Beauty in the Mess ~ Edition 11.20.12

It seems like I just did one of these posts. I figured that this series would run once a month…or so… but as I refuse to set any sort of official blog schedule for myself, then I can do it whenever I want.

Even if it’s been less than two weeks since the last post.

And it’s a good thing because I have a boatload of beauty to share, and if I waited another two weeks, this post would be huge. Huger than this one is going to be.

As far as the mess is concerned, everything is still pretty…messy. I had a mommy-meltdown on Saturday. I still am dealing with heart palpitations and lightheadedness. I have to stay up late tonight to do have an MRI at 11:45 PM. (REALLY?) My husband’s anxiety and depression is still really bad. My son drives us both crazy with his tantrums and all-around LOUD craziness, and most days 8pm can’t come fast enough. We have six months to figure out what we are going to do after the Army and still have no clue.

But there is beauty…always beauty. And doing these posts really reminds me to look for it in places where I might have missed it before.

Like…

Sunlight that filters in my kitchen window every morning, highlighting my son’s beautiful features while he eats breakfast:

Precious baby feet that have grown so much…feet that pitter-patter stomp-stomp and run all over my house with joy and energy:

Morning cuddles with my boys before Russ leaves for work:

Thanksgiving Dinner that’s already 50% done and frozen…a meal that we are sharing with another family who just had twins who are still in the hospital. I feel so blessed to be able to give to someone else this Thanksgiving. (And I’m very thankful that my first turkey turned out so lovely!)

A Christian chiropractor who gives military discounts and adjusts small children at no cost. Even when they think that his spine display is a swing and try to sit in it, mess with the gears on his table, and “help” him adjust their mothers:

Ornament making at PWOC craft day…otherwise known as paint therapy for really grumpy moms:

Liking above craft so much that I decided to go to Michael’s and get supplies to make more. And getting to Michael’s and finding a parking spot right by the door, with a cart right next to it. (I used to look down my nose at people who are too lazy to return carts to the store or the cart return spots. Now that I have a baby, I thank God for them…and a lot of times are them!)

Getting paint and glass ornaments on sale:

Somehow managing to clean the nursery. I took a picture for proof. Because you know it only stayed that way for about two minutes:

Red-nosed Ezra…who put paint on his nose when his mother was not looking, not knowing that it was a pose like this that will be saved forever on a Christmas ornament this year:

Finding a cute scarf for $2.99 at Walgreens. Wearing it and not feeling like a fool. Wearing it to a new church we are visiting. Where we met new people who invited us out for church after dinner. And having Ezra behave almost the whole time we were there.

An unseasonably warm day which allowed us to meet up with Daddy at our favorite park:

Getting shocked by the static electricity that passed between us when we exchanged kissies through the tunnel windows:

More sunlight filtering in my kitchen window this morning, highlighting the beauty in more ornaments that I made last night:

My favorite probably-too-expensive-but-it’s-paraben-free-so-I-buy-it-anyway baby shampoo on sale:

Coming home to find this delivered to my door. A reusable shopping bag that I purchased to help rescue a woman out of the bondage of the sex-trade in India.

And last, and my favorite for today… hearing “Two True Believers” by my favorite country star Darius Rucker on the radio twice in a twenty-minute drive, on two separate stations.

Trying to maintain a strong marriage during the toddler years is hard. Trying to do it with the stress of two combat deployments and healing from those deployments is just doubly hard. There’s a lot of times where I feel like our marriage is surviving day in and day out, doing okay, but not filled with all of the “in-love” emotions that I would like. Sometimes, it’s just a lot of painful, tear-filled moments of hard hard work. But this song reminded me that what we have is worth all of it, and that we are doing all right. Because we believe in God, in our love, and in each other, there is always hope.

We are one heartbeat in the darkness
We are one lasting answered prayer
We are one unbroken promise
We are two true believers

It wasn’t easy getting here today
Sometimes you stumbled or I lost my way
But every roadblock was a chance to say;
“Take my hand, I’m here beside you.”

We work and made it through the toughest spots
Now every day is another chance to start
To look around and see that where we are
Is where we were trying to get to

We are one heartbeat in the darkness
We are one lasting answered prayer
We are one unbroken promise
We are two true believers

We are one before our God in Heaven
We are one road when the going gets rough
We are one now and forever
We are one name, one life, one flame

We are one heartbeat in the darkness
We are one lasting answered prayer
We are one unbroken promise
We are two true believers