Willingness

It's Fall!! Yes, that deserved capital letters. I am enjoying the evolution of fall here in West Virginia as the leaves turn a variety of colors; brilliant reds, burnt oranges, amber and gold. What a brilliant kaleidoscope for the eyes. The air is a bit crisper, especially in the morning, pumpkins are showing up in stores and in the fields. Time for all my favorite spices and flavors!! Speaking of that, I made a delicious bread pudding that I have gotten requests for the recipes from family members, so I thought I'd share it with you.

Bread Pudding

1 loaf of day-old bread (I used Texas Toast-only bread I had at the time)

4 c. milk (I used 3 c. 1% milk and 1 c. whipping cream)

2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. butter, melted

3 eggs, beaten

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chunks (You can also use butterscotch chips)

nutmeg (to taste, I used about 1/2 tsp.)

cinnamon (to taste, 1 used about 1 1/2 tsp.)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x13" pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine bread, milk, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, and chocolate chips;

mixture should be the consistency of oatmeal. Pour into prepared pan.

3. Bake in preheated oven 1 hour, until nearly set. It should still jiggle a bit. Serve warm or cold.

Hope you enjoy. Let me know if you try it and what you thought.

A few Sundays ago, Audra and Ron blessed their new daughter Ava, so of course we had to take pictures when we gathered for dinner at my place that evening. Here are a couple of shots that many of you will relate to. (Landon was hiding somewhere being camera shy. I'll get him yet. He's as tall as me now!!)

Before

After

Bart did a great job capturing the reality of what it takes to get a family picture around here!!

Here are a couple more shots of Ava. I could just eat her with a spoon!!

She wore the same blessing dress her mom did. I thought that was so special and she looked beautiful!!

Thank you to all that responded to my last post. Les so appreciated all the Happy Birthdays and I loved hearing your wise council and hearing about your experiences. You help me be a better person.

This week I have been thinking a lot about Willingness. The willingness to change, to get out of our comfort zones, a willingness to examine and be honest with ourselves about who we are now and who we would like to become, what we want our lives to be about. I believe we are constantly changing and growing as we experience and understand new things and so our examination of our willingness is also a constant process. When we see ourselves repeating the same pattern over and over, we have an opportunity to be willing to step out of what we "always" do and choose something new that would support us in making progress towards what we want in our life. Willingness can be large and small, and it all is still motion for change. The willingness to think about willingness is movement. I have been examining my life as a working mom and exploring the different feelings that brings up for me. This has been a difficult transition for me. I am willing to investigate that there are different versions of what "mother" looks like. I love being a mother more than any of my other titles and I am willing to keep loving it just as intensely and also finding different ways to live it. I can't be at home like I used to be. My time is now divided. I can use the time I have with them as quality time. I can make sure I make it to the soccer games, recitals and crossroads. I can be willing to let Les be a bigger presence in our home and strengthen his relationships with the boys. I can take them on special dates, and snuggle with them at night. I can do so many things that when I'm not willing to look at "motherhood" differently I can't see. Willingness to look outside my comfort zone and my expectations of what I should look like gives me hope, peace, love, and acceptance. We each have our things we feel stuck in. How can Willingness help you start to get unstuck?