I am getting a PhD. I'm getting a PhD in Kitchen Theology in the School of Motherhood, with an emphasis on finding God in the mundane - from washing dirty dishes, to cleaning dirty diapers, to wrestling with tantrumy children, to snuggling up against soft baby cheeks and sharing "I love you!" secrets. My program is directed by the Holy Spirit and his main assistants are a 4-year-old girl and 1-year-old boy. I love my teachers, but sometimes they are hard to work with and can be incredibly demanding. The courses are all intensives - one after another, without any breaks in between. The hours are long, at times keeping me up all night. The coursework (both homework and heartwork) is unbelievably difficult, often resulting in me pulling out my hair or banging my head against a wall...or crumpled in tears calling out for mercy. My dissertation is a legacy of love, and though my work is heavily critiqued, my writing is being refined daily. Someday, this masterpiece will be complete. Until that day, I will continue to write in humility and faithfulness - constantly editing, re-writing and changing as I learn and grow in the presence of the God who is in the mundane.
And when God is in the mundane, everything is sacred.
Things around here have certainly been far from mundane. A certain little one-year-old took his first steps!!
Here he is in action:
And before he was able to walk, the little monkey was able to do this:
(In case you are wondering, the ladder is now hidden away and a gate is up.
He was not very happy about either.)
Enjoy some other snapshots from this past month:
Zoë wanted her face painted. Mommy did her best.
Our budding artist! I love it!
The Shake Dance
Fourth of July fun with cousins!
Face painting done by a professional. ;)
Happy Summer, y'all!
