1.  KB’s prayer
2. Bubba’s bust the window outcha car
3.  Little’s IEP
4.  KB – ur so ugly mamma
5.  Dominoes with Bubba
6.  The Help
7.  Promise
8.  Bubba’s swingset concert
9.  1st grade read aloud
10.  Little’s Mona Lisa and Starry Night

4.  A few Sundays ago Honey had to be at church early for prayer and so I got the children ready and into the car by myself.  No biggie I do that all the time.  The strange thing was that they were being so very ugly to each other; hitting, screaming, pulling hair! and more.  I finally raised my voice and yelled, “Everyone be quiet.  We can NOT prepare to worship Jesus when we are busy saying such ugly things and treating each other so unkindly.  We are going to sit right here and each one of us is going to pray and ask Jesus to forgive us for such ugly words and actions.  I’ll start because I said ugly things too.  Will you forgive mommy for talking to ugly to you?”  Echoes of “yes” filled the car and then we each bowed our heads and asked Jesus to forgive us.  It was precious.

As I put the car into gear and prepared to leave the driveway, KB said in a low voice, “Mom, you’re ugly.”  Nice.

5.  Bubba has started playing Dominoes and is really pretty good at it.  It is so fun to play with him and we do so very often.  It’s so . . . normal.

6.  Just finished reading The Help, by Karen Stockett.  I listened to it while folding laundry, designing business cards for a friend, and doing a Blurb book.  There were places where I laughed out loud and times I shuddered with disgust.  It’s set in 1962 Mississippi and the story is told by two black maids and a recent college graduate (white) who wants to write a book about something real.  She chose to write the stories of “the help” in town and the book follows that journey.  It was an easy read, tons of fun, and pretty awful where reality smacked a nerve.

7.  It’s been awhile since this one took place, but one day I was sewing on the back porch and Bubs and KB were playing in the yard.  Bubba climbed up onto the swing set and started singing; I had to run get the camera.

At first KB was happy to watch and dance but then she decided to join in.  I guess the Spirit fell and she asked for her tambourine.  While she runs off to find an instrument, Bubba breaks into a round of “Father, I Adore You” (all three verses) and humbly announces that “you may now cheer for Father I Adore You”, and after KB rejoins the festivities they end the show with a rip-roaring rendition of “Jingle Bells”.

I don’t know if you can see it, but Mr. Meyer, the landlord, is sitting off to the back with the yard guy and he is just tickled by the kids singing.  He walked up to the house during naps to tell me just how much he enjoyed it and hoped they would do it again.

I’ll save 9 and 10 for later this week – I need to get a few photos together.

Catherine of the picket fence has linked me in a meme and I have to say, a hard meme.  


So the challenge of the meme was to list 5 books that have changed who I am.  My honey and I joke about me not being a reader, but the truth is that I love books.  There was a slower time when I read non-stop and, therefore, thinking of five books should be easy.  But it’s not just thinking of five books I’ve read or five books I really like, etc.  It’s books that have changed who I am.  Dude.

It’s been a week since she tapped me in her own post on the topic.  Catherine has quite a list – she is a constant reader and amazing thinker.  These days I am having trouble remembering to put make-up on my face, so we’ll see if I can remember the five books I thought of. . .

1.  Romans –  I was going to say the Bible and it would have been a true statement.  I was thinking, though, and when I read/studied Romans in 1996 my life was forever changed.  My view of God was changed.  My understanding of myself was changed.  My hope.  My security.  Me.  What a great book within the Great Book.

2.  The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe – This one may seem silly but it’s truly a book that changed me at the core.  The imagery brought to life Truths that may have seemed flat.  C. S. Lewis gave us a great gift in this book and I honestly pick up new treats each time I read it.  One of the scenes that changed who I am is the scene after Peter slays the wolf.  You’ll have to go read it for yourself.

3.  Putting Amazing Back Into Grace – Is it feasible to not remember specifics from a book but know that it was instrumental in your formation? I read this book at the time my eyes were being opened to the whys of reformed theology and it put into words so much of what was happening in my heart and guided me through some of the haze too.

4.  Stepping Heavenward – The novel that reads like the journal of a girl who shares so many of my shortcomings.  I remember reading this book and thinking parts could have been written by me.  I was challenged, convicted, encouraged – changed.

5.  Respectable Sins – I actually have five more pages to go in this one, but I can tell you that I am a changed person because of this book.  I might just write Jerry Bridges a letter, I tell ya.  This book combined with a sermon by our pastor, Mark, and a Bible Study lesson from another pastor, Ben – – – things came into focus that I have been trying to understand for YEARS.  An easy read but a HARD read.

Now the fun of taking part in this little exercise is that I have to tap a few of my friends to do it too! So, I’m going to spin my little bottle and the winners are: Coralie, Megan, Madelyn, Rebecca, Jawan and Allison.  Of course there is no law that says you have to participate, but I picked you because I really would like to know.   The rules are below. 

• Tag between 3 and 5 people
• link back to this post.
• call the post ‘5 books that changed who I am’
• enjoy.

 So I told you here about how my sweet friend, April, came to me weeks ago and asked what I would want to do for my birthday if I could do anything.  Well, we had the luncheon/birthday party last weekend and it was a delight.  Twelve women, all from different parts of my life in this city, came together and it was a blast.  (Sadly, not everyone could come.)  It was like a wedding shower without the formality.

• Shelley worked with me the first two years we lived here (she now “runs” the place).  
• Nicole lived a couple houses down all through seminary. 
• Pat has been a mentor and friend.
• Ellen’s husband delivered all my children and she is such a super model of how to raise them.
• Janet and Cindy have both been dear friends who have helped with my kiddos and helped ME as I adjusted to this life God has called me to.  (Cindy has a son with special needs too and she has been an unbelievable encouragement.)
• Michelle is a scrapbooking buddy.
• Rebecca moved here from Birmingham too and every time we talk we find another commonality – whether it be people we both know, shoe brands we love from home, or sins to confess.
• Julie is my organizer friend (that’s how most of you know her) who understands my life better than anyone else and well, no matter what’s up over here, she just gets it.
• Coralie has lived here almost a year but I feel like I have known her forever.  She and her husband are students at the seminary and a mutual friend introduced us.  (I started to type more but was gushing so I erased it.)
• Okay, in the hot pink is my friend Jawan.  I met Jawan when I worked at Berry College with Campus Outreach – she and several of her high school friends came to visit a girl on campus and I met her then.  (I think Claire might have been graduating?)  Anyway, years later Jawan married one of my best friends in college.  Now she’s stuck with me ’cause we are friends too.  She lives in Georgia but just happened to be visiting Coralie that week (she’s the mutual friend who introduced us) and she was able to come celebrate another decade with me (she was at my surprise 30th too)! I wish she lived closer ’cause I could spend hours talking, laughing, crafting, etc. with her.
• Then there is April who I have known for SO MANY years and Jean, the women’s ministry director at our church and a dear, dear friend.  Jean hosted the party at her house and made the food.  April ran the show and took pictures, making sure to get everyone in one because she knew it would be important to me.