The Results of Today's Beauty-Seeking...

The Consensus of Opinion Is (warning: grand baby flaunting ahead...)

...the consensus is that she looks like me.





Be still my heart. She is so beautiful I can't stand it. This raises my self esteem level alarmingly.

No Time To (Video) Weblog...

...not this week. You cannot know how much time and effort goes into one video weblog posting, unless you do it semi-regularly.  No time for that this week.  But there are beautiful and true-truths being pondered. That's my ponder-ful face (up there).

No, really.  Seriously.

I am pondering what love is, as defined by God in 1st Corinthians 13. I am pondering how that love is patient and kind and focuses on what is true and beautiful, etc etc.

I am pondering how that all those things imply boundaries. Love implies boundaries. God has already defined all that is true and beautiful. We too then, have to Biblically define what is true and beautiful, which, in turn, forces us to define what is untrue and ugly.

I am pondering how that "believing all things, hoping all things, enduring all things" does not mean believing lies, or hoping for our own way. It doesn't mean enduring the arrogant unbelief of grace-haters who minimize the Finished Work of Christ...whether by flagrant sinning or by being so religious they could intimidate the Antichrist.

I am pondering how that the wisest thing I did (as well as one of the most profound lessons I've learned) was to place distance between myself and COMS...

Women who COMplain...
Women who COMpare...
Women who COMpete...

I am pondering how that real love isn't random sacrifice or giving my body to be burned in a fit of melodrama. The moment I begin to think I have the corner market on caring...and why don't others do as I do...I am, in reality, a noisy and needy sinner in need of being informed as to my boundaries. Love is not puffed up, you see. Stop right there. No more being puffed up. Boundaries.

Boundaries define all that is beautiful in our lives, from doctrine to property lines, from relationships to health, from choices to the lanes on the highway, boundaries make us safe, and inform us continually when we are tempted to think of ourselves as the Exception To The Rule.

The Psalmist David said it best, "...the lines are fallen to me in pleasant places..."

Grace

"The grace of God calls a man or woman to greatness..."

- Sheila Atchley

The Winner Is...

We printed out every single entry, bright and early this morning, before heading out to the hospital to see Aidyn...




Hannah, preparing to draw the winner's name...

And the winner is...




Kris Boisen!!!

(sorry the picture is sideways...)

Kris, please email me (sheilamatchley@gmail.com) and give us your address, and your choice of bag! We will get it out to you next week!

And for everyone else, Hannah is offering a 20 percent discount on any bag!

Thank you so very much for participating! We both have had so much fun with it. Please stay tuned, because I do have more giveaways planned...

...and now, back to Grandmother Bliss...

(posting this from the hospital, in fact!)



Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

She Is Here

It is after midnight, and I am finally home and settled. My heart is full, I feel so blessed. Aidyn Esther arrived this evening...all 9 pounds 5 ounces and 22 inches of her! It was love at first sight for PopPop and me both.

I didn't get to really hold her until after 10 PM! But I was patient and kind...unassuming, letting others feel like they were getting their special moment.

Because grandmothers do not have to assert who they are....they simply are. And Aidyn will get to know me well and early. And I am so rich I can afford to be gracious.

And grandmothers have impeccable manners.

Besides - she's mine. All mine...in that special way that only grandmothers (and great grandmothers) can say.

Are you ready to be dunked in adorableness???? Here you go:






I. Am. Solid. Gone.

We finally got to have our long talk together, Miss Princess and me. I told her I was wild about her. She told me it was mutual. I told her I would bring her some mousse for her hair first thing tomorrow morning. She said "Thank you, Mimi. You "get" me."

Oh, I get you, baby girl. You and me? We got our own thing going.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Checklist Before Becoming a Grandmother

(above oil painting by Gaye Lynne LeGuire...)

I've been going about the house, today, preparing to be a grandmother. My daughter Sarah and her Jonathan will become parents tomorrow.  Aidyn Esther comes tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow, a granddaughter is born, and so is a mother, a grandmother (yours truly), a great grandmother, and an auntie...


 How does one prepare to be a grandmother? How...how...how...


I know what to do to prepare the house. I still have to clear out the fridge, sweep the floors, and make sure my little bag of power bars, knitting needles, yarn, and Diet Coke is packed - I'll be there, at the hospital tomorrow, per Sarah's request.


 I know how to prepare a home, but how do I prepare a heart? How do I prepare my heart for the birth of a Sunflower baby...my Summertime granddaughter? How do I get ready again to step seamlessly into what I now know for sure to be the sweetest role I will play in all of life?


 I wear a lot of hats, have worn many in my history, but this hat of "grandmotherhood" is by far the most joyful and delightful. How do I prepare my heart to meet a small Someone who I will love till the day I leave earth for heaven...and then beyond? How do I prepare to look into her eyes...this sequel-daughter (grand daughter) who I have prayed for since before she was even conceived, and will cherish for all eternity? Relationships are eternal.


 How do I go about the mundane preparations for this sort of glory?


 Life really is all about maintenance. Even on the eve of weddings and births, even on the day after death, there must be clean clothes and warm meals and physical comfort given to the people I love. Such is the Life of Woman. Ask me how I know.


 Somehow, my heart assimilates. Somehow, my mind is slowly wrapping itself around the fact that God is the God of the New Thing. And New overlaps Old, always. One must always be cleaning up around the edges, where Old and New have collided. One must always be ready to tend to the business of tidying up in the place of transition, while simultaneously airing out the chambers of the heart...letting the breeze of newness freshen old routines and mindsets.


 I've heard it said that women wear lots of hats.  Well, this particular "hat" has been waiting for me, in its box, since the moment I gave birth to this daughter of mine and her sister.


Today I get the hat out. I admire its loveliness. Yes, this hat suits me. I think I will look just fine in this hat called "Aidyn's Mimi".


 Tomorrow, I put on the hat for the very first time.


 For the rest of my life, I will wear that hat with obnoxious pride.