good news....

is your heart ready for it????

words and images © copyright Melody Armstrong 2013

...being Canadian!!

Seriously???  Yes - and just

another reason to love being Canadian!!

just one of those days.....

I don't know if any of you have had the rare experience of hearing and seeing your microwave door burst open in an explosion of spaghetti squash......but I have.  After the mild heart attack my kids and I had, we busted up laughing.  Half my kitchen was splattered with the stringy yellow stuff.  And my microwave....well the pictures say it all.  I don't know how I had the presence of mind to take pictures of it, but I'm glad I did.  It was just one of those days. 

So much of my life is like this - splattered, messy, yet still kind of beautiful in a totally weird way. 

I'm sure you've had days like this too when you're hanging by the skin of your teeth, trying to laugh instead of cry and reminding yourself how good you've got it compared to most everyone else on this planet?  (And you do!  Me too!)

The day before yesterday was another one of those days for me.  It began by spending 2.5 hours on the phone for technical support over someone repeatedly hacking into my apple ID.   A couple hours later, I wiped out on my friend's icy, concrete front steps and landed square on one butt cheek (at least one reason to be grateful for extra padding).  Then, after pulling my sorry butt up out of the snow, I hobbled over to my car, got in and proceeded to dump an entire container of granola mix I had just purchased, all over the floor and seat.  Finally, after arriving home and vacuuming up the mess in my car, I went to the kitchen to heat some store purchased soup (yes, another stellar effort at dinner) and spilled half it on the counter. Not a good day.  One might wonder at the wisdom of me cleaning out my china cabinet the next morning!!!

If, like me, you can also laugh at the craziness of your life -- then we both have so much to be thankful for.  

Just thought I'd share.  xo

words and images © copyright melody armstrong 2013

first snow...the morning after

first snow...the morning after

it is stillness dazzling white...

it is a lone leaf whispering goodbye

to it's bare branch

and floating down to sleep on

blankets of fluffy jewels

glittering in sunbeams...

it is coolness welcomed in

through windows cracked open

and a crisp-air kiss

on a warm cheek turning rosy...

it is playful rhythms of

frosty melt

drip, drip, dripping off eaves

and flying free....

it is water blue

glanced through naked trees

and tiny teasing icicles

wanting to play at the liquid surface...

it is black and white magpie

hopping happy in the empty yard

finally king on his own

frosty bird-feeder throne...

it is pillowy white clouds

thrown onto sky-blue duvet

and painted jet-stream stripes

that disappear...

it is everything wrapped 

in stillness dazzling white.

words and images © copyright Melody Armstrong 2013

first snow

thank you Ali for capturing pure joy!!

first snow...

it is

jitters and giggles growing

in a bubbly frenzy

til finally kids can

burst outside

in boots and mitts and snow pants

too big and too small

pulled from the hidden recesses

of closets and bins

still in summer hibernation

it is 

 hollars from the garage of 

"where's my .....[everything]"

and the two of us behind them

following happy chatter 

and frosty footsteps

tracked all the way up the street

to the new best hill behind the neighbour's house

it is 

doorbells ringing and 

more crazy kids 

smothered in scarves and outgrown jackets

peeling and reeling

 into the wonderful

chilly white world

of 

first snow.



Words © copyright Melody Armstrong 2013
photo credit:  friend Ali  M.

in the shadows

The weight of pain sits heavy in the shadows.  

My heart aches for so many of you, dear friends.  If only words were enough.  If only I could hug you all the way to wholeness.  If only....... anything to lessen your pain and make this journey easier.  

This poem is for you.....

 feeling lost again

journeying in the shadows

dark halting my steps

half-seeing

heart-frenzied 

by the deafening sound 

of fear 

pulsing silent...

  this heaviness 

stretches places 

already shadow-thin

within

and how to mend a 

thread-bare soul

with strands of light 

so frail?

oh Savior, save!

rescue me with courage

set for me

a path anew

flooded 
in the light of You

where my foot is sure

and my heart hears

only

the love in

your whisper.

Psalm 27:1 "The Lord is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid."

words and images © copyright Melody Armstrong 2013

Canadian Thanksgiving and monumental joy....

It's Thanksgiving Day and after a weekend filled with hockey and church and family parties, bountiful in food and fellowship, I've snuck upstairs and slid into a warm bath.  The window is open, a cinnamon candle is burning, I have a book in my hand and a cold glass of water beside me.  I can hear the football game playing on the television downstairs and the front door opening and closing with various children piling in and tumbling out again.

It's a day of monumental joy.  Truly! It's a day to revel in the beautiful simplicity of my life.  It's a day I WANT TO BE AWAKE TO.  It's a day to say THANK YOU, GOD......
for a heart that knows where home is...for the sounds of contentment in bouncing, giggling girls out on the trampoline...for the drone of the lawn mower and a husband who's left his half-time football game to go out and cut the grass for what might be the last time before next spring...for colors half-summer, half-fall that glow golden in sunshine...for breaths of fall air, all earthy and full, pouring in the window where I soak...for cinnamon candles and warm baths...for trains and whistles and reflections on water...for two sons who are finding their own way around a lazy (finally!!) day...for a man who I love and who loves me....and for mercy and grace, unmerited, and freely given by a Savior who knows intimately every soul's unspoken whispers.

SO.........THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, GOD for simple, monumental JOY.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!!  If any of you would like to share some of the simple moments in your life that you are thankful for today, I would be honoured to read them.  

words and images © copyright Melody Armstrong 2013

a million thanks

a lush heart

ripe

with a million thanks

simple repeating lines 

of wonder

written into me

 i shiver

with the knowing

that I could miss

 the gifts

i could pass right by

 the riches

the love He gives

in stones and skies

in leaves and letters and laughter

in waves and water 

and windsong

and black and white and color

in friendships and touches 

and scars

yes

even in pain

he sustains

and covers me with

reasons to believe

again

to sing and dance and laugh

again 

at beauty from ashes

a lush heart

ripe

with a million thanks

words and images © copyright melody armstrong 2013

how to savour the fragrance of fall

Shrug on your favourite sweater, grab a bag and one of your (favourite) kids, and set out  for a walk around your neighbourhood, keeping your eyes peeled for a crabapple tree loaded with fruit.  Knock on the owner's door and ask if you may pick away till your heart is content.  Most people are more than happy to see you pick from their tree - leaving some for the birds, of course.  

Once your your heart is content and your bag is overflowing with tart, red, apple-ly (my word!) goodness, head for home. 

Heat your stove to medium.  Fill a pot 3/4 full with water and throw in a pile of crabapples cut in half.  Add some cloves, some cinnamon (and any other falls spices you might like....anise, cardamom, allspice...)  and let the simmering begin.

Before you know it, your home will smell like heaven and your family will be asking you what you are making that smells so amazing.

You will then say "ummmmmmm.................nothing."  

Then you will feel guilty for teasing them like that and end up making a batch of cookies or something. I guess that's the rub.  Haha!!

And hey.........there's always the option of trying your hand at making crabapple jelly. The recipe is on the back of the Certo boxes at your local grocery store.  What's the worst that can happen ----- your jelly doesn't turn out and you have several jars of crabapple syrup for pancakes???  Your neighbour might even like some of that!!!!

images © copyright Melody Armstrong 2013

first frost

this photo taken by Garth Schimpf --thank you for noticing....and sharing your creative eye.  

Everything was shrouded in a blanket of minuscule, frosty icicles when we woke this morning.  Wasn’t it just four days ago that my friend and I went out for a walk and ended up swimming in the river because the sun was shining so warmly we just couldn’t resist?

I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised.  A frost like this can occur at any time.  I experienced a little frost (and melt! thankfully) of my own this summer.  It was just hurtful words, but let’s face it, they really are worse than sticks and stones sometimes.  And as soon as they landed, I felt a chilly, white coolness spread right across my heart ---that frosty protection that deadens the senses and takes a little of the sting away.  

The only problem with a heart-frost is that it is not selective. Allowing that coolness to spread wide and thin means losing all the warmth.  This is not the inner climate I want to live with -- no way.  So I prayed for a melt.  I prayed for warmth and sunshine.  

Before I knew it, the beautiful thaw began----and there laid my heart, the frosty white in shadows, melting in sunshine patterns till all was green again. 

Maybe it’s not coincidence that just two days ago my blog randomly posted a little piece from the past called “winter white forgiveness.”  Although I have no idea how it happened, I see how beautifully it connected to my thoughts today as I looked out over my backyard and saw the real-life melt, right before my eyes.

The warmth of God’s grace is a mighty and miraculous thing!  

p.s. if you live anywhere near me, don‘ forget to cover your plants tonight.  Haha!  

words and images (except where cited) © copyright Melody Armstrong 2013

still lovely......

 I saw this flower on an evening walk and loved it so much for all of it's glorious, ragged, half spent beauty.  

I wish I could have brought it home still preserved in it's luminous  sunset glow, and propped it up on the dresser beside my bed to remind me that HERE IS BEAUTY - IN ALL IT'S IMPERFECT PERFECTION. Then surely I wouldn't forget. Again.  

And all the days when I am so hard on myself and feel like I just can't get it right, I could see this piece of gorgeousness and remember what I KNOW WAAAYYYY DEEP DOWN IN THE FIBRES OF MY SOUL:  that I'm still lovely...covered in God's love and forgiveness. 

But I do forget.  Over and over and over.  I am still so hard on myself - even over small things.

I can be my own toughest critic.  Add to that the criticism of others, and it's a wind strong enough to send all my delicate petals flying right off the stem some days.

But God sees me so much differently than I see myself.  He is never hard on me the way I am....but instead, he favors me with his love and freedom.  He cherishes me unconditionally.  He calls me His own.  

One scripture from the Bible that speaks so tenderly to my soul in times like these is Zephaniah 3:17:

"The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save;  He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." (NKJ Version)

He sees this wildflower that I am, this vision of frailty and beauty wrapped in one, and rejoices over me with singing.  He bursts into song at the sight of me.  Imagine!!

The crazy truth, so simple yet so mind-boggling, is that my sins aren't enough to diminish His love and my strengths aren't enough to earn it.  NEITHER MY SINS NOR MY STRENGTHS ARE ENOUGH.  

BUT GOD'S GRACE, that unearned gift of love that he offers every single, longing, wildflower-of-a-soul that turns to His gaze --IT IS ENOUGH.  ALWAYS.  

Words and text © copyright Melody Armstrong 2013.

a love note?

(or more aptly...."I love it when shit happens" --as per my husband) 

 

Thank you Colten.....for telling me to bring my camera

and for always keeping your eyes peeled.  

I [heart] you.

a step into autumn

It's always just one step, at first.  Even though I love almost everything about autumn, my other foot still drags a little --lingering in the last shadows of summer light.  For some reason, I'm hesitant to empty my pockets of summer's riches even though I know I need to make room for the new treasures I will discover on the paths ahead.
    

This making room --this letting go, it's the very thing I need in order to see beauty in this moment, to receive the gifts of the present. 

There are so many new paths to explore.

There are new palates of colors to fall in love with.

And if I am willing to keep my eyes wide open along the way (not closed in a day-dreaming revelry of yesterday's warmth), I wonder what I might find?

    

May your emptied pockets be filled with new gifts of beauty today.  


words and images © copyright melody armstrong 2013

wasn't it just yesterday?

....that our life was water

 playgrounds  

of river and lake 

to cool

to float our boat 

to forget school

to laugh and swim

to sit by and gaze at

and daydream?

....that our life was warmth

and freckles and sun 

and I followed the boys

just for fun

into the river - 

clothes and all

and who cares about hair

or hurrying?

...that our life was fresh

sweet cherries staining 

teeth and clothes 

and peach juice dripping

from chins to toes

an overflow of 

goodness and thanks

in every bite?

wasn't it just yesterday...

...that our life was together

 in early light snuggled

some afternoons huddled 

under canopy

of rain-drop symphony

storytelling faces

in strands of twinkle-light glow

thanks to husband 

who doesn't even know

he always brings light?

...that our life was transition

even while drenched 

in shades of green

and sun

a gentle knowing

that change would come

that summer treasures

get buried beneath

a pile of leaves turned gold

then snow

until who knows?

words and images © melody armstrong 2013

living blissfully

                      

Not every day is there a magic mix of a life-long friendship, ocean breeze, a gorgeous linen top rippling across your warm skin, and fine sand between your toes...but today --YES!!

And tomorrow when I run and dive into the Atlantic ocean and my way-too-straight-of-hair for the beach goes right back to the frizzy, wild curls of summer.....I will laugh and appreciate and hug my dear friend till she's all salt-watery-wet and laughing too.

And the day after that, and after that, and after that.....when summer fades, holidays are over, schedules screech, meals are thrown together and I'm tempted to forget how blissful my life still is -- right there in the dailiness, the mundane, the rushed, the ordinary, I will wear the necklace my girlfriend gave me today and write my "thank you" list for every gift in my life I can possibly think of (which will be a "blissfully" long list, by the way.) And then I will be transported right back into the magic -not of the beach and sea breeze, but of the perfect blessings of another ordinary day.


words and images © copyright melody armstrong 2013

soul stillness

what does it look like?

this thing called "stillness" 

 that my soul longs --even aches for?

this thing I unconsciously arrange for

this thing I am supposed to BE

so that I can know God

is God

the more I reach for it

the more elusive and fragile it becomes

I chase after it

 like a delicate soap bubble 

floating and lifting on a breeeze

but the moment I think I might actually hold it

it's gone

words (with exception of quotes within the collage) & images  © copyright Melody Armstrong 2013

seeds and growth

Seeds.  Such tiny things.  So seemingly insignificant yet they are the perfect encapsulation for life and promise.

But new growth takes time.  Once these little globes of potential are tucked beneath the soil, you can't do anything but watch, weed and surrender to the process - even when it's painfully slow.  You can't rush it.  You can't control it.   

I learned it again this spring as a huge patch of our lawn struggled to come back to life.  While tender shoots of green were popping up elsewhere, this one section remained stubbornly brown and dry.  (The fact that it was buried beneath a skating rink from November to March could have had something to do with it.)  

So we added seed and loam.  Then we watered and waited.  Nothing much seemed to change so we did it all again in mid July. 

More loam...more seed...more water...more waiting....and still pretty patchy.

There are places in my soul that feel this way sometimes.  

Plenty of seed gets planted and watered, yet I am bare and showing in too many places....nowhere near the lush, green lawn I'd imagined.  It seems to be taking forever to become the person I want to be.

As a result, I'm constantly learning what it means to wait and to trust this process of death cycling into life.  The seed that holds so much promise and potential is only produced once a plant begins to die.  I forget that sometimes --that the dying process is always intimately connected to the beginnings of new life.  Too often, I'm looking for a short cut.  I want instant results --- and by the way, I don't want anything to have to die first!!   

It's September and the grass is almost completely filled in now.  Woooo Hooo!!  Just in time to be covered with an ice rink again this winter.

And maybe, just maybe......after a little dying, a little planting, a little watering, and a lot of waiting, some of my patchy places have filled in a little too.

Thank you to the One who died to make me fully alive.


Words and images © copyright Melody Armstrong 2013