My Laugh for the Day

The text reads:

God Said it.

I interpreted it
as best I could in light of all the filters imposed by my upbringing and culture which I try to control for but you can never do a perfect job.

That doesn’t exactly settle it
but it does give me enough of a platform to base my values and decisions on.

(Many thanks to Aaron over at Blogging Theologically for the laugh!)

A Tribute

To my beloved:

All day, I've watched the emails you've sent to our home account.  The tributes, applause, and moving words from those you've worked with these past 17 months.

Now it's my turn.

20 years ago this week, I ditched the plaid pants, took a chance, and went to see Pirates of Penzance with you. Baked an apple pie, sat in a freezing Datsun while nursing a fever, drove out to a little town called Pelham. . . . . . . . and said yes.

Yes.  To what, I had no idea.  Neither of us did.

To new life in Christ.  To five beautiful souls gracing our lives.  To ups and downs, ins and outs, North and South, richer and poorer, joys and sorrows.  Peals of laughter and agonizing, soul-crushing depths of despair.  And the Lord holding our hand and bringing us through it all.

You may never know.

How much I admire you, your steadfastness in supporting our family.  Getting up on Monday mornings at 4 am, living in so many different places, toting water to flush your own toilet, running extension cords for a little light.  The loneliness you must have struggled with while living apart from us.  Your integrity, and tenacity, and honor.  The impact you've clearly made on the lives of those around you.  The impact you make on the lives of your children, who have missed their daddy so much, and look to you as their guide.

You may never know.

They have seen Christ through you.  And I have seen Christ in you. 

I don't know what the Lord has for us.  Thankfully, I didn't know 20 years ago, either.

But I do know this.  As long as He allows, I will walk beside you.

For I love you.  And it will take me a lot more than the next 20 years to tell you so.

Welcome home, darling.

Wordless Wednesday - Happy Fall, Y'all!

It's the Most Wonderful Time. . . . of the Year!

 

Operation Christmas Child time, that is!

We've participated in this ministry, run by Samaritan's Purse, for many years now.  Unfortunately, as our family has grown, our budget has not, and often we've had to disappoint our kids by not allowing them to pack their "own" shoe box.  Last year, we packed two shoe boxes. . . . . .

Fast forward to this year.  Our family was blessed by an anonymous donor through our Sunday School class, who gave us enough money for SEVEN boxes!  What fun!  Emily & Hannah took their own cart through the store, picking out things left and right.

Obviously, we should have supervised them more closely.  Look what we came home with!

We had so many gifts, we ended up dragging out a couple of plastic storage boxes to make extra!  And aside from Amy, who had a minor meltdown over packing the dolly she decided she loved, the kids all had happy, generous, tender hearts, at the thought of giving gifts to those who are in need.

It was a joyful night.  While we listened to Christmas music, the kids wrote letters to the children who would be receiving the gifts, enclosed a picture of our family, and prayed over the boxes.

I think I'm ready for Christmas now.  What a wonderful start to the season.

Monday Merriment

There are some sure signs you live in the South.

Take NASCAR, for example.

Then there's The War of Northern Aggression Against the Free and Independent Southern States.

Or grits.  I just don't. get. grits.

Hairbows and smocking.

And this gem:

We're driving home from ballet tonight, and Amy is singing her new choir song.  She's been listening to the CD done by the wonderful choir director, who happens to be very Southern.  The short /e/ sound does not exist here, as is evidenced by Amy's translation:

"Mary and Joseph - - - They rode a donkey - - -
It was a long way - - - To Pet-the-lamb!"

That's one for the books!