Just Because

I came across this the other day

and laughed SO hard!

My kids thought it was hilarious too because

I am so anti-techy it is appalling.

They had no idea what the comment about the vodka meant and that made me smile.

So without any further ado, my 'funny' of the week........

{I found this on Pinterest, I think. 

 If you know where it is from I would like to give credit where credit is due}

Have a great weekend!!

Blessings,

{K}

Spring Break

I know I have been a really lame blogger this past week or so.... or several weeks really. 

 But this past week and a half the kids have been out for Spring Break 

and although we are going nowhere,

 we are just hanging out and laughing and playing in the unseasonably warm weather.
My laundry schedule is off, my cleaning schedule is off,
my refrigerator is bare and
I'm waaaay off track.
 

We have stayed up late and slept in even later. 

 Which is messing with any free time  I might have to put a post together. 

 But I'm working on big things for next week, Holy Week and I am excited to tell you all about it.

So, a little grace this week?
  Thanks!

Blessings,

{K}

P.S.

This is one of my favorite pictures I've ever taken.

I love listening to the birds this time of year and I specifically 

love the doves...they sound so nice and they are so pretty as well!!
I think she is a girl, don't you?

October Baby

Ok - I'm dying to see this movie. 

 In all likelihood I won't get to it

 until it hits the discount theater

 or video but

 it

 looks

 GOOD.

Coincidentally,

I just finished up a three - part series of Amish

fiction books where the theme was forgiveness.

It was awesome.

Read all three books in less than two weeks.

Do you struggle with forgiveness?

Are you a once - bitten - twice - shy kind of girl?

I get that. 

 My man is one who struggles to forgive.
I can too.

He's not stubborn, but he is so deeply loyal

that a person usually only gets

 one 

chance.
I struggle too. 
We've had two issues this year that have involved
two of my kids.
When you mess with my kids, you mess with me.
I know, I'm working on it.

Here is what I know of forgiveness.

The Bible commands it.

70x7.

Extending forgiveness doesn't mean that everything it hunky - dory.

It doesn't mean that the other person gets of scott - free.

What it does mean is that our God is big enough to redeem anything that happens to us.

If we let Him, we can begin to let go

of the awful, the hurtful, 

the unthinkable, 

and begin to heal.

So what do you say?

Willing to give it a try?

If you get a chance this weekend

go see October Baby.

And let me know how it is!

Blessings,

{K}

Who Is Your Daddy?

The other day I went for my first pedicure of the season.   It was an indulgence for sure, and I knew it would feel good, but I had no idea how good I would feel leaving there.

In the two chairs next to me was a pair of younger girls.  Maybe out of high school, maybe not... the older I get, the younger everyone else seems.  They were having a good time just chatting and laughing.  At one point one of the girls asked the other, "Who's your daddy?"  The other one retorted sarcastically something that sounded like it was a line from a song, and then the two of them cracked up.

They had no idea I was listening as I was up to my ears in 'People' magazine, pretending to be enthralled with the latest celebrity gossip.  But the question caught my attention and I started thinking.  I know exactly who my Daddy is... and He is mighty to save.  He is the author of my salvation and yours too.  He is the author of my story.  He knows the beginning, middle, and end.  And He knows my life isn't defined by one chapter of my story, even when I get stuck and feel as though it is.  He knows all the ways I fall short and mess up.

And He knows when I desperately need a Savior.  Someone to come in on His white horse, listen to me cry, move mountains when I am to weak to even try, chase the villain away and make everything better, even if just for a little while.  That's who my Daddy is.

One of my absolute favorite verses of scripture is Zephaniah 3:17.  "The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." Oh Lord, let it be so!! 

Father, I pray today that you will work in the lives of all those who seek your face!  Today Father, will you come along side the broken, the grieving, the hurting, the lost, those who think they are unworthy of your love and salvation?  Father, I pray today that everyone reading this will know that you conquered the grave for them.  Not just the few elite, but the everyday, broken sinner... like me.

Oh how He adores you sweet friends...

Wisdom At It's Finest

I came across a quote the other day that I just loved...

"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap,

but by the seeds you plant."

- Robert Louis Stevenson

I think it applies to motherhood so well.

{And to a life of faith, for that matter.}

Often times I find myself frustrated

 by the lack of fruit - bearing I see

in my children.

I want immediate results for the teaching I've poured into them.

I want spiritual and emotional maturity,

 {like yesterday for

heaven's sake!}

I want to know that what I have said,

has been buried deep

in their hearts.

I want them to make wise choices 

and thoughtful decisions.

But children aren't like that.

Much like seeds, they require time.

A lot of time.

Usually more time than I want to wait, 

you can be certain of that.

 Like seeds, they require patience and gentle nurturing

and daily tending.

  A little sweet talk doesn't hurt either. 

My job as a mom is to be a seed planter.

One who digs deep into fertile soil

and tends and fusses over it, 

nurturing daily with love and patience.

I need to realize that if I want a harvest,

A little rain must fall.

And a little sun must shine.

And I might even need a bit of dirt under my nails.

And most of all, I need to remember that

each flower blooms

in it's own time.

Blessings to you as you tend

to your seedlings today!

{K}

When Nothing Goes Right

Yesterday was one of those days.

It all started well and good, but by 7:00 a.m. things were headed south at a rapid pace.

  My oldest plays up for our high school band and he had a concert last night, so that meant a before-school practice at 7:15 yesterday morning.  We were all headed to the high school when my sweet 13 year old announced, "Mom, I left my trombone at the Middle School."  {cue the record scratch} Hmmm... I thought to myself. So, we stopped by the Middle School to get said trombone and lo, and behold, the band room doors were locked tight and NO ONE, not one single person, had the key to open the door.

  Meanwhile, the clock is ticking and I was getting wound up because I hate to be late and unprepared and looking like we don't have our act together.  So we waited.  And waited.  Forty minutes we waited.  And I took advantage of our time in the car together to re-strategize my morning and figure out how I was going to get all the kids to where they need to be ON TIME!  And I also took the time to dive right into one of my famous lectures about how he's headed to high school next year and don't you think it would be best to plan more than 20 minutes ahead of yourself, and do you see how your lack of preparedness affect the whole lot of us??  And on and on.

I finally dropped him off, 45 minutes late, with an exchange of "I'm sorry" and a hug and I wanted to crawl back into bed and start this day over because I'm pretty certain that the whole series of events didn't seal my "Mother of the Year" nomination.  And I kicked myself, because how many times have I thought "how can I be mad that he is not as I want him to be, when I am not as I want me to be?"  And I vowed to meet him for lunch and love on him in his love language of burgers and ask for forgiveness.

 Then I stopped by Target to pick up a few things and I swear the cashier looked at me like, "AGAIN, you are here again??" because I was there the night before and the day before that.  She didn't help my mood.

I then went home, baked cupcakes for a teacher's birthday the next day and took the dog for a long walk to get his endless energy out and my work out in.  We were almost home when we stopped by the neighbor's house to see their not -so- small yellow lab pup.  The dogs love to play together and when she asked if Boone would like to come in the back yard and play with Body, I agreed.   Ten minutes later we were on our way home when I noticed Boone limping and bleeding.  We got home and took a look at his foot... sure enough, cut wide open and needing stitches!  So, not only had I messed up the morning with my son, now I had messed up the dog's foot and our budget by letting him play in a yard I hadn't checked out first.  We are assuming that he cut it on some edging or a rock.  Our neighbor's yard is rather 'organic' and I really should have looked before I said yes.

Now, instead of getting my laundry done, frosting cupcakes for the teacher, paying our bills and getting a post up, I was headed to the emergency vet.  Nice.

Turns out the vet was lovely{new office for us} and she was able to take Boone right away, but was concerned that he broke his foot as well because he was unable to put any weight on it.  She assured me that I could leave him there and they would take X-rays and suture him up and love on him in that voice that only a vet/vet tech can.  And all this could be done for the bargain price of $400.  Yes, $400.  Super.

I left him there, headed home to get something done with my day, like try to figure out where in the world the money would come from to pay the vet bill, when my sweet man offered to take me out to Taco Bell for lunch, because he is a big spender like that.  Yes ladies, he's all mine.   I protested because I had yet to really accomplish anything with my day, when I looked at my clock.  It was 2:00.  Way past my son's lunch time.  Great.  Then the phone rang and it was my bestie wondering where I was for our standing coffee date - which, of course, I had completely spaced out!!  UGH!!

I ended up postponing with her, lunching with my man, grabbing the kids, picking up the dog in his brand new plastic Cone of Shame and bandaged foot {the tech said,"he'll need to be quiet and restful for the next 10 days," to which I asked if they had medication for that.  She just looked at me.  I guess I'll have to medicate myself then}, to head home and get dinner on the table so we could get to the concert.  And the grill wouldn't start.  Oh, if I were a swearing woman I would have let forth a stream that would have caused a trucker to blush.  But, I'm not.  So I sat on the patio steps and just took a deep breath, turned my face to the sun, and gave thanks to God for this good day.

No matter how bad the day is, I remind myself it could be worse.   A whole lot worse.

I eventually got the grill going, the burgers were awesome, we actually got to eat outside {in March, none the less!} and we made it to the concert on time and watched one the greatest kids I know, play his trombone.  Because he had it.  Right there.  Not in the Middle School band room.  It was glorious.

And we returned home to iron pants for today, finish the laundry, tuck freshly showered kids into beds and put these very weary bones in a bed full of feathers.

I guess it wasn't such a bad day after all.