Dear Deacon

Seven years old, huh?

 

I don't think anyone gave you permission to go and turn seven! Nope, not me.

 

 

 

Thinking back over this last year I realize that you are truly becoming a young man. You are no longer the little boy that used to snuggle so closely on my lap. And although I miss that sweet fuzzy-headed little boy, I love this young man that you are becoming.

 

 

 

 

You are still trying to find your place and you have a long way to go, but I see such promise in you, my son. You have a tender heart, you love deeply and you are determined.

 

 

 

 

Those are such good qualities to have. You can't be a good man without them. You can't be a good leader without first becoming a good servant.

 

 

 

 

One thing I want to challenge you with for this year and really for the rest of your years is what we read in our devotion just the other morning. Do you remember?

 

 

 

From 2 Samuel 10:12 -

 

    "Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his sight."

or as the KJV says "Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people..."


 

"Be Brave!" Joab told his men. They were going to war and I'm sure some were scared. He had to remind them that God made them men! And they needed to play the part. It's hard being a man. It's hard being a good man.

What does it mean to be brave? Will you have to go to war? Maybe you will some day. And yes, you would have to be brave. But even if you never go to war with guns and grenades, you will still be fighting a war. A war for family and a war for God. And you must fight!

 

 



 

 

There was another passage we read. It came from 2 Peter 3:7-8:

 

"Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble."

 

I know you don't have a wife yet. You better not! But you do have a Mom and you do have a sister! God was kind to give us to you so that you can get some practice time in! One day you might find yourself married, and guess what? You will have to play the man.

 

 

 



It takes bravery to show respect and kindness, to be compassionate and to put others before yourself. But I challenge you, to Play the Man!

I love you, my son and I am so thankful God chose to place you in our family. He could have given you to anyone in the whole world! But he saw fit to give you to us. What a gift you are.

 

 

 

Happy Birthday, Bud. I hope you feel special today. Because you are. Very Special.

 

 



 

Love,

Your Momma

 

Snapshots

If you expected to see pictures, you will be disappointed.

No one was holding the camera at the moment needed to capture just the right angle...

of my pointed finger

my hands holding my forehead

the clench of my jaw

the tears that threatened to spill

my furrowed brow

the look of disappointment in my eyes

my head bowed over the bathroom sink, crying out but hearing nothing

the white knuckles that gripped the steering wheel

the look of fear in his eyes

her clenched jaw mimicking mine

the tears that spilled over his red-round cheeks


Funny how we only capture the sweet moments, the good and easy times. The times that make us look good and sweet and easy going.

But in reality, we are faced with frustrations moment by moment that threaten to undo us, and often does. Today I was undone. I failed as a mother. As a teacher. As a wife.

Thankfully there is tomorrow - fresh, with no mistakes in it!
There is a God, who's mercies will be new and fresh tomorrow too.
There are second (and third and fourth and fifth, etc..) chances found in Him.
There is His grace and forgiveness and redemption.

And there will be a cup of coffee ready to greet me, no conditions pending... good night!

Dessert

 

May I have two servings please?

 

 

 

 

 

Mmmm... scrumptious!

Dinner

Nothing like living off the land...

or the water!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weekend Getaway

 

Last summer Dustin and I began dreaming of how we would celebrate our 10th anniversary. We hadn't done anything too exciting together in a long while, so we eagerly anticipated this excuse to do something big!

 

Little did we know just how big things would turn out!

 

David Judah was born just seven days before our 10 year mile marker! Not so great timing for a cruise or a trip to the Bahamas! But we still enjoyed a nice dinner to a local favorite on the day with baby Judah as a tag along. We didn't mind. Can you believe we didn't take a single picture? I think we were both in a sleep deprived state.

 

Well, to 'make up for it' we decided to go away for the weekend just a few weeks ago. It had been ages since we had done that and we needed it.

 

We had the hardest time decided what we wanted to do. We are pretty boring people, not too adventurous. But we finally figured out one thing we like to do together besides eat. And that is hunt for antiques! And we did just that.

 

We went to a tiny little town upstate SC and stayed at a B&B where they are famous for their breakfast AND antique shops. A perfect fit! Here are some snap shots of our weekend getaway...

 

 

 

The Main house of the B&B. This is where we had our breakfast. It was just a few minutes stroll from our little cottage. 

Our first night there we enjoyed looking around our quaint little cottage and a wonderful meal at a German restaurant, Oskars. They seriously had the best grits EVER!  We even attempted some frog legs, something neither of us had ever tried before. They were a weird combination of fish and fried chicken, quite yummy!

The next morning we got up bright and early (thanks Judah) and headed down for our much anticipated breakfast. Not only was it scrumptious (my mouth is watering) it was beautiful, which I loved and so appreciated. It's always been a dream of mine to have a B&B, so as to have an excuse to use fine china for breakfast every morning! I was jotting down notes the whole trip!





After our amazing breakfast, we began our hunt for treasurer's. We had a whole list of places throughout several different surrounding towns but ended up only making it to three places all within walking distance of where we stayed. It was so much fun. These are a few of our finds!

Our second morning, we enjoyed a nice stroll through their well manicured paths and another wonderful breakfast. Judah wasn't so thrilled about it (although you can't tell from the above picture!) so Daddy took him out on the front porch so that he wouldn't disturb the other guests and so that Mommy could finish her breakfast (and his!). I love that picture of them through the foggy glass from where I was sitting. He's such a good daddy.

 

 

It was a great time away, but not nearly long enough! We hope to do it again soon. And can you believe we still didn't get our picture together! Oh well. Maybe next year!

Knock, Knock

Anyone home??

Yes, we are. Thanks for asking!

Just busy at the moment. Either that or simply trying to function on a foggy sleep deprived brain!
Putting thoughts into words is difficult at the moment. Much less remembering a thought long enough to type it out!

Oh well. Seasons come and seasons go. And I am thoroughly enjoying this one! I'm loving being a mom of four. Am loving having another baby to love on and kiss on... even at 12am and 2am and 4am and 6am...

Will write more as time and brain function allow!