Grace

Grace

Posted on by Lauren

“Just pick up fast food!”

My husband was out of town.

Gosh, if only it were that easy.

I feel like I’ve spent adulthood explaining this notion of “privilege” without realizing I’ve even done so. 

Fast food?

That’s privilege, at least for my family. 

We have a child with severe food allergies so “fast food” is not an option.  

Instead, we have to plan painstakingly ahead. 

“You were meant to be her mother.”

Was I, really?

What did I do in my past life to deserve this honor?

That’s what I would like to know. 

It’s not her fault and it’s not mine either, or maybe it is- I don’t even know anymore. 

What I DO know is that giving grace to any and everyone is the very best thing we can ever do. 

Because, how otherwise, could we ever truly know their story?

We cannot. 

So, we give grace. 

Always, we give grace. 

Camille Vaughan Photography

The Hand of Time

Posted on by Lauren

I saw it, long ago.

Those hands.

Withered and wrinkled.

I asked her, then, if my veins would look the same as hers when I was her age.

She laughed, apologetically, but I was serious.

I wanted those hands.

And I’m beginning to see them, now.

Ever so slightly.

The pronounced blue protrusions.

The fragile cells in-between.

The soft cover of a life, well-lived.

Piano hands.

IMG_1366.jpg

Captured by Katie McCracken

Grace

Posted on by Lauren

This is my word of the moment:  Grace.

I am currently treading water during one of the most exhausting times of my life (so far) and when I reached my limit last week, I realized something had to give.

Since passing off the kids wasn’t an option, I considered what else I could shed.  And it was there that I found it had nothing to do with what I needed to surrender and everything to do with what I needed to give myself: grace.

In the past 7 years, I have gained and lost 35 pounds FOUR times.

I have carried and nursed four babies for more than 75 months.

I am currently parenting a 5 month, 2, 4 and 6 year-old, while sorting all of that laundry, making meals, potty-training, attending doctor’s appointments, playing taxi for piano, soccer, music class and ballet, exercising, maintaining friendships and working to keep my marriage healthy and strong.

I keep adding more and more and expecting myself to continue keeping on as if nothing has changed.

What was I thinking?

Eventually, something has to give.  If not my sanity, then my expectations of myself.

I step outside of this time and look at my life as a whole, recognizing this as one of the most challenging phases.

I pat myself on the back for the monumental accomplishment of growing, birthing and rearing four children.

I congratulate myself for partnering with an involved and fantastic husband and father.

I hug myself as I would a friend enduring a tough time and say,

“You are awesome.”

Don’t ever forget that.

You are amazing.

Grace.

YR8A5464-cvaughan.jpg
Camille Vaughan Photography