Merry Christmas

Emmanuel. God with us. 

  In the middle of our traditions. Under our trees. Behind our smiles and within our reach. Giving good gifts. The best gifts. The “from above” gifts that aren’t bought in stores. 

God with us.
  Unwrapping His great heart and giving us gifts of family and beauty and people who love us even in our imperfection.  

  When the tree is crooked and the flour is in our hair and the paper bits leave a trail through the house. 

God with us.   Loving us even when we’re distracted with christmas.      

    Christ in the midst of our mess and making it the most wonderful.

 Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Eldon’s First Birthday Party

It’s true. Just a few posts back I was showing his nursery. Now I’m showing his first birthday. That, my friends, is just kind of how this first year has gone.

I blinked.

Yes.

 
He’s my “Yes” child.

Not that the Pickle was a “no” child. She was a faith child. An “okay God… You’re nuts, but whatever you say” child.

His arrival was not that clear. Not that expected.

He was that quiet whisper on a cold winter night. God asked, “Will you trust me?” And all we could answer was “Yes.”

And now he is our yes.

He’s having trouble sleeping, should I just keep him with me?

Yes.

He doesn’t like solid food. Do you think he’ll like a nibble of birthday cake?

Yes.

He seems to be wide awake… Should we let him stay up longer until he’s tired?

Yes.

He wakes me up three times a night. Should I keep going in to him?

Yes.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Yes, I will cuddle him and squeeze him and kiss his face.

Yes, I will help him find comfort when he is distraught (even if ‘comfort’ is a paci)

Yes, I will pick him up when he crawls to me and climbs up my leg and smiles.

Yes, I will hold him while I get dinner ready, if for no other reason than to save my own sanity from his crying.

Yes. 

And in the middle of the night when I’m pushed past my breaking point or late in the day when I can’t move a muscle and I have kids climbing all over me…

Even then I find myself gazing at him – so perfect and beautiful – and I say yes. 

Yes. Yes. Yes, Baby Boy.

Sometimes I Regret Having Children

Shared my heart on the Knoxville Moms Blog today.

It’s been a rough year. So much pain and suffering in the world, so much darkness, so much sadness. And sometimes I just can’t even turn on the news.

And then I look at my children. And the knowledge that they will grow up in this world, quite possibly an even darker version of this world than even we have known, is too much to bear. BUT…

But I put my hope in Christ. And I know this world was never meant to be our home and there is no peace and no light apart from Him. And I look at these precious little ones who I would give my life for…

and I am so thankful that He already has.

Click to read.

12 Years.

It’s no secret that we were all touched that day.  In some way.  Either someone we knew.  Some experience we’d had.  Something about that moment.  Something about where we were.  Some how.  Some way.  This day has sunk into our bones.  Etched itself on our hearts.  Carved an image in our brains.

What I find amazing is that every year I hear a new story.  A new perspective.  A new ache.

Every year I learn how this day impacted someone else.  Whether it was someone they lost.  Someone they knew.  A place they were.  How it changed their life.

It’s not the single event.  It’s the billions of events that we all shared together.

Like the day Pearl Harbor was bombed.  Or the day JFK was shot.  This is our generation’s uniting moment- when the whole world stopped and watched the towers burn.

And each year we open the door again and again and let the stories in.  And let ourselves remember.

So tell your story.  Let it rise to the top.  Let it change your life… again.

We need your piece of the puzzle.

It reminds us how small.  How fragile.  How weak we really are.  And it reminds us how desperately we need each other.

I pray we never forget, but I also pray that we as a people will honor this day by being stronger, more united, and more humble than ever before.

Supermom

Do you ever have those days (or portions of days… Or moments) where you pat yourself on the back and say, “Yeah… Good work. You nailed that!”

Well, tonight I had one of those nights. Remember, we’ve been off the radar for three and a half weeks. I’m lucky my child is even wearing clothes. So this is our first week back. I’ve loaded our schedule. I’m dying to catch up with people and life and showering. So when my mom’s group planned a dessert tonight to celebrate my belated birthday, NOTHING was going to stop me.

This means that around 5pm I kicked it in high gear.

I got on making dinner. I picked up the house. My husband walked in, to our daughter’s delight. I let him shower and do homework. I interpreted the Pickle’s desperate cry for crackers and successfully delivered. (there aren’t enough sounds in the English language to describe the ridiculous word she uses for crackers, so this was a feat!) I fed my family supper – AT the table! Taught the Pickle how to use chopsticks. (cleaned up the floor after teaching said Pickle how to use chopsticks) Then I cleaned up the entire kitchen AND washed the dishes. Took the Pickle up for her bath. During which, I got ready and did my hair and put on just a tiny tiny TINY bit of makeup. PJ’d & diapered the child before taking her down to her daddy. Kissed them both goodbye and proudly made it to mom’s night out with plenty of time to spare.

Speaking for supermoms everywhere… I think I deserved it.

Now as I pass out for 2 hours until the kid wakes me at 1am…

Amen for the supermom in all of us, even when we don’t think it’s true. All it takes is the right motivation sometimes. And believe me, a giant chocolate chip cookie and 7 amazing, funny, real friends are all I need to get the fire going.

I vote we have mom’s night out every night.

Happy 4th of July!

“Live as FREE people, but do not use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.  Live as servants of God.” -1 Peter 2:16

While I Was Out: Pink Chevron Pouf

While I wasn’t blogging, I was doing some really fun, crafty things.  This was by far one of my favorite.  Perhaps someday it will be used in a reading nook for the Pickle.  For now she occasionally jumps on it and drags it around.  I’m pretty much in love with it, and it wasn’t hard at all!

Completely inspired by the tutorial here.

Directed by Pinterest, of course.

And made possible by a New Year’s trip to Charlotte where I got to spend an hour in this lovely place with my even lovelier sisinlaw.

Two yards of 54″ hot pink Chevron duck for $8?  Oh… ok.

Did I mention this oh-so-adorable pouf only takes a yard of fabric, one package of piping, and a small nation’s supply of poly-fill?