as I watched the birds fly about in our backyard--coming and going, perching on a tree branch for a moment, and this one just stopped long enough on the grass for me to soak up the fact that if God cares about these beautiful creatures flying about, how much more He cares for me! For you!!!! His Word tells us so. And that's just plain amazing. No. Awesome. :)

 

So, I sat awhile and just praised Him for that simple fact. That Jesus cares. Truly cares. Deeply loves. Always provides. And sitting awhile with Him led to all those other moments that caused for needed pause in the craziness of schedules.

My mini-man rounded the corner into the kitchen with a stack of books of all sizes laying flat on top of his little manly hands, reaching all the way up to his chin...mom, let's read on the couch! "Come and sit awhile" :)

book reading turned into giggle-fest ;)

The revolving doors around friendships that weren't necessarily revolving the same direction, or the same place, requiring the list be put down and rather coffee consumed in one another's presence....taking time out to 'come and sit awhile.' And phone conversations across the miles with dear friends that were richly enjoyed over coffee that contained a splash of laughter to give relief to the stresses of the day. Even in the bouncing back and forth between baseball fields and, what at times can feel like nonstop games, those baseball bleachers providing time to sit awhile with friends & family and do some story-swapping, seed-spitting, boy-cheering, catching-up-on-life chatting, laughing, 'sit a while' type of moments.

hard to see, but Carson slid into home plate..."Safe!"

this little guy sure loves his t-ball!! ;)

big hit for #4!!

We're still heavy into the countdown mode and as items are crossed off the list, new to-do's are added, but I can guarantee that within the tackling of 3-day weekend projects, there will be time-outs to do this. Time to come and sit a while with my littles and my main man and my Savior.