The Lesson in the Nest

Several years ago, the kids received a DVD about hummingbirds as a gift from their Nana. It turned into a week-long theme study and a blog post. Yesterday, Mr. Magoo found a complete bird's nest on the ground, lying off to one side and it brought back memories of that week. 

Bruiser put it back in the tree

Meditation Monday: Be Worthy of the Answer

The other day Chef, now 12 years old, was pondering the age-old question about why men do what they do - the "why is there evil in the world" question. After much teasing by his older brother, (*sigh*), and a long discussion, it hit me: we had the answer to that question. It is because we are fallen. We have each, at some point, sided with "evil" temptations, whether big or small, they are all equally important to the matters of our souls. 

So what question should we be striving to answer? 

And it is this: If we continue to sin in our fallen nature, why does God still want us to be with Him? Why does He choose to accept us into his sphere for all time?

And the truth is, there is no way that I know of to answer that question. Our kids give us hard ones, don't they??

But here is the bottom line in the whole discussion: 

The answer itself to that second question does not matter. 

The important thing is to strive to be worthy of the answer.

Endurance and Prayer

I am part of a FaceBook group that is specifically for people to request, and respond to, prayers for those in their lives - whether personally, in business, or whatever their needs may be. I also am learning to make the knots that are used in our Orthodox (Christian) prayer ropes, and I often wear one on my wrist to fiddle with; when I fiddle with the prayer bracelet, I am reminded to pray for those around me and in my life. 

What do I pray for? Personal needs, health needs, business needs, family needs... whatever comes to mind for a person. And here's the big thing, I cannot complain about anything in my life. My life is not perfect, but it is relatively hassle-free.

Meditation Monday: On Success and Self-Doubt

All last week I worked on budgets - a budget for our church, one for our home finances that will take us through debt freedom and White Knight's retirement, and one for our time each day. Working on a budget can be a tedious, boring process; or it can be invigorating and give you a means of being inspired to work towards a healthier place in life, and encourage you to see where the gaps and personal flaws may be. I chose to use our various budgets for self-improvement, and as a way to really assess how well I am pursuing those things which matter most in life. 

This quest has led me to consider the following quotes today:

Meditation Monday: On Praying for Others

I don't know if my idea for "Meditation Monday" will continue or if this is a one-time deal, but it's something I thought of earlier today while on the way to church, and something I'd like to try to continue as I go along. This is the spiritual focus I'll be working on this week. I hope you'll join me as we work towards a healthier spiritual life!

The Scene:

Sunday morning, getting scones together for the kids's breakfast and generally preparing for church. 

An ancient place to pray: The ruins of Melrose Abbey in Scotland

The Events:

• The general "stress" of making sure everything was ready to head out the door on time
• Keeping the food from burning
• The to-do list, coupled with being (roughly six-months) pregnant, and having a still-tired undressed toddler to take care of
• The blessings of older kids getting themselves ready without too much instruction from Mom. 

Such stress, as you can imagine, takes its toll sometimes. When the old dog peed all the way down the stairs (again!), and the stairs then needed to be steamed before we left, the irritation and anxiety led me to a difficult moment. I had to stop for a minute and just. breathe.