MollyMadonna.com

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new leaves

So much of life feels new these days. Summer coming on the heels of Spring, colorful blossoms growing up out of fresh dirt and hanging from baskets at my front and back door. It feels like a season for adventure–and certainly for change. In the past few months I’ve traveled to India, transitioned jobs, attended doula training (through DONA International in Ann Arbor), trained for a race and finished it with a personal record, dug and cultivated and planted and watered, watched our whole front yard get dug up and redone, re-launched a blog and, most amazingly, witnessed childbirth for the very first time. When I look back on the start of 2010, I never imagined just how much could take place in so short a time. And through it, I’m learning the irreplaceable value of trying new things. Of not being afraid. Of letting myself fail or forget or unbalance sometimes.

I love balance. And order. I thrive on both. But life has become so much more dynamic and interesting since shaking things up a bit. I feel alive. My senses have been heightened by new sights, sounds, places, tastes, experiences, feelings and memories. Life seems tangible–like I can reach out and actually feel it swirling through my fingertips. And in all of this physical preparation for Spring and Summer to arrive, I think I’m budding new leaves myself. Leaves that I’ll bare and open and unfurl over time until I’m taking in as much light and oxygen and life as my little existence will allow. Then, perhaps, I’ll thank God, smile, and do it all over again.

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blogging, revisited

Welcome to mollymadonna.com! If you’ve never been here before, I hope you’ll find it worthwhile. mollymadonna.com is currently a compilation of past and present thoughts and musings from yours truly…I’ve been working up the determination to breathe life into it for some time, and now that the first annual Gleek Retreat is upon me, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to give it a go. I’m vowing to make this new venture a regular habit, and a staple part of what I’m about. Thank you for your patience as I grow it, shape it, mold it and love it into being.

Won’t you join me? I love company!

Grace and Peace,

mm

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wherever we go

While on our honeymoon in Mexico in March, Jason and I decided that it would be fun to rent a car and to drive about 30 minutes north from our resort in Riviera Maya to Playa del Carmen. The quaint little city was bustling with tourists as we wandered from street to street, ducking in and out of shops along the way. We weren’t in the market for anything extravagant–just a trinket or two to memorialize a blissfully relaxing week on the beach, but when we happened upon a cozy little store filled with hand-painted carvings and artwork galore, I had to go inside. I was drawn by the color, the precision, the attention given to each piece in the shop. Figurines and embroidered cloth lined the walls, but what drew my attention most were the little baskets filled with wooden crosses in every corner of the room.

I picked one up and turned it over in my hand, feeling its rounded edges and the texture of paint strokes, like braille under my fingers. Each cross in the basket had a character of its own–some done modestly in monochrome and others, punching with color. I selected three of my favorites and carried them to the counter to pay. 45 X 3, the woman recorded on my handwritten receipt. 45 pesos. 4 American dollars each. She wrapped them up in a plastic bag, and later, we tucked them away in our suitcase for the trip home.

In June, as we were packing to move to Africa, I remembered something that had crossed my mind as we stood in the shop in Playa del Carmen months earlier, “We should hang this in our home,  wherever we live, wherever we go.” I had wanted something tangible to carry with us from the beginning of our new life together, and the wooden cross seemed like the perfect item. I dug it out of the things we’d begun to put away, and told Jason I wanted to bring the cross to Africa. It traveled in my carry-on bag.

Tonight, as I was walking around our room at the seminary here in Johannesburg, I noticed the wooden cross sitting on the shelf. It’s been there day in and day out since we moved here three months ago, but tonight, it made a difference in my heart. The little, four dollar cross that traveled with us here from Mexico wouldn’t mean something to me if it weren’t a cross. And it wouldn’t be here if God hadn’t planted a little seed in my mind back in March to “hang it in our home, wherever we live, wherever we go.”

I needed that cross tonight. I needed it as a reminder that our God is a sovereign God, and that His presence in this place, or any place, is completely tangible. I needed it to interrupt my thoughts with the thought of something greater, something more important than any of my worries or frustrations or fears. And I needed it to remind me that the cross is where we begin and where we end–as Christ followers, as a couple, as little hearts beating all over this world.

I’m really grateful for the hands in Mexico that carved and painted and crafted our little cross. I’m immeasurably blessed by the ones that carried it for me.


This post was originally blogged on 18 September 2007 @ 9:12pm from Johannesburg, South Africa

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knit one, purl one. or in other words…

…I just crafted my first Barbie leg warmer. Ok, so it’s not actually a leg warmer. But if I stitched one end of my new knitting endeavor to the other, it could be [Insert imagination here]. Let’s back track…

My mom, being the clever and wonderful mother that she is, sent us a care package via one of our teams a few weeks ago. It’s contents: two crossword puzzle books, a logic puzzle book, a “Deal or No Deal” scratch-and-play game book, a host of my favorite granola bars, 20 DVDs for our perusal and entertainment, four skeins of lovely yarn, two new knitting needles and a Better Homes and Gardens book of knitting for beginners. Undoubtedly, Jason is getting the biggest kick out of our recently-expanded DVD collection–an asset on many-a-night in our cozy  bedroom at the good old seminary. I, on the other hand, am having all kinds of fun tying myself into knots and learning how to make something new and exciting out of a ball of string.

Now, to be completely honest, this is not my first stab at knitting. (Stab and knitting are probably not best used in the same sentence, are they?) The first time I learned to knit was in college, and I was taught alongside a number of other people in a “knitting circle,” if you will. I think I remembered my new skill and could duplicate it with confidence for about three weeks. The second time around, my Aunt Nancy had the patience to teach me a spot or two about crocheting. Although not the same craft, it also involved yarn and needles. Again, I retained my weaving prowess for a pathetic amount of time.

So on this, the third occasion of my attempt to learn and create something new using only two sticks and some cleverly dyed fuzzy stuff, I have committed to seriously studying and teaching myself the fine art of knitting. Jokes aside, I’m really kind of excited to have created something long enough (and warm enough) to keep Barbie cozy in the winter. And although it’s 80 and sunny here in Johannesburg these days, I’ve got plenty of yarn to knit myself into quite the toasty (and if I might add, stylish) Autumn when we return back to the states. I’ve always loved scarves, and being that they consist of a straight line (no curves or fancy measuring techniques required), I’m pretty sure I’ll be ready when September, October, November roll around again.

Not the most earth shattering of developments to blog about from the other side of the world? I know, I know. But as I was sitting here (or rather, knitting here) tonight, I considered just how long it had been since my last post, and just how much I promised a few months ago that there would be more of me reporting in the days ahead. So here we are. Days ahead. And I’m learning to knit and blogging on a warm, African summer evening, with Barbie long packed away and no scarf-wearing days even remotely in sight. Not bad. Not bad at all.

This post was originally blogged on 24 February 2008 @ 11:14pm from Johannesburg, South Africa

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today…

…I’m grateful for…the timely wisdom of good friends…legs that run…fruit growing on trees…lines to hang laundry out in the sun…Daphne…God’s Words…music on my ipod…generosity…a phone call with mom…bran muffins…red cappuccinos…plane tickets to Africa…encouraging stories…making progress on the to-do list…ichat…t.v. series’ on DVD…a new pillow…cozy comforters…bed at the end of the day.

This post was originally blogged on 25 October 2007 @ 3:50pm from Johannesburg, South Africa