An Unscheduled Moment

My children invented a game, this morning, which involved the little one pushing the big one out into the rain, dissolving in fits of laughter and repeating. I was drawn away from the kitchen to the intoxicating sound of their joy.

In my experience, creative, spontaneous play unfolds organically when children are given large amounts of unscheduled time to follow the whims of their developing brain in a safe and familiar location, like their own home. 

In spite of my strong commitment spontaneous expression, I constantly find myself feeling pressured by "schedule," "measuring my worth by production" and "number of organized activities," values highly revered by American culture. Certainly schedules, goal setting, planned activities and production have their place and have the potential to facilitate a certain amount of joy and satisfaction, but every human needs a balance of scheduled time and unplanned time. Some of us are designed to flourish in a more structured environment and some of us are designed to flourish in a less structured environment.

I'm still learning who my children are and what they need as individuals, but I know I myself thrive on large amounts of unplanned space to create and follow an unseen "flow." Perhaps it could be called an "unseen structure." In spite of this self awareness, I spend far too much time chasing satisfaction from rigid models of daily life. Today the example of my children, and their deep notes of delight in surprise creativity, beckoned me back home.

I welcome you to delay your next activity by another 39 seconds, walk into my home through this one minute video and relive this unplanned moment with me.....

Southern Appalachia Homemaker

Last time we talked, Samantha and I were spending the day outside.  We are outside again today, but in a very different location.  A few days after my last post, I learned that Chris' company was asking us to move to Birmingham, Alabama.  Four weeks later, we are here, fully re-located in temporary housing while we house hunt.  A shock?  Maybe.  But I've come to expect sudden change.  Life can change in the blink of an eye, all of our plans re-arranged.  It's a lot more enjoyable to ride the wave than to fight it when it happens.

"The mind of a man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps."  Proverbs 16:9

We still intend to buy a house, as planned, but instead of on a lake a mile down the road, we are now looking for a house in the southern Appalachian mountains of northern Alabama.  Without fail, God's re-directions are far more delightful than our plans, for those who have eyes to see.  I've always wanted to live in the Appalachian Mountains, but didn't think it was possible with Chris' job.  I was born in South Western Virginia, right in the middle of the Appalachian chain.  When I think about returning, I think of Virginia or North Carolina.  I've never been to Alabama until now and had no idea that the Appalachian chain extended this far south.  What an amazing surprise!  After only a few days, I already feel more at home here than any other place I've lived since getting married and following my husband on the job trail.  Colorado, Florida, Switzerland, they were all wonderful adventures, but this?  This feels like home.  This is where I belong.  At least for now.  Only God could coordinate my husband's job and my ideal location to be in the same place.

As I write to you now, we're on the back patio and my baby sleeps in a pink stroller next to me and I look out over my laptop at the small woods behind our apartment that rest on a hill and separate our apartment buildings from another set of apartment buildings.  A breeze grazes us and I breathe fresh mountain air, daydreaming about what the rest of our new life in Alabama will bring.