Stop and Smell the Hollyhocks...

The God I know and love does not require me to be happy all the time. He enjoys whatever expression I send His way. That includes joy as well as sorrow, delight as well as frustration, excitement as well as boredom. A fully-developed relationship with God is one where I share all of me.

"Before sunlight can shine through a window, the blinds must be raised." -American Proverb

Today I am feeling rather contented. Which is a little strange, but hey I'm goin' for it. And I am taking back what I have lost in trying to please everyone but myself. To thine own self be true, and writing is one of my joys. So whether I am funny one day, sad another day, or a complete dimwit the other, I plan to continue to be true to the person I am. A woman, a mom, a friend, a sister, a wife, a business owner, a therapy lover ;) haha so funny but it's true, a writer of songs and stories, and whatever else I feel like doing that day!
I was once reminded by a very dear and old friend who was my mentor for many years that life is all about "for fun and for free". Now she knew full well that life isn't free, but the point of the tellin' is that if we focus on doing what we love, with the heart of "for fun or for free", that the burdens of life are lifted and suddenly we realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves, as we give our lives over to the care of God one day at a time, with our hearts in the right place.
This is not exactly the heart of the business world. I know. I have been dealing with the business world for the past three and a half years with business people saying things to me like, "What? What is Music with Mommie exactly? Do you like dance in a circle and things?"
Business men, in general, don't exactly get it.
I will respond with something like "We are an early childhood music and movement program that teaches important life skills to young children, builds community among moms and enhances the mother-child bond."
To which I generally get a cock-eyed cocker spaniel look.
I was relieved and amazed to work with a marketing company nearby who were the first "business people" to actually affirm what I was doing. And who could actually translate my right brained self into a marketing plan that is walkable.
So I breathe...
And I say to myself, "If this is God's will, and this is God's company, and I put Him first and do my part, admit where I fall short and do my best, the results are not in my hands, they are in His."
And that is where I am today.
I do my part, and I leave the results to God.
The challenge is in staying in today. As a mother I can completely lose myself in my children, my husband, my house, making meals, trying to figure out how to get my laundry done, the MwM website reworked, the marketing plan put into walkable bullet points, get my animals fed, my house remodel finished, my dogs bathed, my children fed, my toenails painted by someone other than a two year old... And I can forget to breathe. To stop and smell the hollyhocks.
But when I do, I am so glad I did.
Because life is in the right now. And right now I am living it.
Earlier this morning, after my husband left for the office, I grabbed my guitar, sat on the farmhouse front porch and sang my songs as my children played in their sandbox. The birds sang right along with me and my Basset Hound, Hank, didn't even howl.
That was progress.
And my heart went glad when I stopped momentarily and my daughter in her sandbox, who I didn't even think was listening said,
"Keep singing mama!"
So contentment is God's gift to me today. Because I cannot give that to myself. It is a gift. And a gift I am thankful for.
All for the giving, and the taking,
And the planting.
Progress, not perfection-
Stacy