from 2012
Do you have things you do every year without fail? Our annual trip to the pumpkin patch/apple orchard is that tradition for our family. The pictures that flow from that yearly trip are how I mark the passage of time. Two years ago, we told my family that we were expecting our third baby–and now, our fourth baby is impending arrival.
I see the passage of time. I see the boys wriggling from my grasp and growing into independent little guys.
I see that tiny baby whose first days were so rough now looking a lot like his brothers. I see the blessing of a pregnancy that reminds me what a gift healthy children are–after a very sick newborn and then a miscarriage several months later. I see a woman who is growing into herself and feeling at the same time more and less confident and sure of all the things.
Time has a funny way of showing us what we can be sure of and what we shouldn’t put too much stock in. My marriage and my role as a mother is something I feel unabashedly sure of. My opinions and my ideas of how life should go have been tempered. I see more gray and fewer harsh lines.
The apple crop failed this year–the orchard lost their whole investment and they knew it early on. The owners knew by May that they wouldn’t have apples to harvest in October. No fruit for the labor.
I’ve been there. The plans you grew to take for granted, not growing at all. You learn through those times. You learn to hold your plans loosely in open hands. You pray to still have the tenacity to allow hope to take root in your heart. Life is really beautiful when you look at the passage of time.
from 2010