Pruning

2015 has already been a year of announcements: babies, engagements, moves, and exciting changes for so many people. I don't have anything exciting to share, but I did spend part of today "trimming" the lilac bush right by our back door while the girls enjoyed the almost warm weather. By trimming I mean, I'm working my way to hacking the thing down to six inches, because it needed some serious pruning. It's beautiful, but in the summer it blocks half of the steps coming out of the house into the backyard and interrupts my view from the kitchen window to the patio area. So while I hope it survives my brutality, I'm also welcoming the breathing room it's going to give us.

Sometimes, I feel the same way about my life: the desire to strip away everything and start at the beginning, or at least, with the basics. I often feel so far from where I want to be, from where God wants me to be. I think that desire is God's way of reminding me that the center, the root of my life needs to be in Him, and all the other stuff is just getting in the way if I'm not focusing on that. I think that may be the focus of this year, letting God trim (or hack away, as may be necessary) all those things that distract me from my vocation, and from Him.

While I was at SEEK the first few days of this year, there was a schedule packed with amazing speakers and events. I got to hear snippets and the entirety of several talks as I flitted from room to room to get the shots I needed. I heard a lot of incredible things, and even plan on going back to listen to more when I'm able (because my husband is awesome and bought the talks so we could listen to them when we aren't working like crazy).

That being said, there was a singular event of those five days that truly moved my heart and brought things into focus for me: adoration with 9300 people on their knees worshiping Christ in the Eucharist. Not only was it one of those moments where, if we allow it, our hearts leap in joy at being in the presence of the True Presence, but it was a beautiful representation of the truly universal Catholic church and a reminder of something I think we all long to be reminded of: You are not alone. The diversity of emotion can probably only be imagined, but I'm sure there was not only joy, ecstasy, and excitement, but also fear, confusion, and anxiety in those thousands of hearts that night. I know a recent catchphrase is "You are enough." This in itself is such a salve to so many souls, but I want to add to it. "I don't have to be enough, because You, God, are enough."

Here's to a year of bringing things back to where they belong, to stripping out the excess and the distractions, to a year of hope.

2013 in 13 Photos

This was a big year for us... having a baby, buying a house, and you know, all those other little things in between.  There's no way I can adequately sum up this year, so, I decided to go the awesome route of linking up to House Unseen {Life Unscripted} for a little photo summary of our year.  I have no idea if these are the best or favorite photos of the year, but I think they give a sweet little glimpse into our year.  Enjoy, my friends!

 

Good-bye 2013, you were good to us.  Here's to a brand-new, fresh year!

2013: Simplify

My word of the year: simplify.

It seems to be the "thing" to choose a theme, a word, a strong word, to center your year around.  It was a thing last year, too, and while I picked one, I honestly didn't remember it a few weeks later, and never really invested myself, or maybe even understood, the idea behind the gesture.

This year my word found me.  A few days ago, I was frantically working on my mom's group newsletter [aka I had forgotten about it and the fact that we had no ink and still managed to procrastinate and not get it done until 9 pm] and I wrote about how many of the resolutions swirling through my head boiled down to one thing: simplifying, simplifying our things, our schedule and even how I spend my time.

And then, at our mom's group, we had a speaker who ended up speaking straight to my heart (though he probably had no idea).  Nugget actually crossed a big threshhold today and went willingly to childcare, with a smile on her face (with the full understanding that mommy would pick her up as soon as her meeting was over).  Why is this important?  Well, other than the fact that this is a huge step for a girl who hasn't made it through any kind of group babysitting session (except for one, but there were apparently many tears) in the past year, I was able to fully listen to the speaker.  He delved into a pretty intense talk based on the transcendentals (one, good, true and beautiful) and the need for everyone (even mothers) to find them in their lives.  It all came full circle when he discussed the need for silence in our lives, even/especially as mothers.  I'm not quite sure yet where to find that silence, whether it be waking up before Anni in the morning, or taking the time during her quiet time to sacrifice what I want to do (laundry/facebook/work) to spend some time in the stillness in prayer, actually listening.

Either way, I think this year that word will anchor me to that need to pause for a moment and breathe, to get rid of things that are just causing clutter and stress and to focus on being truly present for our family.

Do you have a focus for your year?  Did you make resolutions?

Happy New Year!

 At five minutes to midnight, our sweetheart woke up needing some middle-of-the-night comfort.  Our last moments of 2012 and first of 2013 were spent rocking and singing Auld Lang Syne as a family.

Perfect.

I hope your New Year is as wonderful as ours has been thus far!