Target: Red Coat with Black Spots...

When I was a child I would sit and play in the grass with my friends and we would often see ladybugs and let them crawl on our arms or legs. We thought lady bugs were beautiful....how lovely a creature with a red coat and black spots. As with many things when you grow up you are awakened to the harsh reality that life seen through a child's eyes is often far from reality.

It seems to be lady bug season in my house and in particular, my room. I may even go as far as to say that there is a lady bug infestation in my room. They live in my windows. I don't know where they come from but they move from the windows to my lamps, to my ceiling and my floor. I've heard that it's bad luck to kill a lady bug and if this is true then I'm pretty much doomed to bad luck for the rest of my life. I've killed tons. I kill them before bed and the next morning there is a whole new crop of them. Worst thing: when you kill a lady bug or when it senses fear it releases the most horrible scent, it's disgusting.

Reality is that lady bugs are no longer those beautiful innocent bugs with a lovely red coat and black spots. In my adult world they are now unwelcome house guests that must be destroyed.

It's a good day if I can kill 4 with one kleenex.

Welcome to the adult world.

Skies Explode...

I'm like the farthest from morning person that you can get. I like staying up late, I like sleeping in and mornings are difficult for me. I can't even believe I'm uttering these words but I think I might be changing. Since I started working at Bethesda 7 months ago I've gotten plenty of opportunities to greet the day. When I work a dayshift I usually get up at 5:15am and leave the house by 6:15am. As I'm driving to work the moon is setting on one side of me while on the other side the sky is exploding with colours as the sun breaks through the darkness. It's quite a contrast really. I've discovered that there is something about getting up early and getting things in motion first thing.  At the group home I love getting the ladies up and showered and through the breakfast routine while jamming to tunes in the kitchen while the sun is shining through the kitchen windows. I like it, I might even like it enough to try it when I don't have to work! All I can think about when I get to drive to work early and watch the sun rise is how it is like an explosion of beauty that I get a chance to witness, I get to be a part of the show that God puts on each day. One of my adventure goals this summer is to get some of my friends together and get up super early and road trip to somewhere beautiful and watch the sun rise while eating breakfast together. I'll make sure to post some pics when it happens.

I hope that even if you're a night hawk like me that you'll give the morning a try....the alarm bites but the beauty is to come and you'll get to see the skies explode!

~The Kindred Spirit

Because He's MY Friend...

I love Easter. Spring is in the air and I just have this feeling of new life. It's a time to celebrate that Jesus didn't stay dead.....He has risen!

Yesterday was a busy day. I worked the 3-11 shift on Saturday and then got up at the crack of dawn on Sunday morning to meet with my church family to watch the sun come up and celebrate the risen Son! Then I ran home for a quick wardrobe change and then back to the church to get ready for 2:52 Basics. After 2:52 I watched the third Easter performance of "The Door", which was excellent by the way! I headed home for lunch and then off to work another afternoon shift. The day was jam packed full but it was great. Somewhere in all this business, I had a moment. I was in the 2:52 Basics room downstairs at church and the team was getting ready for the morning. I had briefly talked to our storyteller for that morning and she mentioned that she wasn't going to use the story outlined this week since it just wasn't fitting with the morning....I encouraged her to do this. I didn't really know what she was going to do but she's the kind of woman you just trust with things like this. She told the kids that they were going to tell the story today.....she began to lead them through a series of questions where they got to share what they knew about Jesus and how they knew that. Lots of children raised their hands and shared things but there was one little girl in the room who stole all of our hearts with her answer. She raised her hand and said simply "He's a friend". The storyteller looked at the child over her glasses that sat on her nose and asked her how she knew this. The little girl replied by saying "because He's MY friend". Silence. We all held our breath for a moment as that simple statement closed the story time. I choked back tears to compose myself enough to finish the large group time but that thought stayed with me.

How one little girl can really sum Easter up in one simple statement baffles me but I guess that's the thing about God's love and grace.....it's just baffling.

I hope you can remember that simple statement today too.

Happy Easter,
Darcie