The girls wore their Indian outfits that Gran made for them last year to Sunday night church. They were supposed to dress in their best Thanksgiving garb….they looked cute. I almost forgot until Molly said, “Mama, we are supposed to wear our Indian style.” (There is a whole ‘nother story here…Josh teaches our girls to say ‘indian style’ instead of ‘criss-cross-applesauce’ because the political correctness makes him CRAZY!!!!) Monday morning we were talking about how Sunday night went and Ruby said, “Mama,Mrs.Karen and Mrs. Terry were dressed like Pigworms.” I really didn’t get it at first, but then I realized she was saying PILGRIMS.
This past Thursday we took off for Augusta. It was a very fun trip, and we always feel like we don’t stay quite long enough to relax and enjoy everyone, but it was a fun time while we were there. There are seven grandkids now. The oldest is 4 and the youngest is 3 months or so. Crazy.
I do have a couple of funny stories thanks to Molly. Sweetie and PawPaw have two dogs–Spike and Julie. Molly says, “Spike is a good dog. Julie is a bad dog.” When we first get there she doesn’t like them, but then later in the visit she announces, “I like Spike and Julie now.” One night while Julie was sitting on my mom’s lap and Molly was standing close-by, she felt Julie’s paws and asked, “Why does her feet have teeth?” Very funny.
Then, my mom was running in the house to make sure she had blown all of her candles out so as not to burn the house down while we were gone. Molly asked, “Where is Sweetie going?” I said, “She is going to blow out her candles.” With a little excitement in her voice, Molly asked, “Is it her birthday?!”
Today is a lazy, rainy day. We are all still in our pajamas. First of all, we all start a little later on Thursday mornings because of how busy and late our Wednesday nights are at church. The rain and cold weather just encouraged us in our laziness. These kind of times are some of my favorite, and I am sure ones I will miss a lot as the kids get older. I was watching Mack walk around in his white onsie and white socks, happy as can be this morning…and I noticed his legs were getting longer and not quite as chubby. I am sure from the picture that this is hard to believe, but just trust me on this. The baby of our family is getting so big! Ruby keeps saying, “Mack is almost TWO, Mama.” While he has four more months of not being two, what she says is true (It also allows her to tell the world that she is almost five…in another six months). They are all so cute and so funny in their own unique ways.
This morning we played a game. Ruby is sooooo competitive. We really have to watch her. Molly is not so competitive. In fact, she has been heard saying, “How about we all can win?” Sounds good to me! One time Ruby ran up the stairs and hollered down, “I beat you, Molly, I beat you.” Molly yelled back, “I WASN’T RACING!!!!!!!!!” Back to the game–Molly said she was going to go first and that she would like to win. Ruby said, “Molly, whoever wins (pause) whoever wins.” She meant, whoever wins is the winner and you can’t claim to be the winner before we even play. Molly said again that she wanted to win. Ruby kept saying, “Whoever wins, whoever wins, Molly.” It was very funny to me and got even funnier when Ruby tried to have Molly repeat her. I suppose it didn’t seem to be getting through to Molly by just hearing Ruby say it.
I am also reminded of the time Ruby prayed before dinner. She had just learned to swing all by herself outside….”Dear God, Thank you for this wonderful day. And thank you for our food. And thank you that I can swing, even higher than my friend. Amen.” Oh my.
Just for the record, her competitive spirit does NOT come from me. I am the gal who rolls the bowling ball and then turns around before it hits the pins…my opinion is, WHO CARES! Josh, on the other hand……….
I (Jason) was sitting in my chair early this morning when I saw the blinking red light flash on my phone informing me I had just received an email. I picked it up and checked for messages. One was from a guy telling me how he could help me lose fat forever. The other one was from my mom. Today was the day she was scheduled to start chemotherapy.
As I sat there in my relatively comfortable but to be honest, messy room, I was having a difficult time praying and concentrating on God’s Word to see what He had to say to me. My mom, on the other hand, was probably not as comfortable, definitely had not slept as soundly as I, nor was her day ahead as carefree as mine, but she was having no difficulty focusing on and enjoying the presence of God.
As soon as I finished the last line of her email I took one of those quick, deep breaths that sound louder than you expected. I was amazed at the faith God had given her. Her email spoke of God’s goodness toward her. She had read Habakkuk this morning and quoted Habakkuk 3:18-19 which says, “I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He makes me to go on the heights.” Wow!
Here’s Mom’s prayer: “Lord, use this weak, and cracked vessel to do something, anything for you. Lord, I pray that You would be lifted up. Never let it be about me.”
Here’s my prayer for Mom: “Lord, thank you for my Mom. Thank you for taking such good care of her. You are causing her to look more and more like Your Son everyday. Thank You for being faithful to complete in her what you began in her all those years ago. May you draw her closer and closer to You. May people see her and be amazed at how great You are.”
It has been a long, long day. If the reason you “butt heads” with one of your children is because you are a lot like them, then I owe my parents a HUGE apology. OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!! That is all I can write today.
Today has been a great day. The girls each woke up on their own, which is so much better than Josh singing them awake with “Good Morning to You, Good Morning to You, Good Morning Little Ruby….Good Morning to You.” He usually hears, “Wake Molly up first!!!!” Anyway, everyone went to their Sunday School Classes and had a Bible Story. I picked up Mack today after church and walked up on him taking a play bus to his teacher because she was cleaning the room…what a good little helper!
On the ride home I asked Ruby what she learned about in class. She thought and said, “Um, Abraham and Anna…” She was quickly interrupted by Molly, “NOOO, it’s Abraham and SARAH.” Ruby replied so sweetly, “Oh yeah, Abraham and Sarah. I forgot that.” Then she said, “Yeah, Abraham and Sarah were old. Sarah had gray hair. Did Abraham have gray hair? UM, Sarah didn’t have any babies. And they traveled to a place they didn’t know where they were going.” Molly said, “Yeah, Mom, they trabulled to a place they didn’t know.” They told us a lot about what they learned.
Uncle Jason was here after we got home from church, and he ate chili and rice with us. He was then bombarded with the kids. They love it when he throws them around. Well, today they started telling jokes while he recorded them on his blackberry. These jokes are horrible….
Ruby made this one up: Knock, Knock. Who’s there? Pillow. Pillow Who? Pillow I’m gonna knock you in the head. (She was referring to knocking Molly in the head.)
Last quick story: After our Sunday afternoon naps, I got the girls a snack—a blueberry muffin and some cheetos—real healthy, right? Well, they were excited about the cheetos and were giggling with joy for them while I was still looking in the fridge for something I wanted. I pulled out a full-sized carrot. Just then, Ruby turned around and when she saw it, she said, “Woooaaaaa. That’s a really big cheet-o, Mom!!!!!” It was hilarious, yet sort of sad. Why didn’t my daughter know what carrot was? We don’t eat THAT bad.
We babysat and had a couple of girls spend the night over so that their folks could have an extended date. After much fun, we put a movie on upstairs and let them watch it all together. When I went back in the room, they were all asleep. Alex, the oldest, moved to the guest bed, and I let Faith and Molly sleep together. Molly ended up in our bed somehow and Ruby made several visits trying to get in….ANYWAY, the funny part is that early this morning when Ruby came in our room (I was already up), Molly rolled over and said, “Ruby, is the movie over?” Cute.
In the car today Ruby asked if she could hear one of her favorite songs…”Fire in my phone!” I laugh everytime she says that. Kristy Walker has a CD and on the CD there is a song that says, “There’s a fire in my bones, I’m not afraid to go alone, You’re all I need…” Fire in my bones, fire in my phone…what’s the difference?
And Molly’s favorite is “All I want for Christmas is my two White Teeth”….just glad that she does’t want gold teeth. Ha!
Ruby, Molly, and Mack have a GRAN (aka Josh’s mom). They love her lots. She plays with them so much when she is visiting us or when we are down at their home in South Georgia. She truly is one of the most self-less people I have ever known and watched. Last week we learned that she has cancer. I am sure to some extent it hasn’t sunk in for us. We are taking it day by day and trusting the Lord–knowing He is at work in and through all of our circumstances. She is a wonderful woman. Josh is a great husband greatly due to his PHENOMENAL parents. I am a recipient of her hard work and dedication because I get to be married to Josh. I shared with Josh just the other day that I was not sure how to pray. I mean, for many selfish reasons I want the Lord to heal her today and keep her from having to go through chemo or surgery or recovery of any kind. “Just make her all better, Lord.” Knowing God is sovereign and in control of this, I felt sort of selfish for praying that way…I don’t assume to know how He wants to work or why He wants to work in this way. So one second I pray, “Make her all better today!” and then the next second I say, “I know You know best and much better than me, so do whatever You want to do.” A friend of mine I ran into last week encouraged me to pray for whatever is on my heart. God already knows my thoughts and wants me to be completely open with Him. I am doing that, and I am also trusting wholeheartedly that the Lord has a perfect plan as we all go through this together. I heard a song called GRATITUDE again today. I love this song and now it has so much more meaning to me. I will include the words of the song below, and you can listen to them on the you tube video at the top….just put the video b/c I cannot figure out how to just add the song…
GRATITUDE
Send some rain, Would you send some rain? Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again. And the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade. Would you send a cloud? Thunder long and loud? Let the sky grow black and send some mercy down. Surely you can see that we are thirsty an afraid.
Or maybe not, not today. Maybe you’ll provide in other ways and if that’s the case, We’ll give thanks to you with gratitude for lessons learned in how to thirst for You, How to bless the very sun that warms our face if You never send us rain.
Daily bread, give us daily bread. Bless our bodies, keep our children fed. Fill our cups, then fill them up again tonight. Jesus, wrap us up and warm us through, tucked away beneath our sturdy roofs. Let us slumber safe from danger’s view this time
Or maybe not, not today. Maybe You’ll provide in others way and if that’s the case, We’ll give thanks to You with gratitude–a lesson learned to hunger after You, that a starry sky offers a better view if no roof is over head and if we never taste that bread.
Oh, the differences that often are between everything we want and what we really need.
So grant us peace, Jesus Grant us peace. Move our hearts to hear a single beat between alibies and enemies tonight.
Or maybe not, not today. Peace might be another world away and if that’s the case….We’ll give thanks to You with gratitude in lessons learned in how to trust in You, that we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream, in abundance or in need, and if you never grant us peace.
Today we stopped by a Used Car Lot for Josh to take a look at a few cars. Well, I stayed in the car with the kids who waited quite patiently and even slept a good bit of the time. Here are some of the pictures:
First of all let me say Happy Birthday to Jud! He turns 3 years old on the 10th and is having a party tonight in Augusta. I am so sad that we don’t get to be there for the fiesta, but I am sure he will have a great time. We lToday is Friday, and I love Fridays because I love being all together as a family. Josh is home at great times most every day, and he makes sure to spend his weekends with us. For some reason I think the weekend starts at lunch…I start calling Josh and asking how much longer until we get to see him. I am bad. Right now I cannot find my phone, so he may be feeling neglected. OR maybe he is actually getting things done at his office. ANYWAY, tonight we are going to a friend’s house (the Koesters) for dinner and dessert. Our kids play so great together, so I am looking forward to it. We will have two other kids with us, and they are coming home and spending the night with us so their parents can enjoy a date with no curfew.
Tomorrow we are getting our pictures taken by Coleen Verner. She is getting started in photography and is super talented. Check out littlebutterbeans.blogspot.com to see all of her talents displayed. I will post some pictures once we order them….that is, IF everyone cooperates and makes a great picture.
Lastly, let me just say that I am THANKFUL. Yesterday I got my washing machine fixed. I am thankful that I can wash clothes. The guy was in and out, yet it cost over $100; however, what a blessing that we could afford to pay him and that it wasn’t even more expensive. I am thankful for my kids. They are all healthy and have been for some time now. That is such a blessing. I am thankful for my husband who loves me, provides for us, and wants to hang out with us as much as he can. I am thankful for our home, our car, our extended family who we miss a lot because they are all hours away. I am thankful for my health. I just worked out on the treadmill. I really have to talk myself into it, but once I am on there and sweating….well, I feel so great, and I am just thankful for being able to run and walk and breath well and see and hear and do all the many things that I do in a day. Speaking of the many things I do in a day, I better go put the clean sheets on my bed, switch laundry, and get ready for our great weekend. HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!
The girls wore their Indian outfits that Gran made for them last year to Sunday night church. They were supposed to dress in their best Thanksgiving garb….they looked cute. I almost forgot until Molly said, “Mama, we are supposed to wear our Indian style.” (There is a whole ‘nother story here…Josh teaches our girls to say ‘indian style’ instead of ‘criss-cross-applesauce’ because the political correctness makes him CRAZY!!!!) Monday morning we were talking about how Sunday night went and Ruby said, “Mama,Mrs.Karen and Mrs. Terry were dressed like Pigworms.” I really didn’t get it at first, but then I realized she was saying PILGRIMS.
