April Love :: Day 5 - Favorite Quote

This quote from 

The Language of Letting Go 

by Melody Beattie 

is one of the first I ever memorized. 

Decades later it still soothes, quiets, and comforts. 

#aprillove2017

.           *           .

Breathe Deep

Rushing through my errands in an attempt to beat the darkening gray skies' threat of 

a heavy downpour any minute and the already building late Friday afternoon traffic, I 

whizzed by this eye-level shelf. 

Well, she adds with a grin, as fast as one can "whiz by" in a motorized cart.

Registering what I saw in passing, I backed up to "drink" in the wisdom 😉. 

A warm smile spread right there in the middle of the grocery store aisle lined with 

breakfast cereals, coffees, and teas as I welcomed and accepted the invitation to breathe 

deep.

Yes.

.              *              .

My Superpower - April Love 2015

My superpower is using my Love Languages,

Words of Affirmation and Touch,

to write from my heart.

(one of my most very favorite things to do)

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Holy Week - Praying in Color

So as I committed to walking this week's readings and praying with them, I found that the words that were shimmering for me were the ones that pointed to first Jesus' love and patience for those around him and then the love shown to him. About mid-week, the phrases "where is the love?" and Mister Rogers "Look for the helpers" (when there is so much tragedy around that it can be overwhelming) became welcomed companions as I read these difficult readings.

Once we finished our "Praying in Color" circles, we were invited to come up with a story using the words that we were drawn to from this week's readings. Here is my "story":

When troubled and wondering "where is the love?," remain near, tethered to the one who cares deeply for you. Like a shepherd who tends her beloved sheep, she will wash your weary body, and raise and soothe your tired spirit. Follow her . . . She can be trusted.

.           *            .

Thankful Tuesday

Today I am thankful for:

1.  Gift of being an auntie to my sweet girls. 

2.  Quiet moments sprinkled in here and there at their combined birthday party.  Like the time my Mollie Grace was playing with her new toys and everyone else had moved to another room.  I happily joined her on the floor.  

3.  A smooth day at work yesterday including a peaceful interaction with a co-worker I've been struggling with a lot lately.

4.  Safe spaces to share my words and my heart.

5.  Receiving kind, honoring words back letting me know I've been seen, heard and am cherished.  (Words of Affirmation really is so clearly one of my love languages)

6.  A lazy morning and being able to still be tucked up in warm, soft blankets on a chilly morning.  (Touch is clearly my other love language)

7.  A new cheerful granny heart crochet pattern with a daisy in the center.  The one I made last night delights me every single time I look at it.

8.  Being able to record cooking shows and watching them at my leisure (and! being able to skip thru the ads).

9.  Sunlight beginning to peek thru our bedroom window this morning.

10. Heater keeping us warm and a long-time, mindful reminder that I am not alone.

11. Reading about St. Brigid on her feast day, Feb. 1.

12. Lovely old and new online connections.

13. A warm mug of Cafe Express Chai Latte Tea.  I make it with a little milk so it's creamier and yummy.

14. Your presence here.  

.             *             .

St Francis and the Sow

I needed this poem today and plan to keep it close in the next little while 

so thought I'd share it here, too.

Saint Francis and the Sow
By Galway Kinnell

The bud
stands for all things,
even for those things that don’t flower,
for everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing;
though sometimes it is necessary
to reteach a thing its loveliness,
to put a hand on its brow
of the flower
and retell it in words and in touch
it is lovely
until it flowers again from within, of self-blessing;
as Saint Francis
put his hand on the creased forehead
of the sow, and told her in words and in touch
blessings of earth on the sow, and the sow
began remembering all down her thick length,
from the earthen snout all the way
through the fodder and slops to the spiritual curl of the tail,
from the hard spininess spiked out from the spine
down through the great broken heart
to the sheer blue milken dreaminess spurting and shuddering
from the fourteen teats into the fourteen mouths sucking and blowing beneath them:
the long, perfect loveliness of sow.

May we all be assured 

(and reassured and retaught if need be) 

of our beauty. 

May we gently lean 

into the flowering of self-blessing 

from our "creased forehead" 

all the way to the "spiritual curl of [our] tail" 

and into our "great broken heart" . . . 

.              *             .

Trust

I'm needing a gentle reminder today.

In a move of thought-filled self-care and wanting to lean into and honor both of my love languages, Words of Affirmation and Touch, I took this selfie.

I suffered from earaches as a young girl and I remember lying on the couch with my head in Moma's lap so she could pour the warmed medicine in my ear.  She would then gently move my earlobe around so the oil would be evenly distributed. 

 

Lying there for a while (probably as instructed) she would then stroke my hair and ear and I still remember how so-o-o-o-o-othing it all felt. 

 

(Ah, so it would seem that Touch has been a love language of mine for a very long time.)

 

As a way to recapture some of that special one-on-one time with my Moma, I intentionally placed the "Trust" in my selfie over the hair on my brow.

Smiling softly as I imagine her (and many other beloveds) stroking me right there with patient reassurance and whispering:

"Trust, sweet one.

Just trust."

.            *            .