I had the privilege of helping host two quite meaningful gatherings last weekend: a memorial for my good friend Alex on Saturday, and a baby shower for another good friend Corrie on Sunday. The Lord coordinated the entire weekend with so much meaning and lessons to be learned. Once I knew what he or she was up to...I listened in carefully, knowing there was much more meaning than I could possibly comprehend or certainly begin to explain with words.
The passing of my friend Alex was such a humbling experience for many, and this family handled the entire situation with such strength and compassion. This is one solid rock family, which I will forever adore. I just love how they were able to keep Alex's True and fun loving nature alive, and sprinkle that spirit to all of her loved ones who were able to attend the gathering.
The party was held at Fiesta Island, one of Alex and Ryan's favorite places to chill.
Now Merrick on the other hand, you can occasionally find him chilling. However, more times than not, he is exercising everything, including his mouth! Yes, he is HUGE into chatting and scaring, believe it or not! He hides behind doors, curtains, corners...you name it! He knows I really despise being scared (I think it physically hurts me), so he randomly spares me by telling me he's had a change of heart. BAHH!!!!
What is the epitome of chill? ...Kierce reading a novel. She just loved this photo of herself reading...even more incentive for me to share. The girls read anywhere from 8-12 novels or more per month, and are so into learning anything through adventures inside of a story. On the other hand, all of the kids thoroughly enjoyed plenty of swim time and just plain fun with the other kiddos at the party. It was a very full day of fun in the sun! Kierce has always loved taking pictures and definitely has a natural talent in the area of photography. She had a lot of fun helping me with some edits and was so excited about the final product.
Two really awesome ideas surfaced at the end of the day- a) lets make this a yearly gathering to celebrate Alex's life and keep her memory alive, b) sign and date the banner (which was so kindly created by a friend) every year at the gathering. Rowan is always so careful and thoughtful. Whatever she puts down in ink with be the Truth and very well thought out. After much reflection, she settled on a very gentle and loving message, a True reflection of herself. This girl has certainly kept me on my toes lately, however has given me more and more opportunities to simply love on her.
Alex lived at the property I manage, and of course there were a few loose ends hanging around after the family had packed everything up and left. Before meeting Alex I saw this pink ribbon (breast cancer) wind chime hanging outside her apartment, made of metal rings. Quite a while after officially meeting her, she proceeded to tell me about her condition, which then explained the story behind the wind chime. About a week after she passed, I found myself looking at this wind chime, wondering what on earth to do with it. At last, inspiration sparked to take apart the chime ring by ring, in hopes to bring the pieces to life again someday. Well, that someday came sooner than I had ever imagined.
My gorgeous friend Corrie and her family Gal and El are expecting a sweet new addition to their family very soon. ...a baby boy. I was honored to be apart of showering her with love and all things good in preparation for this new bundle of joy. I just loved the rustic and wise Native American theme set for this party. The energy of the women in attendance was so sensitive and gentle, yet fierce in the love they each expressed.
Notice the ring? Corrie's good friend's Stacey and Dawn had a great idea to make the baby a dream catcher. The night before the party, we still hadn't quite settled on how to implement the idea, so I mentioned we should sleep on it and added that I just knew that everything would fall into place by morning. Guess what...? Of course it did. I looked through my jewelry making supplies and found the most perfect rings to bring this dream catcher to life for this pure babe.
In the afternoon, the most glorious circle of women formed, ready and wanting so deeply to rain love on this beautiful mother. One of the stories brought me to a place of intense emotion. The story was about an African tribe giving every child a song before the child is even conceived. The mother goes under a tree and waits until the song arrives for the child that wants to be birthed. The tribe then sings this song to the child at special events. As the child ages, if ever he were to commit a crime, the tribe then creates a circle around the person and sings his song to remind him of who he really is, remind him of his Truth in love. When you recognize your own song, you have no reason or desire to harm another. This is when this overwhelming urge to sob came across my chest. What if- we all chose to see others for their Truth in less than desirable situations? What if- instead of incriminating others for a crime, we instead chose to shine a light on that person to help remind them who they really are? What then would the world be like? ...absolutely gorgeous. Many tears were shed during this time of sharing; I am so grateful to have bared witness to so much unconditional love.
I am so blessed to have such a pure, gentle and loving friend.
Lots of little joyful hands helped create the dream catcher for the baby.
Women and children of all ages helped bring this dream catcher to life.
Much gratitude to this mother and little babe for allowing the circle of life to be so complete, real, meaningful and even healing in this circumstance. The circle of life and love includes SO much: our first breath, so much love, allowing tears, big hugs, mindful and not so mindful steps, gut laughing, curious exploring, so MUCH LOVe, earnest listening, open dreaming, genuine smiles...and even our last breath in this vessel, to breathe our most genuine breath in spirit.
"Dream your dreams with your eyes closed, but live your dreams with your eyes open."
Eric Collier
Let us forever keep that precious childlike joy and silliness alive...
...free and open to express to the world what the loving circle of life is all about.
