september when it comes

summer sweaty boy

" September when it comes....."

I can't believe tomorrow will be the first of September. Where did the summer go? Like I said earlier, I love summer, so it is always bittersweet when is comes to an end. I think that having a little one around makes you enjoy summer more. Better yet, I think that having a child makes you enjoy life more. For me, it has helped me have moments and days where I slow down and look at the clouds or a butterfly floating by or "watch the water" as jackson says. Though having a child adds to your "to-dos" it also frees you from the adult world. You have an excuse to take your shoes off and go for a walk with "just toes" (jackson lingo) and to go fishing with sticks, pretending to catch a "really big one fish."

This week we got a little sneak peak of fall weather and I have to admit I am looking forward to cooler weather. Jackson and I enjoy the break from the heat by going to the park, watching ducks, throwing rocks in the pond, and having a wonderful picnic. I don't know who enjoyed it more, jackson or mama?

It is nice to have these moments and days where I am forced to just be present. To be honest, adult life has been stressful lately. Seth and I are having to make big life decisions and figuring out how it is all going to work out. It is a good lesson in trusting God... knowing that it is all in His hands. September not only will bring the end of summer and the beginning of a beautiful fall, but the beginning of our adventures of residency. This next month the application goes in and the interviews will start. A fall full of thinking and praying. I wish I could say I am only excited, but the truth is I am anxious about making this decision. It is weighing heavy on our shoulders and hearts, and we are learning to give it over to God everyday. (even though we fight it sometimes.) Going through this reminded me of a quote I have loved since high school.

"Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because youwould not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."

- Rainer Maria Rilke, 1903, in "Letters to a Young Poet"

So while I am trying to "live everything," I am so very thankful for moments with my little boy. When he looks at me and says "I just wobe you mom" or "come sit by me" or "lets talk." These little moments are the things that makes me stop and really live.

enjoy the last day of august & the little moments!

love

annie

p.s.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2WilM6ljUg&playnext=1&list=PLA0A5B5F985111533

post titled after this amazing song... "first there is summer then, I will let you in... september when it comes."

Summer highlights

swimming at grandma's house

First royals game with dada and his two grandpas

jackson loves to play in the sand

Lessons from my garden – “Waiting is the hardest part"

This year Seth and I decided to participate in the one of the local community gardens downtown. We were given a small plot, which was perfect for a first attempt at real gardening. (In the past I have had a few pots of herbs on my balcony.) I think in the beginning, I was the one who seemed the most excited about this new project for the family. However, once we got out fingers into the soil, Seth’s motivation and interest seemed to quickly outweigh mine. We have truly enjoyed the entire process and all the learning along the way. Jackson has even seemed to really enjoy it. He has taken a particular liking to watering the garden...and himself. ;) (minus the few weeks of the cicada attack…or as I like to refer to it as the “alien bug invasion”).

This past week we were extremely excited to check on the garden, knowing that our tomatoes and green beans were ready to pick. Seth decided to take a bike ride to the plot and returned surprisingly empty-handed. He furthered explained that someone had picked our entire crop. The tomatoes and green beans that we had been anticipating to cook this week were gone. I know, right! WHO DOES THAT?! I was pretty disappointed. My friend Kelly tried to encourage me by saying, “Just think that it was probably a homeless person that really needed a nice healthy meal.” So, I have tried to keep that image in my mind…. But I have to admit it hasn’t been easy. My thought has been, “well shoot, we did all this work and we don’t even get to enjoy the reward. “ Both Seth and I seemed to lose our motivation for our garden after that sad visit.

Then I realized that there is a lesson we can take out of this. I saw that today in our American world, we live with the mentality that we will “reap what we sow.” That if we work hard, we will be noticed and we will success and feel the effects of that hard work. Then I realized that God has a different plan. It is not about me. It is not about “reaping the reward.” I am here to work for a bigger plan, one that benefits a bigger picture and one that sometimes I can’t see. I seem to be the type of person that wants instant gratification. I am not good at the whole waiting and patience thing when it comes to big things in life. As Tom Petty puts it “the waiting is the hardest part.”

In the book of Luke it says, “The seed is the word of God.” We may be asked to plant the “seed,” or the word of God, by doing what we learn about God through his word. However, it doesn’t stop there. In Galatians it says,“For whatsoever a man sowed, that shall he also reap. For he that sowed to his flesh shall of the flesh reap…… but he that sowed to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." If we work only for our earthly desires we will only reap in this world of earthly things, but if we work for God, oh want we will gain! “So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone.”

So my garden taught me a good lesson this summer. A lesson about God and how life is not about me, but about working only for my God. This in itself should be enough, but God says there is even more. That in doing so, we will receive joy and peace in this world and so much more in the world to come.

OH and we did pick two peppers recently! We used them along with tomatoes and onions from my in-laws' garden to make fresh salsa! YUM! We had a delicious meal last night of black bean and cheese quesadillas and our homemade salsa! : )

Ok so in honor of this post I think it is a good excuse to listen to some tom petty! (I secretly love him… brings back great memories of my childhood and singing with my dad! Thank dad and tom petty!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMyCa35_mOg&ob=av2e ...and you cant’ beat the 80s music video. Now if that doesn’t make your day a little better I don’t know what will! ;)