Poor Zonkey!

As I was tucking my Emma or as I like to more affectionately refer to her as my Emma bean into bed last night, she looked at me, sweet as can be and said "Mommy?" My heart melts at Mommy! " You still haven't fixed Zonkey!" Then she made a pouty face.

Just to be clear, Emma is now 9 and this photo is not current, but there are times when I look my girls and I still see them as little girls. I can't help it! And when they say "Mommy" it's definitely one of those times!


The guilt immediately set in! I had not fixed Zonkey. Zonkey is Emma's favorite stuffed animal. He is part zebra/part donkey. He was given to her by Aunt Cheryl and gets a place of honor on her bed each day and gets to snuggle with her at night and he has recently popped a seam. . .  or maybe it was 4 weeks ago. It was also 4 weeks ago that I was asked to fix Zonkey and I forgot. Yep, guilt! 

I kissed Emma bean good night and went straight to my next days to-do list and wrote repair Zonkey on the top of the list! Guilt slightly appeased! It's on the list!

First thing this morning I pulled out needle and thread and stitched up Poor Zonkey's popped seam. Well, maybe not first thing. I did go for a Starbucks . . . yum and I had to run to the grocery store, and by the time all the groceries were put away I was really hungry so I had lunch. But as soon as all those things were finished I fixed Zonkey. It really doesn't matter the order . . . right? Just so long as the job gets done.


Zonkey is now returned to his place of honor on Emma's bed seam intact. Guilt is gone! He really is very cute, for a stuffed animal. 

Emma is going to be so happy when she gets home from school and finds Zonkey all better. However, I don't intend to tell her he is fixed until she begins to grump about doing her homework. When she starts to fuss I will announce that Zonkey is repaired and she will be so grateful that she will do her homework without complaint. That's how I imagine this afternoon will go anyway. Please don't burst my bubble!!

Guilt free mom!

Why Unexpected Daisies?

Last spring my family enjoyed a trip to the North Shore of Lake Superior. We enjoyed walking . . . stumbling . . . climbing over the jagged rocks along the shoreline.

We also spent many hours skipping rocks. I think we could skip rocks for days and never grow tired of it. 

However, that is off point. While we tried to stroll along the rocky shoreline my husband, Jason and I were surprised and delighted to discover small plants blossoming in the midst of the uninviting landscape.

Finding these sweet little surprises caused us to reflect on how much our lives are like the rough terrain of Lake Superior's shoreline. Life brings sick kids, broken down cars, relationship struggles, and loss of loved ones. Rocky, rough, painful terrain.

But God is so good, that in the midst of the hardness of life He causes something wonderful to happen that brings us joy and encourages us to keep going. The blessing of a true friend. The laughter of a child. The wonderful smell of a freshly peeled clementine. A humming bird that hovers so close you can hear the hum of it's wings  . . . I want to squeal with delight right now just thinking about it! The only thing required of us is that we pause and take notice.

So it was, that during this walk and conversation Jason boldly suggested to me that I start a blog and call it Unexpected Daisies.  We know that the flowers we saw weren't actually daisies, but as we had no idea what they were and Jason's favorite flowers are daisies well, dun, dun, daaaa  . . . Unexpected Daisies!


Maybe it wasn't quite as easy as that. It has taken me many months to build up my courage, and give myself a purpose for blogging. I have realized my goal is to share a little humor and joy, to encourage along the way, and to seek out the unexpected daisies God has planted in the rough terrain that is life. Joy can live and grow even in spite of hardship and struggle.


Rest assured, I expect most entries will be light and fluffy! But there are times when God reveals the weight of His glory and I get excited from the top of my head, where those crazy white hairs that stick straight up are coming in, to the tips of my toes, which are currently sporting chipped nail polish . . . Yikes! . . . and I will definitely want to share. 

May you delight as you find your unexpected daisies!


Christine