making this a beautiful place

It really seems pointless to write a whole lot right now.
After reading this post my own words would seem rather insufficient.




Or maybe I have so many thoughts and connections inside me that it seems impossible to express them in mere words. So many inspiring things have been sneaking into my life lately, it's kind of wonderful. Yet right now I could almost break at any random point. I can easily think of three distinct times this week that I have been on the brink of tears.

It's all kind of beautiful though.
God has a way of breaking me until I can rest peacefully in His arms.
Anyway.
It feels like now would be a great time to share some quotes, thoughts and photographs from past and present life.

This photo of my sisters and I is one of my favorites. Sometimes we struggle to maintain this close of a relationship but sometimes I love them so much it really, really hurts.

Ernest Hemingway told us to "Write hard and and clear about what hurts."

Last Wednesday I was driving to my church for a meeting. In the vehicle that I had that one unexpected experience in last June. The evening sun was still hot on my body that was already red and bumpy and itchy from the unidentified allergic reaction to who-knows-what.

I was alone. Unlike so many other Wednesdays when the car had been filled with the voices of my sisters and myself. 

But that day no one was riding shotgun.

That day I was simply driving through the countryside alone as my sixteen year old self.

Seven miles away from my church my throat tightened and water gathered in my eyes.

"Not right  now."

I thought to myself. 

At that moment in time what hurt was that I was no longer a little girl.

My sisters were no longer riding with me so to speak.

My parents weren't close by to lend that sense of security.

And that hurt.

Sometime last year this little local coffee shop became a little place of fellowship and solitude for us three. We usually plan on "working on things" but more often than not we end up just sipping some sugar and talking. I love this place.

Here's the view from our favorite table.

originally found here.

This barn was so long ago filled with my sisters and my imagination and play.

There is more m e r c y in Christ than sin in us. - Richard Sibbes

This very idea is what brought me to tears in my kitchen on Friday.

How can this be true? Sometimes I feel like there is just too much sin in me.

Just too much. 

But my sin is covered over so lovingly with the precious blood of my Savior.

The Creator pleasantly reminded me of this and it was sincerely overwhelming for my soul.

S I S T E R - A girl or woman who shares a common ancestry, allegiance, character, or purpose with another or others, specifically.

Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy. - Anne Frank

 

Discovery consists not in seeking new lands, but in seeing with new eyes. - Marcel Proust

The kitchen is seriously one of my most favorite places to be. Especially when it's full of my favorite people.

{elizabeth -lizz-, my oldest sister is in the red tank-top}

{i am underneath that yellow headband}

{my mom, joan is the busy blurr}

{brian, lizz's [now] fiance is all the way to the left, laughing}

Lizz, my oldest sister, is incredible.

Abigail, our middle sister is extraordinary.

 These woman are ones to be followed and admired. 
They each fight their own silent battles yet somehow find strength in the One to allow them to be continually 
gracious.

She does not fear bad news; she trusts the Lord to take care of her. Psalm 112:7

Opportunity is missed by people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. - Thomas Edison

He does not treat us as our sins deserve. Psalm 103:10

Have I mentioned that my favorite couple has decided to become one?

 This happiness that I just shared leads me back to the quote at the top of this post. 
 Ernest Hemingway told us to "Write hard and and clear about what hurts."
Sometimes I think about not having Lizz in the house, forver.
I start to daydream about the sister dates we'll have and all those sleepovers that will take place at her and her husbands house.
It all sounds like great fun.
But The idea of losing such a special part of me is almost unbearable.  
As much as I adore those two being together it will be difficult to settle into this new normal.

I could never love anyone as I love my sisters. - Jo March
 My sisters, mom and I always watch Little Women at least once a year, usually around Christmas.  
At the end of the movie we're always in tears.
Somehow the journeys those women go on seem to match our own in an intimate way.
The Maske girls will always hold that story close to our hears.

Abi and I at a Florida Georgia Line concert this summer. Too much fun was had that night.

  When I'm faithless You are faithful. 2 Timothy 2:13

Hopefully this post made your day a little more beautiful and joyful. 

xo,

Hannah Dorothy