an oldie but the best representation of spirit :: Raena J, circa January 2015
Raena is thoughtful and creative. Shy but attention-longing. Bright and cunning. Strong and willed. Spirited. All of which cause challenges almost daily. All of which initiate the greatest gut laughter. I would not be surprised if Raena became a world leader, a quiet poet, a famous dancer, a stay at home mom, or a ground-breaking scientist. Her potential is limitless. But my, parenting her is a difficult experience. She challenges me, she finds my weak spots and she pushes those buttons. Since her birth, I have grown more as an individual than I thought possible in these nearly 4 short years. A college professor of mine often said we students would know nothing of sacrifice and surrender until we were married and had children. He was right.
Spirit is strong but spirit is also knowing when and how to surrender and sacrifice. Raena will someday start learning, the way I continue to as well, how to point her gifts and spirit for other-betterment and not self-achievement and success. She’s a beauty.
How is your spirit growing?
On Children
Kahlil GibranYour children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.
Magdalene A.R. Mastin 
Beautiful. These pictures, and the girl highlighted in them, melt my heart. And that poem – wow! Thanks once again for sharing.
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