She can laugh......

So my plans for this week, the wood between the worlds, was to organize (the above picture is my efforts in the boys' room), ponder, and prepare. INSTEAD.........Dave and the boys headed to LaPine for some snow time with Pa and Ma and I got a week of GIRLS!!!!!!
I must admit....I went a little wild. We went shopping every day. I ate cookies for breakfast. I let Rose get her ears pierced. I bought Avonlea make-up. I let Avonlea stay up till midnight and we read poetry, did our hair, and drank sparkling cider out of goblets. I stayed in bed till 10am. I took Rose to the build-a-bear store and let her indulge. We rode the carousel. We watched Anne of Green Gables. We went out for dinner. Need I go on..........

How much fun we've had, just being the GIRLS! We've bonded and laughed and ushered in a loving, accepting, delightful new year.

This week, I also finished reading The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery Volume 4. We know now, that the beloved author of Anne of Green Gables was a very depressed woman. Everyone back then would have known it had they been able to read her journals. They are utterly heartbreaking.

"At times I am filled with such a terror of the future that I cannot face it."

"I am a prisoner with no hope of release."

"He is the only thing I have to comfort me." She is referring to her cat.

My mind kept comparing her words with the words of Proverbs 31. The contrast was stark.

"She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come." (vs 25)

"She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue." (vs 26

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised." (vs 30)

And as I romp and play with my girls this week I ponder these things in my heart. And when we snuggle up and watch Anne of Green Gables and little Rose turns to me and asks, "Does Anne (pronounced "On") love Jesus Mommy?" I cringe and tell her that "On" is just pretend, it's just a story. And as delightful as Anne is, she's not the role model I want for my girls.

I want them to be women who fear the LORD. I want them to never be afraid of tomorrow because He will never leave us or forsake us. I want them to throw inhibitions to the wind and walk courageously forth as the girls He has made them.

And I want them to laugh, joyously, at the days to come.