Photo Friday(one day late): Thankfulness for loving, Godly parents

As I look at this picture I find such joy in my heart that my parents and Brian's mom were able to join us at our home for Thanksgiving.  These three have modeled unconditional love to our family in the ups and downs of our 24 years of marriage.  They have always been there by praying for us, encouraging us, and supporting us in our choices.  As my children are now teenagers and young adults, my prayer is that I will be a Godly parent who will carry on the legacy of these 3 wonderful people--our parents.  Thank you Lord for what each one of them has given me. 

College Choir Boy’s Crying Mama

We walked into the church and as I looked up across the foyer there he was my grown up boy (man) dressed in a tailored tuxedo ready for the University Thanks and Praise choir concert to begin.  Oh my heart was full.  He looked so dapper, and I must say a little like Luciano Pavarotti with the big beard he sported. He smiled and walked towards us and then engulfed me in the hug that only my giant boy does, and I felt joy.  We chatted a minute and then walked in with my parents to find a seat.  I couldn’t just sit and wait though because Zachary was going to be arriving soon and I was thrilled to be able to see him as well.  It does a mother’s heart good to know that both of my boys are at the same college, live on the same floor and even choose to do things together.  Not only did Zachary come to encourage his brother, but also a few of Mitchell’s close friends including his lovely fiancé Courtney.  I was feeling all of the love before the concert even began. 

Now I have never been a public crier.  I never even used to cry very much.  I have friends that cry at the drop of a hat, but me, nope, I always have cried in my heart but not much out of my eyes…until…. well, I just don’t know but it’s been recently.  I looked down the row of where we were sitting and saw my family.  The whole row was my family.  I was so very thankful to be there.  You see last year my parents went and had to tell me how great the choir concert was because we were out of the country and couldn’t go.  My heart broke at missing many important milestones of Mitchell who was at college.  But you make it work, sometimes anyway you can.  One evening he Skyped us in to hear his guitar concert and another night Skyped us in as all of his friends cut off his looooong hair and shaved him bald.  But last night, to actually be there was pure and utter joy.

The huge choir walked up onto the platforms (tall, bearded boy in back of course).  The first song began and the beauty of the words, the harmony, the presence of God and my full mother’s heart started this urgent need for me to cry.  Tears began to form in my eyes making my boy too blurry to see.  Then I had to hold back really hard the loud, sobbing cries that one only does behind closed doors or in the shower. I just sat there thanking the Lord for the privilege of allowing me to be right there at that moment.  I got myself somewhat under control as we all sang a congregational hymn. 

I’d like to tell you that that first song was the end of my heart almost turning inside out with the need to weep giant tears, but it wasn’t.  Heaven came down when they sang a rendition of And Can it Be(of course one of my very favorite hymns).  I leaned over to my mother and said, “don’t mind me if I sit here and cry like a baby.”  She smiled.  The song was majestic and my son’s voice added to the chorus of what I felt at that moment that only Heaven could provide.  I was in a divine moment.  God was giving me a glimpse of what Heaven would be and I liked it.  Tears streamed from my eyes as I tried to control myself from just sitting there and sobbing.  Fortunately my mom came to the rescue with a Kleenex and within a few songs my contacts were blurry no longer and I could just sit, smile and enjoy the songs of thanks and praise.  How could things be anymore perfect and how could I even begin to tell God how thankful I was for him allowing me to be there?  There were no words.   

We have so much to be thankful for. There are those big things that happen that catch our attention and the small things that are with us everyday that if we are not careful we forget to give thanks.  As we look ahead at this week of Thanksgiving let’s allow Psalm 100 lead the way for us. If you feel the need to cry big, happy, joyful, thankful tears then go right ahead and do it.  I like to think that it makes God smile when he acknowledge to Him the things in which we are thankful.

             Psalm 100

A psalm. For giving grateful praise.

1Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

2 Worship the Lord with gladness;

    come before him with joyful songs.

3 Know that the Lord is God.

    It is he who made us, and we are his[a];

    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving

    and his courts with praise;

    give thanks to him and praise his name.5 

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

    his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Photo Fridays

I am going to try to post pictures on Fridays that I have taken that are meaningful to me.  One of the way that God speaks to me is through His beauty and I LOVE taking photos to capture those moments. (my husband laughs because I always say "oh, I need my camera for this!" and he wonders why I can't just remember it in my mind).

Todays photo is actually the one that is the background of my blog page.  I took it in September when I attended a ladies retreat with the Countryside Free Methodist Church over on Lake Huron.  I actually got up purposely to watch the sunrise and I wasn't disappointed.  I was reminded over and over of God's majesty.  I had someone throw a stone in the very placid, peaceful lake and then took a picture.  I wanted to see how the ripples would appear.  Our lives are like that circle when the stone hits the peaceful waters, it extends more and more and more.  We have that ripple effect on all of those that we touch in our lives from day to day.  What I speak to someone may go to someone else, who then may say it to someone else.  I want my ripple effect to be a positive one that shares the message of Christ and it goes from person to person.  I want to have the affect that the rock has had in this picture.

Slapped in the face with the unexpected

This year’s theme for the Deeper Life Women’s Retreat that I attended was “Unexpected.”  I never thought about the theme much before I arrived but then during the weekend was faced with that word at every corner. I realized that yes; I was living in the midst of the unexpected. 

Last year at this time I never would have guessed that we would be living in Michigan and not on the mission field in Mexico.  We weren’t supposed to be back to Mexico. I didn’t expect that I would ever be sitting here writing a blog, in my pj’s, hoodie and fleece robe to keep from freezing.  I expected to be in Mexico wondering if tomorrow would be less than 100 degrees, sitting in my shorts prepping for this weeks Bible study that I would be teaching in Spanish. I didn’t expect to have the season of rest and reflection that I have had as we have transitioned to the states, but I’m glad that I have had it. 

You see the unexpected is not always a bad thing.  What seems very unexpected to us is never unexpected with God.  He’s got it covered.  He knows what is happening now, what will be happening in the future and he that whole picture thing?  well, he sees it.  We only see a portion and freak out.  Ok, I freak out.  If anything veers from the path that I think should and will be I just kind of flip out for a moment…or two, or three.  You mean we have to stay in Michigan for the school year?  AAAAAHHHHH where will we live, what about our stuff in our house in Mexico, what about our ministry there, what about our car just sitting in the carport ready for anyone to steal, what about Emily’s school that she is already registered for in Mexico, what about……and what about…..??? And the list can go on.  And God says, “So what about it? I’ve got you in the palm of my hands child and those things matter to me and are not off my radar.”  Phew, ok.  Breathe. 

So what God is saying is that I need to trust him in the unexpected?  Yes.  Such an easy answer but so hard to do, especially when you are a control freak.  Yep, that’s me.  I like to control things so they work just right.  I like to have my schedule and my list and know just what is going to happen now, in 6 months or a year.  When I have to give that up, it’s like torture.  But God says to trust him and here’s what I’ve found; God has always been faithful and trustworthy and has never let me fall.  He says is Isaiah 55:8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,"

During this time of unexpectedness I’ve been drawn to the Psalms and have been encouraged by the words written there.  Let me share a few with you today that will hopefully encourage you in your journey of whatever unexpected thing you are going through.

Psalm 37:7a Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him;

Psalm 34:18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 33:20  We wait in hope for the Lord;He is our help and our shield.

Psalm 33:4  For the word of the Lord is right and true; He is faithful in all he does.

He’s close to us, He is our help and shield, and He is faithful.  In the unexpected things of life help us to remember that.  Blessings to you today friends in whatever unexpected things may come your way

What in tarnations is this #BAE?

I’ve recently been able to hang out for several weeks with a bunch of teenagers, as I was the assistant director of the high school play they were doing and I loved it!!  These kids made me laugh, made me dance, made me sing and said strange things that this middle aged gal didn’t quite understand.

Did you know that these and many other teenage and college students are BAE? (Yep, me either.  I had no idea what this meant—then I asked them).  I think it’s the cool thing to say these days.  Cool?  Groovy?  Hip?  Well, whatever word they now use for that.  But I digress.  So what really is BAE?  The Urban Dictionary says that the word bae in Danish means poo or poop.  I’m not sure that you can believe everything the UD says but just throwing that out there. Well not actually throwing it, that would be gross. Just putting it out there for you to chew on.  Ugggg. That’s gross too, just forget it. 

So after asking around I’m catching on that when someone says that you are BAE, that it’s a good thing.  Don’t worry, they are NOT calling you poop, they are complimenting you. One of the teens might talk to me and just say, “You are so BAE.”  What they are meaning is that I am

            1.girlfriend/boyfriend (which is evident that I am not)

            2. Best friend (which I probably am not—but you never know)

            3. Someone you find cute or attractive (Oh, yes, that’s the one! Cute)

            4. Someone your "talking" to (this could be anyone.  Grandma you are BAE)

            5. Or the acronym of Before Anyone Else

            6. Baby,babe,boo,etc. (I don’t want a teenager calling me baby, babe or especially boo. Just sayin)

So if your teenager calls you BAE, don’t be so quick to run for the soap to wash their mouth out thinking they are calling you poop.  Quite the opposite.  They think you are pretty awesome. Seeing your name on Twitter with #BAE means you’ve really got it goin on.  

It’s important for us to listen to people and hear what they are really saying.  Make sure that you are not to quick to judge a teen when they talk to you thinking that the words that they are using are horrifying.  They may be trying to get to know you and find out who you are but only are able to do that in their language.  Yes my friends, teenage talk IS a different language.  Why do I love working with teens?  First of all, they keep me feeling young.  Secondly, I learn from them.  I observe how they see the world and adults and the topics of the day.  Finally, I see that if I can build into them just a little bit that they know for sure that even when their world may be rocked to the core that they know that there’s one person out there who will love and encourage them for who they are.  After all, I am BAE (or so they say).

The Fork Stabbing

So those of you that know me well know that I am clumsy and so very accident-prone.  It doesn’t take much for me to hurt myself or for me to be walking through a carpeted room and trip, trip over nothing.  It’s just the way that I roll.  Yesterday I was doing what every good woman of the home does and I was putting stuff away in the kitchen.  It always seems that things are always out of place in that room so I thought that I’d at least attempt to clean it up a touch.  Of course I was working around the dishes that had been washed and were drying in the drying rack.  Yes, you have found me out, I let my dishes air dry instead of drying them one by one and putting them away.  My thought is that with some time they will dry anyway so why spend that extra time and dry them.  (My mother in law would beg to differ).  I put the sugar away in the cupboard above the dishes, closed the door and  I brought my hand down right into 2 forks that were sticking out of the drying rack.  They settled in my hand for a quick second until I yanked my hand back, looked in between my two fingers and saw 2 marks that looked like I’d been bitten by the fangs of a bat.  I screamed and murmured—I mean who wouldn’t?  It hurt.  My dear sweet Emily came running in and automatically put the two forks in the sink to be washed.  I asked what in the world she was doing as I had just washed those.  Her reply, “No one wants to eat off a fork that’s been stuck in your hand.”  I suppose she had a point there.  She got right to work saying, “I’ve got you mom, and I’ll take care of you.  Now here’s a band-aid with Neosporin on it.  You’ll be fine.  If this band aid falls off, I’ve put 2 more in your purse so that you’ll have extra.”  Now that’s a great kid.  She’s dealt with running to moms rescue before and I’d say as a 14 year old she has perfected it quite well.  She’ll probably go into trauma medicine when she’s older since she’s so used to it living with me.  Yep, it’s bruised today and the fang marks are still there though not infected because of my daughter’s quick work with the Neosporin.  You know, Emily was a great reminder to me of what Jesus is like to us everyday.  Things happen that are out of our control and he’s right there saying, “I’ve got you, hang on, I’ll take care of you.”  I’m thankful for that promise that He gives us.  I’m also thankful for a teenage girl that drops everything to help her clumsy mom.   

Why in the world am I writing a blog

I’ve never been one to write down the things that happen day to day in my life.  I mean grammar is not my forte so why force it?  It's just easer to tell people about the things that happen to me.  I’ve found, however, that people need a little joy and encouragement in their lives from day to day and that sometimes I don’t have the chance to share face to face.  So here goes yet another blog out there for people to read and hopefully feel lifted up.  My goal:  simple.  I want to share God’s truths, the things that I learn from His Word, and the everyday crazy things that happen to me(and believe there are a lot).  I want to share life with you.  I want to be real.  I want you to be able to just sit back with a cup of Joe and enjoy.  Speaking of coffee.  Did you know that I LOVE it?  Today as I write I'm drinking out of my smiley face mug a lovely dark roast of Guatemalan.  These are the simple things in life that bring me joy. What brings you joy?