Kind Echoes

So, even if I wanted to deny it, I would have a hard time if you check the dates on my blog posts. I do things in spurts. I get started on something and focus on it and then my attention gets called away and next thing I know there are only the crickets chirping.

I have no real excuse for not blogging lately. I stopped when I got caught up in the busyness of the holiday season…more places to go and people to see, but then I just never checked back in. I have so many things to write about, but I chose to just keep them all in my head.

Now I have too much to say. Too many things to focus on with my writing.

Although, in reflecting, there is something peaceful about stopping and taking the time to listen to the crickets chirping and letting your mind have a hiatus.

It is beginning to all feel connected for me too. I just started to exercise again. Planted some seeds in the house with my 3-year-old that we hope to be able to plant outside in a month or so when it stays warm. Fresh new beginnings.  Wiping away the cobwebs. No more snow to shovel. There is something revitalizing about standing outside in the middle of the day and closing your eyes and just tilting your head up at the sun. Take a deep breath and dive right in.

Let’s see how long this spurt lasts…hopefully through spring and summer.

I was grocery shopping today and as I loaded the bags into the car, I broke a fingernail. I wasn’t too upset. My nails are natural and I keep them short and, well, I haven’t really given them much attention lately. There was a time where I had those fake nails and I loved how they looked. Always colorful and long and even. Maintenance required a trip to the manicurist who fixed the flaws, cleaned them up, and put a brand new polish of my choice. There was also a time when I was working full time with only one child where Iwent to the manicurist and she would clean up, shape, buff, and polish my natural nails for me. Ahh, remembering those days of pampering….Now I just keep them natural and kind of neglect them. Okay, so when they start to grow too long and start breaking I do sit down with some cream, the buffer and file and shape and clean them up, but I am not very consistent with their care.

Thinking about my nails I realized that they were a good example of my spiritual life and growth. If I have someone there coaching me along and walking beside me, I grow stronger and longer in my spirituality. Through Bible studies and women’s groups and Sunday service, I am consistent in the care of my spiritual growth. However, even as I take the care if I grow too fast without a strong enough foundation or support, I may find I break or relapse.

There is some sort of careful balance. I need to give special attention to my spiritual growth or it like my nails can break from not enough grooming or break from neglect.

Just thinking….