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| ~painting by carl spitz |
...and praying for Grace today.
I was out in the front yard, greeting my husband as he came home from work yesterday and was shocked at the state of the flower beds. I've been blinded by all the doings of our children, and have seriously neglected the outside of our home. It's awful. Weeds and more weeds. And all the black-eyed Susans need cutting back, as does the Echinacea. It really looks pathetic, but not unlike the interior of my heart.
With school back in session, I've got an opportunity to re-think and re-organize my thought processes.
Seems, at least for me, I need the routine of homeschooling to get my life back in gear. I hear other mothers say the same thing. Summer gives us license to do 'whatever' and often we get sloppy in our personal lives. Well, I do.
And while I'd like to have the energy to yank dead flowers and weed to my heart's content, my energy level is no-where near full enough to tackle that, even with the kids' help. My spirit is exhausted.
So will probably just content myself with baby steps. If I do nothing, our house and garden will eventually resemble our neighbor's house, where I'm still plant-sitting. A trip to her son's that would last 3 weeks, has now reached the 7th week. Seriously? While I love her back garden, with all her herbs, her house is another matter. She lives in squalor, and I tend to think of that as a mental type of illness---to be content with living in the midst of filth. Going over there daily to check her house and water her plants, when they need it, wears on me. It's not unlike sticking your head inside the garbage can on a daily basis. Not very inspiring. Her Zen tendencies don't cover tidiness, but allowing dust and dirt to have their way just as she allows weeds to lord over her back garden. There's no self-control.
As a result of all this mindfulness, I'll search out Beauty today. I painted my nails yesterday, and while the girls do that all the time, I don't tend to take the time. But, I realized how nice they look, and Gary does like me to fuss a bit, which is rare. Taking to create Beauty in our home and with myself is a very good thing. Makes everyone happy.
Hope you can take the time to find some as well.
