The Master Builder

Many years ago I was alone in the car driving a few hours to spend the weekend with my college sorority sisters. My husband was home with our three children, and I was free as a bird. I should of been singing as loudly as I could with the radio imagining the laughter of the weekend to come. Instead I was having one of those terrified-mother day dreams where I died in a car accident, and my children had to go on without me scarred for life.

(Please tell my I'm not the only self-centered psycho mom out there. You know you've imagined it and worse.)

In my self-induced, starring me, horror film, day dream I cried out to the Lord to protect me and my children. Surely the Lord wouldn't wish my children to be motherless. In that moment of heartfelt prayer I had one of the bigger "Aha" moments of my life.

If I were to die while my children were young, the Lord of Heaven and Earth has a much better plan for their lives than me.

(Uhhh...I think perhaps the Lord knocked a little sense into me and the drama out of me.)

In a moment, I went from a self-centered control freak Mom to realizing that God is completely in control of all aspects of my and my family's lives. If the absolutely worst thing I could imagine came true, God was still in control. Well, how about that?

As I pondered Psalm 127 this morning I remembered the large step of faith I took that day. I still remember that day as the day I gave my children back over to God and in the process began to seek and love the Lord with a more opened and greatly softened heart. I confess that my children had actually come before God in my life up to that point. That day I realized they were gifts from God, and what I had to do with them did not matter nearly as much as God's work with them. Psalm 127 says:

Unless the Lord builds the house,

its builders labor in vain.

Unless the Lord watches over the city,

the watchmen stand guard in vain.

The Lord has built my marriage and family. He is at the center of our lives. He has the blueprint and instruction manual. Once I gave up control and realized His love is the love that binds us together, our lives have been much more peaceful. There is no need to be fearful and to wait in terror for the shoe to drop. When troubles come, God is still in control. He's the master builder, and we're privileged to be a room in His mansion.

His walls are safe. His love is strong. I feel peace with God in control, and I can now sing loudly with the radio.

Twister Still Reigns

I think I can call Birdie's Birthday Sleepover a full blown success. I did not micro-manage the party or drive myself crazy with planning or Googling party ideas for days. That in itself was a major achievement. The girls squealed, ate pizza, laughed, squealed, had a superb scavenger hunt (pat on the back to me for that one), played more rounds of Twister than one could imagine, squealed until my ears bled, and fell asleep earlier than I ever did at a sleepover.

Dare I say, we'd do it again. And maybe next time she can have a sleepover without a birthday, just for a sleepover???

Hold on, I think my combination of coffee and sinus medicine is producing hallucinations. I should just enjoy surviving the party and the joy of knowing that birthdays only come once a year.

Birdie Bird Turns Nine

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby girl...and my sweet hunk of love hubby. Birdie Bird, you are truly a gift from God to us. You even arrived on your Dad's birthday. Your dad says he will be eternally 29 (only in his mind) because he gave up his birthday to you on the day you were born. We love you for so many reasons but here are 9 in honor of your 9th birthday

1. You made us laugh even at your birth. We named you *****, because it means happy and you make us very happy.


2. We love how you like to cuddle and will still wave your now long legs in the air at age 9.


3. We love how you would like play every sport you have ever heard mentioned. You love to spend hours outside trying out new things.


4. We love your imagination. You're never without a cast of characters at your beck and call.


5. We love to make Birdie Bird sandwiches.


6. We love how we hear you get out of bed and come to our room to say one more thing, even though we threaten you with all sorts of things to keep you in bed at night.


7. We love your determination. Although it drives us a little crazy at times, we know it will serve you well in life.


8. We are amazed at you love for writing.


9. We love your compassion and kindness for others.

May God fill your life with love and laughter and shower you with blessings all the days of your life.

For my dear love - I realize a little more each day that I didn't choose you to marry, but God chose you for me. I am blessed. I love you, admire you, and whole lot of other things you don't want written on a blog. Happy Birthday love of my life!

Best Valentine's Day Ever

We had a great Valentine's Day. Or super-Awesome as BooMama said here.

I'm not sure what rock I've been hiding under for all these years, but I totally never understood or even paid much attention to the whole sponsoring a child in another country idea. I'd heard about it, but I definitely had my heart on mute. Luckily we have a gracious God, who likes to give me multiple chances to pull my head out of the sand. Hallelujah!

Last night we had a true sappy family moment at our house that I hope I always remember. It didn't even involve cards and chocolate showered over me. It was our family crowding excitedly around a computer screen to watch a few videos of Uganda here and then trying to chose a child to sponsor. Which country? Who needs it the most? How do you pick?

We now sponsor Fred. I have always called my kids Fred as a nickname so that helped us decide. He's 10 and lives with his dad and five brothers and sisters in Uganda. He has a beautiful smile and is a child of God. His picture is on our refrigerator and prayers for he and his family are in our hearts.

If you don't already sponsor a child, think about it, pray about it, look at these sweet children here. There are children in India that have been waiting 6 months for a sponsor, like the little boy on this page.

I've received more joy from this simple act than any worldly present I've ever opened.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:3

For the Love of Laughter

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I was going to write something sappy and full of loving recollections, and then I read this.

You MUST, MUST, MUST go read it. Laughter and love go hand in hand in my book anyway. I laughed until my face hurt, and had to wipe away the tears of laughter to be able to finish reading.

Compassion International is in Uganda!

Compassion International has sent a team of 15 Christian bloggers to Uganda for a week. If you have some time please check out their blogs. I promise your heart will be touched. Mine has been changed. You can link to the entire list of bloggers here, just scroll down a little. Sophie, aka BooMama, and Shannon, aka Rocks In My Dryer, are bloggers I read everyday. I really enjoyed Ragamuffin's videos. I checked them all out yesterday, and I am impatiently waiting for today's updates.

I'm guilty of having blinders on to the poverty in our world.

For $32 a month a child's life is completely changed. Just $32 dollars. How many ways do I blow through $32 in a month? How many ways that do not change my life or enrich it?

Think about it. Make a list about it. PRAY about it.

I know many people that contribute to diverse organizations. I know our family does. However this has touched my heart and opened my eyes to the greater world.

One of Compassion International's goals is to sponsor 500 more children. Sponsoring a child helps his/her entire family. The child receives help with education, healthcare, social skills, and Christian training. I pray they exceed their goal.

I copied these pictures from Compassions Flickr page. I really hope that's legal. :)

This Is Where I Ramble on to Nonsense - Perfectly

Do you ever struggle with perfection? Or more aptly perfectionism? Anyone who knows me is probably laughing themselves silly with the thought of me struggling with perfectionism. I am the queen of "That's good enough!" "Close enough," and "Let's just move on." (Where do the commas go in that last sentence?)

Even in my tolerance of all mediocracy, and more importantly my drive to just finish as fast as possible, I occasionally get snagged by the perfectionism bug. I don't like it.

I recently said something quite inappropriate. Not in a crude way, but I was definitely unkind. When I called a friend to apologize and try to soothe my guilt she laughingly remarked, "You mean you're not perfect yet?"

God bless her.

I'm not perfect. Even when I try really, really hard. And you know what else, my family doesn't live the perfect life. I hope you know what the worst part of that is...concentrating on the imperfections. Letting the flaws in my life, relationshipsl, hair, complexion, conversations, home, timeliness, oh, enough already...

One of the greatest flaws could be letting the little things blind me from all the blessings in my life. Just because something isn't the perfect I dreamed it could be doesn't mean it's not the perfect thing for me. Waiting to live the perfect life when I'm perfect just isn't ever going to happen. There is no reason to hide out from the life I want to live.

Occasionally I need to remind myself of that little insight.

Raising Kids or Guiding Future Adults

I haven't been blogging lately, and truly have nothing important to say right now. Or maybe I do have some thoughts, but I don't have them straight in my mind yet. This post could be full of weeding, so beware!

I admitted to my prayer group yesterday that I have just realized that the children I'm raising will be adults one day.

Shocking isn't it. They actually grow up and leave home one day. Then someday they'll have their own families. Amazing.

It may take me another month or two to adjust to this new mindset. I've been working so hard to be a decent mom and have good children, that I have truly never seriously considered what kind of adults I'm raising.

People, I am scared. And I mean really, really scared. Maybe this is God teaching me a little humility. Prayerfully, this is God molding me into a better mother and example.

So that's what's been brewing in my "missing the completely obvious" brain lately. How my husband and I interact, how I relate to my children, what they see me do and say completely lays the ground work for their adult lives. It's not just about making sure they go to church, getting their homework done, making good grades, being kind to others, and being good kids. There's a bigger picture out there that I was too blind to see.

Did I tell you I was scared?

The good news is that I realized this. I pretty much have the assurance of God that He'll show me what to do since He let me in on this little secret that kids grow up. He's given me a husband that laughed out loud at my epiphany. He's surrounded me with a wonderful group of praying mothers that pray me through this. Most importantly, He meets me each morning to open my eyes a little bit more to see his glory in this world.

God is good, and I'm still the clueless wonder. Life makes me laugh.

Happy Birthday to my dear friend Tasha!!!!

I'm so glad she had a birthday, because I was able to celebrate with her at a beautiful party. I love going to a party. Good friends, good food, cake, maybe a little bubbly. :)

Birthdays are GOOOD!!!

God places very special people in our lives at times, and Tasha has been a special order friend for me. May God bless the next ??? years with many blessings, abundant love, and laughter everyday.