Weekend Reading {vol. 99}

Mom's Nest @ A Little Bit of All of It

“Well…” I continued, “it’s the same with me. And with all women! Every month a woman’s body prepares a nest in her tummy, where a baby can grow. Her wise body gathers tissue and blood from inside her, and makes a warm and comfortable nest. Then, if no baby starts to grow, there is no need for the nest. So Mamma’s wise body sends the nest out in a big whoosh. That’s why the flow is red, because it’s made of all the good, nourishing blood that was ready to help the baby grow.”

“Every month,” I shared with my daughter, “I thank my body for being such a miracle, and for knowing how to make a baby grow inside. I also thank it for the wisdom of letting go of the nest, when I don’t need it.” Ellah was fully satisfied. She had a clear picture in her mind, and the Moon Flow made sense to her.

Actively Connecting @ Practicing Mammal

For a difficult child, or for kids during their difficult phases, the establishment of the bond of love must be made almost every time we interact with them.

It seems like such a small thing, but seriously, what a change in family dynamics, to spend a few minutes a day priming the relationships. It becomes a habit so that we end up priming all the relationships in our home all the time. Build up each other.

In which I’m hoping for a slower summer light @ Sarah Bessey

I’m tired of being tired. I’m tired of being everywhere and nowhere. Multi-tasking is a myth: I’ve ended up doing everything at once and nothing well, and I think in pithy status updates instead of real thoughts. I sat down to watch a movie earlier and I couldn’t do it: two hours is too long to sit still without doing something, anything, everything all at once, too. My head feels full of noise and chatter and opinions, pouncing from thought to thought without rest.

I remember how an afternoon could pass in such a lazy way when I was that gap-toothed kid with sunshine in her hair, a day passing a slow never-ending way of sunshine and wandering, how minutes blurred into hours, and it was just the way of things, a quieter mind somehow. I miss the meandering, I miss the laying down and watching the sky, I miss picking up a book and finishing it without wanting to check my email. I miss creating and dozing and watching the world for a few moments.

The Homily @ Internet Monk

God’s grace is scandalous; it’s not respectable in the least. Do you not see that in our Old Testament reading? Come, buy food without money, stock up on milk and wine with your food stamps. We don’t read that this is a one-time offer. It seems we can continue to get all the food and all the drink we want without ever having to pay. As a matter of fact, we cannot pay for what God is offering. We can only receive it as it is given — freely.