It Makes a Heart Warm

There's just something about sharing your home in hospitality that makes your heart warm.

Last night we were privileged to host a party in honor of some dear friends who live on the other side of the world from us. The Parks live in Singapore, but are here for the summer, visiting and getting their oldest daughter ready set for her freshman year of college. I can't imagine have a few short weeks every year or two to get to see and visit with all my Dallas friends - can you say, overwhelming! So a party fits just right!

I love parties. I love people. I love sharing our home. And I love the Parks.
Stan, Kay, Noel, Kaleb, Seth, we love you!

We invited about 100 people - yep, call us crazy (our house isn't big, so it could get tricky). But the Parks just know and love so many folks, we just decided to invite 'em all... Well, not all, but as many as we could. We made it a "come and go" affair, so it worked. We had about 55 people in and out of the evening. Guests of all ages seemed to enjoy the visit, and I truly hope that they did.

Stan and Kay, the guests of honor, bless their hearts, must have been exhausted after the evening was over. They worked their way from conversation to conversation, hugged, talked and smiled ALL night long (kind of like the bride and groom at a wedding reception - the thrill of the party gets you through, I suppose). Plus, they helped in the planning, food, decorating, and cleaning up, too. Great friends, indeed! :) The kids (preschoolers through high-schoolers) had a great time jumping on the trampoline, battling it out with nerf guns & swords, shooting hoops, and throwing the football  - even in 95 degree weather! That's where those yummy treats and LOTS of cold beverage options fit the bill perfectly.  Noel had just finished her freshman orientation at UTA on Monday and Tuesday, so she shared that excitement with some of us, talking about her nursing dreams and dorm life and such. It's so hard to believe that she's headed to university!!! At the end of the evening, each guest left with a Parks family picture and family update as a parting gift.

It was a delightful evening and, although I am definitely enjoying the rest today, it was worth every bit of preparation to have a night like that with good friends.

Trust When You're Tangled

I spent the weekend with some lovely ladies at a retreat this weekend.

It was so nice.

The setting added to the escape. To be in the woods, to walk by a stream, to see the beauty of creation, did a LOT to center me - to put me back in place. I was able to briefly hike down a narrow beaten path to a small stream and experienced the calming babbling of it's waters. I witnessed the dance in flight of a beautiful red cardinal, and watched some rolly-pollies and ants enjoy the dark, damp earth below my feet. The foliage of the trees and plants gave such life to that little nook in the woods and shielded the hot sun while still allowing the magnificent rays to dance through the leaves.  I was all... by... myself... A very lovely time it was!

Through words, prayers and love from some wonderful women, God spoke some amazing wisdom into my life this weekend, too. The lesson of the weekend was to Trust when you're "Tangled". The sweet movie Tangled, a recent adaptation of the Rapunzel story, depicts the life of a girl caught in the same quandary in which we often find ourselves: tangled in and trapped by the circumstances of her life, wanting desperately to find that purpose and passion she was meant to fulfill. Like Rapunzel we are sometimes stuck, and have to learn to break free from the tangled mess of our lives to find our way. How do we break free from entanglement - when things like illness, job loss, addictions, anxiety, debt, doubt, death, divorce, discipline problems, difficult family, depression get us in a frenzied funk? ... Proverbs 3:5-6 holds the answer: That's when we must Trust. A verse most of us have heard, read and memorized long ago and over and over becomes new again when we discover how relinquishing control to Him through our complete trust of Him will release us from the tangled mess around us.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths."

It just happens that this passage has always been my go-to verse, my answer to "What's your favorite verse in the Bible?" or "What is your life verse?" I have always know that this passage pretty much holds the key to life.

But truly, actually, faithfully applying it, now that's another story. Sure, I trust the Lord. Sure, I know that my own understanding of things isn't completely reliable. Sure, I acknowledge His presence in my life. But that basic level of application, leaves much divine direction untapped, and leaves my life wanting and wavering.

The level of trust this passage calls us to is a deep, complete, no-matter-what kind of trust. I means we have to relinquish control, even - and especially - when things aren't going the way we want them to go. When life swirls around us, and uncertainty abounds, we have to reach down inside us where the Spirit abides and believe that what He has planned will be okay... and not just okay, but exceedingly, abundantly, immeasurably more than we can even imagine or desire! (Ephesians 3:20)

Rapunzel in Tangled wanted desperately to see the full beauty of and know the mystery behind the floating lights she saw every year from the small window of her tower. Her perspective gave her only a glimpse of the majesty that truly was. Those colorful lights were actually thousands of floating lanterns launched by the king and queen, her real parents, and the people of the kingdom, on her birthday each year to remember the daughter, the princess they had lost. Now that was exceedingly, abundantly, immeasurably more than she could imagine! But she had to wait to be set free from the circumstances that had her tangled in order to discover the truth and her destiny as princess.

And sometimes - many times - we have to wait, too. Trust and wait. Trust God. And wait on His plan to unfold.

To our dismay, there is no easy fix or magic trick to trusting God this way. But what I believe I have discovered is that the more we practice it, the easier it will become. And then the more life throws at us, the better equipped we will be to trust in Him and His ways.

I have experienced a few trials and troubles in my life, and I know that I am guaranteed more along my journey. So my prayer, based upon the truth God revealed to me this weekend, is that I will be bold enough to trust Him deeply and completely- through the good times and bad. And that by living out Proverbs 3:5-6 I will know Him more fully, and experience life more abundantly no matter the circumstances around me.

That is my prayer for all of you reading this, too! :) ... Trust when you're tangled!

Being a Parent is Hard ... "Duh!"

How many times a week to I hear that phrase in my head, "Being a parent is hard!" I suppose it's not great self-talk, but it's true, and so I say it's okay to acknowledge it. I usually end the phrase in my head with "...but I can do it." or "...but God's gonna get me through it."  or "...so it's okay to make mistakes sometimes." or "...so it's okay to need a break!" or ..."but it's all worth it." And I know I'm not alone in this, because I read that very statement on facebook statuses regularly. We want validation that we're not crazy, and so we type it in that box at the top of our newsfeed with frustration, press share with a sigh, and hope someone comments to share in our misery. (We really don't want to hear from our older friends who aren't in the throws of parenthood at the moment. We know the frustration will pass. We know our children are worth it. But we just want to vent and be heard, so we can maybe move along.) Being a parent is hard! I truly believe that if a parent doesn't have that thought every once in a while, they either aren't focusing on being a parent to their children, or they're delusional. ... (come to think of it, some days it might be nice to be delusional.) :)

Encouraging Whispers

I've been in bed most of the last two days, sick with who knows what - just something attacking my body with fever then aches. I'm on the mend today, but not really well yet. And all I have to say is that there is too much to do to be sick! It just stinks! I was able to think a lot (mainly about all the things that needed doing) and pray a lot (which was actually a blessing). But two days in bed is making me over-do it today, so I keep reminding myself to take it easy. Blogging seems to be a good compromise (as my children run screaming around me). :)

Now, for the substance.

I ordered new "business cards." Well, they're "mommy cards" I guess. Or "me cards" to be exact. They are something to hand out to people when I need to share my info with someone. I hope I like them when they get here.

Like them or not, creating those cards actually gave me a boost. Something I now know that I needed. I had to decide what info I wanted to include on the card. The promptings on the website said "company" and "title" and "company motto" and stuff like that. So it made me think about what my "motto" was... what my "title" is... who and what I am. I came up with

"wife. mom. friend. reader. writer. speaker. graphic publisher."

I don't know what people might think when they read all that. But it's me. I pride myself in being a wife, mother and friend, and I almost left it at that. But it felt incomplete, so I added the things that make my heart sing. I love reading and writing, though I don't do it enough. And "graphic publisher" is the label I came up with for what I usually spend my volunteer time doing: I publish the Yale Elementary Roadrunner (PTA newsletter) every month school is in session. I do flyers and brocures and such for neighborhood, school and church stuff regularly. Years ago I did a 170 page cookbook for our MOPS group. Last fall I put together a missions Prayer & Devotional Guide for our church, which included information on all of our mission efforts. And this year I published Yale's 6th Grade Memory Book, which is basically a yearbook from their kindergarten year through their sixth grade year - 175 pages, hundreds of pictures, and LOTS of work, that was! I have kind of fallen into doing this kind of thing, meaning I never set out to make it a hobby, but I really enjoy it.  

And, then as for the label "speaker," I actually don't do a whole lot of that. I really debated whether or not to include it. But it's something I'd like to do more of as my kids get older, and it's something God seems to keep bringing to mind, so I typed it. ... And I ordered the cards.

Well, today I was asked to speak to a ladies group. How cool is that!

I love how God works in whispers and nudgings to encourage and guide us. And if we listen and respond, circumstances arise that validate those whispers and nudgings. And before you know it, you get to experience specific ways He is working in your life. 

It made me smile for sure!

Quotes and Concepts to Live By

So, I thought I'd start blogging again. To get the ball rolling, it'll be a short one. A couple of great quotes:

"I am blessed to be a blessing!" 

I used this simple truth with the preschoolers when I taught missions at VBS. This is an adaptation of the concept found in Genesis 12:1-3 when God tells Abraham that He will bless him and all peoples on earth will be blessed through him. This is true for all of us. Any blessing we receive is given to us in order to be a blessing to others. Like "paying it forward," it's not a new concept. But it is profound when you begin to really live life with that as a cornerstone. It's something I try to do everyday.

"There is a gap between the God we want and the God who is. The first is a product of our selfishness, the second the cure to our deepest need."

This is from a friend's facebook post. Don't know if it is original to him or not, but I loved it. When we make God fit into a box - a certain description, a certain doctrine, a certain way of thinking - we must be careful that we don't merely end up with the God we want, a god we create. That god is very likely far from Who God really is. The One True God - Who we ALL have access to, but Who will not be put in a box - is the cure to our deepest need, the One who makes us whole and brings peace and purpose beyond explanation.  I have come to learn that I will never have God figured out! For that I am thankful, as it gives me an excitement and drive through this incredible journey I'm on!