the beauty of the could-be.

If you ever weary of your own grown-up life...

...if you ever feel that you know all there is to know...

...if you ever feel like you've seen all there is to be seen...

...if you ever feel like there's not a single new thought under the sun...

then just sit ye down beside a five-year-old for a moment or two and you'll be proven wrong. I jest not. Kids' minds are places full of ingenuity and imagination and sparkles and glitter and beacoup d'elegance. Children haven't "learned" yet that certain things are impossible. They aren't limited by stuffy scientific facts or theories, or too much Reality. Their imaginations are free and beautiful and winged.

Gracie reminded me of this beautiful gift only this afternoon. I had just finished reading Mama a letter from my friend in New Zealand, and Gracie left her post at the piano bench with a very thoughtful expression on her face.

"Rachel...does F'licity have a car?"

"...yes..."

"No, Rachel. I mean, does F'licity live in the old-fashioned days?"

And then I remembered. Grace spoke of her most recent theory. In short, she believes that if we could just walk far enough around the world, we would reach The Old Days. Isn't that the most brilliant, beautiful, gorgeous thought ever? An adult would never have come up with it. I still think there's a certain allure in the idea that the world is flat. Sure I know it's not true, but it's such a beautiful idea that I can't help feeling a bit sad that the world is round after all.

The mind of a child is something to be treasured and taught and cultivated. I have a special fondness for  bright-minded children such as Gracie who are always coming up with something wise beyond their years. Not everything they say is correct--not by any means. 

But they do have a valuable lesson for us: 

we are never too old to dream.

Let's take some time today to visit with some of these small wisdom-carriers--you won't regret it.

Attention: I think we should all worry about Global Warming... ;)

White Christmases.....there's a whole song written about them....they are the staple of Christmas paintings....but I've never personally seen one. We almost had a white Christmas a few years ago...turned out to be a White-December-26th! :) One year at a Christmas party a few years back, we were talking about snow in the winter in our area (virtually non-existant some years) and one boy quipped: "♫ I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones we've never had.... ♫"
But this year there is hope. This will be our third round of snow down here this winter already! Amazing! Today we are expecting 3-6 inches of the glorious white stuff! :) I understand that for farmers snow is bothersome and in the way, but no one, even the Scroogiest Scrooge who lives within the confines of an apartment house can't resist feeling a quickening of the heart when he sees a patch of fresh snow. Whenever I wake up to a world cloaked in white, the first words that flood my heart are: "Although your sins are scarlet, I will make them white as snow..." and, just as God's grace covers my sins, the beautiful snow covers the fallow fields, and the bare trees, and turns the ugliest corner of the yard into a glistening cathedral.
Has it never inspired you with somewhat of a sense of adventure to see a stretch of snow that has never, ever, ever been walked on before? I am still little-girl enough to put on my boots, and tramp over to a patch of pristine snow, pausing at the edge to let the beauty sink in, and then tromping over it, looking over my shoulder and laughing at the big tracks I make.
It's a part of winter that I doubt I'll ever get over! :)
So I am eagerly awaiting the promised snow, the third of the season, wishing for a White Christmas at last, while wondering...
Just why is everyone so worried about global warming? :) ~Rachel

What Are Mothers Made Of? :)

As I tried to let Mama rest on her birthday, and make her a special birthday dinner with the girls, I was reflecting on just what does make a mother what she is. Of course, I do think and feel like a mother in many of these areas, but I am not a mother yet! :) I think we should all stop now and then and think over how much mothers do for us! :) Here are my thoughts on the subject:

I can take care of a household, do all the chores, fix meals, and keep laundry running and folded, but until I can do all of that while holding a baby in one arm and a 3 year old by the other hand, I will not know how it feels to be a mother.

I may be able to handle all the problems that come up in my life, but until I can look a weeping six-year old in the face, and listen to their little tragedies without laughing, and help them through their trials without making them feel like ridiculous "children", I do not have the ever-ready understanding of a mother.

I may be able to wrap presents beautifully and concisely, but until I can step over the untidy makings of an eight-year-old boy's gift-box to lay paper down before he spatters the table with paint and all the time praise his ingenuity, I haven' the patience of a mother.

I may be able to make a pie-crust flaky to perfection, but until I can make one with a sister standing in between my arms, helping me roll the dough flat, I don't have the foresight of a mother.

I may be able to sew a doll dress, ice a cake, do any of a number of things eight times faster than a little child, but until I can let them help, and not mind the crooked stitches, or lumpy icing, I won't be thinking like a mother.

I may be preparing a gorgeous meal, and setting the table beautifully, but until I can let a little brother light the candles, even if he uses up ten matches, and until I can all the while thread a needle for a little sister eight-hundred times, and still emerge from the kitchen with a smile on my face, I don't have the multi-tasking abilities of a mother.

I may be able to appreciate great works of art and beautiful music, but until I can hear the "Moonlight Sonata" played fifty times over, and until I can look at a 6 year old's drawing and see as much promise, and as much beauty as if it were hanging in a museum or recorded on a c.d., I don't have the eyes and ears of a mother...

Thanks Mama! :) Love, Rachel

I Ain't No Mary Poppins! ;)

Hey Guys! I know this is twice today. But this is a really quick thing. Starting Monday I will be watching 4 kids for a family from church at their house all day. (Monday through Thursday this week)I have to get up really early (4 o'clock to be exact) in order to be there by 5 o'clock. Please pray for me because I don't know these kids real well, and the one-year old has never been fond of me. I'm praying that she doesn't scream her head off all day! ;) I'm excited about the opportunity, and it is an answer to my prayers for ways to make money, but I'm still a bit nervous. I just wish I knew what the kids liked doing. The Strother kids were easy because they would sit and let me read to them all day long if I had wanted to. I am praying these children like stories and make-believe sort of things.(Because that is what I'm good at doing! :) Does anyone have any ideas of what to do with children all day? This is a ridiculous question because I constantly watch our kids all day, but I know them well... I guess I should just run the other children's day the way I would with my siblings here at home, but what if the kids are absolute sports fanatics? I don't know a blessed thing about sports, and they aren't allowed outside for long since they all have colds! Horrors! But since God led me to do this, I have full faith that He will provide me ideas and patience and smooth my path for me! To bad I can't take them through chalk-paintings or snap my fingers to clean everything up! Anyway, I'd appreciate any ideas of how to entertain 4 acquaintance-children! :) -Rachel