Another one of those slightly embarrassing, long gaps between posts. I wish I was more faithful, but the reality is that sometimes I am just busy and tired.
I really do have some amazing things to share.... I spent a week in Maui, and got to live "aloha" and loved it. I may just pursue real estate there one day:) At least honorary citizenship??
I celebrated the 6th birthday of my son, who is now already counting down to when he turns 7. I recently read something, "I shouldn't wish my life away, but....".... if only children understood that. I have decided never to wish my life away and to treasure the moments here and now. The here and now is fertile ground for love. Love doesn't seem to grow in "yesterday" or "tomorrow". It might be there... but it is not growing there.
I celebrated the life and death of my grandmother... and mourned. And still mourn.... but the unmistakable touch of love has been in my life over and over again throughout the process. In the minutes after I learned that grandma had gone, I stood in my shower and wept until a prayer and a blessing came to my heart. I know it in a musical rendition, and sang it over and over again until there was just peace left.
I can't find the version that I know on YouTube, but the lyrics are simple: "The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you, and bring you peace. Amen."
I found myself crying again last night, and these words comforted me again. And then something else, magical, mystical, the unmistakable touch of the Lord? I returned to work today, and there was a card and a gift from the staff in my office. I opened the gift and literally stopped breathing. This is what was inside.
It's a little hard to tell from this photo... but it is a caramel-haired girl, with a pink conch shell pressed tightly to her ear.
The friend who bought this for me had no idea that, as a caramel-haired child, I spent countless hours sitting on my grandmother's plush pink bathmat with the pearlescent pink conch shell that she had collected from the beaches of Barbados pressed against my ear listening for the sound of the ocean. That conch shell was an icon of my grandparent's home, and of their lives. In the deepest parts of us, aren't we all drawn to a moment's solitude, listening for the echo of the ocean's waves?
This was not just a gift.... it was a message, an inspiration, a blessing. And I am blessed to have people in my life who are receptive to the leading of "God" or "the Universe" of whatever you want to call it... There is something DEEPLY affirming about the feeling that God sees me... that He knows me... that He moves in mysterious ways to demonstrate His unending love for me. Forget roses on Valentines Day... they are nothing compared to that love that God is capable of expressing through one of His children to another.
Mahalo (thank you) MJ for ALL the gifts you gave me in this one simple figure.
Aloha,
Emily
