The Light

Unfortunately, I did not find any secret stash of money in the attic. I did however, strike gold in the memory department! From childhood innocence, shock factors, questionable fashion, to teenage fun. So tonight I am going to take you down a piece of my memory lane.

Childhood Innocence:

This is Svend. He was my first crush, and Joe’s Best Friend. I sent this picture to the Sibling Group Chat and I said “I was going to marry him. He moved away and forgot about me though.” I was like 7, he had an accent, and was totally cute! Could you blame me?! I swear to you every picture that Svend was in, Nicolle was in! I can remember Svend, Joe, and Dad teaching me to swim that summer. If they were in the pool, I was in the pool. Joe had other friends, but they weren’t as nice or cool as Svend. At 7 my brother and his friends were so nice and cool. I am sure I was probably the annoying little sister, but I don’t remember Joe EVER making me feel like it. So thank you Joe for always being the cool brother 😉

Element of Shock:

The Element of Shock and my brother’s went hand and hand. When I saw this picture I had to laugh. I am not sure I have ever seen my dad look so mad in a picture! I am willing to bet that Joe and his friends did or said something that did not make dad happy, and completely shocked Deanna. I can almost picture Dee saying “OMG I can not believe you guys did that!” and I can almost picture mom behind the camera laughing at whatever idiotic thing they did! Joe was mom’s baby, I’m not sure he ever got in trouble with her!

Questionable Fashion:

This picture of my good friend Kristi and I was taken in 1993 for Scott’s graduation. There is nothing more to say other than LAUGH, that is what Kristi and I did! What in the world were we wearing?! Rompers? I forgot those were a thing back in the day. We are not even going to discuss my hair. Why oh why? Let’s move along………

Teenage Fun:

Wow 11th grade Homecoming with one of my Best Friends, Amanda. What a fun night! The memories with this girl stretch over a 26 year span. We have had our ups and we have had our downs, but she has always had my back. This picture reminds me of the good ole’ days of no worries, laughter, the stupidity of being a teenager, but the importance of friendships!

I had hoped to find something rare in the attic, but I am glad to have found these memories and so many more (I could post pictures and tell stories for days!) These were the memories that I needed to flood my head with.

While life may not always be sunshine and rainbows, we have our memories to help remind us of times much simpler than these. A time where we didn’t stress, or worry over any and everything. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. What does your picture say?

By definition, gratitude is being thankful for the special, precious things we are presented with each day. It could be a person, a place, an experience, a circumstance, or an object. It is simply something we did not obtain on our own. We didn’t work tirelessly for it. We didn’t manipulate a situation for it. We didn’t buy it. The things we are grateful for, the blessings in our lives, are things we can’t take or make in our own strength. The sunrise fits the bill every single time. If it wouldn’t be so redundant, I would say how thankful I was for the sunrise each and every day. It is more than mere beauty in the sky. It represents a fresh start. Another chance to get it right.  

Research tells us that practicing gratitude is good for our health – quite literally. Those who make a point to stop and verbalize their blessings are known to have better health, less stress, and positive emotions. People who are filled with gratitude tend to also be more generous and trusting. Interesting, isn’t it? When we take the time to see how fortunate we are outside our own will, we are changed.  

I am changed by the beauty of the sky – the sunrises, the sunsets, and everything in-between. It has a way of softening me and reminding my heart of all that is good and right in the world.  I always point out gorgeous color schemes to my son. He usually responds with a nonchalant, “that’s cool,” but I know he is paying attention because sometimes he notices the sky first and points it out to me. I pray for him relentlessly – that he will be caught up in the world in a much different way than the world hopes. That he will know he belongs, and he would make others feel the same. I pray he would be a boy who grows up to be a man with great compassion, looking at others through the lens of Jesus. When I feel like I am failing as a parent, I look at the sky and remember the same one who painted brilliance there is the same one who created my child. And when he looks at the sky, I pray he will remember the same. My load is lighter when I stare at the sky – and as I remember and pray, I am ever grateful.

The sun rises and the sun sets. Let’s remember to be grateful for each moment in-between. Share your favorite sky picture this weekend and tell us what you see, remember, or pray. Don’t forget to tag us on social media so we can smile with you!

~ D 🙂

Linking up with our Five Minute Friday friends. Come say hi!

Each morning I wake up, make my coffee and send out texts to friends and family to let them know that someone is thinking of them. It started with a few friends that I knew were going through things and they reminded me that a simple morning text at times was what got them through the day. My list has changed over the years, some have been added, others removed but it’s been part of my morning routine for several years now. After I say my good mornings in hopes of starting the day off on a positive note for friends and family, I go to Facebook and post a morning laugh and a morning thought.

Over the years I have received feedback that these thoughts and laughs have made people smile, think, reflect, hope and dream. And, while I started these posts for myself, I continued it daily as a result of the feedback that something as simple as these posts somehow had value to others who visited my page.

The other day I posted a morning thought that life was a series of thousands of miracles…and it challenged people to notice them. It was not really a profound thought, but as my day went on I did realize it is very needed in today’s world.

That night I turned on the news. Those that know me know that I try stay away from the media monster, but I know it’s still important to know the pulse of things going on in the world to help me keep a grounded perspective on the things important to me.

Highlights of the news reports that night were impeachment trials, covid mutations, inclement weather patterns, economic woes, sporadic stock markets, and a divided country. We are living in some pretty scary times. I’ve seen how the combination of all these things have caused countless people to worry, stress, lose sleep, wonder and even fear each passing day.

With everything going on in such a socially connected world it’s easy to get consumed with the drama and woes of everything unfolding. It’s easy to see the problems. They are real. They have an impact on us, financially, emotionally, spiritually, physically.

The hard part isn’t seeing the issues. The hard part isn’t the wonder of what to do. The hard part isn’t even the fear of what’s next. From my experiences, the hardest part is stopping the cycle. The hardest part sometimes is simply… just stopping.

It’s cliche at best to say stop worrying, even if we know that could be the simplest answer. It’s not easy to stop in a world that’s made for speed. And, we have been taught all our lives things like the early bird gets the worm, work harder, stand strong, don’t back down, give an inch they expect a mile. It’s not a wonder why life causes stress with philosophies like this. We expect things as a result of our hard work, we anguish over what we don’t have instead of stopping to appreciate all that we do.

After I hastily turned the news off, I took the dog out for his nightly walk and…I stopped. I stopped and looked at the sky and actually paid attention to the colors of the setting sun. I saw a mated cardinal and appreciated their commitment to each other as they sat in the tree. I took in a breath of fresh air and made a conscience effort to realize the feeling it gave me as the cool air filled my lungs. I noticed the days getting longer…the grass getting greener. I stopped.

When I returned to the house I remembered the thought I posted for the day…Life is a series of thousands of miracles…notice them. It really resonated with me. Too often we look at what we want different instead of counting the blessing in what we already have.

Noticing these miracles didn’t change the impeachment trials, they didn’t influence the stock market and it hasn’t changed the pandemic…but it did change my perspective and, that was the point. By looking at the miracles in everyday life, it demonstrates how the other things are relatively insignificant in the big picture.

So today, I wanted to challenge each reader to simply stop. Stop and notice the little things. Find your miracles…count your blessings…change what you can control and simplify your life. Be bold in how your act towards others and yourself. Continue to grow. Love hard. Live free. Notice for yourself how blessed you are.

What tiny miracles are you missing out on?

~ Joe Jr.

I went for a walk with our dog one snowy morning and as I was walking with her she stopped. I turned around to see what was holding her up and I saw our footprints in the snow. Yes, I have seen many of footprints left behind in the snow before, but this morning as I stared at my footprints I couldn’t help but wonder what prints my life is leaving behind as I go forward.

As we walked I was noticing the type of ground we were walking on and what our footprints looked like behind us. I had a realization that it does not only matter if we leave footprints behind us as we travel this life, but also what matters is the path we walk on.

See on the dry paved ground where we walked when I looked back there were no footprints. While I looked at the ground all I could think was if we walk on an easy path of life and just glide through, not truly living it, we are letting life go by and there will be no footprints to be seen. There is no impact that will be made.

We continued our walk as the snow came down and stuck to the ground. The path we were walking on now was fresh shallow snow that let us leave markings of faint footprints. The thought that came to me is if we are walking down a path of life that is shallow and just for ourselves the footprints that will be there will fade quickly because there was no depth to them. The steps we walked were just for ourselves and others will not be impacted by them.

Then we came across a section that seemed everybody in the neighborhood had walked that morning. Foot prints were all around and ours got lost among the many. By looking down you wouldn’t be able to tell if we were coming or going. Sometimes we can choose a path that gets so busy, hectic and complicated that we can lose our focus and even ourselves. We don’t remember whether we are coming, going or why we are even where we are at that moment in life. If we do not notice where we are and have a clear vision will our footprints be seen?

We were now coming to the end of our walk as we were on our way home. The snow was coming down harder and we had to walk in it to get home. We were walking in fresh clean untrodden snow. There were no other footprints just mine and my pup going in one direction. Our footprints were deep, clean, and with a clear definition of our path. As a mother I have watched my little ones walk behind both my husband and I and have placed their small feet in our footprints in the snow. As they follow our path they step in one footprint and then another letting them guide them in their direction. When this came to mind I can’t help but think I want my footsteps to be taken deliberately, carefully and deeply.

In this one life we all have different paths to walk and different footprints to leave behind us but we all leave traces of ourselves with those around us. Have you ever stopped to look at your footprints long enough to ponder what tracks you are leaving behind you as you walk down the path you are on?

~ Mandi

When dad moved to Maine he left everything behind at the house, except the essentials. He told me to go through it as I had time, see what was memorable, and donate or toss the rest. We had plans of my siblings coming up some day, and going through the attic where all the memories of mom and dad’s lives were. There was a dream of a family “reunion”, because we all often said we didn’t want the next time we were all together to be at another funeral.

Unfortunately, that day never came.
Since I now have to move, putting off going through things until my siblings are here is no longer an option. The task is left to me, the over emotional one. So as you can imagine it hasn’t gone so well!

As I look at the mounds of stuff in the attic I find myself saying “Nope can’t do it” as tears stream down my face, and I move along to another task.

Time is ticking…..seriously I am on the clock to get through this stuff and pack up my life again in a matter of weeks!

As I lay here in bed I can’t stop thinking of all the times I have moved in my life. This will make time #10! I should be a professional by now! Really I should, but the truth is I hate everything about moving. It totally stresses me out. Are the dishes packed so they don’t break? Are the kids things separated so I am not looking for that one special thing they want?!

I am a last minute packer because I get so overwhelmed.
This time however is the hardest. I had to go through some papers (boxes upon boxes) and it took me a couple of weeks to do that, and that was important. Now it is the emotional part, sorting through decades of memories. Mine, my parents, my siblings, OUR family. I can’t help thinking “What if this means something to one of my siblings? What if I throw this away because I think it has no “value” but later on one of my siblings says “hey did you see…” I don’t like this responsibility, but I have to pull up my big girl pants and just do it… RIGHT?

Right, unfortunately 😭 so that is what I will do. I will find my big girl pants, put them on, and do what my family is trusting their emotional sister to do. My camera will become my best friend, and my siblings worst nightmare.

Another chapter will close, but a new chapter will begin in this crazy emotional task at hand. I have faith that my parents will guide me through the sorting phase, and continue to guide me after I walk out of our family home for the last time. With tears streaming down my face I know they are watching, guiding, and supporting all of us from the other side.

So here is to the good memories that we will always cherish in our hearts.

Check back next week to see what interesting things/ memories I may uncover!