Stuff

*This isn't going to be about kids..........



I have had some time to reflect on just what this past weekend has meant to me. Our church held our semi-annual Women's Retreat~" Finding Rest".In order for me to be the best I can be.....I needed this time of "rest". Rest is a relative term considering the actual time spent sleeping was much less than I usually get on a regular basis at home. True rest of that kind will only exist in Heaven I think.

Anyway, back to rest......... "My soul finds rest in You alone" has always meant something different before this weekend. It meant rest amidst the storms of life that come crashing in~I need that kind of rest. However, a new kind of rest emerged from the events of the weekend:



*rest in laughter

*rest in being active

*rest in being silly with GREAT girlfriends

*rest in not having to talk to one single child for two whole days

*rest in knowing I'm not alone in my battles



My rest was restored! What I received was a gift that keeps me going.....I seek in a new rest, I serve in a new rest, I love in a new rest, I laugh in a new rest, I run the race in a new rest. God has given us everything we need to find rest~even the kind that doesn't always look like rest.



REST in Him today!

My Football and Baby Lovin' Boy

Yes.....it's been a bit since I posted~Life happens! Last week, Jacob~my youngest~melted my heart and I wanted to tell you about it, but I have to preview it with a funny story that tells you the FULL extent of his passion for football, so your heart will melt too.....

Jacob eats, sleeps, and breathes football!!! He loves to play it, watch it, and talk about it. He even gets up early to watch Sports Center to catch up on anything he may have missed while sleeping. Just the other day~a Tuesday morning~he woke me up by asking me if I knew who won the game last night. Seriously.....I didn't even know who was playing!!

Last year, the day after the Super Bowl, Jacob seemed a little off. Most of the day he just kind-of moped around like he had lost his best friend....I actually was thinking he might be coming down with something. By late afternoon he showed up in my room weeping. I couldn't get him to tell me what was wrong, I thought maybe he and his brother had gotten into a fight and he was hurt.....I mean, he was really crying.

I finally pulled him up into my arms, and tried to get him to calm down so he could tell me what was going on. All I got was, "I just don't understand!" "What honey? What don't you understand?" Wait for it......................................"I just don't understand why football season has to be over!!!!" After picking myself up off the floor and trying~without much success~to stifle my laughter, I calmly explained that everyone needed a break now and then, even football players....
AND (Mommy the hero coming right up!) there is still one more game called the Pro Bowl next Sunday (ok, so I do know a little about football). After that game, Daddy was on football detox duty.

OK~now the melt-your-heart story.......We have become close with our new Youth Pastor and his family. Every Tuesday afternoon the two little (3 years and 3 months) girls come over so Mom and Dad can have a lunch date. My football loving little boy also loves babies. It is so fun to watch this "all boy" boy melt at the sight of a baby. Last week the girls were over again and Sophie, the baby, is starting to smile and coo. I was holding her on my legs and Jacob was bent over talking to her. She gets this Super Smile on her face and Jacob just lights up! A moment later, he skip-runs off to his room saying, "I just love that Sophie!" He will be a good Daddy some day. A proud Momma moment.


(he skip-runs into his room to play Madden '08 on his Playstation, though~just so we're clear on which love comes first!)

New Beginnings

For some time I have wanted to take a minute and write down the wonderful, and sometimes hysterical, things I've heard kids say. I even set up this blog several months ago, but never finished designing it or even posted.
As I think about what the future holds for my children and yours, after the results of our election ~I'm really sad. Beyond the moon that we seem to have broken the racial barrier at long last, yet saddened nevertheless. Our children are going to be brought up in a world were it's OK to kill babies for no good reason....even if the reason seems "good". We should not have to explain to our babies what abortion is. They will live to see the breakdown of the Family as God designed it. Having to tell our babies about same~sex marriage is not my idea of great dinner table discussion either. Talking about these things has to happen.....I know that. I just wish I didn't have to.
OK~this blog is about the things kids say, so here's what I heard my 14 (yes, she's stilll a kid) say last night while watching the results come in....... "Why would anyone want to vote for Obama?! Doesn't he believe in gay marriage and abortion?!" Yes my love, but so does most of the world we live in.
Now, more than ever, our responsibility as parents is to "Train up a child in the way he should go......." Pray for our new President~he needs it more than he realizes it~and we're commanded by God to do so. Barack Obama may be our new President, but Jesus is still our King!