Of Thriving and Grace

Over the weekend I hit a post-holiday slump. With the end of our break in sight and the return of normal patterns and routines looming, I was suddenly tired and discouraged. I've noticed that the dreading is often worse than the reality... perhaps because in my crazy mixture of thoughts and emotions I forget to factor in God's grace. And His fingerprints... His mercies... they are always there.
This morning I was up as the sun was rising to read and savor the silence before getting the boys out the door. And I read, "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of Him who sent me..." John 4:34. "My food," he says, "my food." Jesus thrived on doing His father's will. My prayer is that I will thrive in doing the Father's will as I carry out His daily callings... His will. And that in the thriving, my life will well-up full with life-giving, grace-filled, merciful living water.
For from His fulness we have all received, grace upon grace. John 1:16

A Lamp for Reading

Oh, hello you. And, hello weekend. There's nothing like Spring Break and some lingering illnesses to make a girl lose her recent blogging momentum. Whew!
Let's talk about lamps for a minute. Several years ago the professor stumbled on a mid-century mahogany table lamp at the university's surplus property sale. The lamp was actually in the discard pile but the man in charge gave it to my husband after he expressed an interest in it. {You can see it in the photo above; it lives in our living room.} A little research revealed that the lamp was made by Nessen Lighting, a manufacturer of high-end light fixtures and the creator of the original swing-arm lamp design.

Since then we've been passively hunting for a vintage Nessen swing-arm wall lamp. From a cost standpoint, to purchase a new Nessen lamp is a bit like buying a nice piece of furniture... which is not budget friendly... which is why we have to rely on discard piles, thrift stores, and ebay for our Nessen purchases. Several months ago the professor finally found the right one at the right price on ebay. It was chrome with a teak wall mount, it was missing the shade, and it was cheap.

The professor worked with a lighting company in Atlanta to replicate the original lampshade for our "new" lamp. While a custom lampshade sounds lavish this was, by far, the most cost effective way to go. Apparently, Nessen thinks pretty highly of their lampshades as well as their lamps.

The professor installed the new lamp a few weeks ago and, lucky for me, it's on my side of the bed! We are both delighted. It's a simple, classic lamp that casts a lovely light in our bedroom. I've been curling up every night to read in its warm glow.
As for what I'm reading, I thought it might be fun to share...
I have three favorite books that are always are my nightstand; I never tire of them and their beautiful photographs always inspire me. They are, The Gentle Art of Domesticity by Jane Brocket, Atomic Ranch Midcentury Interiors by Michelle Gringeri-Brown {this one helps me keep the vision in the midst of our home renovations}, and Heart of a Small Town: Photographs of Alabama Towns by Robin McDonald.
In addition, A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet by Sophie Hudson has kept me up late laughing for the past few nights and I'm enjoying The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois, a book that Big Brother recommended. I love that he is old enough to make a book recommendation to me! I've also been slowly reading through all of L.M. Montgomery's Anne books since early fall; right now I'm in the middle of Rilla of Ingleside, but, obviously, that one's on hold for the moment. I think one of the pleasantest ways to end a day is with a good book and a cozy place to read.

In the Light

"The Christian should be like those lovely spring flowers which, when the sun is shining, open their golden cups, as if saying, "Fill us with Thy beams!"...So should the Christian feel the sweet influence of Jesus; Jesus must be his sun, and he must be the flower which yields itself to the Sun of Righteousness." Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

...now you are light in the Lord.

Walk as children of light.

Ephesians 5:8

True Style

"Great Style should appear effortless. There should be no signs of hard work, no joins, no lapses. Great style relies on careful editing, whether your preferred effect is sleek and sophisticated or bright and bohemian. It's what you leave out, as much as what you include... True style is ruthless and is based on rejection." Jane Brocket, The Gentle Art of Domesticity, my emphasis
At our house, it's no secret that the professor handles most of the "decorating" - he's both more opinionated and more talented in this arena than I am. To decorate, however, is a reference that makes him cringe. The word curate, I believe, is a more accurate description of his philosophy and methodology, and it's one that I appreciate because it connotes a slow, deliberate, meaningful process. However, when it's all said and done {and it's never completely done!}, I suppose what determines if one's style is pure and/or great is really all in the eye of the beholder.

Buttercups Today

Fourteen years ago we were counting down the final days to our late February wedding. A winter wedding, or so I thought, until late one February afternoon when I took a walk with a neighbor and noticed the season's first daffodils just in bloom. It was then that I realized we were really planning an early {very early} spring wedding.
Around here the sun is coming up a bit earlier each morning and the birds are singing a happier tune. I found daffodils in the yard this afternoon which I picked and brought inside. A bit of sunlight and green for the table. The first notes in the beautiful song of spring have begun!

She turned to the sunlight

And shook her yellow head,

And whispered to her neighbor:

"Winter is dead.”

A.A. Milne, When We Were Very Young

Keeping Warm

The five of us returned to school on Monday. The going back was a reluctant meandering for four of us, while Sister, of course, was excited and ready, ready, ready! Now a few days in, we're finding our regular rhythm again. Our late December and early January days were simple and slow in the delightful way they should be. It was hard to have the break come to an end, but I'm grateful for the time we had together with very little on the calendar.
Last week we woke one morning to a frigid house only to discover that our brand new, just six months old, furnace decided to go flakey on us. Since then it's been a week of unreliability in the heat department... and during one of the coldest cold snaps I've experienced! With the help of a service team {yes, a team!!}, we've diagnosed the problem and have a temporary solution. In an effort to keep warm during the unpredictable cold-house moments, I cooked and baked myself silly, we sat in front of the fire, and wore our coats in the house. The quilts were nice too. I'm thankful for a warm house today.
One theme that's emerging in our home renovations is that we continue to remove storage spaces... first, the coat closet on the main level became the return for our new HVAC system, then the workroom closet became a utility space, and now we've converted half of the built-in cabinets in the upstairs hallway to built-in bookshelves. The professor worked hard this past weekend to install some custom lighting in them which looks great. In the future, we plan to open up the stairwell to create a light-filled stair atrium of sorts. When this happens we'll knock out a wall and, of course, tear out another closet.
We cheered hard and loud for Auburn {our alma mater} on Monday night. While the win slipped away at the end of the game we're proud of how the Tigers played and for their amazing season. War Eagle!
Today is what Sister calls a home day; no school for the two of us. We've been puttering about in the most quiet and delightful ways... vintage Fisher Price Little People, Frances books, recipes, ballet slippers, tea, patches of sunlight, and chocolate. It's good for my soul to move slowly and quietly, to see and to savor His blessings. I find it best to do this often because His grace is always there and, for me, seeing it is the first step in savoring it. "O taste and see that the Lord is good..." Psalm 34:8

Days Merry and Bright

These have been bright days of family and friends, of celebrating and pondering. Merry, sweet days...
Cousins : : Christmas cake : : Cups and cups of tea : : Lessons and carols on Christmas Eve : : Boys' pocket knives tucked into stocking toes : : Surprises : : Christmas morning fairy wings : : Festive lights : : Bare trees against gray skies : : Late nights and late mornings : : Camellias coming out : : Raking leaves : : Outside play : : Vintage Little People : : Baby cuddles : : Sister digging in the candy bowl looking like a Candyland queen : : New books : : Afternoon movies : : Sweaters and boots
And this hope, echoing in my heart...
For all those who live in the shadow of death, a glorious light has dawned. For all those who stumble in the darkness, behold your light has come. Immanuel our God is with us. from "Immanuel" by Michael Card

On Thanksgiving Day

Merry was the feast and long; and when it was over

they gathered around the cheer of the red hearth flame...

from Anne's House of Dreams by L.M. Montgomery

Let The Earth Be Glad

The rain came in the night... and afterward, the late November wind and chill. Gone are the golden-glory, autumn days that I love but the warmth of our home is inviting and comforting. As we go about town on holiday errands, I notice there are Christmas trees for sale at the farmer's market. Holiday errands?! Already?! The children relish a few days out of school. So do I. At home, I cook... we're hosting for Thanksgiving this year... and I savor, as I do every year, the words that capture it all:

In November, the smell of food is different. It is an orange smell. A squash and a pumpkin smell. It tastes like cinnamon and can fill up a house in the morning, can pull everyone from bed in a fog. Food is better in November than any other time of the year. 

In November, people are good to each other. They carry pies to each other's homes and talk by crackling woodstoves, sipping mellow cider. 

They travel very far on a special day just to share a meal with one another and to give thanks for their many blessings -- for the food on their table and the babies in their arms. 

And then they travel back home. 

In November, at winter's gate, the stars are brittle. The sun is a sometime friend. And the world has tucked her children in, with a kiss on their heads, till spring.

from In November by Cynthia Rylant

The house is filled with delicious, orange-y smells. Contemplating simple Christmas gift ideas for teachers one day last week, I even dried orange slices in the oven... a sweet, delicate fragrance. And, there are sweet things... pie! cake!... to share with others. And the fire will crackle as we cuddle our new nephew/cousin. And we will enjoy a meal and we will give thanks for our blessings.
But this year I see hearts that ache, too. I'm reminded that there is an artist, The Artist, creating a bigger and more glorious picture than I can ever imagine. And that picture, full of blessings, yes bountiful blessings, also captures brokeness... broken relationships, broken bodies, broken people, broken lives... and somehow, some way He'll use it for His glory. I don't understand it, but I trust.
And so, I close with two thoughts that have been echoing through my heart in recent weeks as I've contemplated God's bountiful mercy and grace on broken people living in a broken place...
Earth should be a temple filled with the songs of grateful saints, and every day should be a censor smoking with the sweet incense of thanksgiving. from Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
This is my Father’s world, should my heart be ever sad? The Lord is King—let the heavens ring. God reigns—let the earth be glad. from the hymn "This Is My Father's World" by Maltbie D. Babcock
On this day of thanks, and always, may a grateful song be ever on your lips. For there are indeed bountiful blessings, and there is brokeness, but... God reigns! Let the earth, and your heart, be glad!

Leaves of Gold

I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew:

Of wind I sang, a wind there came and in the branches blew.

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

So Great a Nearness

My fifth nephew made his entrance into the world this week. And we were aflutter with smiles and excitement. And now, we have another to love. In addition to life's regular rhythm we added hospital visits and extra baking, special errands and newborn cuddles to our activities. This is our first local nephew/cousin and we're enjoying the nearness. A sweet week indeed!
While I made cinnamon muffins to deliver to the new family of three, Sister sat in the kitchen and drew a picture for me. It's title, she informed me, is, "Lollipops in Rain" which sounds perfectly lovely to me. I thought of her bright lollipops in the rain this morning when I awoke to fog. The autumn leaves, so colorful and bright against the wet, gray, Novembery canvas of our street.
We scurried around today with grocery shopping and errands. And, there was dinner to deliver to babyland. I crammed clementines into a brown paper sack, tied it with ribbon, and nestled it among our  other goodies. Clementines on a damp fall day, with their sunny taste and smell, make me happy.
And, these words from Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon made my heart smile, like Sister's lollipops. I'm reminded that no matter the circumstances His nearness is great and intimate...
"Here, indeed, we have a theme for marveling. Heaven and earth may well be astonished that rebels should obtain so great a nearness to the heart of infinite love as to be written upon the palms of His hands. "I have graven thee." It does not say, "Thy name." The name is there, but that is not all: "I have graven thee." See the fulness of this! I have graven thy person, thine image, thy case, thy circumstances, thy sins, thy temptations, thy weaknesses, thy wants, thy works; I have graven thee, everything about thee, all that concerns thee; I have put thee altogether there. Wilt thou ever say again that thy God hath forsaken thee when He has graven thee upon His own palms."

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands. 

Isaiah 49:16