11 Years Ago This Week

11 Years. Wow. I was washing dishes tonight and realized that 11 years ago this week I met my amazing husband. So for your entertainment, I'll recount the story...

I was on the cusp of beginning the rigors of nursing school and wanted to spend a fun weekend in Atlanta with my brother and sister-in-law celebrating my birthday. In the weeks leading up to this birthday, my sister-in-law and I talked several times and planned a little get together with some of their friends from Tech. During these conversations, she mentioned this guy that my bubba was in classes with who she thought I might like. I almost immediately began telling her how I was NOT interested in any of his friends, much less somebody who lived 4 hours from me.

Meanwhile, my brother asked his friend (now referred to here as The Daddy) if he was interested in going out for a beer while I was in town. At least, I think there was some mention of my presence. The Daddy is not known as a guy to turn down a beer, so he was in.

After hearing a little more about this fabulous guy who was cute, funny, blah, blah, blah, I said, OK. Sure, he can come, but I'm NOT going to like him.

I know this is going to sound really cheesy, and well, frankly, it still sounds cheesy to me all these years later, but when we walked into his apartment to pick him up I knew instantly he was the guy I was supposed to marry. It's a good thing that God was still talking to me since I wasn't really into talking to Him too much during this time in my life.

There was that weird, awkward greeting and we were off. We had dinner, drinks, and then went to Jellyrolls (a dueling piano bar in Buckhead). Over the course of the evening there was a lot of laughter and I thought he was awfully cute. He thought I was too skinny (and told me so--he's always been known for his honesty) and even tried to pick up our waitress.

I don't remember all of the details of the weekend, but I do remember that The Daddy canceled other plans to get together with us again to play games. We ended up spending a lot of time together talking and laughing. By the end of the weekend, we'd exchanged numbers and addresses and even taken a couple of pictures together.

And as they say, the rest is history. From that weekend on, we've been together. Sure, we've had some bumps along the way, but looking back, there are more good times than bad, more happy than sad. God is good, He is faithful, and here we are 11 years later, still laughing and getting better by the day.

So this weekend, I imagine we'll have a beer on the patio, toast our matchmakers and the blind date that he didn't know was a date, and share a laugh or two.

A deal too good NOT to share

You know I love to save money. If you know me well, you also know that not only do I love Target, I love Kashi products. Thanks to Common Sense With Money I got an awesome deal today. With all the coupons (linked straight from that site), I got 4 boxes of cereal and 4 boxes of cereal bars for $6.32. That's a savings of $19.26 folks! This may be the best deal I've gotten in ages. And since I've yet to venture into the world of making my own cereal, this is the next best thing.

Strawberry Pickin'

The Daddy has been on vacation all week, so we took the kids to pick strawberries at a local farm this week. Oh. My. Goodness! These are the most wonderful things I've ever tasted. You pick, eat all you want in the fields, and then go home with full bellies and covered in strawberry juice. It was a fabulous day.

Admittedly, I was distracted by the beautiful berries, so I only got these two pictures, but we have proof that at least one of the kids picked while the other ate. Go figure.



After picking berries in the morning, we came home and picked snow peas, sugar snap peas, lettuces, arugula, and green onions out of our garden. This beautiful salad made for a tasty (and quite fresh) supper.

Like Father, Like Son

When Daddy came home today, we discussed what to do about the issue at hand with The Short One's hair. This was our conclusion...

When Siblings Attack

"Safety scissor" wielding preschooler attacks toddler brother's beautiful golden locks.
This is what she did to the side.

This is what it's supposed to look like.


And now, two views of what she did to the front and the side. Her question to me when it was all done..."Momma, don't you think he looks beautiful?"

More on The Shack and Priorities

So, God's been working on me lately with my what's important. The last two weeks or so, I haven't done such a great job of listening and working with him on that, but I think I'm back on the wagon now. I wrote a few weeks back about Life Lessons I've been learning. I've finally gotten the picture that it's really all about HIM. While it's important to take note of what you're spending time on, or money on, or whatever, the most important thing is to make sure that God is at the center. Yeah, it's necessary to prioritize spending money on things that are important, which also includes saving for retirement, kids' education, and that emergency that just might be around the corner. It's important to take care of our bodies, for they are, after all, God's temple on earth. And, well, we just might want to live long enough to see our kids graduate from college, get married, have kids, that sort of thing. One of the struggles that I have with this is that this prioritizing is the way the world does things. Hierarchy, chain of command, a pyramid, whatever you want to call it.

In The Shack, Mack asks, "But don't you want us to set priorities? You know: God first, then whatever, followed by whatever?" Sarayu replies "...If you put God at the top, what does that really mean and how much is enough? How much time do you give me before you can go to about the rest of your day, the part that interests you so much more?" Papa again interrupted. "You see, Mackenzie, I don't just want a piece of you and a piece of your life. Even if you were able, which you are not, to give me the biggest piece, that is not what I want. I want all of you and all of every part of you and your day." Jesus now spoke again. "Mack, I don't want to be first among a list of values; I want to be at the center of everything. When I live in you, then together we can live through everything that happens to you. Rather than a pyramid, I want to be the center of a mobile, where everything in your life--your friends, family, occupation, thoughts, activities--is connected to be but moves with the wind, in and out and back and forth, in an incredible dance of being." "And I," concluded Sarayu, "I am the wind."

So this is where I am. Learning to live with Jesus at the center of everything, helping me to dance without worrying about priorities. My brain is really struggling with the reality of this. What this looks like in the real world. I can understand it in Mack's world. I see the "big picture" part of it, but when it comes to the daily things that I naturally have difficulty prioritzing, I struggle with what I'm supposed to do. I guess that's a common problem. Learning to live in the freedom of Christ, a life without rules and law while living in the realm of humanity. I guess I'll just have to hang out with Papa and Sarayu in the garden a bit more so I can learn to dance like He wants me to dance.

The Shack and My Great Sadness

I just finished my second reading of The Shack by William P. Young. I've been pondering what to say about it since I finished reading it the first time. There really is a lot to say, and I've got a lot of words swirling around in my mind. I can only hope that I can express what I want to express without causing confusion and delay.

First things first, if you haven't read the book, read it. Go get it right now. Borrow it from the library, ask somebody at your church if you can borrow a copy, go buy it. Whatever it takes, get your hands on a copy and read it with an open mind. I have many friends who have read it even though they were hesitant and have really gotten a new perspective thanks to this work of fiction.

Yes, without a doubt, it's fiction. The author says it in the book, on his website, and everywhere I've heard about it. Like all good fiction, might there be some element of truth to it? Maybe. But really, that is of little consequence. Do I think it could have happened really, honestly, like it is portrayed. Heck yeah. And if I walk down the stairs in the morning and Aunt Jemimah is making me greens for breakfast, you better believe I'm pulling up a chair and eating with her. But in this day and age, is it likely that God really met Mack in a shack in the woods, well, that's not really for me to say.

Most of my regular readers know that I suffer from a variety of physical ailments, one of which is causing great confusion at the moment with my doctors and nobody has an answer at the moment. Most of you also know that I battle daily with depression. Something that has gripped onto me strongly and that I have recently become to believe is a real spiritual battle. The enemy has taken it upon himself to whisper lies into my ears and my heart, lies that I believe in moments of weakness, lies that permeate my life in ways that I hate. This is my great sadness. I have so much to be thankful for. So many blessings in my life, yet I still fall prey to his lies. Thank God that He will never leave me or forsake me. Thank God that He collects my tears and my sadness and aches with me. I know that I am not alone. And I know that I am surrounded by people who love me and find me worthy. I know that God is "especially fond" of me. Most of this I've known all my life although at times I chose to ignore it. All of this was reawakened in me by reading this short novel.

I've come to a new understanding about God in the last several years. And this book has brought a lot of that to a new light. First and foremost, God is love. And He is a verb. "I Am that I Am." We cannot be if He was not first. Yeah, I admit, it's kind of hard to think of God as a verb when all of my life, He's been a noun. But, I guess that's one of the cool things about God. He can be both a noun and a verb. So many cool things about God. So many new eye-opening things in this little book. One of my favorites is the representation of the Trinity. I love how it's all about relationship.

Do I have it all right now? No. Do I still struggle with understanding why people who desperately want children can't have children? Yes. Do I still question why children are allowed to die? Of course. But have I learned that the most important thing is that I seek The One with the answers. And as I draw nearer to Him in relationship, I begin to see just a little more of the picture. I hope you will too.