Loving Others

Life is short.  We literally cannot waste one moment.  We need to mean what we say and then do what we mean.  
This past weekend was such a great reminder of reaching out, loving and caring for one another.  I am so filled up with goodness starting this week, and that is an amazing change of pace.  It occurs to me that I have allowed the hum drum of the daily grind to take over.  I have allowed the little things to fall dormant.  I have not been allowing myself the grace to hear the sweet whispers of God telling me that my story is so good and I am surrounded by that goodness.  A great friend of mine sent me a quote last week, "love quietly and give it out freely then allow that love to find you back."  SO TRUE!!
​This great friend of mine had a birthday this past weekend.  He also has wonderful people in his life and with the help of one particularly sweet friend me, the boys and Yuri (our au pair) were able to make a last minute trip up to NYC.  I was the big surprise for his birthday :)  We got in late Friday night.  I went to our private yoga class Saturday morning.  I waited in the dark until they came in.  
My friend told me later he couldn't believe there was some random girl in their private class...haha.  So needless to say he was stunned when I turned around and said HAPPY BIRTHDAY! and gave him a big hug.  It took a minute to get class going with all the shock in the room, but it wasn't too long before we had the best Y7 yoga class.
Ok...so lets talk about Y7 yoga real quick.  First off...its AMAZING!!!  Second...its super hot and crazy sweaty.  Third...the music kills!  Finally....as I laid on my mat after a heart pounding, cardio burning YOGA class I was looking up at the ceiling in this dark room. (side note: Y7 Yoga is done in an almost pitch black room albeit lite by candles and is warmed by heated panels in the wall)  When I looked up I saw the spinning turbine of what I assumed was the single air vent in the room.  I watched this turbine go round and round.  I was mesmerized by it.  It might have been all the heat going to my head coupled with the gentle cooling of my body, but all I could think was...This is what I am supposed to be doing.  I was reminded of a quote from the most current book I am reading, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller, "He also says that every creative person, and I think probably every other person, faces resistance when trying to create something good.  He even says resistance, a kind of feeling that comes against you when you point toward a distant horizon, is a sure sign that you are supposed to do the thing in the first place.  The harder the resistance, the more important the task must be." Ok...back to the bigger story :)
After class we went to a small grocery for some snacks and didn't forget to get a few bottles of rose' ;) We made our way up to Bear Mountain for some wonderful views, an exuberant hike and good quality time with friends.  The point of all of this whole day was to surround our birthday boy with  wonderful, loving people and an atmosphere that would only enhance that.  We all talked for hours.  Everybody's opinion was respected and conversation flowed!!  And the thing about it was we weren't just surrounding Tim with love but we were getting so much love back.  This all kept bringing me back to big talk/realizations of what I am supposed to do next...you know, beyond the military.
We didn't get back to the city until 730 and then back to another friends house we were staying at, for which my children were cared for all day by our au pair and my friends.  How amazing to have people that open their home to you last minute and also give so much of themselves to provide a safe and fun place for your kids to fill just as at home as their own home.
Mean while back home I have the greatest network of friends caring and staying with our pups, Dude and Forest.  I know the pups are always a little disappointed when we return, because our friends certainly love on them far more than I do and they get to lay in bed with them....ha.
By Monday, we were met once more by sweet friends and a quiet evening at their home with pizza and a little play time for their almost 3 year old and mine.  Wow...how much more surrounded by love could I get.  I must be blind not to have recognized all this last week in the midst of my haze.  Or maybe it's just that THIS doesn't happen all the time.  And that's ok.  I need to just remind myself when these stories aren't the constant that they are still my stories.  Then allow myself the grace to know that I have put love out there, and now I just need to allow it to come back :)  
Are you allowing grace for yourself in your stories???