Success is not mine alone...

Today I would like to share someone else's successes with you...

There are two shinning young girls that I know. They are talented photographers.

They don't just take pretty pictures, though. They bring out the best in people. They make other people shine. They capture what makes a person special and real...and they are teenagers!

As a teenager, I certainly didn't know who I was well enough to capture who anyone else is. I am constantly amazed by these girls...and not just their photography.

They are generous, helpful, modest, smart and funny...and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

They are blessed, too...to have mothers who support and foster their talents, encouraging them to do things that most girls their age would not even think of undertaking.

Tonight the girl's have their first photography show opening. What a huge success- for the girls and their mom's...and everyone who knows them and has had the privilege of being photographed by them!

I hope if you in the area you will stop by the show tonight. There is more information here. But if not, please take the time to read about the girls and their project here. And visit their pages to more of their amazing work.

And to my two favorite photographers and the mom's...CONGRATULATIONS!

Friday

I was on Facebook the other day and somehow got to a view of my friendship with someone. There was no picture of my and this friend. I looked at another of my friendships, and again no picture.

Again, and again, and again.

Finally I found one with a picture, but it wasn’t of my friend and me. It was a picture of our kids.

And then another, but the picture was at least 2 decades old!

I don’t have all the friends in the world…especially not on Facebook. I have always been a quality over quantity kind of girl, probably a symptom of shyness (my mother would say it has to do more with my high standards, but that is for another day.).

Regardless of how many friends I have or where I have them, it made me sad that there is no proof…there are no pictures, not even on Facebook.

But why?

Is one of us always the photographer? Do we only take pictures when the kids are around? Why aren’t we in those?  Have we gotten to the point where life is no longer worthy of being captured in photographs? There are still memories to be made, right?

I don’t want to be one of those moms who are never in the picture because I am not perfect. I want my kids to remember what I looked like when they thought I was beautiful – even if I don’t think I am beautiful.

I want them to know that I had friends, not as a matter of conquest or popularity, but as a token of who supported me and who I supported, a reminder of who loved them, too, a chronicle of the places and people in their lives, of what shaped our family, of who I am as person.

Maybe, it is rooted in my being an only child, so there are not family or sibling pictures either. But I want my kids to know that friendship and support are important, that things like distance and time and life are surmountable – because of, with the help of, and worth the effort for – Friends.

I am not sure how to get pictures of me with friends without seeming a little creepy. I don’t want over posed portraits, just candid moments in time and you can’t force that. 

So, I suppose I need to be better about bringing my camera along. I need to be better about asking someone to take a picture. I need to be better about making time for friends – time that is meaningful and picture worthy.

And that is Friday.

Whoa is me....

I am supposed to be writing something profound and inspirational for the blog, but I am feeling snarky and uninspired, and this is all I have for this Thursday morning.

I dropped my husband off at school this morning. I don’t do that every day, our lives are busy and those few extra minutes together in the car are sometimes the only ones we get.

It is the first week on classes and today is apparently the first day that they will be towing cars for being parked/ permitted incorrectly. There was also a great deal of parking on campus that was restructured over the summer. You can’t get to all the same places the same ways, and there are still a few temporary pass-throughs, as well as blockages present.  All in all, though I have found it much easier to get to where I need to be.

Apparently, I am the only one!

I was “greeted” by numerous folks having trouble navigating the parking lots and understanding right away. One young man (and I use that term loosely…I am trying to be generous!) in particular, came barreling through one of  the temporary pass-throughs that is a dirt path through what use to be a parking space. I had to slam on brakes to avoid hitting him, for which I received a scowl and up turned nose.

The first thoughts that filled my mind were:

Really dude!

You are in a parking lot!

You go to Liberty!

You are supposed to be Christian!

On the way home I was consumed, not with anger, but discontent. I kept recalling what had happened and wondering just who that kid thought he was. I was in the lot that is for campus police, law students and the medical facility on campus, but surely this kid didn’t think any of those things made him better than every other driver in the lot or should garner him any special privileges – including the privilege of nearly running me over and being a stink about it!

Then I started to think about how the priest who married Terry and I always says that sometimes we run into bad drivers because they need us to pray for them. Maybe that kid needs me to pray for him. Maybe this first week of school has been hard. Maybe he is having a hard time being away from home- he had Arkansan plates. Maybe he is sick…maybe he just needs a few extra prayers and a little grace in his day.

Or maybe…maybe I need him to prayer for me…

Wrong Words Wednesday

Before Grace even opened her eyes this morning, as she stretched her sleepy arms above her head, she said, “What a wonderful day it is!”

I love her.

And when I told her daddy what she had said, he said, “Indeed, this is the day our Lord has made, Let us rejoice and be glad.”

I love him.

My family is such a blessing.

As the morning continued, I opened the windows to let in the soft, cool morning air and sunshine as it peeked over the horizon. My husband and I talked about what I would write about today. We talked about a few songs that are meaningful to each of us…but as the day has gone on this one is the one that I find myself singing.

I got rice cooking in the microwave
Got a three day beard I don't plan to shave
And it's a goofy thing but I just gotta say
Hey I'm doing alright

Yeah I think I'll make me some homemade soup
Feelin pretty good and that's the truth
It's neither drink nor drug induced
No I'm just doin alright

And it's a great day to be alive
I know the sun's still shinin when I close my eyes
There's some hard times in the neighborhood
But why can't every day be just this good?

I don’t know if praising God is  what Travis Tritt or the song writer had in mind, but for me the things that make me sing this song and  the times it fills my thoughts are times I am thankful, times that I am aware of the awesome blessings God has given us.

Something about feeling the sunshine even when my eyes are closed…I can’t help but praise God for that feeling!

Tuesday Treasures...

Tuesday Treasures

I am working on keeping my house clean, which for me means getting rid of a few things and making room for living. This is really hard for me. I see potential in so many things. (This is where my husband starts “coughing” hoarder loudly in my direction!)

 In my cleaning, I came across a treasure – an old wallpaper sample book. It came from the attic of the dear old lady my daughter got her nose from. I have had it sitting here for nearly 2 years – moving it from house to house, from house to storage and back to house.

My plan was to make cards with it, but as I started tearing it apart yesterday I had a friend and her baby on my mind and I was struck…I could make this wallpaper into bibs! Sounds a bit farfetched, I know, but the wallpaper is from 1978 at my best estimate and its all fabric backed and “scrubable” according to the book.

Another project added to the list, but it is one where I have the supplies on hand and will be making good use of something that would have otherwise been trash. Aren’t those some of the best projects?

There are a few pieces that really aren’t bib worthy…but would be great for any number of other things. I will be posting them over at the TIAMO etsy shop.

Be sure to check out the Tuesday Treasure Treasury, too.

Made of Monday....

Today was the big day! Grace’s first day of pre-school and Terry’s last first day of law school!

As we have been getting Grace ready for school, I have been thinking about my own school experiences, especially those when I was her age.

I remember kindergarten – mainly wetting my pants because I was afraid to walk past the big kids. And I remember seeing someone throw up for the first time. I remember a lady coming to play guitar and teaching us a song about “His Banner over me is Love” and wondering why we were singing about toilet paper…but I can’t remember my teacher’s name.

I remember moving in first grade. I remember at the first school the desks had tops that lifted open. But it is not until we moved and I started first grade at St. Mary’s that I can recall my teacher’s name. Her name is Mrs. Johnson. She says I can call her Debbie now…but really I can’t. She IS Mrs. Johnson.

I remember other moments of school, but not nearly so many as I do of Mrs. Johnson’s first grade class.  In the years after first grade, I have still more memories of Mrs. Johnson. She took my picture for the school calendar the year I won the button contest for Catholic Schools week. She was on the playground. She let me help get her classroom ready the summers that my mom was working at the school. She came all the way to Maryland to stand as my confirmation sponsor when I was in high school. She stopped by my parent’s house shortly after Terry and I were married to meet my husband and congratulate us. She is among my friends on Facebook.

Grace starting school today was a big decision. We had thought we would homeschool, but for right now that just doesn’t work for our family. In the discussions and decision making, there were two things that have made me question homeschooling and helped to comfort me in our decision to send her to school. The first is marching band…and the second is Mrs. Johnson.

I want Grace to have a Mrs. Johnson. I want her to know the love and discipline, the love of learning and the strength of character of a great teacher. I want her to carry with her the example of someone other than me or my husband in loving the Lord and loving learning.

Maybe that is a lot to ask Grace’s teachers to live up too. They might not – I know that not all of mine did, but if just one can, she will be blessed.

So on this Monday, as I drop my baby girl at school, I am made of Mrs. Johnson’s first grade class.

Thank you, Mrs. Johnson! I hope you have a wonderful first day today, too!