Friday....

it's been awhile....

on taking the ol' camera out, that is......

it was such a beautiful day....

we decided to call some sweet friends to join us on an outing, to the Botanical Gardens to see the scarecrow displays....

enjoy......

 Happy Weekend, Peeps!

Intentional

I'm going to fill this post with past photos, because I believe posts with pictures are much more interesting....and because I've sadly not taken out my camera lately on the girls.....



Yesterday, I was once again encouraged and amazed by God's goodness to us. The details in our life, and the fact He is in them. When you are looking you see them, and when you are not, sometimes He slaps you in the face with them, and sometimes you miss the opportunity to see His power.





My brother was in town and so our normal school day was interrupted by a nice outing for lunch. It was suppose to rain a little and we had plans to meet up at the mall for lunch.

Plans changed and we decided that park play was a must for the cousins, so we headed out (flying by the seat of our pants of course). Here it was 12:26pm as I am pulling out of the bank; I have 4 minutes to grab food and meet the fam, and I'm at a brain freeze on where I need to pick up lunch.





Tim always tells me that food doesn't always have to be an "experience". He's so right. But for me.....I have trouble with that.

I'm a foodie, and so I think way to much on my meals. I didn't want the fast food and I wanted a salad, so we drive to the nearest Mom and Pop joint and wait a lot longer then my 4 minute deadline.



As I enter, I see the most sweetest filled table of individuals, decades older then me, smile my way. We attended church with them at our previous church home. As I stared at them in conversation, I was reminded of the one of the widow's husband that loved our little family. I vividly remember Him being the one to spur on this blog post. In a good way, because he was always so intentional.





When we got to the park and I opened my chicken Caesar salad, I knew my hopes of smothering my niece with kisses was out of the question after I glared at my Caesar salad filled with almonds....yes, really. My little niece has a deadly nut allergy. My SIL assured me I could touch her if I go wash up my hands and mouth after eating.





As I head to the restroom, my brother graciously snatches toilet paper from the men's room, because the women's is out (go figure), he grabs a wad...  I mean, if a mom has an opportunity to escape to the restroom , why just wash your hands; take the advantage of emptying your bladder......

 I see a precious mom and child heading my way; and would never want a mama left in a stall as her toddler tries to open the door on her only to discover she has no paper.... who wants that double whammy.

As I hand her some paper and we head in the bathroom, I get this strong feeling I know her. But with owning a retail store in town for almost 8 years, and someone is toting a tiny human, it is possible I've seen, or met them even, before.




My mind raced, as I searched for that memory. It pressed me as it being very important; but I just couldn't find it.


and then........


Sarah! Her name is Sarah!




We walk out of the stalls at the same time, and so I ask her..."is your name Sarah?", to which she confirmed.

I immediately reminded her of our meeting and doted on that precious little girl she had with her.

I had met Sarah at Walmart in the baby section. She was pregnant, and her boyfriend was over it and left her. She had a job and worked hard, but it was going to be difficult to provide for this little one.


My precious friend meeting us there, bought her a car seat. I remember the generosity that was made to her that day from my friend, and the humble thanks given by Sarah.

I felt so filled inside to see her doing so well, and to witness the beautiful life she had given birth too.






We left the restroom after a tiny chat, and went our ways on the playground, but I just couldn't shake the thought my conversation should last longer. I went up to her and asked her if I could take a picture of she and her daughter to send to the friend that bought her the car seat, after all, if I have the opportunity to encourage my friend, why wouldn't I....but I almost did. I almost talked myself out of it, like I am tempted to so often.  Sarah gladly accepted, and in return asked for contact info.

We chatted just a bit and she told me that she has moved to Panama City, met a christian guy that loves she and her daughter and takes great care of them.







I share with you today (and write it) to keep record of this, because I don't want to forget it.

I don't want to forget, that because my nieces needed some play before the long car ride home, our location to the park was made. That I was late to the park, because math was taking forever to finish with Lizzy. Because I was late to the park, I went to that Mom and Pop joint. There, I ran into precious people I hadn't seen in awhile, and because of that, was reminded to be intentional because of one of their late husbands. Which wasn't just reminding me of always, but preparing me for the next 30 mins of my life.

That I ordered a Caesar salad, unknowingly filled with nuts, which led to the restroom... that put me face to face with Sarah. And if I would have ignored the prompting to ask her (as weird as it could have sounded to her...stalker!) if I could take a picture of them, I would have missed her story of where she is right now. Which in return, I hope reminds her of God's faithfulness and provisions to her.






I could have just let it go.

I could have just decided, that although it was "bugging" me that I should know her, just let it go.

I could have ignored the prompting, and my day would've just gone on. But, because I didn't, I got to see the above happen.

I got to experience once again, that there is purpose in my life, just like every single one of you. That every little detail, really is apart of a bigger picture. I was placed in those places yesterday for a reason. So I could not only see , but be apart of the bigger picture. I'm terrible with names, so for her name to come to me after meeting her one time years ago in the 30 seconds I searched for it, is nothing short of God giving it to me. I know it to be true.

I.miss.it.so.often.y'all.

So.often.

As Christians, we pray out loud and ask our heavenly father "give us opportunity"..... how many times do you think God tries to show us.... "your life is opportunity"....



I'm going to try to hold on to the title of this post.....so that I don't keep missing it.

soaking it up.....

It happens. You bring them home from the hospital.....you blink; and next thing you know, you are planning their first birthday. You blink twice; their 13th, and a third; High School graduation.

I could see it flashing before my eyes, and my heart raced a little; okay, maybe a lot.

How many of you remember Middle School?

As our girls were approaching the double digits, we had parents of teens say to us daily, "just wait.". They would say it about anything and everything. When the girls would ask for money for this or that, they would say "just wait"; if they would talk back, just wait; if they were still eating portions off the kid's menu, just wait; how about their disgust for boys....JUST WAIT.

It was always so negative sounding, I almost started to dread it myself. But what about the kids? What do they go through?

How many of you remember the day you grew independent? Maybe it wasn't Middle school, but I can promise you, those were the years I was finding out who I was and what I thought about life. It was when I chose friends, or they chose me. I agreed with my parents or disagreed. I loved, I hated. They were trying times, no doubt, but also some of the most fun had.

I started really pondering our girl's next couple years. Homeschooling our girls was NEVER an option in my mind. I didn't want to....period. I knew what it would take. I knew what I wanted for them and it wasn't that. Until.......the middle school years approached, and I could see it...

They were going to be gone before we knew it. Every year, school work got harder, extra curricular activities filled up our only free time, drama amongst the peers made for late nights, and it made me want to rush them through. Yes....... I just said that.

Kind of like when you can't wait for your baby to hold her own bottle, then walk, talk, use the potty, etc. We all want to rush the more trying times in life, don't we? To hurry up and make it through to greener pastures. Then.... you wish you could go back in time, at least for a few minutes and soak up just a little bit more time with them as you cuddled and fed them, and even changed that diaper.


It wasn't worth it; I rushed it for what??

What lesson are we teaching our girls if we just rush them through. If we just tell them to "grin and bear it". Will they know what that even means? What will happen to them during those times? The hardest lessons for me, even now, is to not just rush through the tough times, but embrace them. God allowed them in my life, for a reason. For good. Some how, some way. What would I miss, if I just rushed through and didn't embrace the trial in search for what He wanted to show me? Would I miss the work of the Holy Spirit in my life? Would I miss seeing His provisions and faithfulness to me? I can dance in greener pastures, but can I not in the desert?

The girl's begged me for years to Home School them. I knew they would be glad too. Tim was supportive either way. Something in my heart just kept pressing me shortly after closing the store. I just wanted to enjoy these Middle School years. Do they have to be dreaded? I refused to believe that they couldn't be enjoyed. I'm not saying that they couldn't be if we were in public or private schooling. And I'm not saying it's all roses here in the corner of our little school room. It's just our time was so filled, even when we were so careful in planning, it still was so much, that at times I just wanted to go back in time; at least for a few minutes and just be able to soak up just a little more.

Some Mama's cry the whole Senior Year because it's "their last", but I was seeing 9th grade as the pistol start of a race that would finish before we knew it. And we say..."this is life", and your right, but we have a choice how we live it.

So we chose Homeschooling 7th and 8th grade. Why? Because we don't want to fall into the dreaded Middle School years, but instead, soak up every last second with our girls before we blink, and their gone.

As I type, I realize, our plans are not always God's plan. And if they change, I am just thankful I have had this time to soak up more then I would have the last couple months.  There are moments, I still feel as though I will go crazy. And moments, they walk in the room while I'm reading or blogging and I give them a "talk to the hand". Even times, I feel like giving up,or totally inept, because it is just plain hard.

And then I remember why we are doing this...... I trust that this is His plan for us, for right now; and I can rest in that. Our girls are worth all the work. They are worth me toting grammar and science books around town for me to study as I have any length of "free" time anywhere. They are worth fighting to pronounce a word, I haven't even heard of, or falling asleep with an Algebra book on my chest. They are even worth the 4:25am alarm clock. I thank God that our conversations are good, even the hard ones. I'm thankful they have enjoyed each day of this new adventure so far, and hope that our big girls will look back at these middle school years with memories that will make them smile, because I know it will us.