that one more thing

Thou hast given so much to me,
give one thing more, a grateful heart…

…I cry and cry again,
and in no quiet canst Thou be,
till I a thankful heart obtain
of Thee.

not thankful when it pleaseth me,
as if Thy blessings had spare days;
but such a heart whose pulse may be
Thy praise.

-geo. herbert

oh, this cozy bedroom-by-the-ocean,
i look forward to it each february.

his voice, deep joy

snuggled in this peaceful bed
beneath the down-warmth,
listening to vanier teach me about
Jesus, about oppression,
about freedom

i begin to hear
nathan’s newly-lower voice
drifting upstairs

he’s describing a historical scenario
btwn the french and russians
with humor and irony

and it is a special pleasure to
listen to him
unawares

thank you, Lord,
for this morning.

Your morning.

for the sunlight,
humanity,
a Savior,
the ocean nearby,
the gospel of John,

for babies born in the night,
(hopefully. congrats!)
warm hospitality of generous friends,
and
for my twelve year old.

ps – and for the coffee i
just began to smell.

sayonara, cozy bed.

Him

Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts,
thou font of life, thou Light of men,
from the best bliss that earth imparts,
we turn unfulfilled to Thee again.

bernard of clairvaux

rhode island or bust.
xo

who is jesus

tim & co. were in
oxford last week;
thanks to the oiccu for
posting these.

lin-sanity

j in the times!

they left out his best line:
‘i’ve got two kids under two at home,
we’ve got our own Linsanity’

ps – listen to his sermon.
ridiculous.
thanks, j

pps -
it’s his second time in the times,
that i know of,
as their beautiful wedding
was in as well;
feels like yesterday.

red + heart-y

we’re prepping for a valentines par-tay tonight,
do you think 16 red necklaces is too many?

romantic french music
playing on pandora,

grandaisy on the counter,
bocconcini in the fridge,
children playing and crafting,

love is in the air.

xo

emily‘s cookies

ps – whitney will be missed;
my friend, jody a, gave me
whitney’s first album
{aka cassette tape}
for my 5th grade birthday.

will it snow?

sleds ready, check.
boots by the door, check.
snowballmakers lined up & aimed at the kramers, check.

seriously,
the minute those first 100 flakes come down,
we’ll race you to riverside.

biking to girls bible club
in february?

i wouldn’t have guessed it.

lolly love.

caitlin + caroline

the homeschool coop
chorus & movement performance
rocked.

way to go, guys!

auction project work
in ms. h’s 2nd grade class;
love these kiddos.

we talked about how we’re raising money
for our school & later one one of the boys
discreetly asked,

‘about the [auction] money,
am i going to get paid for this?’

bff’s to be:
these pictures are the Hilight of My Week.

baby wraight in scotland &
baby eubanks in boston;

hellotherelovies! hanginthere! it’salmosttime…

love

{modesty alert at 6:08}

one tuesday in february

the sparkling hearst bldg
near caroline & jane’s ballet

happy early bday, morv!!
xoxoxo

this counts as your birthday week &
we’re going to celebrate on your behalf.

remember the blt party…
we love you & wish we were there on saturday.

mandarin hwk

reminiscent of
portlandia’s ‘did you read’
on the 2/3 express today

well, hello, city seminary!

‘expect great things from God for the city;
attempt great things for God in the city.’

-harvie conn, via mark’s paper in
the int’l bulletin of missionary research

patient&creative amy
helps caroline w/ a tricky math concept

we weren’t exactly traveling light
to piano lesson.

ps -
thanks to ann & hope
for their book list for girls;
i was just emailing back and forth
with jenny f & elizabeth m re: girls books.
xo

pps -
tim on nyc church/school decision

ppps -
gabe on cade in the huffpo

thy grace has made us strong

lead on, O King eternal,
till sin’s fierce war shall cease,
and holiness shall whisper
the sweet amen of peace.

for not with swords loud clashing,
nor roll of stirring drums;
with deeds of love and mercy
the heavenly kingdom comes.

- e w shurtleff, 1862-1912

sneaky lies

‘satan doesn’t leave teeth marks on your skin,
he leaves lies in your heart.’

- tim, last night @ 5p service

b’s taking her timeline to school today,
our fourth first-grader to enjoy
this ritual.

hats off to our youngest cates!

this is what my audience looked like
this morning as we read more of
‘the story of the world: vol 1′

cold & snuggly

they’re fully dressed for school
under their respective blankets,
so i was happy to oblige to their repeated calls,

‘just one more chapter!’

daniel & nathan;
go, suns!

catescraftclub
during n’s bball practice

our moonlit walk home
under the beauty of the riverside church steeple
after an evening of the
clemente’s warmest hospitality. xo

knock-knock jokes on the bus

sabbath

we acclaim your life, o Jesus,
now we sing your victory;
sin or hell may seek to seize us,
but your conquest keeps us free;

stand in triumph,
stand in triumph,
worship Christ the risen King!

-j hayford

tonight’s communion hymn,
thanks be to God.

wknd

print-making @ school w/ henry

prayer & singing w/ s

‘we’re almost home, mom’
a text from the bus

‘A city is not the creation of one person or one developer
at one frozen moment in time. Nor should it be. A city is an
evolutionary ever changing organism. It has no clear beginning and
no clear end. It has something for everybody. The imprint of both
powerful leaders and anonymous residents shape a city. Its
character is never permanently defined and shouldn’t be…
The city, in essence, is adjustable, various & decentralized.’

roberta brandes gratz, the living city, 315

because of His great love

birthday girl at our
standing thursday lunch

a bit before lunch,
we were looking at henry’s baptism announcement
nostalgically taped to my desk wall &
they began reminiscing our first meeting each other
ten years ago:

jen had just delivered j,
cayley had an infant w,
i was pregnant with henry,
and kara came to mom’s group when
she was still pregnant with her first,
brave&wise woman that she is,
she knew she was going to need some
community to build her family on,

oh, the kindness of the Lord.

we egged on the
cheesy pose

weloveyou,j xo

{cayley & chasey included,
though i missed a photo of those cuties}

k reads ephesians
aloud to us

and after they leave,
her words are ringing in my heart,

made alive in Christ

as for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world
and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air,
the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

all of us also lived among them at one time,
gratifying the cravings of our flesh and
following its desires and thoughts.

like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
but because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,

made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—
it is by grace you have been saved.

and God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the
heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
in order that in the coming ages he might show the
incomparable riches of his grace,
expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

for it is by grace you have been saved, through faith…

ephesians 2

what’s wrong with the teenage mind?
in the wsj.

 

sums it up

‘the two things about project management:

1. the schedule will slip.
2. it’s about how you manage the schedule slippage.’

from: the two things

that sounds like the
prime job description
for serving a growing family.

magnetic lovenotes
from grammy&papa

gamers + readers;
somehow madison & caroline
are sweetly able to do their reading
while adam & nathan laugh + compete
at backgammon just a few feet away.