Can you remember the last time something big happened to you?
Maybe it was a time when you started a new relationship that surprised you with its joy.
Maybe it was a time when you got a new job and were busy learning all of the things.
Maybe it was a time when you got some medical news that rocked you to your core.
Whatever it was the only response to "take it all in" was this week's word: pause.
Pause, a word that means a temporary stop.
To invite a moment of pause is to show respect for whatever news you've heard or whatever life event has transpired.
To pause is to give your soul the space it needs so that it can catch up to where your body has found itself.
To pause is an act of trust, the belief that what you are temporarily not doing will be there when you get back!
Most of all it's an act of kindness both for yourself and those around you. You do the work that is yours to do at the time.
As for me, my latest pause has come because of a BABY!
Thanks to the wonder of adoption, my husband and I are now parents of not just one but two precious ones. Two weeks ago this morning, Andrew joined our family and we are all overflowing with delight in his coming to us!
These days everything about my life schedule and routines have been overturned. I'm waking up every couple of hours at night for feedings. I'm washing more laundry than I have in years. And I'm doing a lot of starring at a beautiful little face and precious little toes that have been entrusted to our family. I'm practicing saying that I have 4 people living in my home now. (How crazy is that after all we've been through!) Andrew's coming into our lives was truly a gift of grace.
With that said and in celebration of this news, I want to "practice what I preach." So, I'm going to hit the pause button on Word of the Week until the fall. I'll look forward then to being back in this forum then.
But in the meantime, know I'm thinking of you with fondness-- for your willingness to be a on a spiritual journey, for your hope in all good things, and for your work in your corner of the world to bring light and hope to others.
In the meantime, I'm trusting that the Spirit is planting beautiful things in your story even if you can't see it or believe it quite yet. If my journey has taught me anything it's this: you just never know what lovely things can happen if you keep showing up. Wonderful surprises truly are possible for us all. Keep the faith!
XO
Elizabeth
P.S. Love from our family to yours!
