This has been an important week to remind myself that our whole being and attitude should exude gratitude. We have so many small moments of beauty in front of us to choose, even if things are not going as planned or as well as we hoped.

In this season of Eastertide, I am constantly amazed by the smallest details on the farm from planting seeds and vegetable seedlings to finding the tiniest of ants,snails, and slugs to watching our horses get baths and how they play with the water. It’s been a time of spring cleaning, of envisioning new dreams, and of planning ahead. There is always something to be absolutely grateful for.

My spiritual life is very important to me, and often as we head toward Pentecost, I feel such gratitude and closeness to the spiritual realm. I have a few Pentecost back posts as Pentecost is coming up on May 28th. One thing I always loved is this explanation regarding Pentecost from the Sunday Papers, which is an Episcopalian resource to explain things to children:

We do not have clear and emotionally affecting mental images of the Spirit, because the Spirit is the very power working within us that enable us to image and love the Father and the Son.  The Spirit is the voice of prayer, prayer through us when we turn with love and longing to our Creator and beg to be made new in the image of Jesus…..the Spirit is what connects us to each other and to God, so that a movement of atoms in my brain becomes living speech, understandable to you.  The Pentecostal images of fire, wind, and speech are all forces that move, invisibly, to animate and set in motion.

It’s a lovely thought in spring to think of the voice of connection calling out to all of us, the forces that tie us all together in humanity and unity and love.

Summer is coming, and every year I love to think about the slow days of summer. You can see some of my ideas in this back post: https://theparentingpassageway.com/2014/07/16/the-slow-summer/ and the beginning of a small series you may enjoy here: https://theparentingpassageway.com/2011/06/27/serene-summer-one-small-step-1/

Blessings and love,
Carrie