Hope

     As I took a morning run under the grey overcast sky, in the refreshing coolness that early spring brings, I noticed the mountain tops, miles away touching the sun kissed clouds and I couldn't help but reflect. How beautiful and peaceful it would be to be able to fly away, high into the sky and leave all of my troubles behind me. Dwell on the mountain tops. Alone. Quietly living, praising and communing with my Maker. Then, life would be easy. Doing good, would be a cinch. Perfection, AH a piece of double chocolate cake. 

But as I labored on in my run, lost in thought and longing I realized that even there, even in that perfect setting, everything done when I wanted it to be, no one whining, expecting or crying at me to DO something, I would still have my sinful nature. My mind would still wander from worshipping my Lord. My feet could slip. Even in the perfection of God's nature, the imperfections of sin's roots run deep. Death, shivering cold and dangerous mountain cliffs still threaten... as I run, persevere physically day by day-so I do so in my spiritual walk. It's not easy. There is no escape route. Laboring on through the flames of refinement produces a life and heart purified, strong and unmovable in God's promises.

     So I keep running, crying, holding on to sweet hope-gazing at the far off beauty of heaven. Longing and believing that I will one day be there, perfect, loved... home.

"I remember my affliction and my wandering,
   the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them,
   and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind
   and therefore I have hope:
 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
   for his compassion's never fail.
They are new every morning;
   great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
   therefore I will wait for him.”
 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
   to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
   for the salvation of the LORD." 

~Lamentations 3:19-26

Slug Bug Story

     One thing I LOVE about my kids is how innovative they are!  They aren't satisfied with the same ol' same ol'... a chip off the old block I suppose.

     They started off having a blast playing the slug bug game-although, truth be told it turns into mean words and nasty fights at times(which leads to the dreaded grounding from playing the game for awhile), too but more than not, they have fun and the slug bug game keeps their minds off of being stuck in the car-but over time that classic game got laborious and boring, not to mention painful. So they started keeping points for each bug they saw. 10 points for new bugs and 25 for the vintage ones. If two of them yell it out at the same time, whoever says "JINX!" first gets the points. So, after a while longer that too got a little monotonous. So the game morphed into the "Kathy Car" game. Let me explain:

     We have a beautiful neighbor, Kathy who lives just down the street a block and who also attends our church, where she leads the children in Worship songs. We have visited her a few times, she has gifted us flowers among other things and her dear husband has molded us some wonderful keepsakes from clay.  He has a kiln to bake them in, he makes beautifully unique pottery and both of them are some of the most giving, selfless people we know. Thankful for neighbors such as them! Not to mention, I LOVE their house!

     So needless to say my kids adore miss Kathy. She has a PT Cruiser and I do believe those may rival the populous amount of Volkswagen beetles one day. Especially if my children have anything to say about it. So anytime they see a PT Cruiser, they now yell out "Kathy CARRRR!" And thus get 30 mega points for doing so. And it doesn't stop there!  No, for the "ultimate" Kathy Car, which is actually Kathy's literal car, you get a whopping 100 points. Ding ding ding!  Jackpot.

     So there you go folks, they have been having a blast playing this incredibly imaginative game every time we get into the car, it's great that they exercise their brains to keep score and it makes this mama smile!

     When we went to visit Grandpa Jim for his 90th birthday a couple of weeks ago, they were astonished when they saw a new Volkswagen beetle sitting in his driveway. As their jaws dropped open, they inched toward the car, arms raising, hands extending, in expectation, declaring," We have never seen one. So. CLOSE! May we touch it?" And all in good fun, they did. They wanted their pictures taken with it and yes, my boy kissed it. 

Guys and cars. Pshaw. I shall never understand it.

Western beauty