Wish I had Thought of That ...

I got an email yesterday that was so cool. It was a poem, of sorts, about the word, GUIDANCE. It said that if you take it apart, it is the letters, G, U, I ... dance. The writer talked about the word dance and how if both people tried to lead, the result was disastrous. It was only when one person led and the other followed that the movements were fluid, purposed, and artistic. Instead of chaos with two leaders, you have a silken, graceful balance with one leader. Then the writer took note of the first three letters of the word. G - U - I. He/she said that those letters could stand for God - You and I ... dance.
When we let God take the lead in the guidance of our lives ... what results is that fluid, silken, graceful balance. When we fight God to lead the dance ... well ... I'm sure we all know too well what the result of that is from personal experience. I know that I sure do. So, even though I didn't have the clever mind that thought of how to view this word in a spiritual light ... I did have the opportunity to explain it to you in my own words. That was nice. :)
I pray that as you feel The Master reach for your hand today, that you will take His lead and dance ... with grace.
Have an awesome day my sweet friends and family!

Brad on sex appeal, again

This morning we were getting ready for church and I was putting on Brad's favorite Hawaiian shirt at mach 10, as we were running late. Big shocker there. When I went to button it, his eyes got big and he grabbed my hands. He said, "Mom, don't button the top button or you will cover up my chest hairs!"

I don't think I've ever blogged something so short, but what can I add to that? Exactly.

Goodnight all.

Brad on tomatoes

On the way home from school today, Brad was discussing his favorite and least favorite foods with the kindergartner, Emma, that we take home every day. She was telling Brad how much she loves grits and how she wanted to eat them for a snack when she got home. This alone amazed me, given that Emma's family is a fresh transplant from the Northern part of our fair country. I would expected that Emma would have listed grits amongst the, "eeeeewwwwuuuuhhhh, gross" things in her life. Nonetheless, Emma was gearing up for some good ole Southern cuisine ~ while Brad was taking his food dislikes to the confessional booth.
He sort of shrugged his shoulders to Emma and said, "Well, it's like this ... I have tried my best to like those red potatoes (Brad's constant wording for tomatoes), but every time I put them in my mouth, my heart says "yes" ... but my brain says, "NO!"
I guess Brad will need to stick with potatoes ... the white kind. Or, there's always grits ...

Oh Heavens Where Have I Been?

Hello to all my sweet blog friends!

I know that I have been out of pocket for many, many days. I've missed you all ... but I have a very good reason to explain my absence.
The Lord brought a special person into my life in January. Her name is Ginger Gilbert, and she is the widow of Major Troy Gilbert, who died in an F-16 crash outside of Baghdad last Thanksgiving. She has 5 precious children and a life that has been completely turned upside down. Not only did Troy die in the crash, but insurgents got to his body before coalition forces could arrive on the scene ... and they took his body.
Ginger has been going through a terrible time lately, and so I picked up ... spur of the moment ... and flew to Phoenix to be with her. While there, a video surfaced from the terrorist front that displays Troy's desecrated body and a message from Osama. Needless to say, it was horrific to find out. ABC news came to the door on Friday and after being turned away by Ginger's mother, the reporter turned back before walking off the porch and said, "Oh, by the way, I LOVE your necklace."
Ummmmm, does anyone see how disturbing that is? How flippant to talk about jewelry while such a tender, intimate, hurtful thing for Ginger was on the line. Oh mercy.
So, Ginger decided that she had stayed silent long enough. She asked me to stay and help her write a public statement, so we fluffed up the pillows on her bed Saturday night and worked on her speech until the wee hours of the morning.
She held the press conference today. I think that it will be circulating throughout the media for the next several days. If you want to read about it, just Google "Ginger Gilbert public statement". She is going to be contacting Hannity&Colmes tomorrow. Keep your eyes and ears open and you might see it on the news. Please pray for Ginger, as she is so weary, wounded, and weak. Pray that the Lord will prepare her for the magnitude of the next few weeks.
She is an amazing woman ... but she's is mighty low right now. I'm so thankful that God has chosen me to walk with her during this season of her life. She's like family to us now.
So, that is why you guys haven't heard from me. Let me get my feet back underneath me, and I'll get back to my blogging.

OH, and AMY IN JAPAN ... the box came while I was gone. Ben LOVES everything you sent him!!! I'll email you tomorrow with big cyberhugs!!
For those of you wondering what that is about ... one of my blogging buddies and I did a gift swap! Isn't that the coolest? She's in Japan with the Marines and I'm here in her native South ... so I sent her Southern goodies and she sent Ben a boat load of Japanese goodies. VERY cool.
I love blogging!!

Glad to be back, dear friends ~

Brad on Emergencies

I was just in my bathroom getting ready for bed. Brad had been bedded down for about 45 minutes and as far as I knew, he was already a good 15 into the land of dancing sugarplums.

Wrong again.

Suddenly Brad appeared in the doorway and he said, "Mom, this is an emergency. I have an announcement to make!"

I said, "What in the world is wrong, and why aren't you asleep yet???"

He replied, "Mom, I have a chest hair. A real, grown up chest hair. Look!"

He pulled the neck of his jammy shirt down to reveal a red splotch on his chest ... but no hair was in sight. I said, "Son, you've rubbed yourself raw!"

He looked in the mirror and said, "Good grief, I have. Hey, where'd my chest hair go?"

I said, "You rubbed it away! Now GO to bed and don't come back out unless it's a REAL emergency!"

He reluctantly turned to go but said as he went, "Well there was a chest hair there. I felt it." (sigh)

Poor little, precious man.

Wedding Bells and Puffs for the Aunt

I have been gone all weekend and just returned home at around 2am. Then I was awakened by a phone call this morning saying that our house was going to show after lunch. We officially went into freak mode and cleaned the house from stem to stern before escaping 3 minutes before showtime. Later we received another call to say that the couple didn't like my wallpaper and wasn't interested. Some way to spend Labor Day, huh? Doing LABOR all morning ... just to have my wallpaper insulted. Geeesh. I like my wallpaper.

The weekend was marvelous. My oldest niece, Katie, got married to a most excellent young man, Billy. (Or Billy-Billy as he was deemed in a poem on rehearsal night.) (smile) Brad has always called him, "The Billy". Not sure why, but it stuck.

The event, itself, was extraordinary. Such a beautiful ceremony ... and the reception was over the top. It was held at an outdoor pavilion/lodge on the banks of the Cape Fear River. Yeah, THE Cape Fear River. You've heard of it?? SCARIEST movie I've ever seen. Thankfully the only thing that got the old "hack and slash" at the reception was the whole pig they roasted. It wasn't looking so good by the end of the night. Although all the guests looked quite content ... and oily. :)
Gotsta love NC barbecue! Greasy, yet oh so satisfying.

I can't begin to explain the roller coaster of emotions I felt as it all passed by. Katie is the first person I have ever seen walk down the isle that I held when they were literally just minutes old. I remember holding her when she was all pink and squishy and thinking, I wonder what she'll be like? I wonder what she'll look like? I wonder who she'll marry and how she'll look in her dress? I hope we'll be close and that she'll love me with all her heart! All this went through my sixteen year-old mind as I held my first niece and marveled at her perfect little self. Now ... this past weekend ... all that came into focus. At times, I thought I would explode with tears. I wanted to sob out loud when she played the video of her growing up years. I wanted to squall when I hugged her one last time before she made her way to the narthex to walk down the isle. I wanted to boo-hoo uncontrollably when I watched as she and Billy ran through the lineup of sparklers and make their way to the getaway car. Ooooohhhh ... it was one of those life-moments that goes in Matrix slow-motion. So surreal. So surreal.

The blessing in it all, for me, was this.

God allowed me the joy and privilege of living all these years in Katie's life. All those questions I thought the day she was born, now have an answer. Here they are:

I know what she's like. She's authentic, funny, blunt, no-nonsense, fully committed to Christ, and a little bit sassy.
I know what she grew up to look like. She was "made for the lamps", as Dickens once wrote. She's never made a bad picture and her smile lights up every camera she's ever seen. She looks just like I thought she would ... and she's beautiful.
I know who she married and what she looked like in her dress. She married William Michael Steele, and she looked like an angel in her dress.
And as for hoping we'd be close and wanting her to love me with all her heart? Well, let's just say that we talk a million times a week, and she's one of my very best friends.

So, although my tear ducts lynched me several times throughout the weekend, they weren't tears of sadness, they were tears of love, joy, and thankfulness.

Katie is all grown up now. And I've lived it all with her. What a gift to this old "Auntie Em".

As a side note to the bride and groom:

AND what a gift to know that the two of you waited on the Lord ... saved yourselves as the ultimate wedding present to each other ... and gave Him all the glory on your sacred day. I'm so proud of you both!

So ... Katie and Billy, here's to you! CONGRATULATIONS and I hope you are setting Denver on fire tonight! You've earned it. :)
It's gonna be a Song of Solomon week this week, baby! (big smile)
I love you both!