our first strawberry

So far our little strawberry patch has gone unnoticed by the bunnies, bugs and birds in our area. But there is one pest who is hard to keep away. He joyfully picks the green and white strawberries and proudly tells us about what he has found and what is now cupped in his hand: a strawbally!

It made us wonder if we would ever get to eat a red strawberry. They hardly stand a chance. 

But after lots of coaching and talks of patience and waiting, we finally got to eat our first red strawberry. And we made a big deal of it. 

We split the strawberry four ways. Ivar took the first bite, then Mama, Dado and finally baby Elsie sucked on it for a long time. Then Ivar finished it off. (that makes it sound like it was a big berry. It wasn't.)

But it was one very celebrated strawberry. 

And now, I'd love to invite you to come on over to The Soul Sisterhood where I have my second post on Living your Life as a Great Story. We're not quite writing in our journals yet, so today I am simply introducing everyone to one of my very favorite life stories, my friend Banana Man.  

some sunshine for another gloomy day

The peaches at Cub Foods right now are so good that you probably want to stop whatever you are doing and go and buy eleven of them.

I bought three last night and ate two dripping over the kitchen sink. Rory ate the other and now we are heading back to get more. They're that good.

a card from my aunt annie

My mom brought over my baby book this week and this card from my Aunt Annie was in there. It reads:

Dear Becca,
It was fun to see you and the rest of your family at the Birthday Party. You looked so nice (and much older) in your new hair cut and stone washed jeans. It's fun watching you grow up.

I also noticed another way you are growing. When you were playing with Libby and Mikey you were very kind and caring. You thought about how they might be feeling and tried to make them feel included. At the same time you were gentle and patient- you let them get to know you slowly. The way you acted showed you are growing up on the inside- you are letting your little gospel light shine. I could see you love Jesus. Seeing this made me happy. You are a very special loving girl Becca.

You are lucky to have Annika as a big sister role model. I've seen these same qualities in her as she's growing up. 

Growing up on the inside and loving Jesus more and more is the most important thing. I'm so glad you are growing on the inside. 

I love you Becca
Aunt Annie

***

I don't know what year it was when she sent this...the stone washed jeans make me think early 90's probably. But when I read it this week I was so grateful to have had her point this out so clearly for me. And I needed the reminder and the words of affirmation this week as much as the day I was wearing those stone washed jeans.

So here's an idea for this first weekend of summer. Lots of kids just wrapped up the school year. How about we write some Aunt Annie letters, pointing out how we see the little gospel light shining in their young lives. They may need to hear those words right now. Or maybe they'll need to hear those words again when they're 32.

links for you

It's been a long week here. The sun keeps going away for long stretches at a time and I feel as dreary as the day. But I am thinking a lot about big things lately. I don't feel like I have much to say yet, so until then, here are four links that have been huge blessings to me this week.

This helped me so much, changing my perspective on finding our calling.
I love this thought on goodness and mercy.
A great piece on making small changes.
This made me laugh.

the racecart

This weekend Elsie joined her brother in the racecart at Menards and she was so, so proud.

In other news, if you look below this post, you'll see my awesome husband has added the buttons so you can share a picture or a post on your facebook, twitter or pinterest. And, you can hover over an image and pin that image directly to your pinterest page. How fun is that?!!