Happy Birthday Momma!

I just love this picture of my mom. I think it shows her personality so well. Silly with a big warm smile. 

   When I think of my mom I think of warmth, and generosity, and strength, and maybe a dash of emotion in there too:) I have learned so much from her and I'm proud to say I am like her in so many ways.

She showed me how fun it is to do things for people, and that's its ok to cry sometimes.

She demonstrated what it means to put others above yourself and how to love with a big heart.

She is playful and silly and tender and loving and bubbling over with empathy and compassion for others.

She loves to remember little things that people like and then buy them tons of it randomly
(which is why our house is stocked full of nutella and sour candy, not that I'm complaining of course!).

She cries at birthday cards and Hallmark commercials.

She loves hugs and good books.

And when she loves you, you know it and you'll probably always feel it. 

Happy birthday Mom!

Rest

       Sundays are not particularly restful in general at the Cox country home. We wake up earlier than any other day of the week, go into the church hours before church starts, I go into prepping and planning and Adam starts worship practice. Adam spends most of the service on stage or singing and I spend it doing crafts and telling stories. Now don't get me wrong we love serving in the ways that we can, but as two introverts after being 'on' for a few hours we are pretty popped by the time we get home. Then, we go back to the church in the evening to babysit or sometimes there is something going on that we are there for. 

    

     All of this is to say that we don't properly sabbath. But we do our best to piece together a sabbath of our own which includes Friday nights, Saturday mornings, and sometimes Sunday afternoons. This weekend, however, felt a bit more rushed and a bit less sabbath-y to me. I'm not really sure what it was really. 

    

      But on my way home tonight from the church I rolled down my windows, put on some loud (but not too loud) tunes, and enjoyed the ride home alone. 

   

I picked some beautiful, emotional, and meandering songs.

I let myself sing in my best indie girl singer voice.  

I smelled the fresh cut grass and the bonfires and let the dusk air swirl around in my loose curly hair. 

                                        

And I felt rest. 

     I felt rest so deeply in my heart that I nearly cried.  I let my mind go and just love the smells, and sounds, and the touch of the country air. For a moment peace was so real. And it was at that moment that I decided to create more spaces like that in my weeks. Instead of trying to cram life into every nook and cranny of my day I need to leave more spaces - margins for creativity and emotion and pleasure. 

And that's that. 

Spring Break '12