Up in Smoke...

I know I haven't posted anything in awhile...  My life started to derail, and I have been out of motivation for, well, anything, for several months.  I guess I could go back and catch you all up on what's been going on, but I don't have the patience or energy for that much thought at this point.  So... I can start from today.  And that will have to be enough until I can gather myself together enough to put words to paper.

Just when I thought our immigration journey (nightmare, really) was coming to a close, there it goes, up in smoke.  More dreams shattered.  Like broken glass, laying on the floor.  And all I can do is stand and stare at it, willing it to gather itself together and magically be whole again.  But the longer I stand and stare, the more frustrated and distraught I become.  I can't bring myself to sweep it up and throw it away because I wanted it so badly, and even though it's broken and useless, I just leave it there on the floor and try to step around it because I know stepping on it will cause me pain and bleeding.  Even cleaning it up poses some threat of getting those horrible, invisible shards stuck in an inconvenient place, which could cause reddening and infection...  So I do nothing.  I'm incapable of making a decision regarding the brokenness of my heart; I just sit and cry.

Circumstances would seem to point to Mexico.  The situation seems impossible.  It's too big for me.  There is nothing anyone can do at this point; the damage is irreversible.  Carlos is currently in custody, with an immigration hold.  They don't want to let him out.  We already did this once, but they were kind and merciful and released him to his family.  Not this time.  This is very bad for his appeal, which is 6 months max from being decided upon.  Our wonderful immigration attorney, Maria McIntyre, said they will probably hold him until that final decision is made, whether he will be deported or granted his US Residency.  But it doesn't look good.  It could be over as early as November, but that just means Carlos will be in Mexico a few months earlier.

All I want is to be with my husband again.  I want my family to be whole.  My heart is lost because it's only half here.  The other half is with him.  My son is 4 now, and he misses his Papa so much.  He will randomly cry for Papa after a fit of defiance, and then ask impossible questions like, "Mommy, why are some kids Papas in jail?  Mommy, why do some post (police) officers take some kids Papas to jail?  Mommy, why some kids don't have their Papas at home?"  And my heart breaks for him; I have no answers for his innocent pleas.  He doesn't understand, he just knows things are not as they have been or should be.

Finally, yesterday, I decided I will accept the seemingly inevitable, and prepare myself to move permanently to Mexico, try to get excited about it even, and I found, it makes things a lot easier on my heart.  Because I love my family, and I want us to be wherever God is leading us to go, and if that place happens to be Mexico, then that's where I want to be. This won't be an easy transition for us by any means, and I know I will have my fits over it, because it isn't the future I saw myself living, or the one I imagined for my children, but then, when does life ever turn out the way anyone expected?

For now, I am here, with my two littles.  And I have enough grace for today.  Only today.  I can't worry about tomorrow because I don't know what it will bring yet.  Worrying about yesterday doesn't change anything.  But today, right now, I am cradled in God's arms and He knows exactly where I am, where I came from, and where I am going, and He is around every corner, at the bottom of every ditch, knowing what is coming and what I need for today.  And He gives me enough.  Today I am blessed and loved and being prepared for the fullness of my life, the purpose for which God has created and called me, and that is not limited by country borders, it is only limited in Him.  And that's where I want to be anyway.

World's Okayest Mom

So, I saw a picture of this mug shared on Facebook, and I thought, "Wow, that is a really awesome mug..."

It's the Little Things...

Oh me, oh my... I tell you what... I am sitting here at the computer, trying to get some work done.  But every time I look down, I see this beautiful little face.  She is very distracting.  I keep finding myself staring at her; studying every facet of this sweet, perfect face.  How fleeting these moments are!!  How quickly they get away from us, and before we know it, we are looking at a full grown human being.

Jubee

Love's Last Hope

What is Love? How do you know if you are truly "in" or "out" of love? Is love something tangible, or is it all together imagined? Can you love some "thing" or is it exclusive for people? Is there a universal definition that fits all situations and circumstances? Webster's says that love as a verb means: to hold dear or cherish. As a noun, there are so many definitions ranging from common interests to strong affection and kinsman-ship. I wonder though.

Love is such an extraordinary thing that it amazes me that one would even attempt to put a definition to it. It is so uniquely different from person to person. But I do know one thing for sure. I am in love. Whatever that means.

So let's start from the beginning. When we are young, we have preconceived notions of what it means to love someone. And then it happens, that first look, the first electric current runs through your body, first kiss, and you are sunk. You swear that this is love, because it is stronger than any other you have ever felt before, somehow different. But then it dies. And the first death of love, the first love, is the most violent. It rips your heart out, tears it in to little pieces and spits it back in your face. Was that love? If so I don't want to ever have to go through that again! And a piece of you dies along with it. A little bit of innocence goes up in flames, and for the first time you taste the bitterness of a love lost. And you move on. And you grow up. And you start to mature and see life for what it really is; that veil has been thrown aside, or at the least it is now transparent. Love sucks.

As you grow and the years pass, you begin to realize that it was really a blessing in disguise, albeit a painful one. Without it, you would have continued to believe and see the world through rose colored lenses. Now you see reality. And you question: Was it love? But far more often you will find that the answer is no. No, not love. It was passion. And passion can be a fierce and violent force, more than any other that exists. But it seems to always die with the same intensity that it was born. So then is that it? If it was passion, what is love?

Passion is the beginning you see... Without passion, there would be no attraction, and without attraction, a relationship of intimate form would never be established. But passion alone will never survive, and since passion almost always seems to have the intensity of fire, we have to be aware that fires always die out. And look at the mess they leave behind.

But Love comes from passion. Passion is the bud on a tree, a flower, beautiful in it's season, and vibrant. But eventually it withers and dies. And it leaves behind a seed. Now if that seed gets covered up by the ashes, it will not grow, as happens with most first loves. But if it finds a good ground beneath it, it can take root and grow. And when it grows it starts slow, beneath the surface, and that's why it is seemingly unnoticed, but it will be strong. And then it sprouts, but at this point who knows what it could be. It may be a weed that needs to be pulled, but only because it has not yet taken form. The years pass and steadily it increases. Of course there will always be times of drought that may hold it back, but only for a season. Love is persistent. Love is strong. Love is grounded. Love is slow. And even, Love most of the time can be boring, mundane, colorless, and sometimes unsightly. It is a tree after-all. But that tree, when taken care of, watered and painfully pruned, will continue to grow and grown until it is a mighty tree, big and strong, unshaken with a strong and deep foundation.

That's what love is. It is selfless, as a tree does not bear fruit for it's own benefit, but for the one whom consumes it. Love is a commitment, not a feeling. Feelings fall under the passion category. And though passion is an essential part of love, it is not the main component. Being "in love" is temporary because as soon as the lover turns his back, you are suddenly "out of love" with the same person to whom who whispered promises of forever. A real lover, a true lover seeks only the benefit and never the burden of the loved. no matter the price. True love is something cultivated only by time and tested by patience.

I love and am loved. Not because I am a great human being, but because God is great.

I Corinthians 13:4-13 (This is how we are loved)

     Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on it's own way; it is not irritable it resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophecy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man I put away childish ways. for now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I will know full, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Romans 5:5 (This is why we love)

And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.