Lately

Been a bit since I checked in.

We’ve had birthday season:

11

19

5?

17

15

Visited Gabby’s Stars & Stripes Project:

Took them some donated books

The bookmobile

All decked out

Nate went to the CMA Festival, curtesy of the place where he takes piano lessons

We hosted an open house—a year after moving in

Lucy finally got a fence

We visited the ‘liquid zoo’ (the aquarium in Chattanooga)

These guys went to Holiday World for Nate’s 8th grade trip, with one of his friends from before our move.  It was good for those guys to hang out.  We did find that Ellie is NOT a roller coaster fan!

Ellie joined a co-op

We collected eggs (though they have slowed some now)

We found the Oscar Mayer Weenier-mobile parked in our little town one Sunday afternoon.

Tried to convince these two that the other one is okay

Nate moved up to Adventurers (high school in Trail Life)

Visited the Frist Art Museum with my sister

The primary exhibit that day was a fashion

More practice for our furry friends

Sunset gelato (from Gabby’s work)

Senior Pictures

See You at the Pole with Trail Life

Friends visited

We’ve been rehabbing a church building for our congregation’s new home—so much dust!

Seriously….

So much dust

And paint…I think every inch of wall, baseboard, window sill, door, and frame have been painted or stained.

Sanctuary

Fellowship Hall

Kitchen

Justin took Nate to a Stryper concert—Nate loves Stryper!

These guys went camping

Carved pumpkins

We’re down to our last Trick-or-Treater

Attended a gymnastics showcase

We’ve hiked

And hiked

And hiked some more

His culminating goal is a 20 mile hike

This 13 miler will likely be my longest though

Our Trail Life Guys made a soapbox derby car—ended up winning over all too!

Visited my Mama for her birthday

And have a newly permitted driver

He’s even practiced a bit

Whew!  It’s been busy here!

Happiness

I’ve spent a chunk of time contemplating happiness this week.  I see so many people striving for happiness. For themselves. For their kids.  The next big trip. The easy path. The experience. The new. The exciting. The never ending search for something to cram in that God shaped hole in their heart.

The thing is those are all fleeting things.  Dust.

I was challenged on my view.  Surely, as a parent, I want happiness for my children.  I don’t. I want holiness.

See God promises joy, not happiness.  Joy isn’t fleeting. Joy is a gift from God.  Happiness is a feeling. Dopamine. Happiness is insubstantial, where joy is enduring.

Life can be so hard.  Sometimes our lack of happiness is due to the consequences of our choices.  Sometimes, for seemingly unknown reasons, other than the fact we live in a fallen world, these circumstances seem to befall us.  The thing is, it isn’t accidental. God knew we needed this trial to be who we need to be to reach heaven.

I’m not here to make my children happy (I’m also not here to make them miserable...most of the time!).

I can’t step in and remove each discomfort that would be used to shape their character and expect them to grow.  I don’t know how God will shape and prune them to fit them into the kingdom, just the way He needs them.

And after I was challenged about my assertion that I really didn’t want my children to be happy (if that’s not what they need).  I talked to the kids about it. Guess what. They weren’t surprised. They know I’m not out to get them, that we make choices to do things they want, but, thankfully, they know happiness is not our goal.

Heaven is.  Loving Jesus.

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;

    I refused my heart no pleasure.

My heart took delight in all my labor,

    and this was the reward for all my toil.

Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done

    and what I had toiled to achieve,

everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;

    nothing was gained under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 2:10-11

The law of the Lord is perfect,

    refreshing the soul.

The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,

    making wise the simple.

The precepts of the Lord are right,

    giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the Lord are radiant,

    giving light to the eyes.

Psalm 19:7-8

Go Away February

February has just not been my month. First a rotten cold, then an eye infection, then on Sunday I had the audacity to help in the church nursery. My back revolted. Seriously on the floor almost can't get up pain.

I am thankful for the chiropractor that they pulled out of worship to help me so that I could get home. I made another trip to the doctor who helped with my eye--that's two trips in less than 2 weeks--I don't remember having done that before, aside from midwife appointments.

I've spent a good bit of time on the floor. And my mom has made two trips down to help. I felt so well on Monday that I sent her home, just to wind up having back spasms that night that rendered me on the floor and unable to stand, again. Nate was the biggest reason for needing help, since he still needs to be picked up several times a day--to get in and out of the crib and the highchair.

Thankfully my back seems to be on the mend again, and I've sent her home once more, knowing that Justin doesn't have to teach classes tomorrow, if I were to get absolutely desperate. For now, though, I am grateful to be sitting in a chair again!

Thanks for the help Mama and Justin (and back doctor)!

Talking in Church

We were in church Sunday and they had children’s moments up front. Kate was front and center, of course. Gabby stayed with us, of course.

The poor woman who was leading it made the mistake of starting off with a question. She asked if they had ever gotten a nice present. Of course Kate had her birthday party the day before, so she answered right away, not just that she got a magic wand for her present, but a whole back story about how Gam and PawPaw gave her this wand [FYI: which was not her main present at all], even though they didn’t know that she had a wand before and that it was broken.

[Also FYI—our minister is in the middle of a series on how being mixed up in magic is bad and says that kids should not read Harry Potter. I’ll guess he’s not a fan of magic wands. Kate can tell you that magic is pretend, but of course didn’t during church.]

Then the lady gets to her point, which is stewardship. She asked if any of the kids knew what that meant. This was answered with silence. Kate, of course, can’t stand silence, so she pipes up, “I’ve read Stuart Little.” The whole church erupts in laughter. Yes. Now I’m the mom with the kid that says silly things during children’s moments. The gal tells her then she should be really good at saying 'stewardship.'

We’re new though and after that, the kids all filed out to go to children’s church this week, so no one has to know it’s us, right? Ha! After the service an older lady came up to us and asked if she was ours. Then the children’s minister stopped us in the hallway to make a comment about her too. So much for anonymity. Hopefully she won’t every say anything too embarrassing!

A Visit

The kiddos and I spent the weekend at my parents and got to spend some time at the church I grew up in on Saturday and Sunday. Justin was home slaving away on his dissertation--or enjoying the quiet working on his dissertation!

They had their 47th annual ice cream social on Saturday. Who would we be not to support such an event with our presence? I got to take my grandmother over, as both of my parents were working--my dad manned the grill (where they provided hotdogs and hamburgers for between 450-500 people) and my mom worked in the kitchen for the first hour, making sure that salads, sides, and desserts were kept out. So we had a good dinner, and of course enjoyed some homemade ice cream.

The girls also got their faces painted


and Miss Kate played in the inflatable.


Nate and I hung out with my Grannie--he liked her cane!

Evidently Kate got tired of answering the probably silly question, "Is this your little brother?" (seeing as most people knew this was indeed her brother). So what's a creative four-year old to say? "No, he's a purple kitty-cat."

Then sitting in church on Sunday morning, the minister was talking about the difference in a truthful story and a fictitious one, and he referenced I and II Chronicles and The Chronicles of Narnia. "How does he know about The Chronicles of Narnia?!" asked Kate


Of course, the children are never spoiled when we're there. So my nine month old wouldn't have possibly been begging the way he saw the dog beg for cake.