from delicate dandelion to majestic mountain

home from our trip out west.
people, they don't call it the "red-eye" for nothin!

sitting here monday morning, still kinda fuzzy, and knowing that school begins in exactly one week. one week and i haven't done a single thing or opened a single school email or printed a single attachment. one week to get everything done and ready and all set. one week which also includes one more trip away from home for the funeral of rick's dad.

i could choose overwhelmed this morning, but instead, i'm choosing gratitude.

we entered summer with grand plans. plans to improve our math skills, our reading, our running and all matter of what-not. plans to catch up and catch on. plans to be fully prepared for this next school year. but, (surprise, surprise) we are not. we did not do quite enough or accomplish quite enough or organize quite enough. we have only one more week and i know we still have many holes and hot spots in need of attention.

i could choose overwhelmed this morning, but instead, i'm choosing gratitude.

so we didn't accomplish everything on my "fix it list" for summer, but we had some fun, made some memories and took a few more deep breaths in ordinary pauses, as well as in extraordinary places.
in these past couple of months, we also learned some lessons which weren't on my list. mostly, that not only is summer short, but life is -- losing rick's parents within six months of each other. and this week preparing for a funeral and grieving another grandparent gone. not our plan. throw into that mix my mom diagnosed with cancer this summer, i assure you --- not my plan.
hard lessons learned even in losing our sweet dog a few weeks ago.

i could choose overwhelmed, but instead choose gratitude for the time we had.

this picture of bella holding a dandelion (or "salsify" if you want the correct term -- thank you to my sister, nicole).
a small breath and it's gone. a slight breeze and it's over. but, oh, just look at that mountain behind her ... solid. strong. steadfast.
summer is short. life is shorter. love it well, but hold it loosely.

from the delicate dandelion to the majestic mountains, pretend as we may, ONLY GOD is author of it all. and though life is short, His love is long and deep and wide ... and forever.
more, even, than those mighty mountains.
and though we didn't do enough and we aren't enough and we can never be enough, He Always Is.

"He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals His thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth --- the Lord God Almighty is His name." ~ amos 4:13