Raindrops on a Tin Roof

It's a rainy Labor Day around these parts. Tropical Storm Lee has dumped buckets and buckets of rain on us over the past 24 hours. It's wet. Which means that we've had a lazy holiday listening to the raindrops fall on our red tin roof.

No complaints from me. In honor of our rainy day, I thought I'd post a few snapshots from another rainy day. Last week we had a freak afternoon monsoon. It lasted about fifteen minutes, and after the deluge passed, I let Micah play in the drizzle that remained.

The twinkle in her eye ought to tell you how much fun she had splashing around. She's a mess, that one is. So lively. Always up for adventure. Full of wonderment and curiosity.

We had a visitor on the porch. After Micah caught sight of him, she spent the next 30 minutes saying bud, which, of course, means bug. I'm sure it was the funniest looking bug she'd ever seen.

Yesterday, I knelt down to hold her and saw the world through her eyes for just a moment. Things look different from the perspective of an almost two-year-old. She's given me a renewed sense of childlike wonder, something I didn't know I so desperately needed.

She's also taught this high-strung mama that it's OK to loosen up and play in the rain every now and then. Feet can be wiped and clothes can be dried. The memories created are more than worth a little bit of cleanup.

Seriously. What would my life be like without this moment?

I can't imagine.

Until next time, grace and peace.

Life Just Keeps Happening

I love this little girl. It's hard to believe that in just two weeks she'll be two years old. Every time I blink, it seems that more of her life has passed by.

I have been wrapped up in work and assignments over the past couple of months. The work is good, but I'm sad that I haven't spent enough time blowing bubbles and drawing on the driveway with my little lady.

We've done those things, but we haven't done them enough. Sometimes I feel like life is happening to me. Like I'm on the outside looking in. Like I'm not actually living it.

The key, I think, is to slow down enough to take it all in. Take pictures. Capture the moment. Draw and laugh and sing and blow bubbles. The work can wait.

She is my most important work. Sometimes I forget that, but don't worry, she has her own ways of reminding me.

I don't want to wake up 16 years from now and wonder if we played enough, laughed enough, and loved enough.

So I'm putting on the brakes and slowing down for a while. God gave me this one life. I'm going to live it.

Will you slow down and live it with me?

Until next time, grace and peace.

How Happy Are You?

{print available from MaryKateMcDevitt}

I stumbled across this print on pinterest this morning and the words stopped me in my tracks. It's easy to let our situations dictate our attitudes, but the truth is that we control our emotions. We shouldn't let them control us.

So here's my question for you: How happy are you?

If you're waiting on life to be perfect before you can settle into happiness, you'll be waiting for a long time. Life will never be perfect. It's better to choose to live happily now. The rest will follow.

That's my two cents, anyway.

Until next time, grace and peace.