Notes from the Newman Nest

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

"The world will never starve for want of wonders, but only for want of wonder." G.K. Chesterton

Daily life. Commonplace. Astounding. Pause. See. Listen. Beauty.

A new place to record the beauty of everyday life, words and images.

beautyinthecommonplace.blogspot.com

The pearls of His favor

~ 5 year olds
~ embroidered by hand linens
~ real
~ dirty faces streaked with sweat and mud and grinning
~ clean - clean dogs, clean sheets, clean clothes, clean bathtub, clean windows, clean SUV, clean swept patio, clean sheet of paper, clean white baseball pants, clean water, clean conscience, clean heart
~ fishing and naps
~ fireflies in my cedar trees
~ fireflies and stars on a deep dark country road
~ teenagers delighting is what is good
~ what does ______ mean?
~ my 2nd born nervous in driver's seat
~ mama friends for lunch
~ rain shower at the very moment I was going outside to water flowers
~ recording what matters
~ making all things new
~ fading scars
~ healing
~ car packed with snacks and cooler, gps and pillows, good books and burned CDs
~ lawn games
~ filthy sweaty baseball players covered in dirt and grins
~ appreciating freedoms
~ little american flag in a pot of geraniums
~ first watermelon of the season
~ summer camp, trunk packed
~ teenage boys still kissing mama
~ "I'm sorry"
~ first day of flip flop weather
~ the first cup of coffee
~ plays
~ three teenagers and one almost in our bed saying goodnight
~ "welcome home"
~ handmade gifts on Christmas morning
~ snow falling and city lights
~ transparency
~ did I already list family naps?
~ thirteen 16 year old girls laughing in my kitchen
~ small town art shows
~ retreat
~ family style dinners
~ summer camp
~ rain on a tin roof as you lie down for a nap
~ creak of a screen door
~ a rope swing
~ coffee on a cool evening
~ empty laundry hampers
~ community
~ head bent over desk in concentration
~ clean shaven faces
~ jeep top down
~ first cool day of fall
~ brothers cheering brothers
~ Hannah being brave
~ unhurried conversation with David
~ Peter's smile when he can't help it
~ Cameron singing in the backseat
~ wild ride through mountain villages in a cattle truck
~ hot shower any other day
~ cold shower on a very hot day
~ voices joined in praise, multi-launguages
~ a marriage of 60+ years in the mountains of the DR
~ little faces a world away waiting to meet us
~ dinner prepared by a friend on the day we returned
~ fresh basil, or mint, or rosemary from my garden pots
~ kisses from my boys
~ a shiny sink
~ well packed luggage
~ the smell of gardenias
~ stars from a mountain top
~ a gallop on horseback
~ avocado from a brown boy's hand
~the breath of babies, and laughs
~ baby pigs
~ painted cement walls, and brown skin
~ old paint on pale blue houses
~ soft sheets, piles of white pillows
~ dusk through my kitchen window, supper cooking
~ hot water
~ fresh summer peas, corn, and tomatoes
~ family nap time
~ the first glimpse of my child's face after he/she has been away
~ the smell of summer - heat, grass, rain on a warm wind