Showing posts with label bedroom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bedroom. Show all posts

Sunday, February 8, 2015

The Love That Breaks a Heart

 
“If only there could be an invention that bottled up a memory, like scent. 
And it never faded, and it never got stale. 
And then, when one wanted it, the bottle could be uncorked, and it would be like living the moment all over again.”  ~Daphne du Maurier
 
 
 

Days meld into evenings.
Snowy mornings fall into frigid nights.
Life moves, 
flows, 
pushes forward.
 
 I find myself moving with it ~
sometimes reluctantly.
Dragging my feet; reaching back.
Arms outstretched.
Wanting to stay in the moment
and not step into the next one.
I feel like with each passing day
more life is left behind.
I feel anxious and nervous about the future. 
 


I don't want to forget.
 
I am so afraid of forgetting.

Their voices. Their touch. Their smiles. Their laughter. Their tears...
 
Bloglandia hasn't seen much of Heaven's Walk these past months.
My heart still struggles with emptiness. 
My feeble attempt at putting words to paper fail miserably.
The void is tangible, presses down hard.
Depletes me.
 
I know deep inside that I continue to be blessed abundantly ~
with my loving husband, my Maizie Grace, family and friends. 
Living in this old farmhouse surrounded by woods and water, 
rooms warmed by a big furnace,
healthy food lining the pantry shelves,
beds piled with down comforters,
patchouli scented air...
 
all huge blessings that make me bow my head in gratitude.
 
 
 
God makes his presence known with peace and comfort.
I close my eyes and breathe him in deeply.
Praying.

But a part of me is missing.
Torn away.
Exposed.
Lost.
 Floundering.
Seemingly treading water;
pushing myself back up to the surface to gasp for breath.

Between chores...stolen gazes out the window....
purposefully remembering.
Knowing the pain will hit sharply
like a punch to the gut.
The moments come unexpectedly,
blindsiding me;
making my soul curl up in a fetal position.



I reach back in time and allow myself to sink into the memories.
Reliving the shock, painful decisions, and sadness.
Beating myself down with the "whys" and "what-ifs".
Not a place where I want to be, and I try to push away from it,
but it's a place I keep falling in to time and time again.

I touch my dad's lilac painting setting before me in my studio.
I pull his coat on over my shoulders to go shovel snow in our driveway.
I run my fingers across my mother's handwriting on a birthday card from years past,
and clasp her diamond necklace around my neck.


 So much has happened over the past eight months.
Eight months?  How could it be eight months?
To a broken heart,
it seems like yesterday.
The pain is still that big and encompassing.
It swallows me whole.

How long does a heart grieve? How long does the soul ache?
I want to go back in time...
 
I don't want to forget
but
I don't want the pain of remembering.
 
Yet still...
I want to remember.

Clinging.
Surrendering.
Responding to the tugs of divinity within.
 Healing through tears and sleepless nights.
 
The [Holy Spirit] knows the beat of your heart when you have forgotten how to be.
The [Holy Spirit] knows the lyrics of why you are loved - when you can’t remember quite how to live….
The [Holy Spirit] will sing your song - God’s song for you - when you have long forgotten the words to His Word – to yourself.  ~Ann Voskamp
 
The world around me seems loud, crude, and invasive.
I want to shut it out and escape.
 It doesn't understand.
I feel God hiding me in the shadow of his hand.  
Protecting.
Comforting.
Healing.
 


“God speaks in the language you know best - not through your ears, but through your circumstances.”  ~Oswald Chambers
 
"May our loves never leave us, at least not for long.
May our passions not be buried so deep by our pain and brokenness that they become impossible to recover.
May we know God and in turn, know ourselves." ~ author unknown
 
 

 
~  Eucharisteo  ~




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Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Grounding


"When was the last time you felt the stinging gift in your own eyes, this most natural reminder that you are alive, here, human?
Maybe it’s been a while for you. There’s nothing wrong with that. But the next time the tears rise up to meet you, don’t brush them aside. Greet them, receive them, and listen for the life they bring." 
~Ann Voskamp




A roller coaster year of emotions

bringing me up
letting me fall
affirmation of my human-ness
confirmation of a life full up with love

feeling untangled
becoming unraveled

living




"Every single one of our life-aches, large and small, has a response from a God who put on skin so that we might know His scent and feel His calloused hands and live in a nearness to this beauty that would forever keep us coming back to sit at His feet.
Pain invites us to see. Him."
~Sara Hagerty, author



I see.
I hear.
I feel like never before.
The pain of loss has opened my eyes to an even deeper grounding of my being in the love of Christ.




learning
discovering
opening
embracing

"I don’t waste anything in your life, including your suffering. I use it to teach you important lessons here and now. But there is more. Your troubles are also accomplishing something in heavenly realms. They are achieving eternal Glory—contributing to the reward you will receive in heaven." 
~Jesus Today by Sarah Young

My devotional book lays open before me on the table.
Eyes drinking in the words.




scents surround me
lifting my spirit
calming my soul





http://heavens-walk.blogspot.com/2013/07/passion-grace.html


I inhale His goodness
letting it fill my heart

The essential oils ground me.
Define me.
Heal me.

Valor swiped on the back of my neck for strength and courage.
Joy rubbed over my heart for happiness.
Peace & Calming fill the room with tranquility.
Patchouli's earthiness like a warm hug.
Biblical oils.
The original source of healing for
mind
body
spirit.

Sitting in the stillness of His presence
I prepare to face the day.

to hear His voice
to follow His guidance
to live in a nearness to His beauty

hope
purpose
strength




And as I learn to live with loss...
I learn to feel even more the grace of Him.

accepting it
breathing it
filling it
releasing it




Finding my deepest fulfillment of my heart in Him alone.




Breathing Him

Breathing Life

Grounded...
using one of God's healing gifts.



~  Eucharisteo  ~





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Sunday, September 21, 2014

An Early Autumn Day...


These early autumn days have been incredibly beautiful here in Michigan.
Crisp, cool nights give way to cool, sunny mornings where the sunshine lasts all day long.
Days when you can tug on jeans, pull on a long sleeve tee, and slip into a pair of comfy, worn boots.
Days where you can almost watch the reds and gold tinge the tips of the trees.

I wake to another glorious morning,
push the Husband out of bed to get him on his way,
and make plans to begin my own day.





With a list of chores stacked like cord wood in my head,
I was anxious to get started.


All of my outdoor work had been completed the previous day.
Hostas were moved and roses and hydrangeas were planted in their place.
I planned on working inside this cool day ~
in a kitchen filled with bright, cozy sunlight.

Freezing more sweet corn was first on the list, using the four minute microwave method.
I still can't get over how much easier this is and how well it turns out.




Next up: Butternut squash, which didn't perform quite as well this year in the garden, 
but I did manage to freeze enough to get us through the winter months.
I baked it for about two and a half hours at 250 degrees,
scooped it out into a bowl, added a touch of butter and salt, 
and then freezer bagged it.

(It's a great substitute for mashed potatoes if you're watching your carb intake,
although the butter and salt I put on it probably cancels every good thing out.
And no....I don't like sweet squash. It's got to be savory for this farm girl.)




Spaghetti squash, which is my favorite, was next on the agenda.
(I chopped off the stems to send to a Sandy at Wayside Treasures
who creates sweet fabric pumpkins to sell in her Etsy shop.) 

Now, slicing into any type of squash is not easy and can be a little intimidating.
I stick my knife in and cut in down one half,
flip it around...
and then grabbing the knife by its handle,
slam the whole squash on the counter til the blade goes through.

Barbaric...(sigh)....yes, I know.
But it works for me
(and gets the neighbors wondering what in the world is going on over here, I'm sure).


Getting ready to slam.

After laying them face side down in jelly pans with a bit of water,
they baked slowly at 250 degrees for about two hours,
filling the house with a wonderful autumnal scent
(and sets my hunger bells madly ringing). 



I like to under-cook this type of squash a bit so that it doesn't get too mushy when its rewarmed,
and then scrape the "noodles" out with a big fork.





This is a healthier way of eating 'pasta'
when that spaghetti craving hits me like a Mac truck this winter....
and I know it will.

(My stomach is about comfort food, you know...
however my PiYo coach tends to differ.)

It's also very good with some butter, a dash of Himalayan pink salt or Herbamare,
and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese ~
(or swimming under a pool of marinara sauce).
We've also used our own canned tomatoes poured over it which, of course,
 is healthier yet.

The next project on my list was repainting my craft cabinet
with a layer of ASCP 'Antoinette' lightened a shade with 'Old White'

(Yes, I know.  Some days I'm just all over the place...)



As much as I adored the turquoise blue I had originally painted it,
(which you can see here)
I felt like it was taking up too much "visual space" in my small studio.
This pale pink lends a much more quiet, spacious feel to the room now.



Bits of blue showed through after some light distressing.




A vintage French altar candelabra with pale purple bisque flowers found a place on top
next to my new favorite rose, 'Faith'.






Thank you, Heather, for this amazing treasure.
I love it.






The petals on the 'Faith' roses don't even look real.
So very perfect in every way.
And they bloom out into a huge mass of full, blowsy, ruffled femininity.



So, as the sun slowly bent to kiss the horizon,
feeling tired but pleased with the day's work,
I kicked off my boots
and collapsed into a fresh, sweet smelling bed of RASCC 'Rosabelle' linens...








and thanked the good Lord for sunny autumns,
productive days,
and a cozy, blessed home.


~  Eucharisteo  ~



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