Randomosity

1) I'm looking old. The years of worshipping the sun are catching up to my skin, and seven pregnancies are catching up to my body. My thighs are rubbing together just a little. My arm jiggles a bit when I raise it up to point at something. :) I guess it's inevitable. The preacher at my Uncle Griggs' funeral a few weeks ago said it right. "We're not dying in the land of the living; we're living in the land of the dying." We're all daily expiring. Daily aging. I look like I'm getting old because I am. I will be thirty five this year! Lauren Bacall said, "I think your whole life shows in your face, and you should be proud of that." I like that. Our faces, as well as our bodies, tell stories of who we are and what kind of life we have lived. My face says that I have laughed and smiled a lot and spent lots of time in the great outdoors. My body says that I've been blessed to carry seven babies and nourish most of them with my breasts. My hands say that I dig in the dirt a lot.  I'm a 35 year old Farmin' Momma of Six. I drive a van. I homeschool. In my home every day I live with a business owner husband, a middle schooler, a grade schooler, a kindergartener, a preschooler, a toddler, and a baby. I do their laundry, fix their meals, settle their squabbles, take them potty, read them books. If the Lord tarries and I die of regular old age stuff, I'm almost halfway through my life. Wow! I hope I spend the next half on worthwhile things and have as many rich experiences in the second half as I've had in the first. Along the way I'm sure I'll develop a few more lines and wrinkles and gray hairs. That's okay. It's all part of it. I like how this girl celebrated the victory of reaching six months of exclusive breastfeeding her baby girl. These are the images we should show our daughters about true beauty and strength and accomplishment:

"Our task is to say a holy yes to the real things of our life as they exist." -Natalie Goldberg

2) Tomorrow is my awesome hubs' birthday. He's taking me on a date for his birthday :), and I'm giving him a cool new date shirt. We've been wearing the same date clothes for quiteawhile. He needs a fresh new date shirt. I'll be sure to write about it and include pictures. :) He is such a gem. I mean, I barely knew him when we got married, really. I had no idea he was so wonderful. Every day with him is like opening up another gift. I see new reasons to love and admire him every day. I didn't realize just how much God was getting ready to bless me beyond my wildest dreams on our wedding day. That was just day one. Every day really has been better than the day before. It sounds cliche, but it's 100% true. Every day there is something else to love. Today what I love about him most is that he is a man of principle. I wish he would blog because he has a lot to say. And it's good stuff. Unpopular stuff a lot of it, but good stuff. He's anything but average. I love his perspective.

3) We've gone 8 months without a TV. If we make it to November, I want to write a book, something like Our Year Without a TV. Original I know. :) I really could write a book about it. Totally not a legalistic thing either, just my observations about it. I have experienced absolutely no negative. But I could list at least 100 reasons that going without a TV has been a really, really good thing for our family. I don't even miss it! It has been extremely freeing. I will say that every evening, this kind of thing is painted in the sky by the Creator:

and we see it. We aren't stuck inside watching the latest episode of whatever. I think we've entertained ourselves so much with virtual this and man-made that, and every day we pass by the canvas God paints on every morning and every evening to delight our souls. We miss it. Many times because the TV is on. We are a distracted people. I want for my family not to be distracted. That has become one of my goals.

4) I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying growing things. Note to self about next year's garden though: before you plant seeds in the ground, think about what you actually want to EAT and plant a lot of that. Because if you don't, inevitably you'll end up with tons of mustard greens, radishes and turnips, and about two squash and three tomatoes. HA! It's so fun to walk out to the garden each morning and see what's new:

I'm especially enjoying growing roses. It makes me feel a special connection to my late grandparents Mildred Rose Collier and Elton Lee Pearson. I am proud to be a Rose. Rose was my grandmother's maiden name, my mother's middle name and it is my middle name. The name also belongs to my Rosemary. Grandaddy Pearson was an amazing rose gardener. He used to give me these huge, sweet smelling roses from his garden. "A rose for my Julie Rose", he would say. :)

5) We celebrated Sam's 2nd birthday yesterday. He is such a delight to my heart. Shortly after giving birth to my fourth girl, I approached the throne of grace rather timidly. "Lord, you've been SO good to us in giving us four very beautiful, healthy baby girls. I love my daughters. But oh Lord, it would be such a delight to have a son. If it's Your will, could you give me a son?" And about a year later, we were blessed with Samuel Pearson Rodgers. He thrills me. In celebration, I would love for you to read about his beautiful birth here

6) Thank you for humoring me and letting me write about life. It is good for my soul.