A perfect moment

This was a good morning; I didn't want to get out of bed though. I drifted in and out of a light slumber, one time to feel Maddie tickling my foot. I lay there for a minute and let her softly tickle it again. I wiggled my foot like it was too much. She giggled. Then she did it again. So did I. Again...her giggle. Finally, I crawled around my California King sized bed to where she was. She often sleeps with her head at the foot of my bed. (Yes, I have an 11 year-old who still sleeps in my bed...another post for another day.) Don't ask me why. It is one of those little idiosyncratic Maddie things I have come to simply accept. And it is that fact that makes me think of something I heard someone say that I think I believe and would like to expand more upon:

God gives us blessings and then God challenges us in and with these blessings to cause us to rise up to become the person we came to be.

I am too pressed for time this morning to adequately write my thoughts about this, so I will return with more, but suffice it to say now that Maddie has been the water that has eroded my rock and left--well not even a smooth space yet, but her life in mine is shaping me. And despite my ungraceful way of learning from her, that shape is beginning to show something a little more refined. I am grateful for her. And those are the words I whispered in my mind as I lay in her little arms this morning in the bed.

As I crawled around to her, she started to laugh and asked, "Did that tickle?" I answered, "Yes, you woke me up you turkey." She laughed again triumphantly. She lay next to me, holding me, stroking the back of my head sweetly. I said out loud, "This is a perfect moment." And it was despite the fact that both my arms were numb; I ignored that because it was her affection and actions that trumped any pain or discomfort I was feeling.

Thank you God for my little Maddie and the HUGE blessing and challenge she is in my life. I am grateful to have her, to see her for who she is, and to see myself with her and to grow from my relationship with her.

In The Beginning....

...I thought I had something to say. But then I sat watching the cursor blink at me. Finally, fear and the self-editing monster stuck their ugly necks out and said in chorus, "Na na na na na na." "Oh, how eloquent!" I retorted. Then I squashed them both with the memory that I was inspired by my dear friend Kiki, who recently created her own blog and courageously published her first posting. I thought, "I can do this." I have wanted to do this for some time. You may ask why. Or you may not, in which case, I'll still tell you: because writing is both cathartic and inspiring for me. One of my favorite authors, Maryanne Radmacher, wrote, "Writing is the process one follows to learn what is already known deep within." These days it is the act of plunking keys on a keyboard which allows this knowing out. So my premise is to write what I know and do not know about life and myself. (I included what I do not know because this would be a very short blog otherwise.)

I have taken writing courses before. The main tenet in each of these classes is that in order to become a better writer, one must simply write. To become a master, one must practice. So that is what I intend to do. I make no guarantees you will find anything I write to be exciting or worth merit. However, my sincere hope is that my words may lead just one reader to a place of inspiration.

I invite your comments and ask you to be discerning, but gentle as this is going to be quite an intimate journey for me.