Mark of Life

I just wanted to pop in and show another painting from the week....

This is my new bird, she kind of made her way into all my paintings this week.  I found her in a file of bird inspirations(yes I have files of inspirations labeled according to subject, birds being the largest file!).  I just love her position, the way she's looking back on her nest. Don't we as parents always find ourselves doing that?  Standing back, watching and studying our children?  Sometimes I can't help but stare and marvel at what God has blessed Billy and I with to raise.  It's just about wordless the love I feel towards my two.   And that love, well it came spewing out tri-fold this afternoon.

Today was the district 4-H BB tournament at the county fairgrounds.  Rain had been threatening to fall all day, and yet it held off until the very end.  Of course.  It came down like freakin cats and dogs.  We were all hanging out in the beautiful barn type structure avoiding the severe rain when several Dad's began receiving calls from panicked Moms that tornado's were headed our way.  Ok.  It was raining really hard, but tornadoes?.....and then came the hail (a sure sign of coming tornadoes)........and then came the 4-H director who quietly asked our coach to direct all of us into the main building for safety.  You are talking about 150 parents and kids evacuating one building and going into another in the middle of a serious storm.    William was like, "Mom it's not a REAL tornado is it?"  "Well son, I don't think we'd be evacuating if it wasn't."  Mailey then got hysterical.  Crying and crying.  I'm holding her on my hip, William is attached to me as close as he can while Billy ran to find our jackets.  Finally we all gather in the hallway of the main building on the fairgrounds property and wait.  Mailey is still crying..... She's panicked that the roof is going to fly off (which given the structure we were in is not far fetched.) and that Lily is home alone.  William is saying it's not really happening Mom.  Billy is on his phone trying to get a signal like all the other Dad's.  And then it was over.  Just like that.  The tornado did come.....quite close too.  I am not sure the damage to the area but pray that families were safe. 

During what seemed like hours in the building with all the other shooters and parents I felt an unbelievable surge of love for my family.  Like serious joy and gratitude that they are in my life.  Of course while standing huddled together the crazy thoughts came in my head.  You know, the flashes of what will I do if ...... happens?  And just like the Mamma bird in my painting, I looked back at my family and remembered the words, "what a wonderful mark of life".  Their mark may be faint right now, they are so young, but their mark on my heart runs so deep it hurts sometimes. 
Which leads me to the jewelry I modeled after some favorite nest paintings.  A gentle spirit.  Yep.  That's me.  All fragile and tender and sometimes too cautious with my heart.  Today my spirit was tested and I think it passed.  I think we all tasted the fear, and overcame it with the love we feel for one another. 

I am home now, cooking a yummy dinner and keeping a close eye on them all.  Watching from afar as they continue to make their mark.