Stepping Stones

tonight is the biggest drinking holiday of the year. as this night is about to unfold, i am taking stock of the year behind and the looking at the year to come. i have always imagined the year starting much like this picture. like you are stepping from one year to the next, with a gap in between. the years do not blend seemlessly for me. rather they contain the possibility of falling into the gap. i suppose this is a natural vision of New Year's Eve for an alcoholic. however, now i can look into the gap and know that God will be there with a life preserver should i misstep. this is often the analogy i have used with my teenage children. as they step into the adult world and try to take the other foot off of their childhood. i caution them about the gaps below. i also tell them that they will be okay even if they fall in since i will be there. most importantly, they know that God will be there for them. therefore, this year i am going to follow the advice that i profusely profess to my own children. i will watch out for the gaps, but should i fall in, i will reach up for God's hand. 

Pilates and Posting

every(sober)day i find joy in the silliest of things. tonight, after dinner, i asked my husband to go on a ritual walk. due to my quest for something mysterious everyday, i requested a walk to our gym for a workout. i sold the venture as a yoga stretching session for our tight muscles, having forgotten that monday is pilates night. if you know anything about pilates, it is a workout of the "core." okay, my husband does not need a workout of his core. he states that his barrel is just hard enough. so about 29 minutes into this torture, he asks "how long is this anyway?" he is convinced that we have been there an hour and that i have talked him into a 90 minute session. ha, ha, ha..... i am now having the time of my life as my husband does these girlie exercises. not only is he cursing me for this, but the instructor keeps coming over to him to adjust his appendages. all the while she is describing what adjustments she is making in the mike for the whole room to hear. next, his phone goes off. this is only slightly mentioned in front of the whole class since it is pilates and not yoga. had it been yoga night, the punishment would have been much worse. he would have been castigated by the instructor, who is charge of keeping peace and harmony in yoga class. my guy pushes through all this agony....what love. as we walk home and enjoy the change of routine, i am again grateful for the mini mysteries that take place around me everyday when living without my crutches. had i been in my past routine, i would have been asleep by 9pm with my mind drenched in wine. instead i am here chronicling this moment that brought me sheer joy.

now i start posting....commemorating the mini mysteries of the day. savoring and making the moments that were passing me by before. thanks be to God!