needing a little spring?

::: 

wishing you a few moments

of happy

and

spring smiles that spill over

into laughter

maybe even a carefree afternoon 

to take a long walk

listen to the birds sing

and enjoy a little sun

on your face

:::

(I wish I could give proper credit to the photographer who took the image of the women above -- which I absolutely love.  I tore this image from a magazine but forgot to note the artist.)

a difficult "yes"

You asked 

something important of me

and I said "yes"

not a thunderous kind of yes

that throws open doors

and reverberates through hallways

but a single

fragile

feather-kind of yes

one with almost no weight 

of confidence

at all

the kind of yes 

that might require some shelter

to keep it from wisping away

with my heavy exhales

i can only trust 

that even in its frailty

You hear it 

that it counts

somehow

it is mystery to me

that You are able 

to take one delicate yes

upon    another

upon           another

and create 

something warm enough

to cover me 

during the cold

winter

drift

words and images © copyright Melody Armstrong 2016

life in transition

transitions

almost

imperceptible 

at times

a quiet whisper of change

  a slight shift of balance

a subtle transforming moment

when one thing nudges up against another

becoming new in the process

it can be a touch 

so gentle in passing 

that unless intentionally regarded

it slips away

unnoticed 

but sometimes 

like a growing, rushing wave

that meets the shore

with life altering force

transitions come

unexpected, untamed, unimagined

leaving us reshaped

unfamiliar

even to ourselves 

all that was buried

beneath layers of busyness

or soul distraction

or forward momentum

surfaces

everything is visible

uncontained

uncensored

just laying bare upon the surface 

of this life we've been building together.

It's a lovely sort of chaos

like modern art

hard to understand

but possibly beautiful.

words and images © copyright melody armstrong 2016

hidden in the woods

I've been walking through the woods near my house a lot lately.  It's one of those magical places where I can lose and find myself all at the same time.  

The moment I step into this world of soft, filtered light, evergreens and pine needles, rotting branches, and fallen leaves, I am filled with a sense of wonder and delight.  My heart beat quickens, my senses awaken and I feel especially alive.  I know that even as I walk, the big white Jack rabbit I saw a little earlier is still watching me, waiting to bolt if I come too close. I can hear a squirrel up high in a nearby tree.  Maybe he's checking his secret winter stash.  And sure enough, there are deer in their winter camouflage, standing beyond the bluff with their ears perked, listening to my every footstep.

It's easy to feel like I can get away from rest of the world when I'm hidden in the woods.  But these days I've been looking for the opposite.  Instead of wanting an escape from life's daily rhythms and minutiae,  I've been longing to enter my life more fully, to see it more clearly and to live it more attentively.  This moss covered forest is a quiet, sacred place where I can actually pay closer attention to the subtle ebbs and flows of my own inner world.  It turns out that this is what I really need, because what inevitably follows is a greater understanding and appreciation for God's simple gifts of grace in my life, whatever shape or form they appear in.

Do you have your own version of "the woods," a place where you love to go and be alone with your thoughts?  A place where you can let peace and quiet wash over you, where you can ask some tough questions or listen to some answers, where you discover by surprise some new ways to enter your life more fully with gratitude and eyes open for gifts of grace?

I hope the answer is "yes."  If you are looking for a place like this, just follow your eyes and heart (all my non "romantic" friends groan and roll their eyes!!!)  But, really!!  You may not have to go any further than your own bathtub or bedroom, a nearby park, a long ride on the train/tub/subway/bus going nowhere, a quiet corner in a cafe.....

I would love to hear of your special places and the things that you've been discovering in your times spent there.  (I know this blog is a pain in the butt to try and make comments on.  Please give it a try and if it doesn't work, feel free to drop me an e-mail at melodyinbluejeans@gmail.com )

And...in case you'd like a tiny glimpse into the ideas that have been percolating from my time in the woods... Here are a few of the gifts I am grateful for:

- the art and beauty I find in my daily life.  I love that I notice beauty in unexpected places.  I think that is one of my gifts that I can share with others
-that I can choose my own attitudes and emotions -- they really are having an impact, good or bad.
-that I am dearly loved by my husband, and while there are ways I wish he could express that love more frequently (adoring words :), a million kisses and hugs and touches...) his faithfulness and kindness is a gift I never want to take for granted.
-that my body is strong enough to let me live an active, healthy life -- despite the injuries, and weird, random aches and pains
-that my mom, at almost 89, sleeps over most Tuesday nights and it is a treasure our whole family enjoys
-that I have faithful friends who always have my back, see and believe the best in me, and will continue to love me when we're old, old ladies.
-that I have a sister and brother to share life's joys and sorrows with
-that my kids love me, talk to me, trust me, laugh with me, and even occasionally share their secrets with me too.

(I love to keep copious lists of gratitude..........it's just what I do.........so I will stop now and let you work on your own list.)

And here are a few thoughts coming into sharper focus for me:
-Transition is exciting but tough! And since we are smack dab in the middle of it, extra does of patience and grace will go a long way towards keeping a happy home.
-Time with my children is precious.  It used to seem like our days together stretched forward endlessly but I'm realizing that this is not the case.  I want to enjoy today, right now.
-Simple moments together with friends and family matter.  Small gestures add up.  I am reminding myself to take those few extra minutes at bed time to rub someone's back, to hear a story from the day or listen to a favourite song.  I want to have time for coffee or a walk with a friend.
-I can give myself a little slack.  There is room for my mistakes.  There is forgiveness for all of us.
-I am unhappy when I procrastinate.  I feel burdened when I procrastinate.  I want to do it less.
-I actually feel downright happy and giddy when I do the things that need doing -- this feeling of accomplishment could become addictive if I'm exposed to it enough.  Haha!!
-I realize that I sometimes let fear of failure (meaning: not meeting my own high expectations) stop me from trying to attain certain goals.  This is NOT how I want to live.  So.......I've got a little work cut out for me on this one!!



and with that.... let me send you all hugs and wishes for a lovely, joyful week.

xo. melody

words and images©copyright Melody Armstrong 2016 

waking in winter

There was another amazing sunrise this morning.  (Is it really the third day in a row that I've barely made lunches in time because I'm too busy taking photos out on the snowy deck in bare feet??)

Another moment to draw in a breath of pure wonder.  And exhale thanks.

What a crazy gift it is that morning after morning, the blazing skies draw our gaze upwards,  urging us to see past the circumstances that squeeze in so tightly, and fix our eyes on the expansive possibilities beyond our yesterday.  Each fresh wash of color and light across the canvas sky comes with a promise that new beginnings are possible again, even today. 

Each morning masterpiece offers a glimpse of the numinous in the ordinary.

It's so much more than my mind can comprehend, but my heart response is effortless.  

It instinctively knows to stop and oooooo and ahhhhhhh and call everyone's attention....it knows to give praise to the Promise-Maker, the one who paints the sky to remind us when we forget.

When my sister arrived at my house this morning, I just knew she would have seen it too.  And sure enough, I couldn't help but laugh a little when she exclaimed that the sky was so beautiful it brought tears to her eyes.  

She thinks He did it just for her.

words and images © copyright melody armstrong 2016

letting go

.....and here we have the breaking.......

words and images © copyright melody armstrong 2015

:: quiet moments ::

a few quiet days lately

(between spurts of high-energy

spring cleaning projects in january

such as pantry reorganizing, fridge cleaning, 

closet sorting, purging and donating, 

and basement painting ) 

to breathe

to be alone 

to be still enough 

to recognize the yearnings

of my heart

and willfully choose

to let my days 

be shaped by them

and so...long walks in the woods

luxuriously long soaks in the bath

immersed in favourite words

peaceful hours of creating.... 

a journal cover

 a few pages of random thoughts 

plastered in mixed media

unmeasured moments 

of thought and 

contemplation and prayer

sitting in my dreamy bedroom 

letting my eyes be washed 

by the soft light of these grey winter skies

i am seeing clearer

and what do I have to show

for this solitude

but a 

few pretty pages

for

the fullness of my heart 

can neither be measured

nor displayed.

words and images © copyright Melody Armstrong 2016

fresh starts...happy 2016

My favourite moments of the Christmas season are those I spend alone or with loved ones, reflecting on God's gifts in my life.  The most immeasurable, indescribable, invaluable of all being God's gift of Himself to me -- to all of us. 

He is the gift of fresh, new beginnings; the gift of forgiven mistakes, forgotten pasts, and clean slates.  He is the gift of freedom for our souls.  

A couple thousand years ago, at just the perfect moment -planned before the beginning of time-

God did the impossible.  He became small.

The creator and mastermind behind all that we might wrap our wildest imaginations around, willingly inserted Himself into time and history, in the form of a helpless baby, born to a peasant girl who was engaged to a carpenter.  And His birth was announced to the shepherds, of course.  God lit up the heavens with stars and angel-choirs singing -- a show for the lowly and lonely and overlooked.  

This is what God always does.  He comes to those of us that want and need him most.  

He becomes small enough to be born in us,  if we choose to make any room at all for Him in our own soul's manger -- right there in the mess of it all.  

And then the Miracle grows in us.  God fills us and spills out of us.  We get to be transformed daily, if we choose, because the Creator is lovingly at work within us.

And just like Mary, who said "yes" to being a vessel wherein Christ could dwell, we have the same choice to make.  Are we willing to say yes, even the tiniest yes, to having God dwell in us?  Are we willing, even when we don't know what it means, when we're afraid, when we doubt, when we're confused and lost in our messy lives, to say yes?  

If we are, if we're willing to make any room at all for God in us, I can't help but believe that we might finally experience a widening of our imaginations and catch a glimpse of Christmas' true meaning.   

May 2016 be a year for fresh starts and saying "yes" to the best Gift of all.

Love and Hugs,

Melody

H A P P Y    N E W    Y E A R   T O   A L L    O F     Y O U!!!!     FROM ALL OF US!! 

all words and images © copyright Melody Armstrong 2016

the shining of your face

prayerful quiet

bathed in

soft, radiant shining

it is the shining of

Your face

i look for it

i long for it

and often

when my eyes are clear

i see it

on the pages

of my heart

on the path before my feet

on the lives of 

those i love - 

and You love more - 

who still feel lost

in dark

yet You have not

forsaken

this light

it is the shining of

Your face

Psalm 16:11

"Now you've got my feet on the life path,

all radiant from the shining of your face.

Ever since you took my hand,

I'm on the right way."

(from The Message translation of The Bible)

words and images (unless otherwise cited) © copyright Melody Armstrong 2015

autumn gifts

I can't help but share this one with you again...

while i adore summer

in all its dazzle and lustre

it is autumn that soothes my soul

if i settle into it

 and let it works its magic

for if summer is an exuberant laugh

autumn is an intimate whisper 

if summer is dips in the lake and dinner on the front porch

autumn is books by the fireplace

and homemade soup simmering on the stove

if summer is fast rides in shiny, bright toys 

that make us scream with abandon and delight

autumn is long, leisurely walks 

along broken down fences to old barns barely standing

lost in thoughtful contemplation

if summer is passionate kisses, kicked off sheets and windblown hair

autumn is a tender embrace under fluffy down duvet and

a favourite wool hat pulled over wild tangles

if summer is luscious peaches and cherry stained t-shirts

autumn is crisp, crunchy crabapples eaten right off the tree

and puckered lips that follow

if summer is the sound of lapping waves and steps splashing along the shore

autumn is the swish of dried leaves kicked into the air or scrunched along the sidewalk

if summer is the song of raindrops and the call of red winged blackbirds

autumn is the frenzy of honking geese en route to a party 

perfect V's silhouetted against foggy morning skies

if summer is a spray of blossoms and petals in flirtatious, rainbow colors

autumn is blushing, red leaves and shy pinecones and marigolds peeking through frost

if summer is cool drinks in iced glasses and barefeet hopping on sizzling pavement

autumn is steamy hot chocolate and toes cozy in brown leather boots

if summer is kids out late and not to be seen for hours

autumn is family tucked a little closer while daylight slips earlier into darkness

if summer is waking with the sun on your skin

eyes wide open to a world already beckoning

autumn is a gentle stirring 

a quiet tiptoe

into a world of stillness

barely lit by crimson sunrise

and so...

while i adore summer

in all its dazzle and lustre
it is autumn.....

if i settle into it

 and let it works its magic
that soothes my soul. 

words and images © copyright melody armstrong 2015