Reclaiming sundays

Yesterday marked 4 months since we said goodbye to Nora. I guess it marks the passage of time that it was not until this morning that I thought about the date. It was a day for me that ended with a priceless time. I took a meal to close friends who recently had a little girl (and I went all by myself!). We were able to give them a number of Nora's things to use and had intentionally given them things, knowing we might get to see them in use. It felt so sad and good to have her little body snuggled against mine in one of Nora's green outfits.

I had another striking moment this week. I'm auditing a CJP class this Fall and on Thursday we were in small groups discussing our family geneograms when all of a sudden a father walked by with a little baby in a front pack. It was one of those moments that almost took my breath away. It was a couple that we knew from college but that we had had very little interaction with until we were at UVA the last time before Nora died. They had just had a little girl who came too early and was in the NICU. They named her Nora. I hadn't seen them since and somehow, even though I knew they had been on their way home, it shocked me to see him walking her like a "normal" daddy with his baby....

Today, in many ways, was very much a sabbath day for our family. For the past 3 years, Sunday has often been just another work day, particularly for Jason, as we have tried to make progress on our home construction project. Now that the front walk is complete and the house (phase #1) is all but done, the urgent need to make the most of every minute of good quality work time has diminished. For that we are very grateful! Yet is is hard to retrain our minds to be okay with not making the most of every good weather day (or hour) to get something done around the house or property.

Jason and I verbalized today that we are both ready to get back to setting Sundays aside, to reclaim a day of rest from our normal routines. I don't necessarily feel like there is anything intrinsically sacred about Sunday in particular but it kind of feels like tithing: I also don't feel like there is anything magic about 10-15% giving. It's more what is behind it. Valuing giving. Valuing our time and relationships. So I'm putting it here for all to see who read our musings! You can help hold us accountable.

Part of our day included taking lots of pictures of Kali. She was too cute not to capture! We then went for a family "trash walk" where we pick up trash and recycling along the road. When I go for a walk or run with Kali she seldom goes more than 1/4 mile before saying she is tired and ready to ride in the jogger. Well today was just another example of how much more she can do when her mind is occupied with another task. She walked over 2 1/2 miles picking up trash and recycling, jabbering constantly and lunging for leaves and grass and all sorts of "non-trash" items. We then ended our evening with some games. She's been a lot of fun and she continues to bring lots of laughter into our home!!