in need of grace...

Last week we got to hang out with two of our favorite people in the world, like grown-ups get to do sometimes. It had been too long since our last visit, and I was so looking forward to it. But the day before our big double date, I just started feeling like a giant GRUMP. You know the feeling. Blah. Yuck-o. Just wanna curl up and eat chocolate ice cream in my big comfy chair. That feeling that I should know so well by now, the one that signals something about to start soon (AHEM), but for some reason I still get surprised by it, like it hasn't happened every month since I was 13, excepting only the blessed relief that pregnancy & nursing provides...

Anyhow, there I was. Out with two of our favorites. And all I wanted to do was go to sleep, and be alone.... Now of course, being the ridiculous southern girl that I am, I still was determined to keep up appearances, and not be a flake, because it had been too long since we had seen our dear ones, and if I missed the opportunity, it would be even longer before another visit. So I went. I think I was probably a lump. I've blocked out most of it (as I do most times I'm in moods like that), but I remember a story! A lovely story that has stuck with me all week, that won't let go:

J & S had just returned from a mission to New York City, where they got to work with dear, dear Tom B. and his ministry to the homeless. At one point, they were at a park (or something like that), handing out free food - soup and things like that, as well as canned goods. J was in charge of the canned goods. 2 cans per person. So that the line doesn't back up, J is randomly handing out cans, and not taking requests. A woman wants something specific, not what she's been given, and starts digging for what she wants. J kindly says, "Sorry, no can do...", and she THROWS the cans back at him, or at the box, or somewhere, the emphasis being on the throwing. And J says that right then, right there, he was reminded of grace.

Grace isn't about kindness toward the lovely...it's about kindness toward the unlovely. Toward the ones who throw FREE cans of food back in your face. About Christ, loving me, even when I throw cans (or goodness, or kindness, or blessing, or whatever He's lavishing upon me) right back in His face, and walk away in a huff. J put it much more eloquently than I can here, but it was a great reminder for me, to not scorn grace, and to remember that I need to be one who will generously heap grace on those I encounter, even those who might throw it back in my face.

So I'm glad for the reminder. That our dear ones deal with me even when I do little more than make Chewbacca noises, that their door will continue to be open. That the Savior continues to lavish grace, day after day, even when I can't see it for what it is.

heaven & bat-sism

Poor pumpkins. With seminary grads for parents, any semi-theological question they ask gets over-analyzed and probably over-answered, and inevitably a little jumbled in their brains...

Chapter 1: Friday morning on the way to another lovely visit with Miss Bernice, Miss K piped up from the back, "Where does God live?" Naturally, honey and I started salivating over such a ripe question, and dove right in. The conversation progressed to the subject of heaven, with a summary statement from Miss K, "Well, I want to be in heaven, too!" More salivating, more questions (Will you be there? Will our house be there?), more answers (Yes, baby, and so will all people who believe that Jesus died on the cross for their sin and rose from the dead; No baby, Jesus is preparing a much more wonderful place for those who are His), and finally an encouragement from her daddy to pray. Then that precious little pumpkin, who typically won't even close her eyes for the blessing before a meal, actually BOWED her head, CLOSED her eyes, and FOLDED her sweet little hands and whispered a prayer to the Father. It lasted like a minute-and-a-half! We couldn't understand what she was saying, but she was so earnest. We know she doesn't understand sin yet, but we hope that this a glimpse of an answer to a prayer we've prayed for her longer than she's been alive: that He would draw her to Himself.

Chapter 2: Tonight our church celebrated baptism (YAAAY! I love baptism service...there's something just so teachable about dunking people in water, and I also love the Lord's Supper because the same is true of eating & drinking...sometimes I think we just make stuff too hard, but there's Jesus, playing with water, and handing out bread & wine, and talking about things like light, and farmers, and weddings! Beautiful! But I digress....). Since we aren't in our new building yet, we had the service at a local mini-water-park, and had some good play time before and after the baptism. It was the pumpkins' first look at a baptism, and we tried to explain, at least to Miss K, what was going to happen. As we were watching (and trying our best to keep Miss MA quiet and out of the pool), Miss K kept asking me where the bats were. Huh? Bats? She thought we were at a "bat-sism," so obviously bats were part of the action. She was mildly interested in the folks getting dunked, but I think would have been much happier if bats had somehow been involved.

too much of a good thing?

Friday was a marathon for us - we started out just meaning to pay a visit to the main branch of the Dallas Public Library, for preschool story time, but wound up spending the entire day downtown, with visits to the Farmer's Market, the Dallas World Aquarium (honey asked for a membership for Father's Day), Fountain Place, and the Dallas Museum of Art, where Erykah Badu was performing a free outdoor concert. SHEESH. It was a long day. Every single thing on that list is amazing, loads of fun, and incredibly entertaining, but all rolled into one day made for a rotten attitude on my part - I was a major crabapple by 9 pm, when we were staring at some rather large bottoms that had planted themselves in front of us five minutes after the Erykah Badu concert started (we were seated, they found standing room in front of us...thoughtful, huh?).

So it was a lesson for me to trust my instincts - when honey suggested making a marathon of the outing that was only meant to be a couple of hours long, something inside me said, "Yeah, not so much for me, thanks," but, in the spirit of trying something different, I squelched that voice and went for it. I'm NOT blaming honey at all. He's an extrovert - he gets charged up by being around people, in energetic settings. I'm an introvert - I get charged up with my alone time. Not that I don't like being around people, but, I have my limits, and I trampled them on Friday. SO, a lesson in listening to myself. Not being selfish & unmovable, mind you, because it's good & healthy to stretch myself. But just part of knowing my boundaries, and sticking firm when I know that too much of a good thing will undoubtedly make me miserable.

Although...we did see our sweet friends Julie & Maria at the concert, which wouldn't have happened if we hadn't gone....so there are always blessings to be found, even when things aren't quite what you'd like them to be, right? Lord, balance is so hard to find...but You continually bless us, even when we're not expecting it. Thank You!

barefoot in the grass, with cupcakes

Last night my sis & I went to a "concert in the gardens" event in Fort Worth at the Botanical Gardens, where we got to see Patty Griffin perform while we ate a yummy dinner from Central Market. It was delightful! There's just something about having the grass tickle your toes while you listen to one of your favorite artists, plus Central Market buttercream icing, that makes an evening pretty darn near perfect.

In case you haven't heard Patty Griffin, I'd highly recommend you take a listen (this link is to her first album, Living With Ghosts, released in 1996). Something about her music just stirs me (I don't remember who introduced me to her music, but it was back in my early seminary days, and I still absolutely love every single song on that first album. Be warned! It's not a jolly album. It's reflective and realistic about how hard things can be, particularly relationships). The concert last night inspired me to be sure to collect more of her music this summer, because she has just continued to develop her style beautifully over the last ten years!

whatcha readin?

Spoken like a true Texan...

OK, girls, one of my favorite summertime activities is just curling up with a GOOD book. I prefer fiction to nonfiction (I find that since graduating from seminary, my brain can't handle too much smarty-pants type info), but I will attempt nonfiction if it comes highly recommended. So, any recommendations?

summertime!

Today marks the start of the summer season for our little family, because we made our first visit to our favorite summer treat place, Ham's Orchard. It's a great little farmer's market in Terrell, and they not only sell incredibly delicious peaches (and any other fruit & veggie you can think of), but also homemade peach & strawberry ice cream, and this year they've added fudge! We stopped on the way home from mom & dad's and picked up a watermelon and a bag of peaches. Plan to go back later this week to get the pumpkins some ice cream. Yea for summer!!

Road Trip - 1, Shannon - 0

Happy day, we are back in Texas! We made it to my parents' house yesterday around 5, and we are all very relieved to get a break from marathon driving. The girls did great, considering that we locked them in their carseats for 5 out of the past 11 days!

The girls' favorite diversions from their trapped state:
1) Cinderella and Charlie & Lola, #3. We got both of these specifically to help the time in the car pass, and they worked like charms (the car adapter for the computer was a wonderful idea, Susan!). Chris and I got sick of hearing "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" though.
2) Washable markers used as body art. At the end of each of our 5 driving days, the girls both looked like they had strange skin conditions, thanks to the "tattoos" they gave themselves (they loved it though, Rae! Great idea).
3) Snacks. Of every sort, especially on the way back, once we had a goodie box from the girls grandma-mumsie (honey's mom).

I've decided that, for me, one day of driving there (8-10 hours), and one day of driving back (8-10 hours) is the limit, if we're only going to be somewhere for a week. So if we're staying 2 weeks, we get 2 days of driving there, and 2 days back, etc... I'm just not at my best cooped up for that long, and I run out of patience for all of the junk that winds up sitting at my feet. Thankfully, now that Southwest is flying more places, we should be able to get good prices on flights, if we have enough advance notice. Lesson learned!