March 27th, 2006
the critters that i thought i had conquered… i had not. they just went dormant whilst they were becoming flies. yeah. flies. the critter that was in the wall scratching, and then departed this world… that critter is still having a good laugh on us. we’re talkin’ over 2 months of this critter plaguing us and he ain’t been alive for the last 30 days. i went on a fly genocide mission this morning. 22 and counting. i will win this war.
onto other less gross things… i signed my oldest up for t-ball today. i will soon become “that” mom. the one that can’t serve others as much because she always has to run somebody to practice or games or something else. but, don’t get me wrong, i’m so excited about being that mom. and he’s so excited about being that big boy. here’s to new chapters, i say!
also rather noteworthy in the parker house… drum roll, please….. we have bought a tv and dish network is supposed to hook us up wednesday. ohmygosh, we have arrived to the all-american dream. cell phones, a job, dsl, tv, satellite, cordless phones, a home of our own, watch out, world, we’re schemin’ even now to get a minivan. we’re livin’ in a world of comfort. may we never forget where we’ve been and how good we have it. we did the budget last night and i got concerned about how much we have left over each week for food and entertainment after all is paid. did you catch that? let me break it down… after all is paid. i was worried about how much we had for entertainment each week. and then i realized where God has delivered us to and i said, please don’t let me get to the more, more, more state of mind. good grief, by the time this year is up, forget chapters, i’ll have a whole new book. what WILL we do with ourselves?
once again, a toast. to comebacks. (to ours, not the critters buzzing about.) and to the King who made it all possible.
March 21st, 2006
(originally published March 20, 2006)
rain, rain go away, come again another day. 3 days into the constant downpour and i think i may very well lose my mind. my boys were literally climbing the walls today. hence, the reason they are already in the bed and have already lost both be-quiet incentive treats for the morning. now they’re workin’ on the light sabers. light sabers gone. now we’re workin’ on losing star wars characters. argh! the day, control-wise for me was good, though. no screaming. no spanking. just tolerance, time-outs, and loss of privs. i can tell you, though, another day or two like this and the post won’t be so positive. i’m having a hard time forming any coherent thoughts due to the boys (still going strong) and my girl, who is kinda clingy tonight. so i guess i’m just posting out of discipline again. which is better than nothing, i suppose. oh, by the way, my girl walked yesterday! about 3 feet. awesome! and i registered my oldest for kindergarten friday. did i mention that in my last post? i don’t know. kinda monumental. i’m excited for him. and i’m excited about more focused time on my other two. but i’m a little shocked at how we got here. how do i have an almost kindergartener? oh, and i’m gonna register him for t-ball this week, hopefully. fun times ahead. it’s just that i know i’m entering a whole new chapter of my life. i’m leaving the toddler/pre-school years behind. and i’ve had just enough chapter closings to recognize the feeling of “something big” in my soul. do you know what i mean? it’s the same feeling i had graduation night. the same one the night i was talking with jill before i got married the next day. the same feeling i had driving to little rock to have my first baby. the same one i had moving to my parents’ house. it’s a surreal, stomach-turning, and yet, exciting feeling. and always accompanied by more than a little sadness. each time i thought, “i don’t know about this” and each time it’s been an even better chapter than the last. but, boy, turning that page is so hard. what is it that makes us so stuck? ah, the familiarity…speaking of ahs… there is silence now from the boys’ room. and i think my girl may go not long from now. and i may sit on the couch and mend mamaw’s quilt listening to the rain. and somehow, i’ll miss hearing the kids fuss. and i know it won’t be long from now that i’ll actually miss being cooped up with 3 wild little monkeys. it’s tough loving ‘em so much, isn’t it?
March 18th, 2006
first off, it’s been forever. i know this, man. i’m sorry. so much for discipline. however, to place blame elsewhere… i can rarely get to the computer for My Honey. he is ALWAYS on the computer. then at about midnight, when i’m exhausted and heading to bed he says, “hey, you wanna post?’ are you kidding me? oh, well, i love him just the way he is. anyway, now he’s napping on the couch and the boys are playing star wars so i’m stealing a minute.
second of all, please go read his current post on star wars and love. no, really. right now. and then come back and pick up where you were.
as usual, i couldn’t say it any better. they are amazing people. with an amazing lesson. side note – jeff, OUR PASTOR – said, “forget the morality, go straight to e-bay.” is it just my wrong attitude tonight, or am i the only one in my right mind? but again, i digress. i keep thinking i wish my boys really understood the kind of gift kenney and elizebeth gave to them. i think, someday they’ll get this. they’ll really know how much these friends of their parents gave to a 2 and a 4 year old boy. right now, it’s cool and all, but they’re not really appreciating what they have. how many would love to have what they have? so, by now you know where i’m going with this, right? it sounds so canned and cheesy. but it’s true. it’s like the time when we got a speeding ticket 3 days before our first was born. broke. as always. and we walk in from the hospital with our new baby and on our coffee table is our ticket with the words “paid in full” written by my honey’s parents. i was floored. and thankful. and realized God had used them to teach me about Jesus’ sacrifice. and so it is with our boys. they don’t know the complete love and generosity that our friends showed them by giving them so much. and i can only try to explain it, but i know, someday they’ll realize it on their own and it will mean so much more. we can only get a glimpse of what Christ has done for us. we don’t see the true reality, but we will.
third, my parents took the whole fam out for dinner last night for my birthday. not a small price for a family of 5. not to mention the patience it requires to take 3 children under 5 to a restaurant. thanks a million it was a great time.
fourth, the dryer is still not fixed and as i was driving to the laundromat with 8 loads of wet laundry, grumbling, i thought, where is the good? when i got there i saw a lady with her young son there. they didn’t look new to the drill. i know how hard it is to go there with children and most likely she does this all the time. thank you, Lord, for letting this be a passing season. and please bless that mother that looked tired. got back in the car to run over to the church and noticed my car smelled amazing. wow! no, it’s still the junk mobile, but since God blessed me with a reprieve in our normal laundry doings my car now smells like freshly clean clothes. aaahhh. thank you, Father for the little things that are so big.
fifth, i won the critter war! i knew i would! they’re gone. as is the smell. thank you, Father, for the big things that are huge to me!
sixth, i got the sewing machine working last night and i already made curtains for the bathroom and pillows for the boys. and i have about a million projects in the wings. oooh, i’m so excited! i can’t wait to get knee-deep in all of ‘em! thank you, God for fun stuff!
seventh, i’m in awe at the amount and quality of my friends. it’s an incredible blessing. 2 years ago i had no one. truly. and now look at these amazing people. it’s all God. thank you, for blessing me abundantly with them.
eighth, my dad and i have had real conversations lately. it’s good. i feel like we’ve shared more in 2 weeks than we have ever. it’s so good. thank you, Father, for my daddy. and for all the changes in him. thank you for hearing my cry.
i must go now, my children need a mama not neglecting them for a computer screen. my oath to discipline or not. they need to play star wars. and i do too.
thank you, Father for always being willing to play with me.
March 12th, 2006
my oldest again. man, he’s really been bringing me to my knees lately with his observations. he has such a new awareness of the world right now. and it’s so optimistic.
sometimes, just when you’re thinking you’re not doing that great as a parent, God will go and encourage you to keep on.
last night, when i walked the boys into their room for bedtime my middlest boy crawled into the bed and said, ” i tared (scared). Word (Lord), when i am atared (afraid/scared) i will trut (trust) in you.” wow. not only does he know he should say the verse we’ve taught them when he’s scared, he remembered the verse. wow.
and at the same time, i told my oldest he couldn’t take a new little toy to bed because i was afraid he might choke on it. reluctantly, he said okay. after teeth brushing, pottying, reading, he stopped in the hall with a not good face and handed me the toy and said, “i have this.” i was so glad. he’s hearing his conscience/Holy Spirit whispering to his heart. and he listened. and he obeyed. he acted against his sin nature. wow. this is the first time i’ve seen this happen in his little life. when i talked with him about it being God that he heard he just beamed. i’m suddenly excited about watching this relationship between my sweet boy and his creator bloom for the rest of his life. God is so good. to let these things happen and to let us see them. thank you, Father. your mercies are new.
my middlest, last week, again at bedtime, “mama, i’m tared.” mama- “what are you scared of, sweetie?” my middlest - “i’m tared of you not being in here.” mama – “here, i’ll lay with you darlin’.” how could i resist? just how long are they this little? this sweet? thank you, Lord for letting me experience this. these are a few of the reasons i love having children. they’ve taught me so much about myself, about sacrifice, and love, and servitude with joy, about my relationship with my Father. and the Lord has used them to answer so many of my prayers (for the fruit of the spirit to be evident in my life, to be more patient…) these are a few of the reasons i keep doing this. i love kids. they’re not perfect, or easy, or neatly tied up packages. but as someone in a very wise moment once told my husband, “ministry is messy sometimes, isn’t it?” and ain’t it grand? i love this kind of day.
March 11th, 2006
this is what woke me this morning. it’s so my oldest. he’s my immediate-wake-up, happy-about-the-world, and glad-to-be-in-it first-thing-in-the-morning child. whoosh, my middlest’s my crier. he’s so his daddy - late nighter, hates waking up. my oldest’s so me. all the way around. good points to both, but i think the second born will have a little easier time at life, except first thing in the morning. (i hear he gets this from his nana, “don’t talk, don’t talk”).
my brain and heart are really not into this right now, but i wanted to blog for discipline’s sake. and because i constantly check everybody else’s and grumble when there’s nothing new, so i figured, maybe everybody else does this with mine. so this is for you blog lurker’s (stolen from jeff) that find great joy, like me, when there’s a new title under the blog name.
man, what is my deal tonight? i just read back over what i had written and realized i’m rambling with sentences as long as Paul’s in Corinthians. and yet, they are still somehow fragments. i must stop. and face the fact that if it’s after 2pm and the second wind hasn’t kicked in at 10pm yet then my brain is just fragmented. and mush. must veg until i get an adult brain in just over an hour.
by the way, if you haven’t noticed it yet, i’ve added a few new blog links. check ‘em out and let ‘em know you checked ‘em out. especially mandy. she thinks nobody will read her’s. to that, i say, “pbbbthhh.”
coming full circle, my oldest had something this morning. he meant that everything was lit up outside, therefore he had permission to wake everybody. but the verse about His mercies being new every morning has really been on my mind lately. how awesome the words from my 4 year old. how apt.
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