A little grace

Thank you for your kind words last week. I felt so loved and supported from friends near and far, and even from a few I don't know well who took the time to send me a note. My inbox spilled over with emails from hurting women; I had no idea these fertility struggles were the cause of such quiet, hidden sorrow in the lives of so many. 

One of the main lessons I learned in the last week is this: we need to give our sisters a little more grace. None of us knows why "she" didn't seem as friendly to us the other day, or why someone else turned down our lunch invitation for no apparent reason, or why someone else seems a little distant. There are a lot of hurting people who need to be loved. Some of us are talkers (yours truly) and when we need help we usually pick up the phone. Many others need to be drawn out, and asked how they are doing and how we can pray for them...and what we can practically do to show our love.

I'm not trying to turn this into something preachy, except maybe a sermon to myself. I am thankful for the lessons the Lord is teaching me. (And re-teaching, and re-teaching...will I ever learn???)

On a lighter note, I spent Labor Day trying to restore order to the house after a week of neglect. We did have some friends and college students over for a cookout, and Sweet A and I made chocolate mint ice cream. Shredding the remainder of my Mint Green & Black chocolate bar really did make it an over-the-top treat (not that I would ever say that about my own cooking, but all my friends say...).

 

I also spent a little time rearranging bookshelves in an effort to hold off buying yet another piece of furniture. I really wanted the kids to have access to all their art supplies (minus the paint) so when we read aloud they can craft away. The problem is that all my children are very (normally) short, so I had to create accessible space under 3.5 feet. Here's what we ended up with...

It was one of those small, unimpressive rearrangements that will change our lives. Both bookcases were purchased used, within the last few months. The one on the left was $5 at a garage sale. The one on the right was from Craigslist, has a hole in it, and I could have bought a new one at Wal-mart for about the same price. You win some, you lose some.

Oh, and in other big news, Coop was seen taking his own training wheels off yesterday and decided it was time he rode his bike without them. He's a pro! And very proud of himself. For the rest of the day he kept inviting us to come watch him one more time. Fun times.