Changes

We have been through some domestic changes over the last 2 weekends. It's a big deal for the eldest and youngest in the Smith house.

First, Sarah Kate got her BIG GIRL BED!

her last morning to wake up in the baby bed


helping Daddy set up the new bed

making the bed

I love this one. She is very attached to Baby, the blanket she is spreading over her pillow. Mama can shop and fret over which spread to get, but her Big Girl Bed isn't truly her's without that Baby!

my Sweet Baby

Next project. David needs curtains. He's on nights and has to sleep during the day. Now, the man can sleep under most any circumstances. I wish I had a picture to post here of my sweetheart sitting on the couch at 5 a.m., asleep, cup of milk in one hand and a half eaten PB&J on a plate in his lap. I couldn't help but laugh the morning I discovered that one! But, the poor guy does have a little trouble getting his 7 hours of dreaming with the bright sun filtering through the cracks in our blinds. We have a HUGE window facing the woods, a door to the deck, and a smaller window by my side. All great when you're be-bopping around the house. Makes the room light and airy. But when you're trying to sleep during the day--not so great. (Also not so great on those nights he's at work and I hear a bump in the night! Thank you, Ultimate Security!)

I gather my inspiration from Nester, $12 worth of brown twin sheets from WalMart ($3 each x 4 sheets), one package of upholstery tacks, a step ladder and my hammer. Following Nester's plans for window mistreatments, I get to work. I start a DVR Law & Order SVU, plug in the iron and start de-wrinkling my new sheets-turned-curtains. Iron, pause L/O, hang a panel. Iron, pause L/O, hang a panel. And so-on. The result:

BEFORE

(Please overlook the blind in need of repair. It will soon disappear!)

AFTER

I plan to add a little trim. I couldn't find anything that suited me at WalMart (de-bunking the myth that if you can't find it at WalMart, you don't need it). I would like to add some ties for the times David is among the living during the day.

I am also aware of the Adam & Eve disease my walls have. They are SO naked! I am collecting plates for over the bed. I'm also on the prowl for a new duvet or quilt.

Two new projects await us. I have one more sheet and some snazzy ribbon to mistreat my bathroom windows. David's project is to cover the one vent hole under the deck that our builder left open. There are two cats under my house going at it. Again. And again. And again. Oh, my stars! Cats in love are VERY loud!

Kids are an endless source of malapropisms and misunderstandings. My collection for the week:

• When I told Claire my friend sold a product "out of a catalogue," she asked, "does she tie it to some string and drag it around with the catalogue?"
• Claire asked me who "the Mayor" was. "Who?!" She explained, "you know: (singing) 'Everywhere the Mayor went, the Mayor went, the Mayor went; everywhere the Mayor went, the lamb was sure to go.'"
• Sarah Kate requested "horn dogs" for dinner tonight. That's CORN dogs.
• She also discovered "tussy rolls" (tootsie rolls) this week. We rolled around laughing about that one! This is the PG version of what she started out saying before we corrected her!

Finally, one melt-my-heart comment from SK: "You're Kelly. You're my friend!" Always, Sweet Baby!

Living Out Sunday's Lesson on Monday

Although funnies are sometimes saved for Fridays, this one couldn't wait! I'm in Walmart with the girls today, in the checkout line. Claire, getting a bit aggressive with her position in line, starts to play on the buggy in front of us. I ask her to please leave that nice woman and her buggy alone.

She whispers to me, "'cause she might be a widow?"

"What?"

"A widow. She might be a widow so I should leave her alone," she explains. I inquire about her new-found knowledge of widows. Quietly, of course, since said widow is close by, (slowly) loading her items on the conveyor belt while also trying to dig through her huge stack of coupons. Claire whispers, "a widow is someone who doesn't have a husband."

"Where did you learn this?"

"Sunday School," she replies. Trying to stifle the laughter that is fighting hard to find it's way out I manage to ask her why she thinks this lady (still working on completing her transaction) is a widow. "She's alone and she doesn't have a husband with her. That's why I think she might be a widow."

There are worse things your child can utter in the check-out line, I know. But, in that moment, I was thankful that our widow-friend didn't hear our conversation.

At least I hope she didn't!

Claire, after our eye appointment today. She looks super-cool in her eye doctor shades!

I Have Seen the Future

(My Love Story continued.) After our first meeting, David and I spent the next year developing a friendship. I was running hard after God, trying to make up for lost time and past mistakes. He was trying to juggle work, family, and leading a bunch of students to a deeper relationship with Christ. I appreciated that last part immensely. I was so hungry for more, more, more of God. He had all of these wonderful concepts to share like motives, resisting temptation, and real time alone with God. His college brain full of ideas and truths learned at Campus Outreach and Dauphin Way amazed me. "Wow, God! You actually made men like this? There are men out there who love you and desire to follow you?"

I dated very little during this time. I spent several weekend nights at home alone with an old black & white classic, warm under my blanket. When I did venture out in the social realm with a guy, I found that I often compared him to what I saw in David. God had given me a glimpse of the kind of man I wanted to marry. I could not go back now! The prospects were too good. God had good planned for my future; I would not settle for anything less.

At the same time, David spent some of his weekends trying to create opportunities for the students at our church to learn the true meaning of Christian fellowship. We did the normal stuff: movies, eating out, concerts. The crowd, large at first, began to dwindle. Toward the end of his tenure as our student minister, it was down to about 3 or 4 of us. David became one of my closest friends. I was going through so much at home: dealing with the war between my parents, being an older sister, needing to be responsible and be a kid at the same time. Then there was the normal teenage angst of social pressures, juggling classes, deciding where to go to college, how to pay for it. He encouraged me toward faith and faithfulness through all of that.

The time came for my dear friend to return to Mobile to finish school. By this time, my heart was his, although he didn't know it. He did a great job of being responsible with his position as interim minister. He never stepped over the line or did anything questionable. Even still, I had fallen in love with my best friend. He left; I cried. We kept up with phone calls and letters over the next six months. When he came home for a visit, he usually made time for a reunion of our fellowship group. And sometimes it was just me, David, coffee, and good conversation. I looked forward to those visits more than anything.

I remember one of those nights in particular. I had just gotten the Friends haircut, made popular in the late 90's by Jennifer Anniston and Courtney Cox. I dressed up for the Athletic Banquet. I felt good (a stretch for me, as I had NO style in high school--still don't!). We met afterward for coffee and conversation. That was the first time I saw a hint of something in his eye. I had lived in hope for almost a year. My hope grew that night. Maybe this man is what God had for my future. We talked into the wee hours (thanks to the cappicino!) sitting in his car in my driveway. It was blissful!

My prayers changed after that night. My whole outlook on relationships changed. I didn't want anyone else but him.

The Preface

Since this is the month of love, I thought I would chronicle my own love story. If nothing else, it will remind me how intensely I felt about David way back when, as the pace of our current life often causes me to have early-onset memory loss (as in, "why did I marry this man?!"). It is way too easy for me to slip into a cycle of survival and forget that one of God's greatest gifts to me is sleeping beside me (or on the couch as he tends to do after trying to stay up to watch "one more" show). I have decided that due to the nature of my life (hectic!), this will have to be a series of posts, chapters, if you will.

Today, the back-story.

In high school, I dated and dabbled in "romance" (does one really know what that is at 16?!). The Summer before my Senior year, I hit the relationship wall. My eyes were opened to my misplaced priorities. The pursuit of a relationship had taken place of my pursuit of Christ. I paid little attention to His desires for my life. Instead, I focused on my current boyfriend or the prospects that were ahead. What a roller coaster! When your happiness is dependent on an adolescent male, you are headed for trouble!

On July 3, 1995, it all came to a head. During the Sunday morning service (the last religious practice left in my life at the time), Ray Boltz's "I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb" was played. I was struck with the reality that, given the choice I may choose my own life over allegiance to Christ. That personal revelation rocked me. It was like looking into a distorted mirror at the fun house; I didn't recognize the image starting back at me.

I made the decision that it would be Christ. He would always be my answer. My life or His cross? I would choose His cross. I went forward, broken. I poured my sacrifice out on the alter (Psalm 51:17). I left the broken pieces of my heart, the hurt received and delivered, the shameful choices, the skewed priorities. He took them all. And all that would come.

After the service, eyes red from the cleansing, I saw him. He was the new interim youth minister. I knew that if I were going to actually live out my decision, he was one person I would need to know. I remember introducing myself. His smile was charming, but my vision was fixed on my Savior. Soon, the two images would share the same frame.

Idea for series inspired by : Amber @ The Run a Muck

Mama, I Have a Question

Usually, when Claire prefaces a conversation with the title phrase, it's something trivial, like "what were you doing while you weren't sitting in that chair?" Tonight, she raised the stakes on me.

C: Mama, I have a question.

Me: Sure, baby. What is it?

C: How do I believe in God with all his heart?

Me: What?

C: How do I believe in God with all his heart so I can get baptized?

I will spare you my fumbled explanation. I was thrilled that my soon-to-be-five baby has started to process the Christian faith. I try to embody Deuteronomy 6:5-9 but know that I spend most of my time flat on my spiritual rump. To hear this child inquire about the things of Heaven both excited and frightened me. How wonderful that the small seeds planted are beginning to emerge from the soil. But, now my tender shoot is subject to so many elements, the most ominous being my influence. The response to her question, my response to our daily life--all of these things either shine light and offer water, or they choke out the Son.

We talked about it more over dinner with Daddy present. I think she is beginning to put the pieces together. I didn't realize how complicated God's grace and mercy are to explain. It is also simplistic. After all, Jesus encouraged "faith like a child." Thank GOD for the Holy Spirit, who takes our jumbled words and authors Truth in the hearts of others.

Our conversation terminated as Claire-like as it began.

Daddy: So, Claire, you can pray anytime to ask God to help you believe with all your heart that Jesus is enough to take care of your sins.

Me: And you can ask him to forgive you for all of your sins.

C: Well, I'm not doing it tonight!

The end!

Really, it's just the beginning!

Last night Claire and I had a very serious conversation about her behavior. She has spent the entire week on the bad side of Mrs. Ashley's behavior rainbow. We talked about what she's been doing, who she typically gets in trouble with, and how to correct her behavior. She summed it up well: "Mama, I just can NOT get control of my mouth!"