Scribed In Light

There’s a bed too small for two…but that didn’t stop a certain fluffy skunk and his squishy-faced English Bulldog brother from trying. Reek flopped in sideways like a scented cannonball, tail displayed like a flying plume. Oliver? Well, Ollie just accepted his fate with the wide-eyed resignation of someone who’s been through thunderstorms, grandchildren, and the grandeur of assuring his ‘people’ got some behavioral training. Bless him.

These two and their sitcom-worthy antics leave me in stitches. The way they interact is often Olympic-level. While wildly disproportionate in size, they are perfectly matched in spirit. Reek clambers across Ollie like a furry comet tearing through a football field of chaos, while Ollie accepts the onslaught with expressions that range from “please, send help” to “also snacks would be nice”. “Either is fine”.

A few feet away, Bella, the queen herself, watching from her throne – Dad’s recliner. She didn’t move, didn’t bark. She just side-eye-judged. Silently. Sternly. Like royalty surveying a court of jesters she didn’t ask for, yet must tolerate…because she’s magnanimous like that.

Somewhere from the distant thunder, rumble, and snorts of chaos ensuing around me… came pips from our colony of Sugar Gliders – drunk in slumber, hanging inside their enclosure, tucked deep inside the warmth of their sleep bag – voicing their intolerance at being awakened before their night hours of Fruit O’ Clock.

And then there’s me.

Standing in the middle of it all- camera in hand, socks mismatched, heart full. Sometimes overwhelmed. Sometimes sighing a little louder than I mean to. But always, always, steeped in a kind of love that has no bottom, no edge, no end.

This is home.

It’s not polished. It’s not curated. It’s a mess of pawprints, muddy noses, sloppy kisses, crumpled blankets, sugar gliders escaping and landing on heads in mid-thought, and moments that make me laugh so hard I forget the weight I’ve been carrying.

Yet, isn’t that the real gift?

Not the silence, or the structure, but the chaos that brings us back to what matters.

The wildly imperfect, fur-flying, tail-chasing kind of joy that reminds me how deeply I am loved…by every beating heart in this house.

But lets talk about the truth behind the laughter.

Some days we walk through our front doors completely poured out – physically, mentally, emotionally wrung dry by the pace of our lives.

The world presses in with its to-do lists, its noise, its expectations. We rush in, drop everything on the counter, throw on relaxing clothes, and breath deep in the sacred relief of our home space.

Then, almost instinctively – we see the animals waiting.

We feel the tug:

Time to feed.

Time to water.

Time to walk.

Time to potty, clean, calm and reassure.

And in our human nature we want to sigh. Because arriving home to even more tasks, responsibilities, burdens within our sacred oasis… is yet another hurdle between you and your escape.

But let us remember –

They’ve been there all day, just waiting for you. Not judging as the rest of the world does. Not expecting, not complaining, just….simply waiting. Simply content to await your return to them and make their entire world feel whole again.

Their excitement isn’t just noise – it’s worshipful love. It’s unconditional, joy-soaked, tail-wagging, jump-and-spin bliss that says: “You’re back”! Their heart is whole again.

Oh, how often we miss that by our hurried pace as we overlook the sacredness of their presence. We label their needs as chores, their love as interruptions, their exuberance as distractions.

But in truth –

They’re here to heal us.

To detox the strain of our lives.

To remind us what it means to be wanted unconditionally.

To pull us back into the now – where affection is pure, and presence is everything.

I pray often and assess constantly whether I am giving back to my pets even a fraction of what they give to me. Because more days out of a week than not, they’re left with the mere crumbs of whatever the pace of life hasn’t already taken form my energy. They deserve far more than what fatigue or distraction sometimes allows.

They didn’t ask for my lifestyle, choices, my deadlines, my decisions. They only asked for my love and affection. And when I chose them, that was the vow.

So yes…

I get livid over the stubborn potty-training of our six month old English bulldog, Oliver. Did I mention stubborn?

I become breathless and exasperated while chasing down our non-stop Houdini escapades of our lavender skunk, Reek.

I dart to the door like a gazelle on crack to quiet Bella, our tiny dachshund diva, when she sounds off – like an overpowered miniature truck on four giant wheels – assuring the neighborhood knows she is reigning over her outdoor territories with her incessant high-pitched, ear-piercing barking.

I also admit guilt, in that some days I clean the Sugar Glider Colony’s enclosure more out of duty than delight.

But that’s unfair to them.

They didn’t ask for this, nor do they understand it. They aren’t here to add to my exhaustion, my chaos, or my stress.

They’re here to alleviate it. To shift my energy. To whisper healing into the noisy ache of daily living.

We must choose to shift our vision.

To shift our response.

To receive the truth that’s been hiding behind the overwhelm all along: They are not interruptions. They are gifts..in unseen wrappings.

The deeper truth? This isn’t just about our pets.

The work responsibilities that wear us down…the children whose needs stretch us thin…the clutter, the errands, the endless expectations…and the quiet ache in those who wish for…are praying for…would give their eyeteeth for…what others have and are sighing about.

It’s about how easy it is to miss the blessings we all once prayed for. To call something a burden that was actually a gift in waiting. To resist the very things that came to pour healing into our lives.

We become blind- not out of arrogance, but out of exhaustion.

We forget that what we call “too much” might be the exact evidence of the life we once begged for.

So today…

Maybe we pause. Maybe we see it again.

The paw prints.

The noise.

The schedules.

The meals.

The babies, the pets, the spouses, the moments…

The ones that feel like too much, but are actually EVERYTHING.

Maybe we don’t label it chaos today. Maybe we call it LOVE.

Unseen, unwrapped, carrying their full value and potential- their sacred worth held out in quiet offering. Just waiting to be recognized.

Because when we change the way we see,

we change what we receive.

Then, suddenly…the world softens.

Our breath deepens…and love- disguised as the ordinary- comes pouring through the cracks.

My son recently asked me, “Mom, how do I slow time down? Life is passing me by and I feel like I am missing out.” He expressed how he yearned to go back in time…to further enjoy moments captured – yet were never fully appreciated for what they were. He shared how he often looks back upon them, aching for more time with the ones he loves.

I thought for awhile before responding.

“Maybe its not the world that needs to slow down, son.” “Maybe it isn’t time that needs to pause…or reverse.”

“Just maybe…it’s US.”

Perhaps in learning to slow ourselves down – our perceptions, our responses – just maybe that is how we reverse time. Maybe that is how we recapture the grace and beauty in life around us, the moments we lost that had always been offered to us.

Maybe in slowing our very selves down…we finally see. Maybe in that seeing, we receive the unhindered, uninhibited worth of what has always been right before our very eyes. Because sometimes- the gifts come disguised in the wrappings of every day and ordinary life.

Just maybe…we’ve been asking ourselves all the wrong questions.

“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” – Jeremiah 33:3

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.” – Matthew 6:22

“Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” – John Lennon

“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” – Anais Nin

“Gratitude turns what we have into enough.” – Aesop

“The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.” – Thomas Moore

“Slow down and everything you are chasing will come around and catch you.” – John De Paola

Today I Pray you pause in your every moment of chaos and fatigue – to allow clarity to perceive the full worth, and value of truth around you – within what presents as the every day mundane.

I wish for you – presence in the moments. Perspectives unveiled from tired eyes which tug of distraction from the beauty that is already upon you. Days filled with truth of treasures which blossom before you…

and laughter…lots, and lots of laughter.

Light, love, and grace,

Tina