Ladies, Ladies…All the Ladies!!

Whew!  How long has it been since I’ve blogged.  My goodness…. and my apologies.  :)  Chris and I and our little three spent the weekend with some of our dear friends from Charleston and their kids at their mountain home in Murphy, NC.  AAAAHHH is all I can say about that.  It was just such a sweet time of fellowship and really “living life together”-ness.  Our children played beautifully together and I got my “girl time”, while Chris got his “man-time.”  It was just perfect.  Right now I’m waiting for my homemade Apple Butter to finish cooking so I can “can” it.  (We will see how THIS goes.. my first time.)  But what ELSE was I supposed to do with ALL of these apples that we got from our venture Apple Picking. (I really wanted to make an Apple Pie featured in Southern Living this month.. but I’m trying to keep the temptations at a minimum… so I figure apple butter was least fattening.  (I mean, I suppose I could just eat the apples as they are… but come on… you all know, those who know me.. I love to bake!)  Anyhoo, while I had a minute, I thought that I would include a little of my favorite highlights from our weekend…

1.  Kendall (9)..”Miss Jenny, if I lived at your house, you would never see Emma Faye.  She would be like my little baby.”

2.  Josh telling me all about what he and Garrett did outside…”And then, GGG…umm.. what’s his name again?”

3.  As Chris and I were walking down to the firepit to make s’mores Will, already down there, yells back at us… “Hey, Daddy and Mommy.. we are going to make Snores!!!!”

4.  Will roasting a Marshmallow…It’s presently on fire turning black… “YUM.. Now that’s what I’m talking about.”

5.  Will eating his s’more…” Mmmm…. Mmmm… mm,mm,mm.  I can do this, Mommy!!”

6.  Ansley (2) asking for her juice box..”Where my buice jock!”  (We all decided this sounded a little vulgar.  ha!)

7.  Watching Emma Faye’s (who LOVES balls) face light up when we arrived at the Apple Orchard and started yelling..”Ball!!  Ball!  Ball!!”  (She thought she was in ball heaven… all those trees were loaded with balls!)

8.  Watching Emma Faye eat an entire apple while we were picking them.

9.  Eating a homemade apple pie/turnover.  YUM!!!

10.  Listening to all four boys playing outside and just hearing lots of grunts.  (That’s what boys do, I suppose)

11.  Walking outside wondering where the boys were and suddenly seeing four little boy bottoms in a row… they were urinating over a retaining wall.  (that, too, something boys do?)

12.  Will sleeping until 9:45 one morning. (My sweet Will is just like his Mamma.. we LOVE our sleep!)

13.  Walking into the Boys’ Room and seeing Will, Gavin, and Garret all in the top bunk.  “We slept together, Mommy! Me and all of my friends!”

It was great– four adults, eight children.  These were only the few things that I can remember.  I just remember laughing a lot and feeling well-rested.  Thanks Matt and Amy.  Friendship–what a gift from the Lord.

I am absolutely loving this weather!  It has been gorgeous here in Birmingham this week.  I was driving the boys to school one morning and Will asked when he could go swimming again and I told him that it wasn’t summer anymore (this was Monday.. the first day of Fall); that it was Fall.  He sat a minute.  “But there are no leaves falling or turning colors.  Who decides that it’s Fall?”

(hmm… that’s a great question.  This child’s mind is ALWAYS turning.) 

“I suppose the people that make the calendar,”  I replied.  (I know.. that was a pathetic answer, but I don’t understand, nor did I want to delve into “equinox” -es and what-nots alike…send me your comments on what you would have said and I’ll apologize to him and give him a better one. :) 

However, this weather does have me thinking in terms of Spring verses Fall, simply because it’s still warm and there are still so many beautiful flowers blooming.  Any time I think of pruning, I can’t help but think about crepe myrtle trees.  I love them in their peek blooming season.  And I can’t help but see them as I read this verse.

Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.  John 15: 2

This is a very personal passage to me especially today- and really this week.  I’ve just been down over the actions of my children.  I’ve seen them fall prey to God’s enemy and I’ve watched them struggling to maintain some self-control.  I use the term “struggling” because I am beginning to see remorse in Will.  I know that God is working in their little hearts.  This week has been more about me hurting for them as they face their sin and the consequences of their actions, than really being frustrated and angered with their behavior.  Today, Will had an incredibly embarrassing meltdown at the park right in front of everyone.  I was the mother dragging her screaming child to the car–dragging my child and eating my humble pie all at the same time.  Just very frustrating.  But I read this verse today and I’m comforted.

I have read and studied this passage before.  I so often turn here when I need to be reminded of my need to stay in God’s word, but today I am resting on verse 2.  You know,  Christ promises that if we remain in Him, we will bear fruit.  While we are bearing fruit, He also wants us to bear more.  I see these beautiful crepe myrtles in the summer in all their lavender, white, and pink glory, yet wait until they are pruned.  Nothing pretty to look at by any means…but wait…wait until their next blooming season… ..even more beautiful than the season before.  I love to see the ones that have been well-taken care of…their branches not bowing over with blooms from mismanagement… but raised high in colorful arrangement.  It’s gorgeous and that is what Christ is doing in our lives.  I forget the part where we might not “look so good” as Will often says.  I want to rush through the pruning and skip right to the blooming.  However, my blooms wouldn’t be as beautiful.  As Christ has established His perfect timing in everything that He has created, so He works all things accordingly in Me.  God is using me to prune my children and He is using my children to prune me.  It’s perfect because He is perfect.  Right now, we are looking pretty ugly, :)… but He promises I WILL bear more fruit when I am remaining on His vine.  We are not promised to see it this side of Heaven, but my friends, it’s coming…. and it will be well worth the trim.

It’s 6am, now, and I’ve  been up since 5am…dealing with two little feet coming out of their room.  Who is that?  Need you ask?  Josh, of course.  I pray that God will use this child’s zeal for NO SLEEP for His kingdom and glory.  Seriously… the child just doesn’t need much and I made the mistake yesterday of letting him take a nap.  Chris and I have come to realize that Josh has a max sleep quota for a week and anything deleted or added to that will be evenly distributed over the course of that week.  (i.e.  if he sleeps two hours during the day, you better believe that he’s going to arise two hours earlier- it’s so annoying!)

 Ok, enough of my griping and complaining….

“I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me;

I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me.

I said, ‘Here am I, here am I, to a nation which did not call on My name.”  Isaiah 65:1

This is my prayer this morning for my heart, my children, and my husband.  I am praying I will be able to extend THIS kind of grace today.  The kind of grace that the Lord has extended to me.   Wow!  I so often keep records of my children’s behavior.  Sometimes, I find myself wanting to “give time” to the ones who aren’t “giving me issues”… to those who have been so compliant.  For instance, Will has been INCREDIBLY kind and selfless this week.  He really has been thinking for others.  He has been a GREAT help to ME and has been a servant, both patient and kind, to his brother and sister.  I fight my gravitation toward spend time with Will verses Josh right now.  Josh has been quite the opposite.  That is why, as a mother, I MUST stay in the word.  I must maintain some perspective…my sinful heart has NOT the capacity for grace without being in God’s word.  It’s just who I am… I’m telling you… I’m rotten to the core.  Thank you, Jesus for YOU!

So here I am this morning.  I’m camped in Isaiah.  I’m stationed on Grace.  Christ allowed himself to be found by me when I wasn’t even looking for him.  That is amazing.  How will I teach my children about Christ, if I can’t even demonstrate before their very eyes THIS kind of grace, unconditional love, and mercy?  It is SO true that being a “doer” of the word is so much more powerful than just being a “speaker” of the Word.  I want to be a “doer.”  I am praying to be a “doer” today.  May we all jump into His word today and embrace all He has to teach us.  Open our hearts, our eyes, and our minds to the knowledge of you, Lord.  May today be another day in our process of knowing you more.

“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”  John 17:3

(I think Josh finally went back to sleep.  I can’t wait to greet my little energy boy with a ‘good morning’ hug.)

Question 8: How doth God execute his decrees?
Answer: God executeth his decrees in the works of creation and providence.

 There really is nothing that I can say.  I think the pictures say it all.  We had an amazing time and made a memory.  I am looking forward to these times.  I can’t wait for our baby girl to join us next time–it certainly wasn’t the same without her.  But, I couldn’t have asked for a more blessed time.  I don’t know what it is…that place is magical.  We took our hits getting down there…but it was ALL worth it.  And that makes me think about life in general… especially life with small kids.  Yes, we are taking our hits… we are tired… we don’t have much time for ourselves…  we don’t have much time to hang out with our friends… but it’s SO worth it as you look back at all of your memories.  So.. open up a photo album and be reminded of your blessings.  I’m going to keep looking back at this blog post on my difficult days in the near future.  Lord, may I never forget that I am living amidst blessing upon blessing.