Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me...

This week I had the opportunity to go to a little place called San Fransisco with Other Guy. It was one of those trips that was business for him and all relaxation for me! It was also one of those times that all married with children couples need to remind themselves that they are still great as just a couple...not just as mom and dad!

Right before I left, I received a phone call from my younger sister informing me that my mom was not having such a great day. My mom had surgery on her neck just a few days before and due to the 2+ inch cut on her throat, she was limited to soft foods. Unfortunately, my step dad forgot to take his daily dose of compassion and kinda left my mom high and dry over the weekend. My first inclination was to get fired up mad and to be quite honest with you, I was two seconds away from booking a flight to Florida and straightening things out. Luckily, my sisters (& my mom's friend, Diane) took care of all of that and life is good again. (Don't worry all is well with my mom's marriage - he just needed to listen more and she probably needed to ask more and well, you know how it goes!)

However, on my wonderful four day trip with my husband, it became apparent to me that it all comes down to communication...EVERYTHING does. Whether you are newly married, married with young kids, married for a life time or single, every relationship in your life is only healthy with communication and time spent together.

I loved walking in the evening with Other Guy, just holding hands and being together. I loved being able to focus on each other's conversations without having to say, Hold on a second. Now don't get me wrong, I love our children but it was nice to be reminded that I am still a wife and a best friend...that I'm still fun to be around and needed.

I guess what I am trying to say is that when something is missing in your life, take a poll and see who you are or are not spending time with. Who are you communicating with...Okay, let me rephrase those sentences so that my friends and my husband don't email me because of grammar! With whom are you or are you not communicating? With whom are you spending time or not spending time? Every time life seems to get crazy, it's because life has come before my relationship with Christ. I make every excuse in the book as to why I haven't had time to read my Bible or why I haven't been able to spend serious time in prayer.

Well, that's about it...To all you husband's out there, no pressure but take your wife on a date. It doesn't have to be San Fransisco but you can go out on an evening and just remind her of how important she is to you...not just as the mother of your children.

Peace Out!

Fear not, for I am with you...

This past Sunday was the 2nd week of our Perspective's series at church. Unfortunately, I missed the first week but it was for a good reason...I was scrap booking. I must say that if there is any acceptable excuse for missing church, scrap booking would be it. And to top it off, I got to do it with a very special friend of mine...but I digress.

If you are interested in following this series, you can look at our church website or at our pastor's blog.

This Sunday, I was on my way upstairs to worship when I noticed a dad, carrying his young son down the stairwell. I didn't recognize him but based on their conversation, I assumed they were visiting. The little boy was very nervous and kept telling his dad how scared he was to go to his class. To this his dad replied, "Ya know, I'm trying something new today too and I'm a little nervous but I know it's going to be great!"

I just love stuff like that. There is nothing that warms my heart more than to see a father/child interaction. It just brought a smile to my face.

I then joined the in-laws in service (Other Guy was out of town) and noticed the dad was sitting in the row in front of us. I continued on with worship and absolutely loved the service...music, preaching, everything. At the end of service, Tim took the opportunity to invite people to pray the prayer of salvation with him. The anticipation of this moment always gets to me. The thought of some body making an eternal decision in that exact moment is very exciting.

As the service closed, Tim asked for the people who prayed that prayer for the first time to step out and raise their hands so that we could celebrate with them.

Any guesses who raised their hand?

If you guessed the dad, you would be right. I almost started crying. Oh, if his young son could only grasp how his bravery to go to his class helped his dad to make an eternal decision!

Isn't that AWESOME!!!

Well, I gotta go for now...just remember that we all have to step out on faith sometime and be brave and try something new!

Peace Out!

How to age...gracefully!

I'm not exactly sure why but Curly has suddenly become obsessed with age. Now before you freak out and panic...let me explain. She hasn't become a psychopath that you'll see on Dr. Phil next week defending her 99+ plastic surgeries to help her keep her girlish 3 year old look. I mean really, I understand that turning 4 is really a big deal but appearance wise, we are still safe! Whewwww, now that I have that cleared up, let me continue.

Curly has lots of questions about who is older and how we get older. Just last week she asked Grandma why her Daddy had such an "old" mom. To this, Other Guy's mom replied that she wasn't always that old. She continued to try to explain how aging works. Papa even chimed in and explained that one day she would be 5, then 10 and then 20, 30 and one day 70. To this Curly laughed and with much assurance told her Papa that 70 wasn't real! Everybody had a good laugh and the subject was dropped...or so we thought.

Yesterday at church, Curly's Sunday School teachers went around the room at prayer time and asked the children if they had any prayer requests. (Let me say first of all that I love her Sunday School teachers. They are the nicest couple with a real heart for children and a strong desire to teach them about the love of Christ. They graduate each year with this particular group of kids so now they are the 4 year old teachers. Other Guy and I play softball with them too!) Anyway, Curly raises her hand and says she would like to pray for her Grandma. Now keep in mind that Grandma goes to church with us, so this couple knows Grandma. Mrs. Sunday School teacher becomes concerned and asks if Grandma is sick. Curly just shakes her head and replies, "No, she's just getting old!" To this, Mr. Sunday School teacher loses it and starts laughing but quickly gains control of himself when he realizes just how serious this issue is to Curly. After a few other requests, prayer time continues and they pray for Curly's Grandma, that she might age gracefully.

So, there you have it...the key to aging gracefully is Prayer, plain and simple!

Peace Out!