Saturday Morning

This Saturday I participated in two of the most cut throat suburban activities in Northwest Harris County...I attended our church's mega garage sale and a YMCA t-ball game.

PART ONE...The Garage Sale. I do not "garage sale" frequently (around here you can use the term garage sale as a verb). I lack a certain aggressiveness necessary to really nab super great deals. Also, my friend and I walked in with no sort of shopping bags and we had Starbucks coffee with us. It's really hard to get into bargain hunting when you're down to only one hand. Still, I learned a few things. 1-If you ignore everyone around you and only focus on the stuff in front of you, you have better luck. This takes some practice, but fortunately a solid year of ignoring Lego arguments and poop jokes has helped. 2-Don't stop and chat with people. This only gives the people you are supposed to be ignoring the chance to swoop in and snag a deal right out from underneath you. 3-If you must pay attention to someone else let it only be because you are quietly stalking them to see if they will walk away from a certain item so you can swoop in and take it. I did this. I might have looked a little creepy doing it, but at least my creepy booty was sitting in a steal of a deal rocking recliner when all was said and done. So hah! I barely arrived home in time to head out for the second adventure of the day, a t-ball game at the YMCA.

PART TWO...The YMCA. It was Happy Healthy Kids day or something like that at the Y. There was a bounce house, a fun run, snacks, etc. If your local Y is hosting a Happy Healthy Kids day it also pretty much means it is going to be hosting Cranky Irate Parents day. The extra programs mean more visitors so parking is a nightmare. On top of that it was also picture day for all of the sport teams. But since the Y was so crowded you had to go down the street for that. Put that on top of the parking issue and all the games were running late. Can you imagine?! A 4/5 year old t-ball game that started five minutes late?! Will little Johnny get enough chances to run the wrong way around the bases each time he's at bat while the opposing teammates dog pile for the ball every inning if we run five minutes behind? You might guess that the same strategy proven so effective at garage sales also works for YMCA t-ball games....ignore all the people around you. Except for the kids, of course. They are precious! And precisely the point of being there at all, which we so quickly forget amid the parking and team picture woes.

Yes, like garage sales and T-ball, so many things are put before us by the Lord full of wonderful and divine purpose and we, with best intentions, totally misunderstand. The only way to beat it is to stay close to God, my friends. If you're ignoring everyone else around you let it be because your eyes are focused so wholly on Him!! In our house this week we are learning the verse, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". I often think of this verse in terms of overcoming an obstacle, accomplishing some great goal. Sometimes that is as simple as getting through your Saturday morning with a healthy perspective still in tact. To be strong in Christ is to be strong in His direction, in tune with His purpose. It's to see things as the gifts that they are instead of the distractions we let them become. Saturday morning was well on its way to crazy, but Lord when I look at you I see instead a fun outing with a friend and a chance to see my kids stretch their legs and enjoy the fellowship of others. Thank you that you have good things in mind for me, Lord, and help strengthen me to see them that way, too.  AMEN!  XOXO...Kelly

God Bless John Michael Montgomery

There are two kinds of people in the world--those that like the "Christmas Shoes" song and those that don't.  I love all of you, but if you fall into the first category I will probably never ask you to make me a mixed tape.  And should you make me one anyway I will probably never listen to it.  I fall into the second category.  I can not stand that song.  All the joy and glory of Christmas displayed so beautifully in so many different songs and we have to hear about a poor boy trying to buy shoes for his dying mother.  Before you go off calling me callous and unfeeling let me just say that, hate it as I do, that stupid song still gets me almost every time.  In case you didn't think it was possible to both tear up and feel totally annoyed at the same time, well, it is.  Thanks for the hormones, God!!  Anyway, there is another song that evokes a similar reaction from me.  "The Little Girl" by John Michael Montgomery is about a little girl who hides behind the couch while her alcoholic dad kills her mom and himself.  Later, when the girl is at church for the first time with foster parents, she sees a picture of Jesus and the song says, "She said I know that man up there on that cross-- I don't know His name--But I know He got off--Cause He was there in my old house--and held me close to His side--As I hid there behind our couch--The night that my parents died."  See?  Waterworks!!  It's been a few weeks now since Easter.  In our house we've just firmed up plans for the summer, are focusing on finishing out the school year, planning swimming lessons and T-ball practice, and I've begun to think about how nice it will be when the boys clean out the van for me on Mother's Day.  So in case you're like me and need a little grounding today in the midst of all the spring madness let the words of this ridiculous country song remind you of two most important and treasured things....  (1) Jesus got off that cross (AMEN!!!!) and (2) His arms are holding you today no matter where you are (DOUBLE AMEN!!!).  If that ain't enough to make you turn your pick up truck around and hug your mama I don't know what is.  Where the excitement of the Easter bunny, baskets and eggs has come and gone, the assurance of Christ's resurrection and enduring presence is here now and forevermore.  Christ is alive and well today, friend!!  Let us each feel his arms around us wherever we are!  XOXO...Kelly
 

Poodles and Ferrets

Did anyone see the Yahoo news article last week about the man that bought two toy poodles at a market in Argentina and it turns out the "poodles" were really steroid-injected ferrets?  Seriously, this happened and I have been making ferret poodle jokes for several days now because of it.  This week's news reports are much more unsettling.  People work hard, make plans and are met instead with personal tragedy, national outrage and unspeakable sorrow.  If I may be so poetic, ferrets stand where poodles should be.  I am personally so angry today.  I am angry that it was hard to go to sleep last night.  I am angry that fear follows me to the grocery store.  I am angry my children may not always be safe.  I am angry that evil meets us where good should be instead.  But I REFUSE to put my head down.  "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money" (Matthew 6: 24). Money is one of those necessary evils. We have to have it, but it can not be our focus. Disappointment, anger, frustration, sorrow...these are necessary evils in the same way. From time to time we will encounter them, must deal with them, and let God move us on.  We must not serve them.  I don't know what the man did with the animals, but supposing he kept them I am sure he's altering his plans now.  Buying a large cage, new food, a litter box, probably a book or two on what to do with ferrets, and moving on.  I serve God.  I serve hope, I serve faith, I serve goodness.  And I am angry that some people make this so hard!!!!  But, again, I REFUSE to put my head down.  Dear God, you reign sovereign over us.  Whether good or evil stands before me, poodles or ferrets, I will serve YOU and only YOU.  Please be with those that have lost this week, those that are hurting, those that feel helpless.  Bring the healing that we can only find in you, God.  And help us to move on.  Amen.  XOXO...Kelly

Target Practice

This is what I have learned from shopping at Target...you can not have it all.  No matter how cute/nifty/fashionable the item you are purchasing is, in another month (or maybe sooner) they are going to put out another product that is equally as cute/nifty/fashionable or maybe even more so.  This life lesson also applies to automobiles, cell phones, products found at Marshall's, products found at TJMaxx, products found at Kohl's, everything at the Carter's children's store, Craigslist bargains and, on behalf of some of my nearest and dearest family members, Ebay finds and Cabella's sporting goods.  This lesson does not, however, apply to jewelry.  Jewelry should be bought (and/or appropriately gifted) as often and as sparkly as possible.  There is no such thing as a gaudy diamond.  In fact, in case you're wondering what might the most appropriate size of diamond for someone in your life, a good suggestion is to look at the number of children they have.  For example, if your wonderful wife has born four children for you, well...you do the math.  But back to Target.  I could spend a lifetime chasing that crimson bulls-eye of happiness, but life's greatest peace for me is echoed in the tomb on Easter morning.  Funny that such emptiness can bring about such fullness.  Where else could Peter look in and see nothing, and that mean everything?  Christ is risen indeed!  He lies not in some tomb, His body decaying in the grave.  Instead He goes before me, walks beside me.  Death could not touch Him and in Him it can not touch me!  So Target, though I love you so, I think I'll wait until those lampshades I love go on clearance.  And if my time is up before then be sure to bury me with something sparkly.  I want to look good for those pearly gates, when I walk into the arms of my savior and leave Satan behind to restock the shelves.  XOXO....Kelly