Laura

Laura is my mom.
It's funny how the word "mom" comes with so many emotions: warmth, love and laughter. As a child, I didn't really know my mother as a woman - she was just my mom! What a pleasure it has been to get to know her as "the woman" and find out that she is my very close friend.

She is wonderful.
She is the best.
She is a woman of integrity.
She is a woman of godly character.
She is the mother of 3.
She has aged beautifully.
She is a teacher.
She loves her family.
She loves people.
She is a great listener.
She is a good "cookers".
She is lovely.
She is hilarious.
She has great taste in men and even better kids. ( :) )
She is incredibly courageous.
She cares.
She exudes wisdom.
She keeps the peace.
She accepts situations and crisis with grace, kindness and love.
She has a heart for our international friends.
She speaks truth.

Mom - I hope you don't mind your Mother's Day card being put on display this year. I'm not sure I can put into words how much I appreciate and love you. It is such a comfort knowing you are only a few hours away instead of across the country. I love watching you with my children and know that they will have so many more memories of time with their Nana. You truly are an inspiration and you make me want to be better as a wife, daughter and especially a mother.
I love you so much!

tonight I wasn't a good mom...
I wasn't a great wife...
I wasn't even an awesome person at all!

I was impatient...I was unkind...sarcastic...wrong.

tonight wasn't a good night.

but tomorrow morning maybe things will be better.

I will hold my tongue.
I will count to 10.
I will choose patience.
I will say I'm sorry.

"Mawidge..."

"...Mawidge that bwessed awangement!
A dweam within a dweam..."

I was talking with my brother (newly engaged) the other night and he was going on about his sweetie and how much he misses her and wishes he could spend more time with her. Aw...right? Except for at that moment as he rattled on and on, I looked over at my husband lying on the couch and recalled how the day before we had argued...for quite some time...about the mailkey. A mailkey? Really? How did we go from "dating bliss" to 30 hot headed minutes of "who should get the mail". ???
Listening to him talk, I started to miss the dating we had...everything being exciting and lovely. Hearts skipping, feeling flustered, wanting to never be apart, late night phone conversations. Oh those were great times! So exciting.
But wait - am I saying that marriage is nothing like that? Isn't that the message society sends? Excitement, passion, and freedom are all chucked out the window the minute you say "I do". No more fun. No more romance. No more you.
Not true.
Of course it isn't the same relationship as it was when you are dating...you are living with this person! Eating, sleeping, washing, cleaning, etc. Everything becomes different and little things (aka. the mailkey) become a big deal. I'm not entirely sure this can be avoided. When God posed the idea of marriage to His fellow angels, I wonder if they thought "Ok so you take two flawed humans...they fall in love, get married, have kids, deal with stress and life and have different opinions and they are supposed to stay together forever? Riiiight...go team."
And so the relationship changes....but it gets better! It's fine to let your mind drift to those "glory days", but there is no way I want to go back there. Are you kidding? I love marriage!
I LOVE that I wake up/go to bed with him every night/every morning.
I LOVE that he buys me donuts/chips/candy when he knows I'm having a tough day.
I LOVE that he still tries to romance me at the most inopportune times just to make me laugh.
I LOVE that I my heart still flutters when his hand brushes mine.
I LOVE that he calls me throughout the day just to say hi.
I LOVE that we are silly.
I LOVE that we fight about the "mailkey" and other such nonsense(which was properly resolved by the way)
I LOVE that when I get up in the morning I see the Bible on the table that he was reading while eating cereal before work.

I LOVE MY MARRIAGE!



*I know that to some of you "seasoned" wedded people, this is not news, but in this world we have to fight for our marriages and maybe I gave you a reason to be thankful for yours today?

wishin, hopin, prayin...

Summer is coming!

5:06 am - little girl wakes up screaming
5:28 am - little girl back to sleep - mommy and daddy WIDE awake.

perfect time for reflections?

my husband and I are currently in a Bible study called "The Peasants Princess" by Mark Driscoll. It is based on Song of Solomon and although the study can be enjoyed by anyone, he is discussing sex in a strictly marital context.
It is interesting to me how that book of the Bible seems to be passed over so often. Growing up, I remember many occasions when my friends and I would read through the verses, stopping to giggle that the word "breast" was actually written in the Bible. As far as I can remember, I don't think I've ever heard a sermon based on this book...yet sex seems to be a big part of our society and so much of the reason that marriages are ending sooner these days. Infidelity, immorality, selfishness, etc. Seems we should be talking about it more.
This past week we delved a bit into how a man works and the way his mind seems to take visual "snapshots" of beautiful women that they may see. These shots are then stored away and can be recalled at a moments notice (for some men...this is a pretty general statement). He discusses how it is not wrong - and also quite inevitable because of the way they are made- for a man to take notice of other women and their beauty, but it is wrong what is done with those images. I agree...it's all about that second, third, fourth look and so on. But I'm sorry. Does this bother any other woman out there but me? Perhaps it is immaturity, selfishness or simple insecurity, but I don't want my husband to think there are other attractive women out there! I mean, shouldn't I be enough? Even as I write this, I know in my heart that I am enough for him...and he is very respectful in the way he is with women, but it still makes me a bit upset inside. Of course I can tell if another man is good looking or not, but it just seems different for men you know?
There are a bunch of things I'm anxious to sit down and chat with God about someday. Some comical for instance:
- "Mosquitos? Really?"
- "So um the purpose of acne is...?"
- "Was it necessary to bless me with two cowlicks and incredibly stubborn hair?"

some more serious:
- "why do children and women have to suffer so much pain?"
- "how do you allow perverts and murderers to live and cause such destruction?"
- "why did you make men so visually stimulated and women so sensitive that we would clash forever and hurt each other again and again?"

Is this just our "lot" to bear in life? Do we have to just always assume that our men of choice are noticing other women? (with or without sin on their part...) Or on the flip side, if this is truly the way things are, how much more should I be conscious of modesty and how I portray myself to other men.
Perhaps I am overreacting and acting out of complete selfishness, but I can't imagine that this need to protect my marriage and hold it at a higher standard could be considered selfish...any thoughts?

Most anyone who knows me could tell you that I am not a "tidy" person. My whole life my parents tried in vain to keep some sense of order and neatness in my room. Bribes, rewards, punishments...I could last maybe 2 days and then it was a lost cause. This of course transferred into my married life (lucky Dave). My house is generally pretty neat and tidy, especially if I know people are coming over, but I'm just never going to be the type of person who has a spotless house. It's not me. Not my personality, and not my goal in life(sorry Mom). That being said, I do have a cleaning/laundry schedule that I follow pretty religiously, and I do my best to clean up toys, books and clothes that my son feels the need to throw around the house, throughout the day.
I love when my house is clean. I'm proud of how it looks and I want people to see that when they come over; and although it is embarrassing when someone happens upon my doorstep and the dishes are overflowing in the sink and the floor is barely visible under the carpet of toys and things, I would never turn someone away because of my messy dwelling.
If you have read previous blogs you would know that our house is kind of a construction zone as we try to remodel and renovate. It's a slow process and often I feel it won't ever be completed. However, this summer is our time to renovate the outside of our home. This means digging out our boardwalk in the backyard, moving our shed, building a new fence, and landscaping/flower gardens throughout the yard. Big job. We decided to tackle it this weekend. Oh the mess...and dirt...and dirty children! After I had finished raking the front yard last night, I decided that we needed to trim the big tree out front thus making even more of a mess, but looking much better in the end. I'm headed out there again to rake and pile and bag and I can't help but think that my life is filled with "mess". Everywhere I look right now I see piles of brush, clothes, toys and cheerios. I get that I have kids and we have goals for our home, but,
When does it stop?
Does it stop?
Should it stop?
I don't think so. "Mess" is necessary!
Without piles and clutter and garbage and smudges and debris, how do we ever appreciate clean and tidy and neat and polished?
Without thunder and lightning and rain, how do we appreciate green and fresh smells and rainbows?
Without arguments and tempers and anger, how do we appreciate apologies and love and kindness?
Without death and fear and pain and hell, how do we appreciate heaven and grace and life and Jesus?

If everything was "clean" in our life, how would we know what to do with messy? I like this logic. It makes me feel like I'm allowed to be...maybe even supposed to be a mess.

Bugs

I'm an animal person. I don't like to see animals that are unhappy or being mistreated. Can't usually watch nature shows because I empathize with mothers and babies that are separated or eaten...it's so sad.
However, I feel absolutely nothing when I kill a fly...or a wasp...or a mosquito...or a spider. In fact today it probably would have been comical to watch me stalking around my house, flyswatter in hand-on the prowl for the one lonely fly who made the unfortunate decision of coming into my house. I can't stand them! Their buzzing around a window or over your head...
The amazing thing is that although my love for the animals of this world is a pretty big deal in my life, I get an amazing satisfaction from killing something that is so small, yet so irritating. I know that God has some kind of purpose for these bugs, but a mosquito? Really? Perhaps before the "fall of man" these bugs coexisted with us very naturally and wonderfully...perhaps in heaven they will again, but right now they are invading my sanctuary...and they must be stopped!
To accomplish this though I'm looking for some healthy remedies for stopping this impending attack. Any tips or comments you can leave to encourage this insect genocide would be greatly appreciated.
(especially the bees and spiders....yuk!)