on longing for peace.

"If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world." - c.s. lewis

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"He has made everything beautiful in his time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end." - ecclesiastes 3:11

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as my years on this earth increase,

my heart learns to lean in more, to love deeper. 

to go further in.

I watch as my sweet babes grow older--

the future creeps into the present, and just as quickly bleeds into the past. 

at times, the weight of brokenness in this life overwhelms me. 

I can almost feel the groaning of our imperfect earth--heavy with the blood of innocents, the pain of the alienated, the tears of the grieving. 

and in the quiet of the night, are moments I find myself aching--for the day of redemption, perfection.

for the revelation of the love that binds the broken into beauty. 

my heart whispers: come quickly, lord Jesus. 

and then, the sun rises. 

filling the dark with light, uncovering glimpses of beauty everywhere, waiting to be seen. 

new mercies to fill us for another day. 

and if we press into grace, we might just make it.

oh, God be with us.

snow days, 2016.

last week, we got snow.

okay, not really. we got sleet on top of sleet on top of sleet, with a little bit of snow on top.

it was beautiful though, and shut our sweet little state down for a few days.

goodness, i love the south.
snow days and days for an inch or two never get old.

we spent most of the time inside, but ventured out to walk on top of the slippery white once or twice.

the view from this treehouse of ours never disappoints.

and although the forecast is calling for warm weather and thunderstorms this week, i'm just going to pretend we're still back in our lovely, though fleeting, wonderland.

love.

his first story.

the other day during nap time, i let coen stay up with me while i worked on a quick project for the dining room. as i started writing on the large piece of paper, coen asked if he could as well, with the same sort of marker i was using.

i almost said no, because of the extra fuss and mess. but thankfully, i said yes.
i'm learning how to say yes more, and lean into the mess and fuss.
because, goodness, how they bloom through it.

and so, he started "writing" a story. he asked once how to spell norah's name, and he wrote it himself, along with his own.

when he finished, he told me his story.

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Coen. 

And he had a sister named Norah. 

One day, Norah and Coen went on an adventure, 

looking for dragons dead and alive. 

The End.

watching his imagination develop and grow has been such a gift. 

i can't wait to hear more.

love.