Life is Not an Emergency

"Calm. Haste makes waste. Life is not an emergency. Life is brief and it is fleeting, but it is not an emergency," says Ann Voskamp in her book One Thousand Gifts. I loved this. It was like taking a breath of fresh air.

After quickly finishing up a feeding and diapering little Lily, I've gotten in the habit every now and then of putting her in the crib to play on her own for a bit with the blinds drawn up, as I scuttle around the house trying to squeeze in as much as I can into every minute. Life gets so hurried with a new addition to the family...it almost just becomes a game of how can I adjust the routine a little each day to accomplish more. There's nothing wrong with that, as there really is so much to be done each day just to keep up a household and a business, and there's nothing wrong with letting her play on her own, in fact I think it's an important thing for her to learn...but something happened this morning that made me think. I finished up one little chore and headed back in to grab her when I caught her trying to roll onto her tummy! She's just 2 1/2 months, so I know it's something she will discover soon, but it caught me by surprise, and I almost missed it. I can't tell you how much she changes daily. It's easy to just blink and miss something so incredible as your child growing, and learning something completely new.

So, I sat with her, and I stared. Stared at her long eyelashes, her amber hair, her squishy cheeks and her tiny hands like silk, and I soaked it up. I know after this year the baby days will have passed and the toddler years will be creeping around the corner, and I don't want to look back feeling like I missed it. "Life is dessert - too brief to hurry" adds Voskamp. Each bite is to be savored, and so is each moment in time.

Joy is found in the giving of thanks for those moments. It's easy to get down when I don't feel like I'm measuring up as a housekeeper, wife, mother, or business owner, but joy can be found when we take our eyes off of what we think we lack and place them on the gems we know we have been given. Gems of family, a warm home, morsels of generosity from those around us.

This weekend was hectic but amazing. Stephen's family came out to stay with us, and they were so generous in helping us build a gazebo in our backyard. Lily got to meet her uncle Christopher for the first time, and we celebrated Stephen's 30th, and his mother Maggie's birthday as well. So much was packed in 5 days, and again it was easy to get caught up in what needed to be done and miss the gemstones hiding throughout the week. That's why I love photography. I can take note of them, and collect them in photographs. I should have taken more pictures this past week...but I at least got a few for the memory of it all.

I love theses pictures I took of the Dawley Family not long ago. So many tiny gemstones in one family session that could have easily been missed if I had focused too much on posing. These kids were so fun and energetic, the session just begged for lots of candids :).