Life

Life is passing by faster and faster as the days go by. I can't even fathom how fast. This week alone we helped Chris plan out his schedule for high school, talked about Hannah's graduation from middle school and watched as Jenny took huge leaps towards being an older kid as she struggles with some math concepts.  Where oh where did time go?

I find myself wanting to hang on to their childhood a little harder. Jenny is still very much a little girl but we get glimpses of the big girl to come. She is all about Junie B Jones, ribbons, bows, ruffles, lace, patent leather Mary Jane shoes, and cow girl boots. She still likes dress up and cuddles and kisses and the magic of snow.  Then suddenly she says something so profound and so grown up, you gasp.

Hannah is so much a tween. She has a crush on a boy and asks about make up. She wants older girl clothes without all the bows and ruffles.Thankfully she still is about the glitz and sparkle. She has grand ideas about what love is all about and what "romance" is too. I am like you are too young to worry about romance. She smiles and blushes and says "okay mom, but I will be old enough soon".
Oh my, be still my heart, it can't handle the thought.

Chris also has a secret crush or two. He is very closed mouth about it. I was always his one and only.  I am going to marry you Mommy, he said when he was 3, and we will live together forever and ever he said. Now, he talks about what he wants to do. He is into computers and technology. One minute he is silly, not thinking straight teen boy and suddenly morphs into a young man with maturity that will blow you mind.

So here I sit, wondering.......all about life and how fast it is going.....can't it slow down just a bit?

I pray for the Lord to give me more wisdom to handle the changes and the fact that life, never ever slows down and we have to take time and appreciate the little things.

Love

There is a true picture, description, definition of love in the Bible. Yet many people are frightened of this definition. Most of us feel like we can never measure up to that definition. I don't think there is a person on this earth that loves in the way the Bible describes.  That is because the only love that never failed and never will fail is the love of Jesus. He lay down His life to prove His love.  His love had no ulterior motives. I admit, I fail at love. I am a work in progress but there is the whole point. We are not able to love like we are supposed to apart from Christ.  Even with Christ in our lives we will not always get it right. We will make mistakes. We will hurt people's feelings. We will be selfish or proud or conceited.  Yet, in all of that our Lord first loved us, faults and all and gave His life for us.  He does not keep a record of our wrongs and He keeps on loving us when we can't love the way we are called to love.  

(credit for photo goes to: http://christianmodestyblogger.blogspot.com/2012/09/bible-verse-otd-love.html)

We can not let guilt or condemnation stop us from trying. We can not let our "humaness" stop us from trying, because sometimes we will get it right.  We will show love to someone it matters to.  Sometimes we will show love to a stranger when the Lord Himself prompts us to do so. It may be as small as a smile or giving a blanket to someone who is cold. It may be giving water to the thirst or bending to hear the whisper of a child. Love is something that can't be measured, held back or stopped. Love grows and gives and one act of love can grow into something so enormous it effects everyone around like the ripples in a pond.

I choose to keep on trying to love in my imperfect way. I choose to find the little ways to show love, even to the "un-loveable".  I choose to love even when I don't necessarily want to. I choose to love those that push me away, even if it is quiet and from afar as I pray for God to bring a loved one back into the kingdom.  Love is beautiful regardless of how it comes. True Love is a beautiful thing.

To me, Valentine's day is not just a commercial holiday. I love people every day. Valentine's day to me is a day to remember that I am not perfect but I can give and receive love. I can make a difference by showing the love of Jesus, even if it is just a tiny drop into a large ocean.  When we love, even if the person we show love to does not see or receive it, there is one who knows and He notices and He smiles because His beloved son or daughter took time to LOVE.

1 Corinthians 13 New International Version (NIV)13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror;then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Coffee......

For me coffee isn't just about caffeine..I drink half caff........it's the taste, the smell, the feel of it and that warm fuzzy feeling it brings back of my Daddy sharing his coffee with me and calling me his coffee girl.  It's about how my granny used to share cheese and coffee with me after I'd spend the night with her......the smell of her face cream lingering in the ear and the biscuits baking in the oven as we talked about what we were going to do that day. It's about my Grandma standing at the stove, the smell of coffee in the air as she used some of it to make red eye gravy to go with ham and biscuits............coffee.........it's more than just a hot beverage to me.

I remember cold winter mornings, (yes we had a few in North West Florida)....On those cold mornings, the smell off coffee and breakfast as we got ready for school next to the stove in the kitchen, it smelled like what a cuddle would smell like, warm and toasty.

Now when I drink coffee all those thoughts and memories aren't something I think about constantly. They are there, though, in the recesses of my mind becoming a part of our mornings. My girls and my son getting ready for school, the giggles and rush of the mornings and becoming a part of our memories.

School day number 3

Homework time. We are changing the way we do homework this year in hopes we can stay focused. All homework will be done at the dining room table, no talking allowed.  They can take some wiggle breaks but homework starts at 4 pm and they keep working until it is done. That way they get a snack and some free time before homework for fun. The sooner they finish homework, they sooner they can get to outside play or play time with neighborhood friends,

School days....school days....

Good old golden rule days.............

It's that time of year again......school is just about here, the summer is over.  It is bitter sweet. Watching them grow and learn is so much fun but having them gone all day....yeah not such a fan.

I am so trying to get back into blogging every day.  I hope I can get back into it by blogging the school year and adventures.

I pray for the teachers as they teach our most precious gifts. I pray for stamina, strength and patience. I pray for them to be able to see what each student needs most to grow and thrive as they learn.

I pray for the kids as they learn and grow. I pray for kids not to be bullies and to learn compassion and kindness.  I pray for kids to be quick to listen, obey and learn. I pray for safety.

I pray for parents, first time parents who are letting their little on go for the first time. For them as they learn what it is like to let go a little more each day.

I pray for the weary parent who is looking forward to the year to start in order to get a reprieve from the 24/7 challenges he or she has faced.

I pray for the parent of the special needs child who needs extra support, love and understanding.

I pray for administrators and staff from the principal to the janitors as they go about their tasks each day trying to make school a fun and safe place to learn and grow.

May your days be filled with joy, whatever role you play and may this year be the best one yet.

The Puppy adventure

So we did it...we have a puppy.  We are very blessed to have him and are very thankful. Having a puppy is much like having a newborn and toddler rolled up into one.  He is sweet and cute and naughty and whiny and loving and cranky all with in short spans of each other.  We are adjusting, he is adjusting. As we embark on this grand puppy adventure expect to see all sorts of stuff from him.  And so begins some posts from his "perspective".

The Puppy Blog:

I think I should be able to chew on anything and every thing I want. I like the way your hand feels in my mouth. Why do you keep trying to teach me otherwise? As long as we are on the subject of chewing, why can't I eat shoes and furniture legs? They smell so good. I guess you don't smell what I smell. Is something wrong with your nose? 

I love sleeping in the day time because y'all are all busy around me. It's so comforting.  I do not like sleeping at night, it's too quiet. I want to play. I think you shouldn't mind playing with me at that mysterious thing you call 3 a.m. After all I am cute, you said so.

I like it when you say good boy.  I will try to hear it more often.  

I do miss my fur mommy and fur brothers but you cuddle with pretty good.  You also smell different. I think I like it.  Thank you for wrapping me in blankets. That nice lady I lived with for a while did that too. Although I am glad you don't put those stinky things in your mouth that makes smoke in the air. I didn't like those. I can breathe good in your house.  I smell more things too because those stinky sticks are gone.

Why can't I play outside? Who is this "vet" person that dared say I can't until I get my "shots"? Speaking of shots, I really am not sure that sounds like fun from hearing you talk about it. Can we re-negotiate?

I am liking it here but you have a lot to learn about what I like and don't like. Mostly if you'd just let me have my way, it would help. For some reason you don't think that is a good idea.

Love Sammy, your new puppy.

PS: Humans are exhausting, they are hard to train the way you want.

Pink.........

(Here it is a weeks later from the first "summer post" and I am just now making another one...busy busy busy.)

To say Jenny loves pink is an understatement. She loves all things pink and she is a  vibrant, sweet and innocent as pink represents to me.  Her newest foot wear of choice is her pink boots.  She doesn't care that it is warm/hot outside she just loves to wear them.  Add her Hello kitty poncho for rain and she is pink, head to toe. And in the below photo it cracked me up that even the flash reflected in her eyes looks pink.

I can't believe my pink girl is 8. She is such a sweet representation of the innocence of childhood and summer. Isn't that what summer is about..innocence and childhood?  If only we all enjoyed life like a child. We would relish in a poncho with boots on a warm summer day regardless of what others might think. We'd wear our favorite outfit without shame just because it made us feel happy.  She isn't ashamed to be who she is or to enjoy life to the full. She lives and walks in joy and those boots were made for walking, dancing, jumping, running and living.  Live with that joy sweet girl because you spread it around you like sunshine.