Tuesday~January 19, 2010
We laughed until our cheeks hurt.
We burned down that hill like gravity itself with our coats and mittens crackling under the cold and we just couldn’t stop laughing.
We bounced and spun and grabbed tightly to each other. We even face planted once, spilling off the sled in a pile, me on top of Miles on top of Asher. Poof! and then a split second of silence, the kind that holds a mother’s breath while she waits to see if it will be the laugh or the cry.
It was the laugh that came. The very best kind of uncontrollable belly laugh, from both of my beautiful boys. A laugh that said I cannot believe that just happened it was so terrifying and so great.
We lay there, all three of us propped up on our elbows, laughing too hard to get up and feeling the ice cold of snow pushing through our layers. We looked at each other through tears brought on by laughing in the cold. We had done this wild and crazy thing on the biggest hill in the state park and then crashed and only we could know exactly what it felt like.
It was joy.
Again, they said, the very moment we came to a halt, every time. Let’s do that again.
We’re made to feel like that, fully alive. Like maybe we could even get hurt but the risk is worth the doubts and the adrenaline is a keeper of heartbeats and we just so badly want to feel them.
So that’s what we did. We would feel alive like that and then stand and trudge our way back up so steep, legs feeling the uphill burn, huffing and puffing but not minding at all because of the expectation, the excitement.
Over and over we went and we were so tired when we slowly climbed back in the car.
It was so good. So worth every bump and grunt and huff and puff. So worth all the effort and strain.
To feel. Chilled and working hard and then riding the adventure for the sake of the joy.
~~~~~
“The glory of God is man fully alive.” ~ St Irenaeus
{ 60 comments }
Now I want to go sledding! Fabulously written post Heather – isn't it great to feel so alive!
Nate and the kids went sledding the other day, but I sat out. I'm such a chicken. I have so much fear over the getting hurt part, I can barely watch let alone participate. Good for you.
I want to soak up all of your words Heather, and get rid of fevers so we can go sledding :)
The winter air is not always welcoming, but it is so full of life.
Let's do that again.
We're made to feel like that, fully alive. Like maybe we could even get hurt but the risk is worth the doubts and the adrenaline is a keeper of heartbeats and we just so badly want to feel them.
AMEN! Very Good. Never let your zeal be lacking… passion pumps the heart.
Aw, that first picture of Asher is adorable! Glad you are getting out and enjoying little people time!
That was lovely and sounds like so much fun!!
Hey let's go sledding together! I'll load up the boys and be there in about 6 hours. :)
xo elizabeth
just the cold air can make me feel alive… and it has been too many years since i experienced the feeling of flying down a hill on a sled!
oh i just loved this…
Wonderful post! I love the way you capture the excitement through you sons' eyes, beautiful!
Oh, I cannot begin to tell you how much I LOVE this post! You have captured the desire in the heart of all of us… I heart you.
It sounds like you had an awesome time! My little ones have been sick so we missed the sledding this year – but there is always next year!
Sledding is amazing. This description made it sound even better.
Living and loving life can be rough! I am so glad you are teaching your boys–by example–how to do this.
Oh how fun and wonderful! Such great memories for you all too…
I love the laugh that comes after a wonderful time down the hill. The joy on each of my kids faces, so priceless.
I adore your writing! I could feel the cold, the snow and the sharp breeze hitting my face as if I was sledding right along with you and the boys. Thank you for a beautifully worded essay!
Beautiful writing…i want to go sledding now :)
This is so great! The girls got new sleds for Christmas, and it was so much fun hearing their giggles and squeals.
Well done!
Do you know the Newsboys' song "Joy Unspeakable"? The world don't give it and the world can't take it away.
Sounds like you've got a well-spring there. If we only remembered to tap into it every day….
Joy. I love that word.
I love this. I so needed it today!
Wonderful! Almost makes me want for cold and snow again. Or not. Sounds like it was a fun day!
love your joy, your living, and your words! i can imagine that moment. xo
Ditto to the joy of being fully alive, racing down the hill, surviving the face plants, and getting up to giggle about it!
So beautiful. Vivid and breathtaking. Thanks for sharing the joy.
Amen to all of this, Heather.
Beautiful
Every great day should have one or two moments of feeling completely and totally alive!
I love it! We have a scripture in the Book of Mormon that says, "Men are that they might have joy." I so agree with that and with you.
Just beautiful.
I must get on a sled. Right now! Your description was so in-the-moment, I felt like I was piled in a heap at the bottom of the hill with you!
I too love seeing my kids that alive…a truly amazing gift!
That totally rocks! Totally!
Awww, I wanna go sledding! It's 60 degrees here, so not a snowflake in sight. I wonder if I could get that same alive feeling in mud…?
:) Great post!
Moments like this that we share with our children is what totally keeps me 'Alive'.
Great post and thanks for sharing your moment with us :)
Love the quote. Love this post. So often I find joy through the laughs of my children. I think that God gives us children to learn true joy. What a fun day. They will always remember falling off the sled. Thanks for sharing.
There is nothing more beautiful than laughing together with your children! Just the other day, at lunch time, we were all giggling over giggling till our bellies hurt and happy tears rolled down our cheeks!
Hugs,
Traci
You make my Southern self want to fly North for the day to join you. The fact that you have a "Miles" endears you even more. {I have one too.} Beautiful post.
Wow. You were fully alive for this moment. I'm so glad you had this time, this living with your sons.
Poop. Now I miss snow.
And my kindergartner.
My family has been sitting at the bottom of the hill for quite some time now. Luckily, we have begun to climb back up. I'm ready for some adventure!
xo
That's life. That's why we come back to try again after sorrows, after big and small disappointments. Nothing signals courage more than being exhilarated by looking up and knowing the ride is worth it. Hard work always is.
Let's do it again.
We climbed a giant hill this summer when I was 7 months pregnant and bought a business. And then after it was too late we looked down and thought "oh my goodness, we're really high up here!"
But you either leap or climb back down. So we we went for it and I *still* climb back up that hill on a weekly basis and think the same initial thoughts.
But I look at how we've grown, and I think it's all been worth it. Thanks for this post. It's a good reminder to keep sledding, so to speak.
Joy. Pure and simple joy. I love how you can capture it in words and share it with us like this.
This is beautiful – and just exactly what we should be teaching our children – be scared, do it anyway, have fun, seek joy, live life and love it all – even the bumps.
Thank you.
Just lovely, as always, Heather.
I worry sometimes that I am missing my joy. That my fear of risk, my aversion to adventure, is keeping me – and worse, my kids – from living life at its happy extreme.
This is a gorgeous reminder to be as carefree as I am careful.
This brings back so many memories of my own childhood! I desperately need to find a good sledding hill to recreate such fond times with my own little ones!
That is awesome. I am so glad that you guys had such a great time.
Love it!
Blessings!
I LOVELOVELOVE this!
Just wonderful and oh so true… it's amazing how alive you can feel when you just forget about being and adult and just…be.
You put it so perfectly :)
Love this stuff! Belly laughs are the best!
Dude. I never ever want to be that cold.
Just kidding. :-)
I would for those belly laughs.
We are going sand dune sledding this weekend. I hope to have some laughs too. But sand doesn't taste nearly as good as snow.
I love feeling alive. And when my kids make me feel alive instead of DEAD TIRED, I am so damn happy.
I love this post of yours. But what post of yours DON'T I love?
xo
Now you've made me want to forget how lousy our health insurance is and take the kids sledding!
I don't know how you do it post after post but you do.
You made me almost want to go sledding. Almost. (For this southerner/ Hawaii transplant/ wimp that's saying something!)
Oh how I loved this. Your boys will remember this always!!
Oh man…now I need to go sledding with my little ones, rather than curse this crazy snow.
I have had this window open since yesterday thinking of what I want to say. I love that we have to work a little harder for the joy, even if the joy is a moment-long. I guess I love it because it means that much more.
I have moments in the past couple weeks that run over and over in my head. So much pain it took to get to those moments, but without the pain I wouldn't have them.
xoxo
Ari
I love feeling alive
Work from home India
We had the same sort of day on Sunday when we sledded at a park nearby. I wasn't sure at the time if I found it fun or frightening. Probably a bit of both?
Lovely writing, truly. (As always…)
As usual…no one writes it better than you. I hope you keep this forever for your children. Holly
Beautiful, as always!
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