So much to say, so little time

“If there was a formula to fix life, Jesus would have told us what it was.” —Donald Miller, in Searching for God Knows What

I ran across this quote yesterday while blog surfing, and it stopped me cold in my tracks. Isn’t that what I do? I thought. Every time I’m dissatisfied with myself, spiritually or personally, don’t I go looking for a formula for life? A sure-fire way to find peace, to raise my kids, to be a good wife, to be sure I’m doing what I’m supposed to do? Whenever I pray for guidance, am I not really asking for a phone line to Heaven and a voice at the other end with an answer that leaves no room for doubt? Or at least a burning bush, with a voice telling me to take my shoes off, and other clear, step-by-step instructions.

If only it was so easy.

Oh, God talks to me. It just doesn’t look like it did to Abraham or Moses. God feeds me the answers to my questions one tiny nugget at a time, allowing each piece to settle in, to mold itself with its surroundings until the edges blur and disappear, until it becomes part of me. I can’t say it any better than Donald Miller again, to whose beautiful words Leslie introduced me yesterday:

I know there are people who have actually gone from misery to happiness, but they didn’t do it by walking through three steps; they did it because they had a certain set of parents and heard a certain song and knew somebody who had a certain experience and saw some movie, read some book, had something happen to them like a car wreck or a trip to Seattle. Then they called on God, and a week later read something in a magazine or met a girl in Wichita, and when all this happened they had an epiphany, and somebody may have helped them fulfill what this epiphany made them feel, and several years later they rationalized this mystic experience with three steps, then they told the three steps to us in a book. I’m not saying they weren’t trying to be helpful; I bring this up only because life is complex, and the idea that you can break it down or fix it in a few steps is rather silly.

The truth is there are a million steps, and we don’t even know what the steps are, and worse, at any given moment we may not be willing or even able to take them; and still worse, they are different for you and me and they are always changing.

But you know what? I don’t think that’s “worse” at all. I think it’s beautiful. Because it means that every moment of my life–every sunset, every sunrise, every person I encounter, is a little note from God waiting to be read. It means that God is all around me at every moment, part and parcel of all the good and bad and ordinary moments of my day. It means that He trusts me to pay attention, to be smart enough to put it all together. And that is good news indeed.

It’s Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival time, where we get together to share what we’ve been chatting about for the last week. This week, computer viruses and general busy-ness kept me from reflecting on anything particularly faith-related, but I can share some pictures of a cute Catholic kid. And, although this is not strictly an issue of faith, I did reflect seriously on political correctness and “the R-word.”

It’s Sunday Snippets day, and on the Fourth of July, I’m seeking advice on how to make a 5-year-old behave in church. Oh yes, and seven photos to prove why my children will hate me someday.

And as a bonus–this blog post is the most amazing thing I’ve read in quite a while.

It’s the first Saturday of the month, and that means…Saturday Evening Blog Post, hosted by the lovely and courageous Elizabeth Esther. Today we revisit our favorite posts from the last month and share them in community.

For my “favorite” this month, I picked “A Change of Acoustics.” Hope you enjoy. Now go visit EE and see what other people have to say!

Soemtimes, it’s not easy bein’ green. Green isn’t my favorite color…and yet, when I set out to capture it this week, I discovered something: green makes me happy.

It’s been quite a while since I participated in Sunday Snippets…nice to be back! This week I have reflections to share on seeking stillness, prayer, and the abuse of prayer , and on renewing marriage.

And as a bonus, let me plug my daughter.

Parents Magazine is holding a contest for cover models for their magazine. And it occured to me that there is a sad lack of children with special needs put in prominent places, which contributes to the stigma of being “different,” and the barreiers that keep people from seeing the beauty in our children. 

So I uploaded pictures. Now I need people to “vote” for Julianna. Click on this link: http://tinyurl.com/33eraxj and click the “I like this” button. There are four pictures in the album to choose from. 

Join us over at Sunday Snippets to see what other people have had on their minds this week!

Oh, if only I had the guts (and the money!) to redesign my wardrobe…

1. I would choose flowing waters…

2. and forest streams…

3. I would glory in flirty, flowing feminine…

4. …and play dress-up make-believe Medieval.

5. And don’t forget the jewelry!

6. But it takes a certain personality to pull off these cool clothes, a personality that’s a little too flamboyant for this plain-Jane, down-to-earth Busy Woman.

7. And so, for the moment, I will remain Just Kate.

But when I finish bearing and nursing babies…Watch Out, World!

All clothes courtesy of The Pyramid Collection: Myth, Magick, Fantasy & Romance.

P.S.!!!! BONUS TAKE!

This feels totally lame, but I’ve entered Julianna in Parents Magazine’s Cover Model contest. Why? Because I’m a mother who lives through her children? Hardly. I put her in it because people with special needs are the incredible invisible segment of our society, and people need to see how beautiful they are. Vote for her at this link by clicking “I like this”!

1. I thought I was going to pass on the 7 quick takes today, and write something of deep substance …but then I forgot to set my alarm, and woke up half an hour late. Oops.

2. Nicholas and I have weaned this week. I’m trying to not to think about it because otherwise I’ll start crying. It was one of those inevitable things, we’d forget one morning, I’d go no way! I’m not ready to quit! and we’d nurse the next morning, then I’d forget again…

3. Nicholas’s doctor has also decided that he is simply not growing enough. His “curve” has flattened out in the past six months, and she wants him to see a pediatric endocrinologist. I still think he’s just small and taking his time, but who wants to be the mom who ignores her child’s best interests? So I told the doctor fine, let’s check whatever you want, but if everything’s normal, then I don’t want to talk about this anymore.

4. Speaking of parenting issues, this video was a real shot in the arm for me, as a parent, in the last week or so. Rae over at No Wealth But Life shared it, and I meant to write a post on it, but that doesn’t appear to be in the cards, so here you go.

5. Life in the middle has been tough this week. Somebody whose blog I read intermittently made fun of the women who do those uber-evangelical “women, here’s how to treat your husband right” series, and the responses began by being half reasoned, and half ultra-liberal-feminist howls of outrage. I tried a couple of times to moderate the discussion and got roundly ignored as the rhetoric grew steadily uglier. Havne’t been in my inbox this morning to see what hateful gems came in overnight. Disheartening, to say the least.

6. And writing has been slowing this week…slower, and slower, slower…trouble concentrating, trouble making forward progress, trouble with motivation. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not writer’s block, but simple burnout. Temporary, to be sure, but nonetheless…I just need a break. This was what finally made the light dawn for me.

7. So, beginning on Father’s Day, when Christian is off work for a week, I’m going to take some time off too. We’ll see what that looks like, whether I choose to go blogless or just cool it from the “other.” After all, we still have painting to do in the office….

Have a great (hot) weekend, all!