thoughts on mary...

i've been thinking a lot about mary lately.
mary: the mother of God.

i'm not sure the reason.
it might have something to do with the fact that i, myself, just had a baby and am in the throes of life a newborn.
or, perhaps, it has something to do with my increasing time as a mother...chalk it up to experience...
or maybe i'm just becoming more pensive as i grow older...thinking more deeply about things and taking less at face value.
whatever the reason, i find myself, sitting in front of the christmas tree, asking questions that i have no way of answering...

did she ever forget?
forget the wonder of that night?
it would be so easy to lose sight of God's wonderful plan and the majesty that had taken place that miraculous night in the daily routine of life, as she and joseph married and started adding to their family. life has a way of blinding our eyes...giving us tunnel vision...
did she ever get exasperated with Him and then immediately remember His divinity with a flush of guilt?
because, though He was God, He was also just a little boy. He may have been perfect but that didn't mean He didn't spill His milk...or get into the cupboards and spread flour all over the floor. i'm sure He messed His clothes right as mary was heading out the door. just because He was God didn't mean He didn't make His share of messes. because, as humans, we are prone to mess making.
i wonder if mary sighed as she stooped to sympathize with a skinned knee...
if she thought "i just want to sleep!!" as a baby's cries for milk shattered her slumber...
the pressure to be a perfect parent must have been so much greater as the mother of God...

the many faces of elijah man.

the other day, i took the kids to the park to play. we were almost done, getting ready to head back home when elijah and i started having a pretty silly conversation. i had my camera out anyways so without even looking through the viewfinder, i just started shooting. i don't remember what we were talking about, i just remember we were giggling. a lot. when i finally had a minute to upload the pictures from that day (several days later), i fell in love with the images that popped up on my screen. these are the faces of my little boy...almost four years old...

little bits of lucy kate...

oh my girl...

here's some bits of life with lucy:

 she is  a cheese ball!...

 ...loves to play in the pantry...

 ...always asks to be held at the most inopportune times (like during dinner prep or when i'm nursing naomi...)

 oh...her giggle can melt your heart...

 ...LOVES to dance...especially on her tip toes...

 

...adores her little sister. whenever she sees her, she automatically starts chanting, "hi, nay-nay!"

 ...is soSO sweet...(most of the time! she's been known to take a whack at her brother a time or ten...)

...hates going to bed...

...and is just so stinkin' pretty!

we love our lucy girl...

sometimes you forget...

sometimes in the midst of everyday, in the doings of life with littles, you forget how small they really are. and then...something like this pops up in your viewfinder and you're reminded of their vulnerability...

 

...and how tiny they really are.