Unwrapping the Gift of Today

After just one cup of coffee I’m dreaming of sneaking off to the greenhouse - instead of doing dishes and organizing the chaotic mess that is the pantry - where the early morning sun slants in through the glass and begins to warm the day. I can hear the birds singing outside, after a night of rain, they seem much more vibrant and active than usual. I suppose most things feel refreshed after a rain. The grass reaches up, the roots reach down, and all things are in order. 

"All is well," I often see – in notes from my sister, and my mom, and the random new friends I have met in this journey of late. It really is the time spent – the conversation, the eye contact, the shaking hands and saying, “I’m glad I had the chance to meet you,” - that is the most important. 

The take-away from these thoughts about doing what you want to do as opposed to doing what you should do is, "don't be afraid."

Time spent in the greenhouse, listening to the birds, relishing relationships and hearts – this is all what life’s biggest gift is to us. We choose to leave it wrapped or we unwrap it. Sometimes that last part gets messy, and we don’t always clean it up right away, but if we don’t unwrap our gift, how can we give the gift of our hearts to the next individual that needs it? 

Are you afraid to open your gifts?

My mom once shared a little story with me and I’ll paraphrase it to you: Once upon a time, God met me in heaven. As we stood in a hallway there were several doors. He asked me to open one of the doors closest to me. I did. From that room came the most brilliant, but serene, light I had ever seen. Every color imaginable enveloped packages, from tiny to enormous, with all kinds of transcendent coverings, with ribbons and adornments. They all looked so inviting! I turned to Him with a puzzled look in my eyes and he said, “My child, those are all of the gifts you were given, but did not open. They cannot be used to bless others now.”

So the moral of the story is: sneak off to the greenhouse, listen to the birds, soak up the sun, take all of the beauty in, spend that gift, so it can shine back out through you. All is truly well. Or, it can be. Rest in Him. Open your gifts. Pass it on. 

When you unwrap your gifts, you feel good, and when you feel good, you naturally bless others - it's nearly without notice - that's when you send the message to others, "all is well."

Busy Human Doing or Human Being...

Tick tock, tick tock - that's the sound of time, taunting and teasing in its ever-so-almost silent way.  Hours speed by, minutes lost on seconds and then, it it time to get up and do it all again.

This post is a glimpse into what I'm doing. Focusing on the long term of what I will be when I grow up.

This is my sixth semester of studies at the local community college and will graduate in May with an associates degree.  I'm pleased with the coursework I have done, and have the GPA to prove my diligence and great effort: 3.69.  I believe returning to school as a mature adult is an advantage - and when I first registered, my English Literature instructor told me as much.  Her classes were my favorite; the most difficult but the most rewarding.  In addition to English Literature, I took a "Writing at Work" class that gave me valuable experience in the do's and don'ts of professionalism. 60+ credits later, I now know what I do NOT want to do.

What will I do with an associate's degree? The plan is to continue my undergraduate studies and study psychology. In a wild epiphany - last November - I realized what it is I've always wanted to do, so I'm laying the foundation for actually doing it. I want to work with horses and humans - kids and adults alike.

Meanwhile, my service as an AmeriCorps VISTA continues - my work centers around an old farmhouse on just over seven acres that is owned by a town in the geographical center of the state of North Carolina and through two grants, it was rehabilitated and given a purpose to be a heritage center, teaching heritage crafts and skills of a bygone era.  Also, the house hosts an indoor marketplace with locally produced goods, art, pottery, sustainably raised farm meats and eggs.  While this project takes up most of my time, another puzzle of my work schedule fits with the County's exclusive "growers only" farmers' market, where I volunteer as market manager.

Home is as busy as work and school combined, the pigs, chickens, rabbit, guinea pig, ducks, cows, horses, dogs and cat all need attention, nutrition, water, shelter and their quality of life is important to us - so we work hard to maintain their respective living areas that give them a sense of safety, comfort and contentment. My husband keeps the lawn mowed, the waterers cleaned and filled, the manure picked up and composted, and fixes things almost constantly.

Laundry piles up (clean AND dirty), dishes await their washing, and supper always needs to be planned, made and leftovers put up.

We've made the decision to homeschool our seven-year old son, this year also, he is in the first grade. He reads like a third and fourth grader and completes his studies well. There are a great many advantages to homeschooling, and some not-so-great things.

Sigh.  It's just the beginning of another really busy season but mostly I'm grateful to be able to work and study, to live on a small-timey farm and to look back at how far we've come in the five years since we've moved here is awesome.  (have a gander at some posts from 2007, 2008 and 2009....)

I haven't time to post a picture, it's time to get the lad out of the tub and fold some laundry.  It's a good thing I'm a bit hard of hearing, or that tick tock might just worry me.  I can't hear it.  A rhythm all its own is influencing my movements - at a fast pace - but all worth it.

Speechless Studying Saturday

Since I am in school and working full-time, I do not have a lot of time for blogging.  So I bring you this speechless Studying Saturday  in pictures.  Enjoy!

Four O'Clocks

Catawba Tree Blooms

Hattie and friends

Spencer, the Skin Horse

At Wit's End - a nice place to be

Dear Blog:

You are the only one I can neglect for months at a time without nary a complaint.  You wait patiently for me to quit wasting time on Pinterest and Facebook educational sites and come back to you.  While you proudly display the blog-posts of yester-month, I go on about my days one after another without too much guilt because I know you have no choice been loyal.  For that I thank you, oh, dearest Blog.

Now if you could operate a coffee-maker, we might see one another more often.

I bid you adieu, and farewell, until next time, sweet Blog.

Don't wait up.

Love,

What I did today:

in somewhat of an order, but not really;

• looked at baby chicks in the incubator that hatched overnight
• went back to bed and snuggled my son
• drank a cup of coffee and checked email
• took pig slop to pigs
• took pictures and video of Auntie Jenn and Ed and Eddie & Dillion and Andrew ride motorcycles in the driveway
• fed and watered chickens
• made horse buckets
• collected eggs
• coo'ed and awe'd at baby Xander and talked to my sister in the kitchen while we swatted at flies
• made sausage-egg casserole with lots of veggies in it
• talked to Dana and Paula and the new puppy
• hung laundry on the line
• kissed baby Xander
• did dishes
• did more laundry (but did not put away any of it)
• ate leftovers
• did more dishes
• hung out with Xander while Auntie Jenn rode motorcycles with Ed and Eddie
• messed around in the barn topping off feed and water
• got a shower!
• Becky, Steve and the kids came over and visited for a while
• Jim Bowles came over and visited for a while
• met Aunt Betty and her daughter Katrina at the fence in the chicken pasture - talked to them for a while and they gave me a catalog to one of the coolest places I've never been
• had a full-on conversation with a three month old 
• went over to Becky and Steve's for pizza and conversation, some ridiculously funny movie(?) and then came home
• told Xander he was a trooper for staying up so late and had another great few minutes with him.  He is such a happy baby!  So happy to have my sister and nephew here.
• forgot to  mention the coffee I had at Becky and Steve's which is why I'm awake.  While everyone else is asleep.  And I'm here.  Writing this.

It's ALL good.