Be Still. Family

(me and my sweet boys)

(not a great picture of us but one of the only ones without my husbands thumb in it:)

(me and my husband...boy do I need a hair-cut!!!)

We worked and played in the yard yesterday as a family. We had no plans, nowhere that we had to go, no responsibilities or obligations to anyone. It was perfect. A beautiful day to laugh and play with each other. Our big backyard is like our own paradise, except nothing exotic grows there. It’s down-home, homegrown. We grow childhood memories and juicy tomatoes on the vine. The boys were wild cowboys today. Their laughter contagious, I wish I could bottle it up. Save it for a rainy day.

We need this time as a family. This Be Still time that is as important as eating and breathing to us. We need it to feel whole, to feel like a FAMILY. Sometimes I forget that it’s not only me that needs the quiet time. Until we have days like this and it teaches me a lesson. There is always something to be learned if you just listen hard enough. We can learn as much from our boys as they can learn from us (probably more).

We cleaned out the shed in the backyard. The one that we have been working on for awhile and I found some more blue Mason jars and the boys and I watered the garden and dreamed about the things we would make. The food we talked of is similar to what I ate in my Mama’s kitchen and her in her Mama’s because that’s how it goes here in the South. Half the recipes in my recipe box were pinned in my Grandmother’s beautiful script. So, if you asked me if I could think of a recipe that has been passed down from generation to generation I would just smile…yes.

Here is one:

Lemon Jell-O Cake

1 pkg lemon Jell-O
¾ cup water
½ cup oil
3 eggs
1 box yellow cake mix, mixed with above ingredients and bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Take cake out of over and prick all over with fork, have topping ready to pour over the cake.

Topping

Juice of two lemons
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp butter
Warm just until butter melts and pour over hot cake

I flipped the recipe card over and grandmother had written on the back: this was Owen’s (my grandpa) favorite cake. Nara Grun gave me the recipe in 1958.

Disclaimer: We are health nuts at our house. So most of the passed down, family recipes I put my own healthy twist on:)

I'm sharing this over at One Nutty Girl today and since I don't want to be "absent" from all the boys childhood pictures I'm linking up at The Peanut Gallery as well. (now I just need to teach my husband how to use the camera:)

Be Still. Breathe

Be Still. So much of my life is in motion. Some days are so full that I can’t catch my breath. There are practices and appointments to be kept and I go until I come to a breaking point where I feel like there is nothing of me left. I feel used and battered and resentful and I feel myself shutting down emotionally and shutting people out (like my sweet boys and husband).

I need so much to find balance and the peace that comes with letting some things go. The things that bog me down yet I commit to because I want to be needed, and yes, because I want everyone to see how giving and selfless I am. (That’s selfish right?)

I need to find the Be Still moments. The moments just for me where I can breathe deep and listen to the silence. The place where I can pray and find strength in Him. The strength to put God first, my family second and everything else when I can get to it. The strength to say no to the things that I need to say no to.

Do you need to Be Still? I'm linking up with One Nutty Girl.