Success
To laugh often and much,
To win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children,
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure
the betrayal of false friends
To appreciate beauty,
to find the best in others!
To leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch
or a redeemed social condition.
To know even one life has breathed easier
because you have lived ~
This is to have succeeded.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Dear Reader,
December was filled with the holiday and January has been a sabbatical month for rest, but February is calling for a rising forth of grace. I can feel the beckoning of new life and refreshed dreams and although I want it all from the depths of my soul I still find myself nervous of the change. Change has been something that Dominic and I have become pros at, but this will be a new kind of change. I somehow know this and no I am not a fortune teller. I can just feel it and yes Mary Poppins was my long lost great aunt...shhhhh. There is just this whisper on the air. It is hope.
The month of December was filled with some hard choices and boxes. If it weren't for my friends Tracy and Sasha I would have been renting a room from Cedar Springs and no it is not a ski resort I am talking about; loony bin more like it. We bathed my colorful, wonderfully homey Victorian apartment in downtown Colorado Springs in white and proceeded to move our things into a quaint apartment on the 3rd floor. The night that we moved the furniture into the new apartment I sat down to eat a piece of pineapple and bell pepper pizza (don't ask me how that happened...it was not what we ordered) and I could not hold it back anymore. I started leaking over pizza. As the tears rolled down my cheeks I looked around the tiny space we had just rented and then met the eyes of my dear friend and said, "Where are we going to put the animals when they get here?" As the boxes were unpacked and paint was slathered on the walls (coat one = poop brown, coat two = chocolate) it began to feel more and more like home. Now I am ever so grateful for this little space allotted to Dominic and I and enjoy being in it.
Tracy and her husband, Jeff, were more than saints and lugged many boxes for me up and down the flights of stairs. I feel so very blessed to have the people in my life that I do. God has begun to extend much mercy through those that love us every day. **I promise I will give away a lot of stuff this year LOL** When the last load was delivered I looked at the kid and said, "pack your bag kid - we are going to Grandma and Grandpa's for Christmas!" He looked at me and said, "Only if Santa goes to California for Christmas." Of course he does...the "Santa gift" was already packed safely on the floor of the passenger seat under a blanket. And we were off!!! I had to get out of town and drive. In 30 hours we were arriving at my parent's house in the middle of the night and after a brief sleep (I mean very brief! We never do Christmas in the AM until this year when the brothers showed up with their families at 9:00AM!!!!!) we were sitting in our pajamas drinking my dad's coffee visiting with everyone. It was perfect!
We got back after a refreshing week of California sunshine and I started a two week stint of classes and Dominic became icefisher extrordinare. It seemed as if I was not stopping long enough to take a breath and that was not going to work. So I prayed, "Lord, I know something has to go from my life, but I don't know how to decide what. I need help." And I went to bed. That week despite how hard I tried I did not pass my Algebra Diagnostic test to prequalify me for Psych Statistics. Without me lifting a finger my answer was given and my load was lightened. School is very light this semester and I am finally being able to take that breath. Dominic and I are plowing into home school and are accomplishing so much. He is loving the fact that he is able to see the fruit of his labor with stickers and this last week he completed his first Explode the Code book! This is what it is all about...success...
I can feel the Lord calming my spirit and quieting the excess noise inside my brain. I am actually anticipatory of what "could be". Honestly, I have been so overwhelmed with the what "is" trying to juggle the madness that was categorized as my life that I have not felt or thought about what "could be" in a long while. It is time to break free of the shackles and begin the journey back to being larger than life, because when life becomes larger than you it sucks! I am laying down the season of black and white and going for the color!
Thank you, Jesus, for the new day that is dawning. Reader, join me on this adventure of seeing what "could be" in this life of yours.
Laura Araujo
