mama moments // finding joy in the unexpected

Life keeps going. It keeps moving. Whether we want it to or not, onward the moments go. So much so it can feel like we are always seeking and yearning for a happiness and joy that just always seems to be two-steps too far ahead of us.

Still we stand trying and striving to embrace our present, all the while moving - always moving - to the rhythm that does not stop.

Did I laugh today? Did I smile? Was I happy? Did I have moments? 

Joy. Sorrow. Happiness. Suffering. They all are going to come. They always will come. How or when, we never know, but one thing we can trust is that these experiences will come.

--

This past Pentacost Sunday our priest shared a beautiful homily that awakened my little heart in a good way. A truth was shared and a goodness was revealed that had me smiling. 

Our priest talked of so many things but what stood out to me was when he described joy. When he described and defined something I know I struggle to exude only because I struggle to truly comprehend all that it is, my heart sighed joyfully.

When you don't fully understand something, how can you own it? Exude it? Experience it? Truly? I've known that I am happy and content. And, I've known that I've experienced joy in my life. But this, this brought joy to the forefront in a way it had never been before.

"What is happiness? Happiness is when what you want or expect to happen, happens.

You apply for a job you want and get it, you're happy. You ask a girl out and she says yes, you're happy. You have a job and are able to provide for your family, you're happy.

Joy. Joy is unexpected.

You forgive someone who has hurt you and experience an overwhelming peace - joy. You embrace and endure a suffering only to be relieved of it in time - joy. You struggle through the young years of parenthood but are smothered in hugs and kisses throughout the day, unprompted - joy."

-Fr. Alphonse

I had never taken the time to understand Joy other than when I would experience it in other holy men and women. They've got it! They have a joy that is so infectious I pray that I will someday be able to share that goodness with others too! Now, after listening to Father and letting his words sink in, I know I've had my fair share of good ol' joy in my life.

"The Apostles were filled with happiness and joy the moment the Lord appeared to them in their midst and through locked doors. Now they were ready to walk out and begin the greatest adventure of their lives." 

-Fr. Alphonse

In fact, this past weekend, my boys were gifted two guitars from their grandparents. My oldest loves all things music related and I love this about him. His excitement had been through the roof from the moment my parents told him they bought a guitar for him and his brother. He would ask daily, "Grandpa and nana here yet? Did they get me a guitar? They have a guitar for me, mama!"

We have music in our home everyday. We love Matt Maher, Audrey Assad, and now this new little band we stumbled upon through a playlist. This group has brought a lot of smiles and good feels around here. It's the Rend Collective band, not Catholic, but sharing beauty that is filled to the brim with goodness. There are two songs in particular that are my boys' current favorites - Second Chance and My Lighthouse.

After opening their gifts, the boys wanted me to play these two songs for them so that they could play along with their new guitars.

What I witnessed brought tears to my eyes and joy to my heart. My oldest sat nearby the video and with the most sincere of efforts played this song as well as his little three year-old, untrained-self, could.

My youngest lit up when My Lighthouse came on and he strummed and sang as loud as his little voice could sing.

I was caught off guard by their sincere efforts. They surprised me with their delight. By their love and goodness. Unexpectedly, joy made it's way into my heart and it was good. So so good.

"For me prayer is a surge of the heart, it is a simple look towards Heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy."

-St. Therese of Lisieux

The thing is, had I not been able to embrace the birth of both of these boys - the trial of it, the suffering of it - I would never have known how good the joy in all the little moments to follow would feel. How they would pop up unexpectedly, every. single. day. Had I not experienced severe back pain last year, I wouldn't have been able to know the joy that it is to be able to get up and out of bed without pain.

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

-John 15:11-12

There's joy to be found in trial and in all good present moments as well. It's not either, or. It's both! All have their worth because He came. Because He died. And, because He rose.

What has brought you joy recently? How has He surprised you today?

Cinquain: 13 months

Toddler.

One who toddles.

.
Walking, dancing, smiling.

Bringing joy to my heart always.

Linus.

7QT: The skies above are blue...

I'm back from my blogging hiatus and it feels so good to be typing! I've honestly had so much to blog about just haven't had the time, energy, or brain power to focus. Not to mention, lots of places to start had me overwhelmed a bit. And there was the flu that knocked us all on our rear for a good two weeks. Oh, and the crazy-mad teether that felt the need to party hard all night every night for longer than my sleep-deprived brain would like to recall. Haha. Moving on now! Here I am and I'm excited!

At last, another beautiful day in a year to remember has come along. It's our anniversary! Four years ago yesterday, we said, I do. Our love was bound and we became one. We became one. I knew you. You knew me. We loved and loved and loved until our hearts burst that day. The joy I felt on the day that we said I do was so beautiful. I was radiating. I was glowing. All was beautiful and perfect, joyful and blessed.

Welcome to my little memory lane of a post about that very fine day that brought a joy in me that I had never known before.

--- 1 ---

I loved our details. They were sweet. Simple. And filled with love.

The detail in the cake matched the lace on my dress. Made me smile.

My GeekMan doing what he does best and me doing what I love to do but don't do enough of - read.

These were just a few of the little things that made the day just a little sweeter.

--- 2 ---

I loved that I got to wear my mother's wedding dress. The same dress that my grandma made for her. And love even more that this same grandma did the alterations for it to fit me. A gift that I will always treasure more than I can say.

Love that we took pictures down at the grove. The only thing I love more than avocados are grapefruit! We went to where grapefruits abound. And it was beautiful.

--- 3 ---

I loved getting married in the parish I grew up in. So many fruits happened in this holy place for me. Being able to marry before God, family, and friends is more than this woman could ask for.

--- 4 ---

I loved being with him. He made everything perfect. He made everything beautiful. He who God decided to share with me in a very beautiful, mysterious, and glorious way.

--- 5 ---

The moments. I loved the moments.

Right after we walked down the aisle into the dressing room. We hugged it all in. I didn't want to let go of him. I was so happy.

Our first dance as husband and wife. On the bridge. Away from it all. Just us. Dancing. Enjoying. Loving.

My grandpa had passed away the year prior to our wedding. You can imagine why having his brother there meant more to my heart than any will ever know. I was heartbroken knowing my grandpa wouldn't be there on my wedding day. It was sweet how God had them be the couple who had been married the longest. We had special moments of wisdom with him and his wife. Such a gift.

--- 6 ---

Outdoor January wedding in South Texas. It was perfect. A sweet day with a light breeze. It wasn't too hot and it wasn't too cold. It was perfect. Just how I had prayed it would be.

Oh and the Dancing!!! Dancing is fun. But, dancing outside - so much fun! We had a blast! And, I loved having all my Ags there! The Aggie War Hymn was incredibly special that night.

Ha! This awkward moment brought to you by us. It took him FOREVER to get that thing off! Awkward... Haha. As awkward as it was, I was laughing and dancing the whole time.

Did I mention I love dancing?

Well I do.

Especially with this man!

--- 7 ---

The celebration!!!

And, the fact that the celebration didn't end that night. It's been going strong for four years. We've even managed to add two little ones that can party harder than any college student I've ever known. These boys take "party all night long" to a whole new level, for sure!

But, I love them for it. I love that they joined our party. I love that they are a beautiful result of the very same party that started four years ago. And, I most especially love the love and our God that keep the celebration of our life always beautiful.

Thanks for stopping by!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Five Favorites: Beach Memories & Moments

1. My Sweet Boy and Handsome Husband 

This photo is beautiful and makes my heart happy. 

2. Grandparents.

Papa getting his workout on with the help of his beloved grandson.

Nana also got her workout from this little boy and from holding Linus.

Sports are always a must with Bigfoot. There was paddle ball, baseball, football, soccer, Texas sledding (it counts, right?), chasing seagulls, and lots and lots of RUNNING!

3. Running.

He would fearlessly run into the ocean. Love this boy and his love for the beach! He is definitely his mama's son.

He ran with sand all over his face. Sand managed its way all over this boy at different times. He face planted quite a few times from all of the running only to get back up and run some more.

Bigfoot loved chasing seagulls!

 4. JOY

He loved the waves! Loved them crashing into him and making him lose balance.

I mean, he really loved it. He would fall into the water on purpose just to get swayed some more.

5. My Happy Place that was filled with Happiness.

Already itching to go back! So grateful for God's natural gifts!

 (Head on over to MoxieWife for more favorites!)

{CWA2}: Back from my Happy Place

Thanking God for...

SO MANY THINGS!

• I got to spend time at my happy place. I was so happy!

• And, even happier because I was able to introduce my boys to my happy place. South Padre Island made them SO HAPPY - especially Bigfoot. Or rather, the beach that is SPI, made them so happy because it allowed for such a great time! He absolutely loved every moment of it!

• We had safe travels to and from for our mini-vacay! This is kind of a big deal since we were traveling a good 12 hours (kids make traveling last a bit longer) to get to our destination. There were bouts of crying and craziness, but we made it! In one piece! 
• My husband for driving all the live long day (X2).

• My parent's for giving us two date nights! In a row! I can't remember the last time we were out and about sans kiddos for two nights in a row.

• Getting to spend some awesome quality time with my brother and Erin. Both boys loved having their Uncle around! And, so did I!

• Thankful for my Mom. God has blessed us with another amazing year with her and we were able to celebrate her life all together! Such a gift!

• Grateful to see family while back home. We got to squeeze in some moments with extended family. We're always so thankful for any time we get with them. We do miss them terribly and decided we just need to make separate trips to solely visit extended family that way we can really get our fill! Till then, we're thankful the Lord allowed for the time he did.
• Thankful that we were able to see Sister Kathleen! And, she met the boys! The moments were so beautiful and I will treasure them forever! (I'll definitely have a separate post with this precious woman!)
• I know I'm missing some things to be thankful for. Our hearts were filled abundantly this past week, which I'll be posting about all this week. Get ready for lots of pictures of our beach memories!

Looking out my window...

• I spy a rainy day Monday and I am loving it. Nice overcast, a drizzle here and there... My kind of day of recovery from travel.

I am praying...

• I'm praying for grace. This mama is need of lots of grace. Lots and lots of grace. 

I am reading...

• Since we've been out and about all week I haven't read any blogs! Oye! I'm way behind on all the good stuff that was put out in the blog-world this past week. Can't wait for some time to catch up over a cup of coffee!

I am creating...

• Working on the blog and the many blog posts that I have stirring. I have so many pictures to share from our beach trip; photos filled with family, friends, memories, and God's gifts!

I'm learning...

• I have no idea what I am learning. I am that non-insightful at the moment. But, never to fear, I know God and the Holy Spirit will give me a gentle smack in the face soon enough. I'm sure there are endless things for me to be learning right in front, but I am just not there right now. *sigh*

I am pondering...

• Nada. As mentioned in my ^learning tid-bit^, I am not insightful at the moment. This is most likely induced by not getting much sleep all week, lots of sun, lots of traveling, and did I mention I need more sleep?

In the kitchen...

• I froze some leftovers before leaving for our trip. So I have managed to clean the kitchen up to my liking and will do absolutely nothing aside from warm up some leftover goodies.

I'm wearing...

• Jammies. We're in recovery mode over here. As much as our mini-vacay was AWESOME, it was also exhausting!

Look what I found...

• Written by the Finger of God - I think this may be my new favorite blog! While reading her posts I feel like I am chatting with a good friend - a kindred spirit. So fun! Thanks, Jenny, for introducing this post to me!
• Real Motherhood Link-up - Found this fun link-up a few weeks ago. They mentioned on their blog that they would be having the first little party Labor day weekend. I'll be linking up a post with my Real Motherhood pics later today.

I am looking forward to...

• Getting back into the swing of things. Nap times! Sleeping in my bed! The boys sleeping in theirs! A swing that will rock sweet Linus to sleep for me here and there. And, just being home. 

One of my favorite things...

• Ice-cream cake!!! I forget how absolutely yummy these things are! We had one for my mom's birthday and it was a great idea, not only for celebratory purposes but also for the happiness of my tastebuds! Must find a reason to buy an ice-cream cake ASAP! Any fun Feast days coming up? Reasons to celebrate? Our birthdays, anniversaries, and baptism days have passed, so I'm in search of a reason to buy a cake. Suggestions?

The week ahead...

• Routines! Home! Sleep! Cooking! Laundry... Cleaning... Catching up... Blogging! Bible Study! Friends! Play dates (if I'm feeling ambitious)?

Captured...

This moment of Bigfoot enjoying God's beautiful gift. He was running along the beach covered by the huge shadow of the condo behind us. I'll go ahead and add this picture in for Theme Thursday over at Clan Donaldson.

Sweet Linus having a blankie moment for a nap while at the beach.

Bigfoot giving me this shell. A gesture that captured my heart.

It's the little things that make my heart flutter...

Head on over to Suscipio for more CWA posts!