{pretty, happy, funny, real} Spring! Easter! Pinatas!

| a weekly capturing of contentment in everyday life |

Oh my, our world is full to overflowing with good things and hard things and in-between things right now.  How's that for specificity?  I imagine your world is much the same, and you get me. Right?

Here's quick photo diary of a few moments I'm rehearsing from the past couple of weeks.

A few photos to practice contentment this week

| pretty |

He is risen (and He thought up tulips)!  Hallelujah! 

| happy |

I felt special responsibility as a godmother to capture the quintessential Texas spring photo of adorable children frolicking amidst the bluebonnets.  On the left, you see that one child humored me.  On the right, you'll see the other child was having none of it.

Godparents Club: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

I can't remember if I've mentioned on the blog that our daughter Kendra became a godmother when she was still a teenager.  She and the sweet Lucy Scout bonded when both of them were new to Austin and so Lucy's parents asked Kendra to be her godmother.  A couple years later, Brian and I were honored for the same request for Lucy's little brother Emmett.  We often ask ourselves how we got so lucky!

We took advantage of the week that Kendra was home for Spring Break to plan a morning adventure at the wonderful Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.  I've decided that we should call ourselves the Godparents Club, and will henceforth name all future collaborations likewise.  We've also discovered that we need a 3:2 ratio now that Brian and I are so old and out of practice.  

If you live in (or visit) Austin, spring is THE time to visit the wildflower center.  Admission is reasonable, and Kendra got a student discount (kids 5 & under are free).  Before we even got inside the main area, we happened upon a nesting mama owl.  I'm not sure the binoculars actually helped L & E see the owl, but they sure had fun trying. The flowers are lovely, the walking trails just the right amount of work, the observation tower worth the climb, the cafe tasty and the children's garden imaginative and delightful.  

Of all that goodness, though, the swings are the absolute best.  You have to walk quite a ways to find them, but it's worth the trek (especially when you're little enough to let someone carry you back to the car when you're tuckered out).

Gosh, we're going to miss these kiddos.  (their parents too!)

| funny |

Second Annual Friends Easter Feast

Last year they came to our house, this year we went to theirs.  I am not exaggerating when I say they got robbed.  May I also recommend you all go out right now and find yourself a friend with culinary school training?  

Also, they make me laugh. A lot.  Laughter belongs near the top of the list of ways to practice resurrection.  We feasted (lamb! leek fritters! chili queso! corn pudd'n!), hunted for colored eggs (lottery ticket prizes!  winner gets a kitten!), and whacked a pinata (lollipops!).  

| real |

My people 

It's beginning to dawn on all six of us that very soon we're going to be separated by thousands of miles.  As in, over shawarma at the Peace Bakery & Deli right after church on Sunday. As in, at any given moment one of the six of us had our head in our hands, bawling our eyes out.  I'm really grateful for the hospitality of the restaurant owners who gave us a quiet space to talk over all-you-can-eat pita and hummus.  (An aside: I'm thankful for the Resurrection sort of peace that makes a way for us to enjoy food prepared by our Middle Eastern neighbors on Easter Sunday. May that peace be known across the globe.)

I'm not going to lie.  This stage of parenting (or should I say, "family-ing"?) is really hard.  I have been humbled quite a bit in my assessment of myself as a mother.  Humbling is a good thing, though, and I've never been more grateful for the extreme privilege of sharing life with my husband and kids.  And I've never been more grateful for a Christ who bridges the gaps of our imperfect love, and saves us all.  

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Have YOU captured any contentment this week?  I'd love to hear about it!

| Join in at P,H,F,R to see other wonderful people practicing contentment. |

your Practice Resurrection photo stories [2015, vol. 4]

via: Lent & Beyond

This is our last week of photo stories as we near Pentecost.  I am so grateful to rehearse the reality of Christ's gift of "life that trumps death" with some beautiful contributions this week. Thank you to everyone who shared photos and stories this year. You made Eastertide a brighter, more joyful season for us!  

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"Loved."  (Paul & Lisa Van Allen, Austin, TX)

Read this post Henri's dad shared during the waiting and mourning of Holy Week.  We're so glad to welcome this beautiful boy during the celebration of life in Eastertide.

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This photo looks past our little front porch and the cultivated flower beds to the sea of wildflowers (Indian blanket) that adamantly take over each spring nearly obscuring our front path. Knowing that it will all likely be toasty brown in a few months under the Texas sun makes me want to soak in the spring fervor just like our soil is gulping this blessed rain." 

"While looking for some fencing in a neglected pile this week, I discovered that the brambly dewberries growing wild around our property were finally having a productive year due to the rains we've been receiving. So it just seemed worthwhile to celebrate that abundance and wander around the edges of the wild areas of our land to see what I could find. What a delight to easily pick a decent amount of fruit (for two of us)! So I also had to pick a child's handful of meadow pinks, those charming pink wildflowers which have an indescribable sweet fragrance and last surprisingly well in a vase." (Jan Horn, Bastrop County, TX)

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"To be honest, there have been moments when I've felt a little overwhelmed by it all. I have even wished that I had more time for remembering and celebrating Easter with the boys, but when I think of what we are gaining as we plant and tend and I am reminded that the celebration of new life is part of Eastertide, I'm very grateful for this land and these hens we've been given to care for.  Alleluia!" (Emily Watkins, blogging from Richmond, VA at Wondering Through the Year)

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"The rain trickled, and soon poured over us in sheets.  Then thunderous giggles ensued."  (Kim Akel, Austin, TX)

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"A quick coffee run at the local deli turned into forty minutes of Evy singing with these guys. It was such and unexpected surprise. Evidently every Friday morning, whoever can make it gets together for a jam session. Including this lady shaking her maraca with all her heart.  I love NY." (Cheryl Mango, New York, NY) 

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"Here we are, over a year after the stroke. I continue to be both incredibly sad for Renee's losses and at the same time filled with admiration for her ability to keep going forward despite them.  She hasn't given up. Her desire is to be able to run again; which by the way, she has started doing in therapy -- and through our kitchen.  It's almost unbelievable to watch." (Les & Renee Aylesworth, Owego, NY)

Read this mourning story Les shared in Holy Week.  We're so glad to welcome this beautiful boy during the celebration of life in Eastertide.

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"Despite the seizures, we were excited to announce the pregnancy! A week later we'd be making a much darker announcement -- the seizures were caused by a malignant brain tumor. The anticipation of our son was overshadowed by doctors, hospitals and multiple surgeries. We kept pushing forward. In the end, the tumor was downgraded and our son was born healthy.  It was a miracle." (Earl, Florrie and Alastair Barnett, LaGrange, GA)

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I took my first class in Seminary in 2006. It was a mission’s class called Perspectives that I took with two colleagues. We stayed at a Christian retreat for ten days, learned about each other, learned about Jesus' love for all peoples.  I received 3 hours of seminary credit toward a master’s degree for the effort. 

That was nine years ago.

Yesterday, I graduated from Redeemer Seminary in Austin. Seminary was hard for me. I am 15 years older than the 11 of the 12 other guys I graduated with. I was the only Anglican, and I am not a scholar in the classic sense of the word. 

Seminary was so hard for me that I considered not walking in my graduation ceremony. Following the advice of my wife and friends, I walked and received my diploma in front of my wife, children, pastor, and my fellow graduates. And my perspective changed.

Rather than remembering the hard times over the past nine years, I remembered all of the people who helped me achieve this goal. I remember how my wife routinely showed me the graciousness and strength of Jesus. I remembered how the fine people of Christ Church supported me with resources and words of encouragement.

Rather than recalling the frustration that I often felt, I rehearsed the joy from the great friendships that I forged these past nine years; the confidence I gained from sitting under Godly professors; and the honor I feel from being invited to serve the Redeemer and Restorer of all creation.

There is an old joke that calls “seminary” “cemetery”. I used to use the lingo in my most frustrated times. But after walking into the graduation ceremony last evening singing “All Hail the Power of Jesus Name”, I think that I will call my experience “resurrection life” instead.   (Brian Murphy, Austin, TX )

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your Practice Resurrection photo stories [2015, vol. 3]

Scroll to the bottom of this post to see how to participate.

I'd love to include your photo story next week!

via: Lent & Beyond

For the next six weeks (from now until Pentecost), will you join me in feasting on Resurrection goodness in our everyday lives?  It can be as simple as a special candle you use for your meals during Eastertide or as elaborate as travelling across the world to meet new people.  

Whatever it is, will you show us a picture and tell us a few words?   Plant spring flowers (maybe a new variety this year)?  Show us! Get up to see the sun rise on a Sunday morning?  Tell us about it! Take a new route to work (maybe taking more time than necessary in honor of the mad farmer)?  Share it!

"Day in the Life: Living with Alzheimer's, my parents.  His mercies never come to an end ... they are new every morning."  (Caren Hoehner, Vienna, VA)

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"Sometimes seeds planted and neglected still produce something wondrous. It was such an amazing thing to go to my community garden plot yesterday after sadly neglecting it for weeks and find that, amidst the weeds, I had an actual harvest!  I had a bonafide ministry session with the Lord as I weeded." (Rebekah Powell, Austin, TX)

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"These pictures are taken in Skaneateles Lake, SE of Syracuse, NY.This is pristine water, the cleanest in New York. It is one of the 'Finger Lakes'. I believe these lakes were formed by glaciers after Noah's flood. That is a spring run rainbow trout. The moral of this story is that out of God's judgment there will always rise the purity and beauty of His new creation. (By the way, the bait I used was marshmellows and a worm)." (Douglas Hill, aka, my Dad, Johnson City, NY)

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"I read a line from John O'Donohue years ago that always comes to mind in the spring: 'beauty likes neglected places.' The damp earth under still-bare trees, untended corners of vacant lots - these places are splashed with new life and color, just as much as the carefully cultivated flower beds. This time of year, you can almost see the trees budding, watch the leaves uncurling, measure the progress of a rising daffodil stem from day to day.  Or -- just as often - a tree or shrub will lie dormant for months, then burst into bloom overnight. In both cases, the joy is deeper, the colors brighter, if you know where to look.""  (Katie Noah Gibson, Boston / follow Katie's blog: Cakes, Tea and Dreams for encouragement to pay attention to your everyday life.)

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"This photo speaks loudly to me how alive I feel as I offer my body as a living sacrifice, as I battle my flesh and worship the Lord while I step fast and sweat a little more. The hard parts aren't so hard when moving for Him and in Him."  (Patty Birchard, Endicott, NY)

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"We were just downgraded from the 'extreme' drought zone. And they had a blast out there." (Rosie at Like Mother, Like Daughter.  I just started linking up with these {pretty, happy, funny, real} posts as a way to "capture contentment in everyday life".)

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"When an infant or child is being marked with a sign of the cross during the liturgy of baptism, this moving section of liturgy accompanies the action:

'We receive Emmett into the congregation of Christ's flock, and mark him with the sign of the Cross, in token that form this time forwards he shall not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, and courageously to fight under his banner against sin, the world and the devil; and to continue Christ's faithful soldier and servant until his life's end. Amen.'

It is both powerful and strange, when I consider the vulnerability and innocence of my toddler son, to speak of his fight against evil and even of the end of his precious life. Yet there is great mercy and profound joy when I remember that in this world where he will have trouble, his is held in the gentle, marked hands of the crucified Christ." (Shannon Coelho, Austin, TX )

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Three steps to play along:

1. Add something to your day that helps you practice resurrection. (one day or fifty days doesn't matter)
2. Take a picture and write a description in 1-50 words.
3. Share it with me via an email, Facebook or hashtag it on Twitter or Instagram #practiceresurrection2015.  I'll share some of your photo-stories with everyone here each week.

Who wants to join us?