Like Father, Like Son

NYC!

As a delayed 5-year anniversary gift to each other, we flew up to NYC on Saturday for some sight-seeing, a Broadway show, and a one-night stay at the Waldorf Astoria. It was one of those trips - seriously - where everything just seemed to go right...though we weren't able to do EVERYTHING on our list, we had a magical time together and were able to see and do so much with the 24 hours we had.

NY has a pace that exhausted me after a short 24 hours. In the South, I would never hesitate to stop a stranger to ask for a picture. In NYC, the only people who are standing still are the people you would never trust to hold even a dollar for a minute. Sooooooooo...we have lots of crazy pictures where we zoomed the camera out as far as it would go, I stood on my tip-toes, and L held it back as far as his long arms would reach in order to get our faces in front of whatever scenery we were trying to capture. What we ended up with was actually quite a memorable array of some of our best moments from that day and a half - looking back, they really do capture our time there.

To be honest, this was actually the first trip that I've taken post-baby that I was able to let go of being "mom" for a day and step into the shoes of just giving myself over to being with my man. And to be even more honest, I wasn't specifically praying for that to happen - it just did. One of those things that God gives you that you don't even know that you need. For that reason, though, I think NYC will hold some pretty special memories for the two of us - a place that belongs to just L and I and isn't shared with the feelings and responsibilities of parenting. Don't read what I'm not saying! I LOVE LOVE LOVE being a mom. But there's a tendency for me to get sucked into it, to invest the best of my care first and foremost to the 2-year-old with the most immediate and tangible needs. I felt a little like a "newlywed" for a day in NYC - as if I had the freedom to offer L my best without having to worry about whether or not E's needs were being met (side note: Thank you Nana and PopPop!!).

This is still a thought-in-progress. I am looking forward to being back home with our family back together. But I am wondering about the glimpse God has given to us this weekend of the importance of a little "getaway." A time for me to focus my eyes 100% on the man God has blessed me with and to be able to offer him all the love I have in my heart for him without any hindrances. A time for romance to blossom a little more. A time to remember walking down the aisle toward the man of my dreams. A time to be thankful that I have a mate with a common vision and purpose in life. A really really GOOD time!!

Waldorf Astoria

First trip on the subway

Staton Island Ferry

Lady Liberty is back there somewhere!

Lombardi's Pizza

The Lion King on Broadway!

Times Square

We were MASTERS of the subway

Central Park

On our way home...

Blessing Near Brasstown Bald

My parents finally did something this summer they've been wanting to do since they first met each other almost 30 years ago: they bought a house in the mountains on a lake. God's blessing over their lives, mixed with a downturn in the economy, gave them an opportunity for an incredibly sweet purchase in the North Georgia mountains, and we made our inaugural trip this weekend.

I am so blessed to have the parents I have. Not only have they passed down a spiritual legacy to the next generation, they are now also adding to that a physical legacy of a "resting place" - a place where friends and family can meet for many years to come.

Though it was a short visit, the weather was beautiful today, so we journeyed over to Brasstown Bald - just a short car ride away - to take in the view. It was well worth it! Because it was such a clear, beautiful day, you could see the skyscrapers in Atlanta off the south side of the tower. If you look closely in the last picture below, you can see the shadows of the big city in the background - towering over the mountains in front of it. The best part is that everything that man created in that city doesn't even compare to the beauty of God's natural creation in the rest of the picture!!

Myrtle Beach 2009

Life has been a little crazy around here with vacations and kiddos and the usual summer randomness, so I just now finished a book of E's time at the beach with Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle Connor ("Unca"). I had the option of exporting it to a video, but couldn't pick the music, so apologies if you are not a fan of the Classical era. I thought it turned out pretty cute, though, in spite - and it really does capture our memories of our time there.

Thanks again Grandpa and Grandma - we can't wait for next year!!

And That's What (Some) Little Girls Are Made Of...

I remember, as a young girl, receiving an invitation in the mail one day to "Junior Cotillion." After asking my mom what it was, I promptly ripped it to shreds and threw it in the trash, claiming that I would not be learning how to sip tea, set a dinner table and ballroom dance. It was a value statement then, for sure (apologies to all those Cotillioners out there!), but as a pretty literal 11-yr-old, I just couldn't foresee in my future a need to be educated in the social graces of this world (to this day, I still don't have a clue what went on in those classes, but I could use a little help in the social graces arena!).

I often wonder about E, what kind of a girl she is becoming, not only in a spiritual sense, but also if she'll like Barbies and play house, if she will scale rocks or climb mountains like her daddy. If I'll have to hide my amusement in the same way my mom probably did when she rips up an invitation to learn ballroom dancing.

Not that I have a real preference for one skill set over another...I'm really just quite curious to see what specific gifts and traits God gives my cheerful, light-hearted, easy-going little baby. One thing's for sure: if this video is any indication, we're going to need a whole lot more lessons in social graces!

A Safe Place

Last week, on our first night at the beach, I had a run-in with a strung-out guy. At first I thought he was just a creep, because he just kept STARING at E. After at least 10 minutes of trying to ignore him, I stepped between him and her, took off my sunglasses so that I could look him straight in the eyes, and asked him if he needed anything, and told him if he didn't, then he needed to move on. I turned back around to E, we kept playing, and he kept staring. I took my sunglasses off again, and proceeded to stare back until he got the picture and moved on. Creep.

It took me over an hour to shake that "unsafe" feeling. I felt so helpless against his overpowering sin. And that the sin was committed against my own small child who couldn't defend herself was nearly unbearable.

I've thought over and over again how I could've reacted differently, and wondered if the actions that I did take brought glory to God. Though I certainly felt justified in protecting her, I don't really have an answer to that question yet. And I'm pretty sure the thoughts that were running through my head at the time were probably not thoughts that Jesus would ever entertain.

One thing I DO know is that God never promised this world to be a safe place. I do know that, as much as it hurts, I want E to know that so that she will understand the importance of being covered in prayer and in the armor of the Living God. HE is our safe place, HE is our protector and provider, and HE will get the final judgment over every soul. As much as I want to be able to protect her from the ugliness of this world, at some point she will taste its bitterness. And the best gift I can offer her in those moments is to show her that if we cling to God, he promises us peace for our burdens and joy for our sorrow...and forgiveness for all the things we really wanted to say to the offender.

Beach Fun

In case there are those of you (mom) who think that we haven't had any fun this week, who think we've forgotten about you, who think we've fallen off the face of the earth...here's the proof we're still alive!

Golden Arches

Nothing says vacation like a good ol' trip to Mickey D's. Especially when you've been so diligent to protect your firstborn from it for 19 months. Even more so when it's the christening meal of your trip. Oh well. I guess it had to happen sometime, right? Sorry, Mr. Cathy. We still love cows. Promise.

Wrecked

Tonight I am sitting in a condo on Myrtle Beach, watching the sunset through the sliding door, and pondering the events of the past 24 hours. Let's just say it's been a little different than I anticipated.

We were a little behind schedule Friday night as we headed out for the beach, and E was just starting to doze right at 10pm, a full two hours past her usual bedtime. I was settling in for another two hours on the road, checking the iPod and securing E's toys away for the remainder of the trip when it felt as though our left rear tire exploded.

I remember looking at my husband and focusing all of my energy on praying that he would be able to maintain control long enough to guide us off the road. I heard screeching tires, but I just kept staring and praying. Without a doubt, God himself guided our car to safety on the side of the interstate, and I quickly realized that it wasn't our tire, but another vehicle that had bumped us while we were driving.

I called 911 to report the accident while my husband stepped out of the car to assess the situation. E, though completely fine, was no longer dozing of course. The driver of the other vehicle was also okay, and I learned soon after that she had fallen asleep while driving. After an hour on the side of the interstate, we moved the vehicles to the nearest exit ramp to more fully calculate the damage done to both vehicles. We took a few pictures, both of the accident and of the first time E has ever stayed up until midnight. These precious smiles were God's way of preparing my heart for the overwhelming sense of despair I felt when we got in the car, finally ready to continue, only to find out that our car battery had been completely drained by the past two hours of activity on the side of the road.


When we finally got back on the road, I was wrecked. I remember thinking that there were probably a lot of Christian women out there who would, at that time, lovingly look at their husbands and tell them how much they admired them for handling the situation so perfectly. I just sat there and cried and wished silently for my daddy, just knowing he would have all the answers if he were here.

In reality though, my God supplied our every need. Looking back on last night, I see how he protected us so completely. It could have easily been much much worse. E was such a trooper. My husband was incredibly capable. And me? God's power was made perfect through my weakness, just as his Word promises.

Weekend Fun

We had a blast camping with Nana and PopPop this weekend. The final tally comes to:

54 deer
37 wild turkeys
18 miles of biking
14 ice cream cones

12 rounds of "Nemo"


9 black bears

7 outfits per day

6 bags of chips

5 s'mores

4 trips around Cades Cove


3 Moores/Bosts

2 hours of tubing down the river

...and 1 tired baby!!

It's unbelievable how much I love this little girl!!!

"What is Church" is the Wrong Question

I hate that question. Not that I really get it that often, because most people already have a preconceived notion of "what church is," so the conversation usually turns to a list of styles, songs, warm & fuzzy feelings, and what makes a good pastor.

I hate it because I am so guilty of getting sucked into qualifying a church by the "what's." I hate it because it is the wrong question. It is Satan's way of deceiving us into believing that we are better off on our own. The right question, the one that always leads us to the foot of the cross, is "Who is the Church?" And Paul gives an incredible answer in Ephesians:

"Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior...Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless...After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body."

Where am I going with all this? This morning, I went to church. My mom, my dad, my sister, my husband and I all sat around a picnic table at a campsite with a couple of bibles, and the Holy Spirit of the Living God was there among us as thick as a storm cloud. He blessed us with His Spirit as we walked prayerfully and carefully through some really tough issues that were causing division in our family. We were lovingly honest. There were tears. Our burdens were laid out on the table. Christ spoke through my husband many times to bring biblical insight into some of those "family" issues. I LOVE that my husband is able to speak such tender wisdom. We prayed together, prayed for guidance, prayed for acceptance, prayed for strongholds to be broken and peace to invade. It was a beautiful picture of the simplicity of church. Not a full picture of everything God intends for the church to be, but a sliver of that "cleansing by the washing of the water with the word."

The funny thing is that I didn't really want to sit down at the table this morning. My sister had made the suggestion that we all sit around the table and "talk about what God is doing in our lives." If you know me at all, invitations like that make me want to turn and run as fast as my legs will carry me to the next continent. I don't know why, they just do. I sat down begrudgingly, and God did something miraculous. I'm sure glad he doesn't need us, but I am so much more glad that he wants us anyway!!

In the Mountains

L and I took E to meet my parents yesterday, so she could spend the week with them. This is her first time going on "vacation" with my parents - they are camping in the Smoky Mountains, and we don't have big travel plans that would necessitate her stay with them. It's simply "for fun."

I am so blessed to have the parents that I have - among many other amazing qualities, they shower E with love and attention, and provide what I can honestly refer to as "holy inconsistency" - meaning that they throw routine out the window and teach her how to adapt to crazy schedules that don't always allow for 8am breakfast, 12noon lunch, 1pm naptime, and 6pm dinner. The mom in me needs a plan to feel productive, yet I love that Nana and PopPop expose E to flexibility in their own loving, non-stressful way. I am always amazed at the genuine joy she has in the midst of this "chaos." Reminds me of the example Jesus gave in Matthew when He told His disciples that, "Unless you become like this little child, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." The inconsistency comes not in our God, Who is the same yesterday, today and forever, but in our circumstances. How incredible it is that E trusts resolutely that her Nana and PopPop have only her best interests in mind, even if at times it's not her normal routine. All she knows is that they are good, and she trusts that.

Backpedal to Matthew for a moment, where Jesus reminded us that, "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!"

E playing in the "WATER!" - a creek that runs through the campground they are staying in. Despite the cold (the river fluctuates between 64 and 69 degrees during the summer), it's apparently her favorite place to be. And so begins what is certain to be a summer tradition with Nana and PopPop!