a settled place

So I just realized that I never posted pictures from our weekend with the Zimmermans in St. Louis. It was a little wild and crazy, but we have good memories and got some stuff done. Kim is doing an amazing job living in two places... she had plenty there for the kids to do while we hung drywall, pulled off wallpaper, and ripped up floors. Finding great floors under not-so-great floors has been a theme in this house, and I'm excited for them; that's such a fun and economical way to get a better house. We're looking forward to sharing many more memories in this house... I'm sure there will be lots of cousin fun and good chats around the fireplace. Just like that one. :)

The ironic thing is that when he said: "Mom, this looks like you..." that's  exactly  how I was feeling: What mother has  not felt like this... on the days when getting even macaroni and cheese into little stomachs is a chore, when the house just continues to be a disaster, or when projects just don't go as planned...? But. It's worth it. And there is grace and humor to survive it all, often in the most unexpected places... :)

Author Leslie Leyland Fields and her family run a commercial fishing operation in Alaska, and this book, which I would describe as part memoir, part "christian living", is about those experiences. I felt a kindred spirit with her as she made connections between her daily life and God's Words... there are so many water references in Scripture, and she brought many of them to life for me. Particularly, I found myself pondering over her words about Zebedee... he was the father of James and John, and present with them when Christ called them to follow Him. She comments about how difficult it must have been for Zebedee, as a father, to watch them go - after all, they had been raised and trained for fishing their entire lives, and their family's livelihood depended on the skills of those men! Sometimes the callings in our lives don't make sense, and the "going" and "staying" is a little bit unclear. But I loved the words with which she closed that