Dancing with Jesus

We are honored to have Mary Hill join us today in the Dance With Jesus Birthday Beach Bash and Blog Tour.

After working more than 28 years as a news reporter, broadcast copywriter, school librarian, and emergent literacy specialist, Mary became a a stay-at-home, disabled mom who blogs. She started writing her blog, Mary-andering Creatively, because her counselor suggested she blog as a way to cope with her daily pain.  Although she suffers from extreme pain because of arthritis and  fibromyalgia, she is blessed that she can write her blog by typing and using speech-to-text technology.

Mary-andering Creatively, however, has grown from a blog about her struggles with pain. It has become a place where she writes creatively about her life as well as offering her advice and insights on a range of family and parenting issues. Mary also loves to write poetry and take photographs of the sights she sees as she travels and explores.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-22 – To every [thing there is] a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…

 

Through the Seasonal Changes as a Parent

Ecclesiastes 3:1-22 – To every [thing there is] a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…

 Summer is ending and soon fall will be upon us: a new school year is about to begin. My life as a parent has had ebbs and flows much like the brilliance of the changing seasons. I have experienced the hope that flickers as life goes into dormancy while waiting an eventual reawakening of the warmer seasons. I have also seen how before seasons end in our lives, we enjoy their final beauty. Parenting seasons are much the same.

I remember with melancholy longing the little hands and feet kicked up in the air in my daughter’s crib and her sweet baby eyes. She went from an infant with her cute babbling to the magic of her first words as a toddler, craawling, walking, and then running. Then those first words turned into questions and then discovery and repeating loved stories and lines from books and animated movies. My little girl twirled in front of the television singing her favorite songs from the short animated film, “Rainbow Fish.” My favorite spring of her toddler years involved a dance recital when she threw a kiss to the audience, causing rapturous applause and laughter.

Next came the autumns of her earliest childhood years. I recall the excitement about the first day of preschool and her wanting to not ride in the baby car seat and then insisting that she walk by herself to class without mommy. Next, I remember celebrating all the firsts in elementary school from the first A to the first field trip and to the first award.

She became a tween much too fast moving from her first childhood girls’ birthday parties to slumber parties to times in the mall, getting her fingers painted. She went from dance to singing in the church children’s plays at Christmas and Easter. I recall the laughter, the crazy dancing, and the joy that each stage of her life inspired. I especially recollect the day she bowed her head with her sister-in-law and asked Jesus to be Lord of her life, declaring later that she wanted to sing for Him so that others could find and love Him too.

Another stage of autumn loss is beginning this year as my daughter continues her journey into the teen years. Now, I move from the seasons of discovery and childhood to the stages of resilience and confidence as my soon-to-be teen branches out and achieves more firsts in her life like her first decorated, middle school locker complete with carpet and wallpaper.

My young teen has matured and become a thinker and do-it-yourselfer. She recently arranged her binder for seventh grade, printing out a beautiful cover page with her letter initial to put in the film slot on the front. She is reading her summer book and thinking about all the great activities planned at her school this year, including her first week-long trip without us.

These firsts have dissolved into wow, “She he is growing too quick. Why can’t I stop the clock?” I grieve the passing of young childhood while my daughter greets the passing years with excitement blended with nervous fear. I know, however, that my grief will soon be replaced with pride as she grows to an independent, smart, charming, and loving young lady.

To continue reading Mary’s beautiful words, click here.