Birthweek?

I called my dear friend Sandi Monday morning, and she said, "Well, are you ready for the birthday week?"
"Who else's birthday is it this week?" I asked.
She laughed. "You get to celebrate *you* all week..." she informed me.
Oh okay. Well, I kinda like that!

Monday started off with my dear friends, and we celebrated Michelle. It was her last day in town, and it was a bittersweet day. It was so hard to see that van drive down the street one last time. *sigh* I know she'll be great, but I'm already missing her and that amazing laugh.

After we left her, we were too sad to go home, so we met up with Allen. Zane decided he wanted a haircut, so we did it. I'm so glad we did. He looks just adorable. Those eyes! We ate at Moe's after the hair cut. I love Moe's.

I spent Tuesday on the couch. I mean, all day. I got up to make sure everyone had food to eat, but that was it. I don't usually even sit down during the day, but I just felt like I needed to just chill my bones. It felt good. I could have stayed there all week, I think.

Wednesday was the big day. 37. I felt weird this year, for some reason. It was hard to hear that number. I got this panicky feeling that my life was slipping away a little too quickly. I dread the thought of standing before God right now and only having thus far to give to him. Oh me.

 Jennifer asked me what I wanted to do Wednesday, and I told her. Right down to what I wanted to eat, where and how. Not much like me, really. She and the girls cancelled plans, worked hard and then gave their whole day to spend with me. It was perfect, and I felt so very blessed and cherished. I am so lucky to have these amazing women in my life to do life with. The good and the bad. Man, I'm so blessed. We had a blast! I even got to go to the thrift store. It's a birthday tradition. Allen got home at a reasonable hour and brought me a gift certificate for the Amen Corner and this beautiful little statue of a couple with a sweet verse on it. He did great on my presents this year with absolutely no help from me or Jenn! :)

Thursday we puttered around, and Allen gave me this amazing gift from another Michelle friend! I love the scarf and the earrings have spurned another blog post soon to come. Birthday week rolled on smashingly well!

Friday. Chick-fil-A and Target. Need I say more?

Saturday Laney and I got to go garage saleing for the first time this season. That blog post soon to come also. We got the boys and went to two of my other favorite places-Zoe's and Edgar's. Then we went to Heardmont Park, where they were having a celebration of sorts, with tons of jumpy and slidey things. The kids had a blast. We came home and sat in the floor and played games. Allen is playing tonight, and I'm sitting a quiet house, listening to soothing music and looking forward to working on Esther.

It was an amazing week. I feel so loved! 37 is going to be a great year! Mostly thanks to you...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

BIg boy haircut

Zane said he wanted a haircut today, so we got it. He did great, and he looks so grown up now. And dare I say, cuter!

Weekend with Jackie!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Faceless Book. I mean Facebookless

So God asked me to take a break this week from Facebook. I honestly said, "Sure." I had tons to do this week, and thought, "Well, that will make it easier for me to get things done."

I'm not super addicted to FB. I actually just use it when I "plop." I don't sit down most days, except when we're doing school. I literally run around the house all day. So I "plop" in my chair and see what my friends are up to. No biggie. I think I just plop more than I realize I do. And I also plop when I know I can Facebook and avoid some huge chore I don't want to do. And yes, I've even Facebooked during some tedious school moments. *gasp* Horrors. So it can get in the way of real life. At least in my case.

I've treasured the people that FB has brought back into my life, I'm learning leaps and bounds, and it's even increasing my spirituality. No, I hate that word. It definitely increases my prayer life, as I lift up my friends and their needs. I'm also challenged by what my friends are researching, reading and doing. I love to know what they are thinking, pondering and wrestling with. I love the mundane stuff too. I just have some really amazing friends with great brains!

But, God said take a break. And oddly enough, I don't miss it! Ack!!!! I really, really don't. I have only been tempted once to go there this week, and that was because I didn't want to get off my butt and go do what I needed to do! I have been so much more in the real moment now. I've plopped with the kids instead of the computer. Novel idea, I know. But when you're with these creatures 24/7, you need to plop away now and then. Balance....

So it is a relief to know that I can live without Facebook! But now I am honestly trying to figure out how to work it back into my life. I do miss my friends. I miss praying for them, and I miss laughing with them. I'm so blessed by the people I have reconnected with ( I think I hate that word too) and I don't want them to be out of my life again. I just need to figure out how to work that, you know, balance.

And since my friends keep moving away from me ;) I need Facebook to keep me close to my not-so-near and dear. I have lots of those!

And just because I love love love my kid, I have to share this picture...



When you have that, why do you need Facebook? I love that his shirt says, "I'm definitely up to something"! So true, so true...

Ugh

So I'm forcing myself to put down more of this nonsense I called "writing" back in the day. It hurts mostly because I was so far from God-so far from where He wanted me to be. This "work" reminds me of how I was putting all the longing in my life toward tangible things. It was all being channeled into a conduit that couldn't handle the strain. Which lead to more longing and unfulfillment. Make sense?

I'm desperate to teach my kids that what is God's belongs to God alone. No one or no thing can fill the desires and longings we have but Him and Him alone. He created the space in us so He could fill it. I try still to fill it occasionally with food, or shopping or Allen or whatever. I feel myself start to teeter on the edge and then I know I'd better get my butt back to Jesus.

So anyway...

Flowing Spirit

My spirit took flight
soaring through the air mocking a bird gliding effortlessly
so far away from worries and strife
safe in a haven

My place fully recognized
carefully orchestrated
created to suit the needs
of a wounded spirit

My desires carefully placed
as precious and treasured
as a smooth, shining stone
found by a joyful soul, unexpecting

My spirit found itself
being true to itself
allowed to be what it truly longs to be

My journey back
my soul settled in ready to be tucked down away
just out of danger's reach
But the joy of the remembrance
streams down my face in the dark,
and comforts my soul in it's place.

So there. That's what happens when you try to fill yourself with anything other than God. You turn into a whiny, self absorbed poet.

Suprise

I was rumaging through my bookcase today, looking for something when my hand touched something unfamiliar. It was my old writing notebook. I fell back on the stairs and sat, reading. It was odd, like taking a journey back through my soul. It made me feel odd, reading those words. Where I was in my life then, how I viewed myself and the world. Disconcerting. I decided I needed to cronicle what I had written. Why? I don't know. I'm desperate to learn from my past mistakes, and reading my past will help me not stumble that way again. And as I'm learning from Esther, my past is tied to my destiny. No matter how bad my past was, it doesn't determine my future. My future is secure with God. Thank goodness.

So here's installment One. No laughing. This is scary. Like baring your soul. Ugh. I feel sick to my stomach, but I am forcing myself to do this. I need to own my past, and watch it intermingle with my future.

Expedition

I journeyed

into my mind.
Around thoughts and dreams
into my past, present and hopeful future.
Above my mind are thoughts I cannot attain
-things like infinity and being omnipresent.
Behind my mind are things I push away
-lost loves, lonely days, shattered dreams.
Through my thoughts are intertwined hope
love and peace, my stability
At the places where my mind rests are
Waterfalls, mountains and snow white beaches
-small vacations
Up soar my dreams and aspirations - swirling and
twirling like a child's baloon finally
set free.
To the years ahead when I imagine a home filled
with love, warmth and laughter
With thoughts in my mind - spinning, flowing,
gliding, floating, never ending
spiral of me.

This was for my literature class. The assignment was prepositional poetry. Each line had to begin with a preposition. It was written on April 12, 1994. I had met Allen the week before. We had to publish our work, and I did, dedicating it to Allen. My friend, Jan, who was in my class, commented, "If Allen inspired that, I'd marry him." 


I did.

Bed

I had the unfortunate experience of being sick last weekend, a fact you could only have missed had you spent time on a nearby planet sometime last week. I spent last Thursday night on my bathroom floor, writhing around in pain. Not fun. I finally felt like I could sleep a bit, and too sick and tired to get up and make my self a cozy little pallet on the floor like I do for Laney when she's sick, I scooted two bath mats together, wadded up a towel for a pillow and curled up under another towel. I fell out, and slept a couple of hours.

When I woke later, I felt like I could get in the bed. I anticipated that greatly, not only because of my time spent curled on the floor (the scene from "Hope Floats" kept popping in my head, although I didn't do anything to get into my predicament) but also because of what I learned a while ago.

Back when Zane wasn't sleeping and I would spend hours rocking him, I remember dreaming and longing for my bed. I mean in like a heartfelt way. Not just, "I'm tired and want to go to bed" but a serious longing, in a teary way. Sometimes when he would finally go to sleep, I would sleep in the recliner for a bit, so afraid of waking him back up. Then I would ease upstairs, and slide gently into bed.

So I knew, that yucky Thursday night, how I would feel when I finally got to bed. The thought that always seeped into my brain was that finally getting into bed felt like slipping into warm butter. Strange thought, but the softness and comfort of my bed was so strong, that I always, and did that night, groan out loud with sheer pleasure...hilarious.

But as I lay there that night, still feeling horrible, I thought those same thoughts that I always did after longing for my bed so much. The predictable thought that there are so so many people in this world who sleep in pure torture. Filth, danger-other things we can't even imagine. As I snuggled down in my not fancy, but perfect-for-me bed, cuddling up with my most cozy two year old, listening to his soft breathing and smelling his sweet head, twining my feet with my gently (for the moment) snoring husband who makes me feel so safe and secure, I thought, "You know, I am going to have to answer for this." I honestly believe that if we live our lives, oblivious to our creature comforts, taking them for granted, never doing our best to provide for those who are without, we are going to have to look our Savior in the eyes and explain that. Really.

I don't feel guilty, per say. Guilt isn't a good thing. I as a parent don't mind providing small luxuries for my kids, provided that they are appreciated. But it's the attitude in which those luxuries are handled that determines how the giver feels. I don't mean luxuries as in gold toilets or mink rugs. Running water, electricity, huge houses (which we all live in by standard of a lot of the world) food at our disposal, these are luxuries, and I really, really don't want to forget that. I want to stay appreciative. I want to wear God out, telling Him thank you. And I really, really want Him to use me to help provide for those who don't sleep in warm butter.