Gray Hair

The boys initiated TTPM (TeaTime in the PM). It's quite a wonderful activity and we all look forward to it. We turn on the lamp, sit and sip our tea and chat until bedtime. During one of these TTPM, Kelton was sitting next to me stroking my hair. He said, "Mom! You have a couple silver hairs!" I said, "Yes, I know. Getting gray is somewhat inevitable. I guess I don't mind." He looked at me, alarmed. "No, Mom, it's SILVER and it's absolutely beautiful! Silver is very valuable! It makes you even more valuable!" 

I do remember countless hours I spent in conversation with Grandma, talking about her days of youth growing up in a small town in Pennsylvania, her years during the wars, her marriage, motherhood, grandmotherhood... She shared so much of herself with me, usually sitting on the bed in her pantyhose, just getting dressed for the day. I loved her silver hair and all that it represented to me. Her beauty astounded me. So, as the years bring more silver to my head, I will try to hold onto these precious thoughts, and not resent what age, hardship, challenges and sorrow may try to rob from me in the seasons to come.  

The goodness that surrounds me is often too much for my heart to comprehend. 

The fingerprints pressed onto a 1000 year old piece of pottery... 

The gift of this place...

Written when I was in the Grand Canyon hiking last fall. 

God, 

I thought I would find you on the mountaintops, in the high places where I could see the world clearly. 

But, you have drawn me through the deep valleys that sometimes hold me in the darkness, the places where fear crawls at my heels, and I look up. I see you more clearly because you are the light that conquers the darkness, the hope that defeats the heartache and you fill me with courage that overcomes the fear. 

If you didn't take me through the valley, I wouldn't see the canyon walls with their resplendent grandeur filled with the color you gave them. 

You take my pain and you mold it into what you want me to be. I look up and see the stars and the glory that is YOU. Because of the darkness of the valley... 

God, I will meet you there.