Confession

I am a thief. There. I said it. Or I was a thief for like five minutes. So does that still qualify as an official thief? That's what I was asking God anyway right after I grabbed my receipt and my buggy and noticed the two dollar and fifty cent cupcakes sitting there so innocently under my big honkin' purse. The cupcakes were for a good cause, my cousin's birthday, so doesn't that make it okay to just go ahead and slip quietly out the door without paying for them. After all, lol, I am a good person. That's what I thought as I held Grayson on my hip and stared sweetly straight into the eyes of the Wal-Mart lady standing at the exit checking receipts of people who ding when they walk out. I sailed right past the dinger thinking how easy it is for a smiling mom with cute kids to steal. Unfortunately for the devil in me, I had promised Season we would rent a movie at the Redbox machine right outside the door. So, I had to stop, which meant I had time to think (stupid conscience!) I tried to bargain with God. "I'll pay for them next time!" "I mean, it's not as if I had the intention to steal them when I picked them up. It was a sheer oversight. An innocent accident." "The lines! God the lines are soooooo loooong!" Anyway, that's kind of how it went during the few minutes that it took to rent Underdog. I really just did not want to go back into that stressful moneyhole. It took me hours just to find the shortest check-out, which just so happened to be the self check-out, which, let's be honest, usually takes longer. There is a definite technique to the scanning. One that's not so easy to perfect with the help of two-year-old. Anyway, I did. Go back in. I left my basket outside and told the Wal-Mart exit greeter lady that I "forgot" to pay for the cupcakes. Luckily, God smiled on me and I didn't even have to wait in line. I went back in because I stopped. I stopped long enough to consult with God. Pausing is good. Think before you leap. Oh wait it's look before you leap. I took time to think about what my actions revealed and how they would affect me. Would the effects of stealing two dollar cupcakes be massive? Not outwardly, but I knew, for me, I wouldn't be able to get away from it. Every time I faced God, I would be reminded of my internal ugliness. oh wait. That happens anyway. I'm beginning to ramble. What I am trying to say is I'm a sinner saved by grace. I'm ugly. I'm a thief. Thank God he replaces my ashes with His beauty.

BTW-I didn't even eat a bite of the stupid cupcakes. But I took a moment to pose with the instigators, just in case you were beginning to think that I am not a dork.

Birthdays and Bliss

This past month has been busy and fun-filled for us. The first of November marked the tenth year of marriage for me and my man. Ten years of wedded bliss…I’m sorry but that phrase makes me laugh and wanna throw up all at the same time. Not that there haven’t been moments of bliss or as my favorite dictionary says moments of being on cloud nine or in seventh heaven. But I’m afraid too many people go into marriage with the idea that bliss will just overtake their life, when in reality marriage is about doing life--good, bad, and ugly-- side by side (or, okay, one tiny step behind your man if you want to get all Biblically-technical about it!) It’s about putting the person you love before yourself, accepting him unconditionally, and encouraging and supporting him. To me, it’s about putting him and our marriage in God’s hands and laying my selfishness at His feet. And I’ve only really learned this the last two years, and am still not perfect at putting it into practice. The first ten years were definitely a learning experience, but so worth the end result. Graham and I are happier than we’ve ever been, serving God together, and seeking to be what He wants us to be both individually and as a couple. Sorry if I am making you sick with our blissfulness….hehehe. Believe me, we annoy each other like crazy. Our personalities and ways of seeing things our pretty much opposite, so yeah, we definitely have our disagreements. Give and take. But, I am so excited about the future! We celebrated ten years with a ski trip to Colorado. Graham loves to ski and is pretty good at it. I, on the other hand, can ski but not so good. Fear seems to overtake me at the top of every mountain. Many parallels to life abound in skiing for me. Graham hits the top and doesn’t slow down ‘til he gets to the bottom. I tend to take it a little at a time, slowly but with a focus. (Which is seriously a much more painful way to ski, but I am skeered to go fast!) I don’t think our ways of skiing necessarily mirror the way we attack life, but, okay I’ll stop being deep. Anyway, we had fun skiing. The mountains are absolutely majestic! The air is crisp and clear and the pure white snow unmuddied by the world is heavenly. After finally finishing up a difficult semester of classes, my vacation was more about being able to relax, so I spent some time in the hotel room by myself and Graham got to ski the Blacks by himself. He met some interesting people on the lifts, of course. And I did nothing! Loved it. Driving home(15 hours I might add)was even fun, planning a financial budget for the year and singing to the radio (Chicago rocks), giving shout-outs to Quanah Parker and even Baby Jesus,lying in the middle of a courthouse lawn.


Season celebrated her fifth birthday on Dec. 2nd. So, ten years of marriage and five years of parenting….wow. Most of the time I feel like I’ve been doing both forever, but then sometimes I feel like such a novice, bumbling around trying to figure out how in the world to do it right. It’s a cliché, but I cannot believe my baby is 5! Though I thought it strange, she wanted a penguin party, and of course a sleepover. And because yes I am crazy, I let her invite ten friends and family to spend the night. I think they all had fun, and it really wasn’t that difficult, except at bedtime. It took two hours to finally get all of them to sleep at the same time. I kept imagining that they were really all mine, which was a scary thought at first. But then I thought about all of the help I would have if I trained ‘em up just right. If I had ten kids, after about five years, I could just sit on the couch all day while the older ones took care of everything. Yep, it would be great. Tunnel vision. Anyway, Graham of course came up with the entertainment, a scavenger hunt and air mattress gymnastics. He is a fun daddy.

At the present, we are trying to potty train Grayson. He and Graham have actually been in the bathroom for about an hour. Apparently things are not coming out so well. But, Graham was so excited today. He has been working for TxDot for ten years and was recognized today for his service. Here he is pictured with his colossal award.
Obviously he has been an excellent employee.


Aren't you glad that we will ultimately recieve our just rewards in heaven?