Ava’s little friend, Anicka, joined us for dinner the other night.

As the six of us sat down for our meal, Anicka observed that there were 3 girls & 3 boys at the table.

“No, Anicka,” Ava said.  “God is at our table & He is a boy.  So, there are more boys than girls.”

Anicka & Ava looked at each other, stumped (you know us girls, we’re so darn competitive…).

All of a sudden, Ava shouted, “What about God’s wife?  Now we have 4 girls & 4 boys!”

Adam & I nearly choked on our pasta!

“Who is God’s wife?,” I asked.

“Eve!,” piped up Ava.  “No, it’s Mary!,” chimed in Anicka.

Yep, just another night at the Newton dinner table.

Lor, will you please handle this one?  I’ll tell Ava to look for you on Sunday…

I’m a nice person.

Really.

But, not always.

Once upon a time, back in high school, I was constantly teased by a boy.  The funny(???) thing is, today, I have no idea what he teased me about.  He wasn’t mean, but he would say things that always made me feel dumb.  I’ve always said I’d be great on the speech team, but horrible on any debate team.  I just can’t think that quickly on my feet.  I’m the person who comes up with the witty retort an hour too late.

So, on one particular day, this boy said something to me & I of course was hopelessly flustered.  But, I came up with a plan & I thought about it all through my Social Studies class.  Since I couldn’t get back at him with my words, I’d do something to him with my actions.

Social Studies was the last class of the day & it took place in a little building just off the school.  I remember it was a nice day, so everyone was casually strolling back toward the main building to hit their lockers before heading home.  Now, the boy was walking ahead of me, leisurely holding his belongings under one arm.  I quickly moved up behind him & swatted the books from under his arm.  Instantly, books, papers & folders sprawled out everywhere on the walkway.  I thought I was so cool & laughed out loud.  “Finally,” I thought, “I got him!” As I turned around, I saw him stooping down in an attempt to gather everything up, while the rest of the class laughed as they walked around him.

I felt terrible.

I instantly stopped & ran back to help him pick everything up.  One of my friends called out, “Kel, what are you doing?”  I told him I was really sorry & that I don’t normally act that way.  As we walked back to the building, again, I told him how sorry I was to embarrass him in front of everyone else.  He chuckled & said it was okay.

And he stopped teasing me.

One of my favorite books in the Bible is 1 John.  Check out this passage:

³We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands. ⁴The man who says, “I know Him,” but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵But if anyone obeys His word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in Him: ⁶Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.  (1 John 2:3-6)

I love the image of walking along side Jesus as I go through this life.  And one thing I have recently discovered is I have a tendency to think inside a very small box when it comes to walking.  I think I’m only progressing when I’m walking forward.  However, I have found that some of my defining moments occur when I turn around.

For example, I would have always regretted not turning around to help that boy pick up his belongings.  I’m embarrassed by what I did in the first place.  The action itself was bad enough, but the intention behind it is what really disappoints me.  Talk about moving in the wrong direction!  Sometimes, we need to work on turning around.  It’s such an intentional motion.  You have to literally stop moving in one direction & consciously choose to go another way.  Perhaps it’s a moment in our past where we need to apologize to someone & ask for forgiveness.  Or maybe it’s stopping & turning to lend a helping hand.  I think we have an opportunity to reveal who we really are in the turnaround.

I guess it’s just another one of those things that makes life so interesting.

Sometimes, it isn’t until we walk backward that we actually begin moving forward.

I went through my camera the other night, looking to see if I needed to delete any pictures.

I came across a few that made me go, “huh???”

Turns out Mister Garrett figured out how to use the camera.

Here are a couple of his shots.  From an artist’s perspective, I would say that he uses clever composition & interesting objects.  An ordinary person would probably just say, he hasn’t figured out how to use the camera completely yet!

I had a fun time coming up with captions for these masterpieces…

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The green balloon in the picture…what does it mean?  Does it represent the economy?  Its lying in a shaft of light…does he think we have hope?

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Every artist needs a self-portrait

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The shaft of light again.  Perhaps his mother’s positivity is rubbing off on him?

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And yet again…nice way to thread your theme, Garrett.

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Ahhhh, looks like the master photographer has a little apprentice…

Would someone please tell the boy’s mother to wipe his face?

So, I just posted about my struggle with stillness, two days ago.

Then, this morning, I read today’s OYB passage from the book of Mark, chapter 4.

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³⁵ As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” ³⁶ So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). ³⁷ But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.

³⁸ Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”

³⁹ When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰ Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

⁴¹ The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!”

~

Great…

so the apparently even the forces of nature get it.

Yet I, His child, made in His image, struggle to obey Him.

I have a long way to go…

“Worship is the submission of all our nature to God.  It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose – and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin.”

~ William Temple

Thanks so much Grady.

It’s actually pretty sweet.  Grady loves running his fingers through my hair.  He’ll come up right in front of me & wrap his arms around my neck.  He then cups his hands behind my head & runs his fingers the entire length of my hair, while cooing, “ohhhhh.”

one teensy weensy problem…

Have you seen how messy little two year old fingers are?

let me rephrase that…

Do you know how sticky little two year old fingers are?

Between the suckers, syrup from his waffles & seriously, God only know what else that boy gets into, my hair is practically it’s own food group.

Last night, we took the kids to Chili’s.

Grady had ribs.

You know it’s bad when even the dog comes up to your head looking for a treat.

Oh well, I don’t mind the extra hair washing.  The shampoo will always be there, but little fingers only stay small for so long.

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“There never has been, nor will there ever be, anything quite so special as the love between a mother and a son.”
– Author Unknown

1 sweet card + 1 box of Godiva dark chocolate truffles = a very happy wife

so yeah, I kinda have a thing for truffles…

thought you might enjoy these…I know I did!

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TWENTY TRUTHS TO REMEMBER

1. Faith is the ability to not panic.

2. If you worry, you didn’t pray. If you pray, don’t worry.

3. As a child of God, prayer is kind of like calling home every day.

4. Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.

5. When we get tangled up in our problems, be still.  God wants us to be still so He can untangle the knot.

6. Do the math. Count your blessings.

7. God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.

8. Dear God: I have a problem. It’s me.

9. Silence is often misinterpreted, but never misquoted.

10. Laugh every day, it’s like inner jogging.

11. The most important things in your home are the people.

12. Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional.

13. There is no key to happiness. The door is always open.

14. A grudge is a heavy thing to carry.

15. He who dies with the most toys is still dead.

16. We do not remember days, but moments. Life moves too fast, so enjoy your precious moments.

17. Nothing is real to you until you experience it, otherwise it’s just hearsay.

18.. It’s all right to sit on your pity pot every now and again. Just be sure to flush when you are done.

19. Surviving and living your life successfully requires courage. The goals and dreams you’re seeking require courage and risk-taking. Learn from the turtle — it only makes progress when it sticks out its neck.

20. Be more concerned with your character than your reputation. Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

Saturday was absolutely GORGEOUS!!  I was so nice to get everyone outside.  Adam & I took the kids to the park.  Ava rode her bike, while we pulled the boys in the wagon.  Even though it was sloshy, the kids had a blast!

I started humming this tune during our walk & it’s been in my head ever since.

Everyone has a “feel-good” song, right?

This is one of my favorites!

You won’t be surprised… 

Well, a day I was dreading but knew would eventually come; did indeed come last week.

Each kid in Ava’s class gets a day where they are the student teacher.  The student teacher gets to do things that are a big deal to a little kindergartener…line leader, calendar pointer, drinking fountain monitor & all around teacher helper for the day.

Ava was soooo excited for her turn.  She picked out a special dress the night before & she asked me to do her hair a certain way.  She talked nonstop about it throughout the week.  She even asked to bring an apple for her teacher that day.  I dropped her off at school & she was all smiles.

After school was much different.

Ava came home & I noticed that her shoulders were slightly hunched forward.  Her head was down & her lower lip had a tiny quiver in it.  Not exactly what I anticipated…

I asked her how student teaching went & she mumbled, “fine.”  I asked her if anything happened at school.  She looked at me & said that she was teased in front of the class during the calendar portion of the morning.  Then she said something & honestly, I’ll never forget the way she said it:  “They were my friends.” And then she burst out in tears.

Up until now, the majority of her hurts have been physical – a scraped knee, a bruised shin, a bump on the head.  Mommies can take care of these with scooby-doo bandaids, a gentle rub or a bag of ice.  Of course lots of hugs help too!  Emotional hurts are completely different.  I had no bandage for her broken heart.  I had arms big enough to wrap her up & I was able to tell her how sad I was that she was hurt.  And that was the best I could do for her.

Wounds from friends hurt.  I was hoping Ava would have a little more time before she learned this lesson.  However, on the bright side, kindergarteners bounce back fast.  The next day all was forgiven & she was back to smiling.

All I can say is, thank goodness we still have a long time before she starts dating…

This year we decided to stay in for Adam’s birthday & celebrate with a “gourmet meal.”  On the menu…crab legs with melted butter, gnocchi with a creamy tomato sauce, sauteed green beans & a homemade two layer chocolate cake – complete with chocolate buttercream icing.

however…

There’s one thing I forgot about – THE MESS!!

BEFORE

AFTER

YIKES!!  I don’t think our kitchen has even been this disheveled (and you’re only seeing what I could fit in the frame…I wish I could have fit the stove in this shot too!!).

The kids loved getting involved in the action (hence, the chairs).  They enjoyed dumping ingredients into the mixing bowl & cracking the eggs.  But, I think their favorite part was licking the beaters – especially since we were baking with chocolate!

We had a fun evening, but when my birthday rolls around, I think we’ll just go out.