my free moment

It's not often that I think about Sunday's talk all week long.   So when I do, I want to pass it along :)

Mark, at Grace Church, spoke about trust and obedience.
He said, "Our actions show what we believe".

We go into worship on Sundays and we sing about how great God is...... but then we act as though He is not.

"You act out of your real beliefs."

So this got me thinking.
Do I believe God to be good, as I declare in song each Sunday?
Thankfully, I do!

Do I act as though my God is as powerful as I claim Him to be?
I pray that my actions and the basis of my daily decisions reflect my belief that God is GOOD.... through eveything.
I believe that he has great plans for us.
I believe that He will provide.

Lord, help my thoughts and actions reflect who You are.

Seriously.  Please tell me that I'm not the only person on the planet that had a rough Mother's Day.
A quick glance at Facebook and it appears that everyone was spewing love and roses... enjoying lovely afternoons with their perfect, thoughtful, children...while reminiscing about their births, and taking gorgeous family photos.

My mother's day consisted of my children bumming money off of their grandmother to buy candy... for themselves.    
Not one of my own children wished me a happy mother's day.
Parts of my day made me flustered and sweaty.   In other moments, my kids ignored me, disobeyed me... and disrespected our friends.
I... or my son... broke my phone.  

Happy Mother's Day.

It's not that I expected anything different on this particular day.  But I think way down, deep inside of me, I kinda hoped that today would be a fun filled family day.   Kinda like the ones depicted on Facebook.
(and I realize that I hate to look at Facebook on holidays... because pretty much everyone ticks me off)

With that off of my chest, I have to admit that there were good parts of the day.
Singing at church.
Singing in my car.
Sharing a meal with my mother.
Having a campfire (thanks Lyn).
Hanging with my single mom friends.  
Enjoying the company of my Sunday night crew.
Watching a funny movie.

My friends are my life savers.  They let me vent, they encourage me, and they love my little family in spite of our dysfunction.     I am thankful for my friends who have made me, and my boys, a priority.   These folks are helping to keep me afloat.

At the end of the day... even today... I am immensely thankful.

p.s.  My kids went to bed happy.  And tomorrow is always a new day :)

After our adventures of having Matthew in our home, our house became a
 "Bed and Make-your-own breakfast" destination.  
Our spring break was packed with overnight visitors.... dear friends who needed a place to stay and/or were just coming to visit.    We housed adults, a two year old, and an old dog.  
I LOVE having company! Yet my hostessing qualities are null at best.    
My overlapping guests found themselves entertaining each other over breakfast ...while I was still asleep!   We have THE best friends who were able to make themselves at home.  I love that.

Before I knew it, we were back to school and work with the realization that summer is just around the corner.   I have less than three weeks left at preschool.  And my boys will be home in early June.  I am ecstatic, to put it mildly.

The change in seasons and the anticipation of summer has revived many thoughts of Thayer.  
Don't misunderstand..... I DO think about him throughout the year... all of the time.
But it seems as though the warm weather, the yard work and the sunnier days bring Thayer to the forefront of my mind.

Today I watched my boys mow and trim the yard.   This will be the first year that both boys will cut the grass, unassisted.  
I am thrilled.  
 I was so proud to see Lucas handle a weed eater.
Boys and their machines.   They make it look so easy!
Thayer would be proud.

I took Daniel for a hair cut today.    His barber, Alison, mentioned that Daniel had grown, and that he looked like his Dad.   I was touched that she even remembered what Thayer looked like.    Her comment made my afternoon.


Tonight we watched The Book Thief.   All spoilers aside.... geez.
Let's just say that it got me thinking about the 'bigger picture'.    Lucas was upset that I even let him watch the movie.   I talked with him afterwards about how our lives are pretty much like books.   Each event shapes and molds us.   Some of us have longer books than others.   My prayer is that Lucas and Daniel have long books, with many chapters, and happy endings.    These first chapters are just a part of their story.

Time continues to fly by.   I need to slow down and enjoy the read.