Finding New Perspective... the Real Kind

The other day I saw this status update on our son Trent's Facebook page.
  He wrote:  Sometimes the pictures don't turn out just right... lol, sometimes eveything isn't just perfect, but one thing is for sure, God blessed me with this amazing woman.

I seriously laughed outloud.  It struck me so funny.. and 

perfectly imperfect.  

Eveything

and all.  :)

Must say I've thought about it so much.
I asked if I could share it here and he gave full permission.
This is something I hope to remember.  Not just their
cute picture but because my one word
"perspective" came to mind through it.
Pinterest too.  Pinterest is so much fun and inspires me.
I have so many boards; so many pins and it's ridiculously wonderful.
Friends often send me new pins and boards to repin and follow.
A couple classes I've taken we were even assigned homework to
create boards that inspire us. Something most people who peruse Pinterest will notice
is the beautiful picture-perfect photos.  When we try to recreate something from a pin we
hope it will turn out just as beautiful.
The perfect macaroni and cheese.
The beautiful and perfect cheese cake.  
The perfect DIY, repurposed thinga majig.
We strive for the thing we deem as beautiful,
tasty, or
awesome sauce.  Yet so much of REAL life is different.
Messier.  Still beautiful but real life holds the good stuff that couldn't
and shouldn't be air brushed.  Like the laughter and sheer joy you see in the real
Trent and Rae that can't truly be reproduced.  It's the real life and truth inside our moments.
Beautiful moments not captured as perfection, because nothing "really" is perfect- it's
just portrayed to look like it is.
True transparency is
keeping it real.

I once saw photos of a woman's  bedroom makeover.
Her bedroom was beautiful like a magazine spread.
But so much was missing in the pictures. I know this
because I know the real her.
The truth of  her real life.
Where were her kids pictures?
The lotion on her bedstand?
Her husbands sneakers?
The nicknacks her kids gave her that she treasures?
The fan her husband likes on high while they sleep at night?
Where was the change he empties from his pockets?
The dogs squeaky toy?
The vase that was her Grandmas?
The perfume she received at Christmas?
I'm not talking about the tidying up and keeping things put away.
It was much more than that--
or was it less than that?  Maybe some of  both.
Eveything  was hidden perfectly to pretend perfection.
Writing this I'm really not judging... but gaining some perspective.
The truth is the woman was and still is  me.
Maybe she's sometimes you as well?  
Just thinking and seeing differently ...today.  There are still so many times
I try to hide the real truth.  Honestly I don't want that any more.
Real life gets messy.  Some of it stays messy and can't that be okay?
It's imperfect and there is so much beauty to be found in especially that.
The other night we got in late.  Our kitchen was a wreck, and
Myguy threw on his comfy clothes and grabbed a bite to eat.
He would have said it was not his Kodak moment.
Yet... it really was.  

Real life happened.  

And I treasure all of this.
Eveything.

 It happened here too...

Sitting beside my best friend.
The truth is we're both a mess.  

And we were chowing down  on  burgers and fries in a 66 chevy with 

rust and bondo,

and dust on the  dash.
Two souls as one.
And  

God has  blessed us... just as Trent said.  

  

  

Sometimes the pictures don't turn out just right.

Sometimes 

eveything isn't just perfect.

But one thing is for sure.

God has blessed and the real..   is  a work in progress.    

 He has made everything beautiful

in his time.  

 ~everything~

  

Everything.

So be patient leaon mary.
Be patient you as well. 

Be real. 

Be free to be who He created you to be.

BeYOUtiful You. 

I sign off with this quote.  

 Trent wrote it on the board in our shop so long ago.  

It means  alot to all of us.

How many times have I read this on the wall and pondered it several different ways throughout the day.   

When it starts to wear off... someone always tries to carefully fill it back in

... just like he wrote it.  

Have a beYOUtiful weekend.
love, leaon mary

  

Turning The Page....

 Happy New year everyone!  

What a joy it was today to take down the old calendar

and put up a brand new 2015 Kelly Rae calendar; 

a sweet "autographed!" gift from my dear "Merry Bema!" 

Flipping the cover to a new month with

all those new white blocks of space

made my heart leap a little.  

While there were many blessings in 2014 --

It was one of the most difficult yet growing 

seasons of my 50 years.  

It's true that we often learn the most 

from our valley experiences

than basking on  mountain tops.  

I still prefer the mountaintops but

I know God is faithful and carried me 

through it all.  

We've had a lot of changes here in the 

past few weeks.  We  lost  4 family members 

and honestly I wonder will I ever, 

 be able to trust again?  

The  ripple  of one  persons decisions

can deeply affect every heart within the  fallout. 

So ... I Thank God all the more for this new beginning. 

I'm ready to let go and try to 

move on.  

One of the delightful joys we've had lately

is the little arm full above.  

Her name is Aspen Rose.  

 Already she has us wrapped around her little paw.  

Aspen is a miniature, blue merle, 

 Australian Shepherd.

This was love at first sight.

It's her photo from the website of the breeder 

at Cherry Hill Aussies.  We put a down payment 

on her and had to wait til she was big enough to bring home 

right before Christmas.  

Now she's just over 8 weeks old and 

boy oh boy is she a wonderful mess.  

Francoise our male corgi and Ophelia the kitty

think she's the cats meow but Addie ...

-- she's an alpha meangirl.  

We're  keeping them apart until Aspen gets a lot

bigger.  

 Another  recent joy  was a little time with my dear Auntie.

She reminds me so much of my Angelmother.  

I love to listen to her remember "the old days." 

She has so many stories inside;

little treasures unwrapped

in her telling.  

With the new year approaching I started becoming aware of a word that 

kept  repeating itself. 

Through sermons, books, art, podcasts, bible studies,

friends, even pinterest.  

I mentioned it to a friend on facebook when I saw the word again

on her page.  She even said, might you be getting your 

new one word?  

Affirmation yet... at the same time;

I really didn't want to let go of my word for 2014, which was

HEART.  

Hearts  appeared, 

sparkled, transformed- 

They were discovered in creekbeds- as rocks,

... and even anchored in verse- Ezekiel 36:26  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

Heart was everywhere and taught more love and

true beauty over the course of a year

than I ever dreamed.  

So letting go of it... for this new word.. 

was a bit of a letdown.  

That is; ..Until the love happened. 

My one word?

Perspective.

Saying it outloud... per-spective!

Okay... so now what?  

That's when the verse showed up during Advent 

Right there on the page of 

  the Greatest Gift.

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Perspective is all in the seeing-

the looking.  It can even change by tilting your head..

Every angle has a new perspective.  

And the LORD... He looks at hearts.  

It's all started coming together and I'm excited!

And then- walking through the woods;

I looked ahead of me and saw   

this.  

It really is in the looking

to see the heart of people

and things.  

Perspective.

 So far what I've shared is my small glimpse

of understanding with it. 

I'm hopeful the Lord will give me new eyes

to grow in everything He has for me to see

and be and do.  

    

With the start of this new year,

I look forward to new beginnings.

I've signed up with Documented Life,

Documented faith, the Inseparable bible study,

and a couple others.  Weeks have been spent preparing   

the Dylusions journal and moleskine planner.

It's kind of funny because the art I create is 

mixed media and I love it messy!!!!!!! The play of it 

and the uninhibited expression completely delights me.  Like; I really do NOT enjoy making straight lines, perfect points.. or in other words perfection drives me crazy!  Yet at the same time... I'm drawn to the beauty of architecture especially old cathedrals.  While playing in paint one day, the back of one of these journals came to be as pictured above. It's messy and sketchy and splattered yet today... through my one word.. when I LOOK at it.. I see a new perspective.  

So who knows what could happen?   

Happy surprises can... like this simple gelli print.  

Earlier I was writing out my new word and after jotting it down  in the moleskine in my own handwriting... I happened to glance at this stack of messy colorful papers.  They were already on copy paper .. so I decided to try one right in our printer.  The first one wasn't real flat and it kinda bunched up but I tried it again with another... and it worked!  Now I can cut parts off of this page and glue right into my book.  Now don't go jammin up your printer and get mad at me if it doesn't work but it did for me.  

Well it's time to take Aspen out again.  She can pee  two great lakes

and three rivers by 9 am.  She does good when we go out often 

but man... you forget how much they can hold- (insert big eyeballs here.)  haha  

Well happy new year dear friends!

Thanks for journeying along with me.

L