Family and Home

Nothing makes a mothers heart so full as when her children are all around her. I always feel a bit like a proud mother hen when all the children and their spouses are here. Their laughter filling the house with cheer. We have so many good memories and so many stories to share. The conversations are fun and full of love, deep and binding.
Tonight, Steven came over the house to help Emery do some work on Melanie and Casi's house. Priscilla spent some time there and some here. Melanie still feeling a bit tired and struggling each day with at least one bout of seriously low blood sugars. I snapped a picture of Steven and Priscilla just as they were heading towards their car. How beautiful Priscilla is looking, she has that special glow that comes at this time of life. Not much longer and we will be welcoming one more grand-daughter into the family.
I miss Melissa a lot right now, she is preparing to go back to school to pursue a second degree, this time in nursing. Something she has always wanted to do. I want her to be here sharing in this new phase of life, the new generation. I keep telling her she had better be back in Texas when she and James start their family !
I do hope she is able to come for a visit this summer to see her nieces and so we can have a few of our "mother/daughter days". My girls and I have always had a special day when I take them out. One girl at a time. We might grab a bite to eat or sit over coffee, chatting about whatever comes to mind.
I feel so incredibly blessed to have good relationships with our children. I re-read the cards the children gave me for mothers day. The personal notes so loving.
I thought about this poem tonight and wanted to share it with you. I love this poem because it speaks of such simple things. One cloth for the table, one shelf for her dishes, a small house to keep. Not collections, not abundance, but just some simple beauty that never clouds the truth of what is important.

A Prayer for Womanhood
~Grace Noll Crowell~
1934
God, give each true good woman
Her own small house to keep,
No heart should ache with longing,
No hurt should go too deep.....
Grant her age-old desire:
A house to love and sweep.

Give her a man beside her,
A kind man, and a true,
And let them work together
And love, a lifetime through,
And let her mother children
As gentle women do.

Give her a shelf for dishes,
And a shining box for bread,
A white cloth for her table,
And a white spread for her bed,
A shaded lamp at nightfall,
And a row of books much read.

God, let her work with laughter,
And let her rest with sleep.
No life can truly offer
A peace more sure and deep....
God, give each true woman
Her own small house to keep.


Steven and Priscilla, not long until August !