Literacy Learning Zone

PEACE More than two-thirds through this year (thank God!) ... And as I was walking the other day, I started reflecting on my one little word for the year:  PEACE. We were vacationing in the beautiful state of New Hampshire as the new year began. I was enjoying some precious alone time riding up to the top of the green run at Crotched Mountain. (All the others were aiming for higher elevations.) Through the repeated quiet rides up, enjoying the crisp winter beauty, PEACE called to me. I wanted PEACE this year. I needed, required, desperately craved PEACE -- to slow my pace of life and enjoy some quiet, down time. And then take time to treasure these moments. Image Credit: @PositivelyPresent Well. Did God ever provide me with the biggest opportunity of PEACE , or what?!? Yes, there were many moments of chaos and stress, but I still held tightly to PEACE in my heart and in my home. The gift that we were given to be together for over two months as a family of four. To focus on PEAC...

This summer, as with anything in 2020, has been anything but usual. Days at the pool non-existent. Playdates with friends on hold. Camps delayed. One vacation delayed a year. Another vacation postponed until deemed safer.  But, thankfully, we did get away as a family for a week.  We are so blessed to have a family cabin in the woods in the middle of Wisconsin. We packed the mini-van FULL with AnythingAndEverything we may need (or want). Here there seems like there is nothing to do. Here we just get to be in the slow moment of time... We stayed up late and slept in until we stretched out of bed.  I stole moments to sit in the quiet and read.  We noticed the beautiful Monarch butterflies fluttering in the breeze.  I was in awe of the bright blue sky and puffy white clouds.  We hung out in bright pink flamingo tubes cooling off in the lake.  I enjoyed lots of walks with the dog on a new dirt road.  We bounced around in a UTV on the trails splashing i...

Right now ... I am at a loss for words. My fingers are empty. The white page taunts me and I return the blank stare. And then I was reminded to just write. Just write. Just write. Write now ... The sun radiates the bright blue sky without a cloud in sight. The warm breeze sending leaves dancing and cotton puffs floating. The house is peacefully quiet, except the tick-tock tick-tock of the clock, a lawn mower in the far distance cutting healthy green blades of grass, And the girls voices traveling down the hall from their upstairs bathroom together creating special art with their hair.

Run happy I'm not a runner. Well, that's what I tell myself anyway. My girls were signed up to participate in Girls on the Run (GOTR) through their school. It is a wonderful program that promotes girl empowerment by teaching life skills through lessons and running. The goal is to run a 5K and celebrate their accomplishments. Both the girls' dad and I agreed to be their running buddies. So we all had some work to do to be ready. Then the world stopped. We decided to train at home during this stay-at-home order. We had the time. We had places to run. The fresh air was good. No excuses. Maybe a few grumbles. As a family, we ran. Sometimes a mile. Sometimes a mile and a half. Sometimes two. It wasn't ever easy. Or fun. What mattered was that we did it together and the running made a difference (more for us than them). We ran in the morning, sometimes lunchtime, or after all our school work was done. We ran in the cold, the rain, and the sun all through the e...

Quiet time These days quiet times are few and far between. Quarantined. Together. Always. 24/7. Don't get me wrong. I love this gift of family. Being together. All. The. Time. But ... I'm also that type of person Who loves some alone time. In the past, my schedule allowed me Time alone in the car driving or walking the dog. Time to think. To wonder. To reflect. To pray. To just be. Without someone calling my name. Over and over. And over and over. Today I was gifted twenty minutes. Alone walking the dog. Harley doesn't repeatedly call my name. She just gives me the puppy dog eyes. What a gift. To celebrate my one little word. Peace. And quiet time.

Walks I've always enjoyed my extra daily walks ever since adopting our Harley dog two years ago. Quiet, alone time to think and pray walks. Or listen to a podcast, a book, or music kind-of-walks. But THEN it was always a chore to check off the to-do list. Quick. Let's go. C'mon. I've got to get back and ... {fill in the blank with any number of chores.} But TODAY the three-times-a-day walks happen as a family. Our walks together provide us with opportunities to talk, notice, wonder, surprise, question, wait-and-watch in awe, share memories, make memories, and take more pictures. Each walk brings something new -- A group of little yellow birds A family of ducks with five newly hatched ducklings All the trees sprouting buds and flowers and little green leaves A big white bird diving into the pond for a fishy snack A bunch of spring flowers blossoming The sun and clouds or bright clear blue sky, depending on the day Walks get us outside, away from the ...