Category Archives: Family

Be Living with a Surplus

My previous post was me flat on my face again. I didn’t know why but the waves hit me hard and fast after my grandma’s death and subsequent interactions with others.

But the ‘hard’ things don’t push
me down for long anymore and I am grateful for the tremendous amount I am learning about myself.

I am also VERY grateful to those who walk with me, with their honest perspective, throughout these times. You know who YOU are my messengers, phone callers and texters from the last week.

As I reflect on the last few weeks, I realized it has been weeks of me being inundated by people who choose to live their lives from the perspective of a ‘deficit’.

Nothing is good enough.

No one can say the right thing, including me.

Even though they live in a first world country they are never ‘rich’ enough.

Everyone is either taking advantage of them or ripping them off.

But I am now stepping aside from these folks living with deficits because I know this doesn’t work for my life.

Time is precious.

Days are short.

Houses and money will come and go.

Time, I ain’t getting back.

The gift my mom (and dad) have always given me is living a life of surplus.

We had enough, even when my dad started his own business and the money wasn’t flowing. My parents were frugal and saved, and also generous and grateful.

They always donated their money and helped people out financially. They didn’t wait until such and such happened, they just did it.

Mom volunteered her time, was the family organizer and poured into all her relationships.

She had enough.

She was enough.

I need to remember I can ‘be enough’, but definitely NOT to everyone.

Seek those living in surplus.

See what you can accomplish together.

Give freely.

Be enough.

Hugs from the hill:

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Be Skiing Through Your Grief

Grief is very personal.

I would love there to be a recipe for grief to follow or a ‘how-to’ book.

But nope.

No recipe.

No book.

Just living each moment.

Feeling the emotions.

My dad is choosing to cross country ski through this month of grief.

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January has thirty-one days.

He has skied twenty-seven days.

Each day.

Getting up.

Getting out.

And skiing.

For a total of ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY- TWO kilometres this month.

One kilometre at a time.

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Be Skiing Through Your Grief

Grief is very personal.

I would love there to be a recipe for grief to follow or a ‘how-to’ book.

But nope.

No recipe.

No book.

Just living each moment.

Feeling the emotions.

My dad is choosing to cross country ski through this month of grief.

2015/01/img_8179-0.jpg
January has thirty-one days.

He has skied twenty-seven days.

Each day.

Getting up.

Getting out.

And skiing.

For a total of ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY- TWO kilometres this month.

One kilometre at a time.

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Every day.

Making a choice.

To ski through his grief.

I love you dad!

Be Wondering About Air

As I watched my littlest one fly through the air on the chairlift, I thought of air, the importance of breathe and God’s Holy Spirit.

This is how my mind works these days, simple moments become incredible moments.

I can be sitting watching my boys play with Lego and I feel love and warmth pour over me like a dousing of water over my head.

I may be listening to a woman speak about her health struggles and I want to bawl my eyes out with sadness.

Often, I see women with their moms and I want to lie flat on the ground, humbled by what I have lost and amazed at how present my mom was in our lives.

Today, I come back to air.

To my breathe.

To God’s Holy Spirit.

I will seek with my whole heart the significance of breathe.

2015/01/img_8099.pngAnd I will breathe.

Deeply.

Full of gratitude.

I love this journey.

Life.

Alive.

Air.

Breathe.

Breath.

Life-giving Holy Spirit.

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Be Rolling, Jumping and Balancing

What do you personally think every human being should know or be able to do?

For Sexy Neck and I, we believe it is essential that our boys learn how to move their bodies safely.

Thus, gymnastics is a priority for our schedule and our budget.

Man, it isn’t cheap!

As we move into our winter activities, we say goodbye to our autumn gymnastics class.

Thank you for teaching our boys to balance, hop and roll.

I wonder if we made gymnastics mandatory for us all, what would our Western-living lives look like?IMG_7482

Be Creating a New Thing

New year.

New eyes.

An old dresser.

2015/01/img_8015.jpgDressed up to now hold Lego.

We have copious amounts of Lego.

Sexy Neck took an old family dresser.

Painted it with old white molding paint.

Added some leftover chalkboard paint, with the boys help.

2015/01/img_8017-0.jpgGlued on the Lego bases that the boys got for Christmas.

Viola!

A new thing.

To help us keep things organized in the new year!

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I am extremely grateful.

Great work boys.