Another Big Weekend

I think, in a way, our life is in a sort of rut...we keep having one big, incredible weekend after another! I guess if we have to be in a rut of any sort, I would prefer this kind of rut - it definitely keeps things exciting! Darrel and I and the FUNatics spent Saturday at the city park running a food stand for the 150th anniversary of Barton County. It was very hot and not a lot of profit for our group, but as always when the FUNatics get together, a great time! The guys from the Rev 375 band showed up with their guitars and djembes and we all sat around singing and laughing while the kids ran their legs off playing. We started around 10 in the morning and were totally wiped out by the time the fireworks started at 9:45pm. We had so much good help, and although the kids were absolutely sick from all the cotton candy and running, it was worth it just to have the time with great people. Yesterday we catered a housewarming/open house party for our doctor. We did hors'deovres like meatballs and marinara, crab dip, brushetta with herbed cream cheese, salsa, guacamole, cookies, fruit - lots of yummy stuff! Then we went to Pittsburg with Doug, Brian, & DeAnn to eat at Chicken Mary's. Such good times there as well... To end our weekend, early this morning we woke up to the sounds of sirens and flashing lights to find our backyard neighbors having a small fire in their screened-in sun porch. We were so relieved that it wasn't the whole house and that everyone got out ok. I think we finally got to sleep around 5:30am. God is so awesome - He is watching out for us so carefully! There was minimal damage to the inside of their house, and we can thank Him for His loving care for us! So this afternoon, the kids and I are going to the pool and just relax!

I wanted to post today about several thoughts that have been going through my mind this weekend. The first is how wonderful it is to have good friends! This weekend God brought several wonderful friends into my life to encourage me and to carry me through a hard time in my life. I was so down this last week due to some situations where someone I trusted with my very heart let me down. I was tempted to give up on everything in my life. Somehow I found myself online chatting with DeAnn (by the way, her blog is excellent - www.mustardseedmusings.blogspot.com ) and without asking too many questions, she just simply prayed for me. Later I found out that her prayer was that God would send me a friend that day to lift me up. Well, here came one of my girls from the FUNatics that afternoon talking me into going to the pool with her and her kids - NOT what I wanted to do, but ordained by God. Not only was that an encouragement, but there at the pool was my best friend, Jill, who let me cry on her shoulder (again something I DON'T like to do). By the end of the day I was on my way to getting over this slump. Then yesterday evening I had the awesome chance to visit with another wonderful lady who I consider one of my best friends in the Lord as well, Debbie. She has encouraged me so much over the last few years to keep going when I feel like I can't do it anymore. Good friends are a must in this life - and I am finding that in order to get these good friends into my life, I have to first reach out and be a good friend as well as reach out and ask for help sometimes.

When I think about this week and the hurt I felt down to the very core of my being, I am in awe of how in the midst of it all I hear the Holy Spirit nudging me to put myself out there again - to trust - to be vulnerable - to love. It's hard to do that when you are absolutely sure you are going to get blindsided again - to be "thrown under the bus" so to speak. I can't say I've done it to the fullest, but I have made steps in the last few days to melt the coldness I let sneak over my heart. Mainly because I find when I shut my heart off to others, I really shut my heart off towards God. It's hard to trust what we cannot see - we are blessed when we do. Allison Krauss sings a song that says, "I do believe, but help my unbelief..." That is my constant cry.

Lastly, I had a conversation with a friend recently about fathers and mothers. I thought about my children and how blessed I am to be with them 24-7. (I know, I know - those who know me are gasping right now...) It is a blessing and I am so fortunate to be able to stay home with them and teach them - many mothers would give their eye teeth to be able to do it. Yes, sometimes they get on my nerves - but sometimes I get on their nerves too! I love it that they have the freedom to come to me and tell me what's on their hearts. It is a privilage right now that I think won't last forever. I get to hear their spontaneous hopes and dreams and fears and jokes and random musings. It is awesome. I hate it that Darrel misses out on that sometimes. I want him to have that relationship with them too. I thought about my growing up years and realized that above all else, that kind of freedom was what I wanted. Freedom to be myself and share what was inside of me with my parents. But as with so many, I found myself retreating instead to a place that I perceived as safe. We all do it. We lose that spontaneous freedom to be ourselves to the many pressures and stresses of life. Hurtful things are said, betrayals happen, and we retreat. I want to encourage you today if you are a parent - find that place of open honesty with your kids. It starts with you being open and honest with them first! Let them ramble on and on - it's in those ramblings that God has shown me who they will be someday. Don't work so much that you miss these tender years of their heart. Don't be too busy... don't be too preoccupied...don't be too obscessed with perfection. It was a sad scene at Kelsey's last softball game - a couple of parents railing at their daughters to basically be professionals at the age of 9. Wow, I heard the comment, "THIS IS IMPORTANT - NOW QUIT SMILING AND FOCUS!" How stupid (pardon my bluntness). Was that softball game really that important? Was it worth tearing down her self-esteem and throwing fun out the window? Will anyone really remember what the score was, or whether or not someone struck out, or whether the pitcher walked someone? How ridiculous we become sometimes in pursuit of living out our own dashed dreams through our children. Do we really think we will hear those spontaneous hopes and dreams and musings from our children after we have exploded all over them either privately or publicly? No, we will not - they will retreat. I wonder if that dad will ever know the real seriousness of that whole situation. I wonder if he will ever look out and realize that in the eternal scheme of things, one softball game is not important enough to kill a child's spirit. People all around us dying spiritually and then going into eternity without Jesus Christ - now that's important. Teaching our children to hide the word of God in their hearts and to be light in the darkness - now that's important. Pitching technique? Whatever... We miss so much - as parents in this dark world, let's wake up to what's going on and reconnect with our kids and with what's important to God.

Check out Brian's blog too - www.shakenfree.blogspot.com They are such talented writers! Hopefully by the end of this week I will have figured out how to put links on this thing. Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by.