Monday 6 February 2017

Small and wonderful things . . .


 


"The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside from a generous hand. But who gets excited by a mere penny?...It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won't stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted with pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. what you see is what you get." ~Anne Dillard

A few of the small and wonderful things which bring untold joy into my life. It's the small things in life which truly mean the most. Simple abundance . . . it's the best.

All of the lovely words that you all leave for me in your comments.   I love them.  I try hard to respond to them all and to visit people in turn, but sometimes my time gets away from me.  I wish someone would invent a day with more hours in it, I really do.   That doesn't mean that I don't appreciate all of your love and support, quite the opposite.  You all mean so very much to me and are an integral part of my each and every day.  I am going to write no matter what, but the fact that you even want to read means the world to me, and then when you comment, well, I am over the moon.  I can still remember how very excited I was the first time anyone ever commented on one of my posts.  I was beyond thrilled.  I want you to know that I am still beyond thrilled when one of you comments.  It never gets old and I never take any of your comments for granted.  In fact when I haven't heard from one of you for a few days I get worried that you are ill.   Funny how that goes.   Most of us have never met in person and yet we have this amazing connection.  The only way to describe it is for me to say soul touches soul.  Love you all and appreciate you so very much!  💕 

 

I am grateful for tears.   For the ability to feel and for the ability to let it all out.   I saw somewhere once something which said (and I am not quoting verbatim here) that our heart leaks tears when it overflows.  I am so grateful for the ability to be able to cry and renew my soul with the cleansing power of tears.  Just letting go sometimes and allowing yourself to actually physically feel the things you are feeling rather than holding it all in is a very powerful thing.   Grateful for tears.


I am so grateful for the child in me which still exists and which is the source of all my creativity and whimsy.  I think that the older I get the more in touch with my inner child I become.  When my own children were growing up I had too much to do and so many responsibilities to handle, and even when I was a child, being the oldest I also had a lot of responsibility, especially when my mother went to work.  I have always had to be the responsible one.  When I was raising my family I was on my own a LOT.  I had to be everything to those children . . .  mother, father . . .  everything.  I was often the only one there.  Now I am older, I still have responsibilities but they are not as heavy as the ones I carried for so many years.  Old age brings with it a special freedom and I have been so blessed to be able to embrace that and to reawaken my inner child.


It does not matter how old we get or how far away we move from each other either in miles or even in our ways of thinking, I will always love my sister and appreciate her for all that she is, does, becomes, etc.   My sister means the world to me in so many ways.  I think she is pretty amazing. All the things that she does, that she knows, that she is.  I hope that she knows that.   We share an eternal bond, a special bond that we can never share with anyone else on earth.  We have a history that belongs to nobody else.   I am so glad that God gave me her for a sister and that we had each other when we were growing up and that we still have each other.  Of all the people in the world (next to Todd) that I could lose I would miss her most of all. I never thought about that until this morning, this very moment.   It is true.  I would miss her most of all.  I hope that I never have to experience that.   I guess one of the perks of being the oldest of the two, the reality is I will probably leave here first.  That suits me just fine because I don't think I could bear it the other way around.  


This is a photo of my four oldest children.  I love it.  Being a mum has been the one thing in life which has brought me the most joy, above everything else.  It is something which has been a great privilege also.  Not everyone gets the chance to even be a mom once, but to be a mom five times over is a great blessing.  They are all great people.   Good people.  Loving and kind people, each in their own ways.  I wish I had a photo of them all together including the youngest but I don't.  I know they exist, I just am not lucky enough to have one, but that's okay because I carry them in my heart and no photo is needed.  I am glad that they have each other and share a great love for each other.  I talk to my oldest daughter every day and I am grateful for the friendship we share.   Things are not the way I had always envisioned that they would be with some of my children, but I have accepted that and made peace with it.  That has been a very difficult thing for me to do and there is a part of me that will always long for what could have/should have been. I no longer dwell on it.  Like the father of the prodigal son I would kill the fatted calf gladly, but . . .   I love looking at those faces, bad haircuts, beautiful eyes . . . I did my best.  Love each one dearly. 

A thought to carry with you through today . . . 


.° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~\。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ | 田田 |門 ★

 *.˛.° ˛°. . 
˛*The greatest distance between two people
                is misunderstanding. 
                           ~unknown    •。★★ 。* 。





In The English Kitchen today . . .  Hearty Split Pea Soup.  Sooo good!


Have a fabulous Monday. I hope your week ahead is filled with lots of small and wonderful things. Don't forget along the way that . . . .


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And I do too!



8 comments:

  1. Good morning Marie and Todd. it is nearly six pm here and a leftover lamb pie is in the oven. After it was made and put in the oven mum wanted to changed about three things!!!! I have spent my day trying to tie loose ends and battling red tape and telephone operators who ooze smarm. Oh well there is always tomorrow.

    God bless your day and enjoy it all. Will popped in to see us today. He told me he would do just about anything for Pip. That's good to know.

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  2. Hi Marie..time must be super busy for you..when can I share on my blog thenews of your book?:)

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  3. I am the oldest of 3 girls in my family and still have my youngest sister who is a blessing to me. Having just lost the middle sister this past December, your words hit home here today. I always thought I'd be the first to go, but it never works out as we plan it seems. I didn't think I could bear loosing her, but life goes on and I'm still here. Trying to go on has been a new beginning for me. Life without her is a new way of living for me.

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  4. I meant to comment on your post about becoming a woman - made me laugh so much. How they did sort of skirt around the whole subject so delicately! Love you Marie x

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  5. My family and I make this soup just like this. The only thing that is different are the spices. Next time I make it I will put in the spices. Yum! I assumed there was only yellow pea soup bc that's what my Mom has always made. Well, I'll never forget when my boyfriend's Mom asked if I wanted some pea soup. The look of horror on my face when I saw it was green! Lol. I said, "I thought it was only yellow." She laughed and told me she would eat it. Then she made us steak and home fries. I really miss her and her husband! They were almost my inlaws! Now they're both in heaven with their oldest son.

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  6. Glad to hear about Will Suzan. The pie sounds fabulous! Love and hugs and blessings to you. xoxo

    Monique, you can share the news anytime. The more people who know about it the better. I am hoping it does very well and will lead to more work for me! Fingers crossed and thank YOU so much! xoxo

    Oh Pam, I am so sorry about your Sister. I must have missed that in my blog reading. ((((hugs)))) I will say some extra prayers for you. Thank goodness for our faith which helps us to know that this life is not all that there is for us. xoxo

    Julie, I don't know, but somehow they did! Love you too! xoxo

    Haha J, I would have been much the same faced with green pea soup, but over here that is the norm and I have learned to love it too! God bless! xoxo

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  7. You have one of the funniest blogs to read and I have loved following you and I do feel a deep connection. I do hope we meet someday.
    I love your inner child because I love your creativity and many talents. You are awesome!
    I do manage to shed tears easily during hard moments and espcecially joy filled times.
    I wish I would have had a sister; I really miss that in my life. I have had some good friends that. I have been close too and I think they are much like a sister. I love how close you are with yours.
    I love the photo of your children. You do have a lovely family and as I have said before someday your relationships with some of your children will be healed. I love that you talk to your daughter every day. My daughters don't call as much since we have been on our mission and I so miss it.
    Sending loving thoughts, prayers and hugs our way!

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  8. You must not have long now to go on your Mission LeAnn! You will be so blessed in the long run for having served I know. Thanks so much for your lovely comments, loving thoughts, prayers and hugs! xoxo

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Your comments mean the world to me, and while I may not be able to address each one individually, each one is important to me and each one counts. Thanks so much!