The wait

Good morning everyone!  I hope that this morning is treating everyone well.  Today, still going from the same book as last week, our topic is going to be waiting.  Once again, I found it to be quite fitting since we are still waiting on baby Duggleby to arrive! :) 

"Waiting":

Waiting.  It's a very hard word for us as a society to grasp.  We usually don't want to wait 10 seconds for an application to download on our phone, let alone days, weeks, months or years for circumstances to change in our lives.  The stillness of waiting in today's culture can be very foreign to our souls.  I think about the movie "Pride and Prejudice" (my all time favorite!), where the girls are not allowed to work, and simply have the responsibility of maintaining a certain presence about themselves.  They are required to maintain the house, and keep up in arts, such as reading, writing, and music.  Can you imagine?  I think I would be bored out of my mind!  And yet, I am sure that there was also a stillness about them that does not rest in our society today.  Even today, I can feel the pull and weight of the wait on my heart as I long to meet this precious life growing inside of me.  There is an anxious spirit that wells up inside of me, as the world says, "where is she?!, Isn't it time?".  However, she has different plans.  And much like our lives, we spend much of our time trying to fill the wait with other attentions, instead of being still and resting in our current moment of time.  I believe that in these periods of waiting in our lives, from the little moments, like the stir in our stomachs as we wait anxiously to make a speech in front of an audience, to the big moments, when we are waiting for our perfect match to come into our lives, we come to understand more of who we are.  It is in these moments when we are able to hear the true heartbeat of our hearts, we are able to see the details around us, able to pick up on the influence and meaning of our lives.  It is in the stillness of waiting that our eyes are able to see more of the truth of the world around us.  Maybe our eyes are opened to the beautiful flowers planted at the front of our office space we pass every morning?  Or maybe they are opened to the person sitting right beside us, in need of a helping hand? You see, I believe waiting forces us to surrender to our own will and timetable on life and submit to living for something much greater than ourselves; living for others.  We are forced to move outside of ourselves and simply wait in due time for our answer to come. So, as I wait yet another day to meet my precious child, may my eyes too be opened to more of the world around me.  May I become less consumed in myself, and more consumed in the life of others.  May I learn to value stillness and soak in each precious moment of life that I have to live and make it count for something amazing!  Even through the unrest, may there always be beauty in the wait.  

Here are some pics I took this week to relate with the symbolism of waiting.  

Cell Phones- our need to constantly be entertained and stimulated! 

The essence of time. 

Waiting to see when her true due date will be. :) 

The wait to place baby girl in her rocker! 

Thanks as always for following along with me!  I hope you have a great week!!! 

~Laura 

Ice Cream Time!!! :)

I recently received a new book as a gift from a friend entitled 642 Things to Write About.  It has a lot of crazy random ideas of things to jot down, some short, some longer.  So I thought for the next few blogs I would try responding to one of the topics and just see how it goes?  Something to spice up the blog a little bit hopefully and make it more exciting, so you will have to let me know what you think?   So, here goes!  

The one I chose for today, in honor of it also being my birthday is:  "Your most transcendent ice cream experience".

As most of you know, ice cream is my absolute favorite dessert!!  And I like it many different ways; shakes, malts, smoothies with ice cream, ice cream bars, custard, gelato!  You name it, I like it!  Pretty much all forms!  It is just the best, so it was a little tricky to pick my most transcendent ice cream experience, but in being honest with myself, I would have to take myself back to 2004 when my family and I traveled to Europe.  This was where I tried gelato for the first time.  And this was not just any gelato, this was authentic Italian gelato!!  It was a hot, sunny day and we had been walking around quite a bit all morning touring different parts of beautiful Italy.  It was just about the point in time when you are noticing that you are starting to get a bit parched, and you are getting a bit tired from too much walking and not enough snacking, that we came upon a small gelato shop.  Having never had gelato before, and being in Italy, it was a no brainer that we were stopping to try some!  Also, I was with my dad, who for those who don't know him is the king of snacking and taught me to love ice cream as much as I do I believe!  So, naturally, we strolled right in, and browsed all the different flavors.  I ended up ordering raspberry.  And boy was this the Best. Decision. Ever!  The smooth, creamy, soft texture with each bite, satisfying any type of a parched mouth and adding wonderful flavor to my lips and tongue!!  The sweetness brought fullness and life back to my taste buds!  The coolness of the gelato was refreshing to my whole body.  And the flavor was just absolutely exquisite! For a brief moment in time, I truly thought I was in another world; heaven possibly!  (I honestly believe there is going to be lots of ice cream and gelato in heaven!) :) My mouth was floating in divine happiness and bliss!!  Oh to return to Italy one day and have another scoop of genuine, homemade gelato!  That will be the day! :) This is truly the best, out of this world ice cream experience I can remember!  (Although I have had many AMAZING experiences!! ) 

Well, I hope you guys liked my little ice cream journey!  And of course, in honor of talking about ice cream, I had to post a pic of my favorite every day ice cream, which has to be the one and only Strawberry Blue Bell! SOOO good! 

Also, here are some random shots I took this past week!  

Closet dividers I made this week for baby girl's room. :) 

Getting bigger every day! 

Belly shot!  I cannot believe how much she has grown!  Cannot wait to meet her! :) 

Thanks as always for following along with me!  Have a wonderful week!!! 

~Laura