We called him Grandpa because he loved us that much. His heart was so big to fit another (large) family into his life and love them as his own. We had the honor of his love, the privilege of loving him and knowing him, and the chance to say goodbye. It is a sweet comfort knowing that he is with his Saviour Jesus Christ, and also his precious Margaret who went before him.
His children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren are in our thoughts and prayers.
We miss you, Grandpa Charlie.
The day has finally come. Why does it feel so normal? It shouldn’t. My Daddy’s been gone for ten years today. I thought it would feel different somehow, but it doesn’t. The night he died I remember a few of the swirling thoughts and fears racing through my head, and one of them was about today. “What will life look like ten years from now?”It was an impossible thought, the future looked so dark, so bleak, and terribly scary that night my world finally shattered. It had been threateningly cracked before, but the tinkling sound of falling, shattered hope startled me into the arms of my Heavenly Father. It was there that I found new hope, true comfort, and a peace for the future. “He leads me beside still waters, He restores my soul. “He is FAITHFUL!
Today Peter and I have been married for seven years! My husband has been an instrument of healing in my life, gently helping me put the pieces back together, and making something much, much better than it was. I never doubted God’s plan for brokenness in my life because Daddy showed me the purpose and the joy in it. But my vision was blurred by tears and I could not see the beautiful design coming together. A wife and a mother is all I ever wanted to be when I was little, and that is exactly the life God has given me. In marriage I have found the safety in which to heal and grow, and in motherhood I have found what Donna so well described as “accelerated sanctification”. I am not the same person as I was seven years ago when I became Peter’s wife. God is still teaching me to trust Him in all things, and the journey continues!
I love you, Peter! Happy Anniversary!
Click here to listen to a song that speaks my heart today. (It runs a little too long and the last part is freaky, please ignore.)
Yesterday I decided it was finally time for Ian’s first hair trim. For some reason the beginning of haircutting is a sign of growing up for me, and I put it off for as long as I can. Ian’s turn came a bit late, poor fellow, I just wasn’t ready for him to be a big boy yet. (Or more accurately, to try to get him safely still for a session with the scissors.) I trimmed as much as I could bear to cut, just to get the hair out of his eyes. The back was obviously too long for a little boy, but it still curled most days and looked angelic. Well, one day later (this afternoon) Seth took things (Ian’s curls, to be exact) into his own hands and chopped off a couple curls before I could stop him. Yes, he had permission to be using the scissors for his paper, he just re appropriated them. And so I filled Ian’s first hair trim bag from yesterday with his hair cut from today.
Amazingly, and thankfully, he looks a little younger with his hair at a proper length for a little one and a half year old.
Seth’s conversation during dinner this evening:
“Mommy, I wish we had knives on our feet so we could swing at Grandma’s house!” I asked him why we should have knives on our feet to swing at Grandma’s house and he replied, ” So we could skate on the dirt and in the air!”. Of course.
“Is pasta made out of snakes, Mama?”
“I’m killing it with my teeth!”
“I’m gonna build an alarm to fire up the sandbox!”
“This had turkey meat. That’s why it’s made out of meatballs.”
“Mama, we are flying on an airplane, a pretend one.”
“That airplane is making a contrail for the people to walk on! It’s making it wider!”
“A parachute is coming down here onto the ground, gently.”
This was all between mouthfuls of dinner, then he was excused (after finishing my meatballs) to go play in the sand box until dark.
Thanks for letting me shoot some portraits, Jane! And thank you for your time and love given so freely to us.
Jane has been so gracious to spend some time over here with us and a couple meals at our table before leaving on a missions trip this week. Here are some pictures of her time with my three and one year old.
Seth’s phrases that I’ve jotted down this week, always with a smile on my face, or laughing:
“Do whales have guts too, Mama?”
(This was at the breakfast table out of the blue. My only guess is the Seabird book on the shelf beside him?)
“I’m dancing in the blue!”
(We had one movie night on the lawn this past summer, and as the guys were setting up the projector, the screen was blue and the children were dancing in the blue light casting their shadows larger than life…in the blue.)
“Mama, it’s me moving the light!”
(During Ian’s nap the boys and I crawl through my bedroom window to access the bathroom through the laundry room. Today Seth said that and I turned to see him bouncing in a squat IN my window, enjoying watching his shodow bounce on the wall.)
“May I drink the fuzzy?”
(The boys are coming down with colds and Seth enjoys the emergenC he gets to drink.)