Meet Gladys, the newest member of our family.   Her full name is Gladys Cocoa Day. 

She’s a 7qt Kitchenaid pro.  Not the most expensive or fancy stand mixer out there, but I’m confident in her ability to get the job done.

Yesterday I had time to get down to business and taker her on her first mixing adventure.  What did Gladys help me make?   Well, Chocolate chip cookies, of course.  There may not be a recipe I make more often than this one…

She whipped up the dough like a champ.

And of course, Gladys has brought much excitement to my kitchen, so I had many offers of help.  My buddy loves helping with cookies!

But he does have ulterior motives!  He is well acquainted with the benefits…

(you can see what week two’s cake was there on my board, eh?  more to come on that later…)

The cookies turned out soft and gooey in the middle and just a little crispy on the bottom! Perfection.

What more can a girl ask for on a cool January evening than a satisfying, warm, chewy cookie?

While I was in Homegoods, in the home decor section at the front of the store, looking at throw pillows it happened.     On one of  the days between Christmas and New years,  I found a new calm.  Actually, I found the space to be quiet and listen without the general craziness of my people around…

It so happens, (and I take comfort knowing I may not be alone here,) that the holidays twist me up.  This year was no exception; the holiday season ended with a great deal of self-talk.    Specifically, it was self-talk that didn’t  involve much needed conversation with the Holy Spirit, where I ended up believing things that aren’t true.  The brokeness of my own heart,   complicated relationships,  situations I can’t control – they all piled on and wound me tightly into a never-ending tail-spin.

What I find when the “after holiday blues” show up is, I begin trying to fix everything.  I want to correct it all.  More spinning and spinning.  That’s just the position I found myself in while I was looking for some throw pillows:  “Oh this pillow looks perfect… Maybe I should call up ‘so and so’ and have a conversation about ‘such and such’…This pillow is super soft…  Then I’d say this or that to them, I mean surely that would make things better… ”  And on and on it goes, you get the idea.

So, as I was trying to decide between a few different oversized, faux fur, off-white pillows for my bed, I also discovered the quiet moment I needed. The spinning in my head slowed just enough for me to hear Him loud and clear –

“Stop trying so hard.  Trust Me. This is not your responsibility.”

“But, if I just… I mean, don’t you want me to…”

“No.  You need to trust Me more and do less. I have everything under control.”

“Are you sure I’m not supposed to…”

“I’m positive.  Really.  You have no idea just how much I’m taking care of you – and all these things. I promise.”

Just like that, my Heavenly Father and Healer, provided the anecdote for my heart and mind.  In a moment, the turmoil was over, my heart and mind slowed to a stand-still.  For me- as a mama, wife, sister, friend who wants to take care of everyone and everything in her sphere of life –  this is probably the most happy, calming, and peaceful instruction I’ve ever been given.

Trust more.  Do less.

**Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge  Him and He will direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6**

Our school year has begun with quite a bang!  This fall turns out one of the busiest yet for my little family.  There is a lot happening on our schedule each week, and I keep thinking to myself, “Who in the world planned all of this?”

Oh that’s right.  me.

There’s mounds of school work to manage for my younger two and instruments to practice, as well as Emily’s high school work to keep on track. And there’s my housework to contend with.  There’s my own work which has several moving parts, including but not limited to three separate choirs with their own schedules and locations, along with piano students to give attention, not to mention a wedding to play this weekend. There’s my husband’s schedule to contend with at work, in the shop, and home improvement projects.   Then there’s scouts for Isaac.  Let’s not forget my own desire for our family to be healthy and exercise, and of course somewhere in there I might need to prepare a meal or two so we can eat…

I like to think of myself as capable. Intuitively, I’m a multi-tasker and handle more than one thing at a time.  Most women do, I suppose.  So, over the summer, when I planned all the things, I was comfortable with the schedule.  I did pray about it – and I can’t think of one of those things that I should drop- they are all necessary for our children and home schooling, or for our family.

The problem is, I believed that because I prayed about them and put them on the schedule that indeed, I am in control of all the things.  In theory, I know it isn’t true.  But- it typically takes something I didn’t control, something happening that’s not on my schedule, to remind me I am not in charge of all the things.

For instance, last weekend, I fell down our stairs while doing laundry.  Nothing major came from it – no broken bones, or concussion or ambulance tour.  But man, I came back to reality with a jolt:

All the things don’t fit in my hands – they never did – and they never will.

And then I remembered the verse from Colossians which I recently drew on my own kitchen’s chalkboard:

…and in Him all things hold together

Friends, I know there are responsibilities that I have before God  – as woman, a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister and friend- things He asks me to do as His follower.   And there are things I require of myself, that are possibly even necessary,  like a clean home or folded laundry, or a little exercise.  Then there are unexpected, unplanned moments to respond to as well.

It takes only one small event for me to remember all the things aren’t in my hands anyway. At the end of each day, I can be grateful for this: regardless of what I manage to accomplish, He is holding all the things in His hands.

I snapped these photos a few days ago, and could not resist putting my thoughts down – It was a glorious morning in the heavens!

Like a needle piercing fabric
The plane noses thru thick gray into the deep blue,
and floats above layers of clouds
Posing as great white puffs of cotton.
There the morning sun perches
above the gloom
Where It has always been.

Here the brightest truth takes flight:
The Glorious  Morning Star resides
Above the darkest blanket of storms.
Unseen, the view obscured by the fog of my own humanity,
Still, He remains, shining.
Unflinching, unmoving, unchanging.

Not showing up barely in time, when I call,
But rightly settled above all
For the full expanse of time
As my Creator-Sustainer.
Set free on wings of faith and hope,
My heart soars.

They arrived earlier than usual – in February.  With snow still on the ground, they flitted tree to tree, bright blue against shimmering white.  Our blue birds were back.

Every year in the spring, it seems, the same blue bird comes to our bird house, on our deck and lives with his little family until the weather turns cold again.   We enjoy watching them live happily without much distress.

I keep an eye on their lives, as they find food for their young and avoid crows and other stalkers…  

Blue birds don’t carry much with them.  I’m a teensy bit envious,  wishing I could live as care-free.  And although human- type burdens are heavy, sometimes they are hard to lay down.

I’m reminded of Scripture:

from Matthew 6:

25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 

Lord, Help me to live like the blue birds!