Building for the next generation

my beautiful soul-sister and i cling to each other and this truth: that we choose to be different than our parents, and that we can have victory in Him. it is enough. she and i know the faults buried deep inside that are products of broken parents, and she found a verse as her own new family was forming:
After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes." (Nehemiah 4:14)

the significance was that we are not defending or rebuilding the past; we are staking a claim on and protecting the future.
i grab his hands at night and wrap his arms around me, resting in his warmth and dormant strength. we face our children, sleeping loudly, sharing our nighttime space, the respite from trucks and cheerios and dora and "no," and we protect them, weaving prayer lines, staking our claim. it is enough.

i am doubling my entry for this week's ShoutLaughLove as well as tuesdays unwrapped!

come play!

Summer meal

i've been meaning to participate in this weekly carnival and even though tuesday's almost done and kids are finally sleeping, i still want to remember a moment with my boys:
fresh, summer-sweet corn on the cob, butter and too much salt dripping down faces and oldest's delight in this new flavor. a creamed potato recipe i grew up eating, with those summer black eyed peas and yellow-milk ears, this was a summer meal remembered and prepared in love for my growing boys. and while babe eats only mashy things and middle blonde one eats nothing, oldest with the curls eats every last bite of kernel love.

to share or read more about quiet gifts, please visit chatting at the sky