The people we have been hanging out with!

Our friends from Eastside in an impromptu play date. 

This started with one friend...added three more to avoid hurt feelings! It also earned me "the most fun mom" award that night (at least for that moment!) 

I have been hanging with my running buddies on Saturday morning - no better way to start the weekend then a few miles and some prayer! 

Katie started riding therapy - our new friend Miss Cindy and Maggie! 

Eastside is supporting Love Without Boundaries during the monthly chapel - and some moms have joined the marathon team! 

China Care Bruins started up again - and we are hanging with our buddies Eva & Fiona! 

I reconnected with one of my spiritual mentors - love my friend Holly! 

and one of Ashlee's bestie's! 

Cami's third grade teacher came our of retirement for an afternoon to help in their cooking academy - 

Becky's class doing chapel "Working for the Lord" - we love Mrs. Flye! 

Katie and Miss Fonseca - another favorite teacher (we have a lot of favorite teachers - so blessed!!) 

But by far our favorite hanging out this past month was with Baby Melidee who came for a visit (and brought her mom!) 

Besties and their babies! 

As I look and review these pictures, I can't help but feel incredibly blessed by the friends and professionals the Lord has brought into our lives. 

She Wonders

"Do you ever wonder?" I would ask her...

wonder where she is?

Wonder what she looks like?

Wonder how she is?

Wonder about her personality?

Do you ever miss her? 

Because she wonders about you. And she misses you. 

She wonders what life would be like with you. She wonders what you look like. She wonders what you are like and if she is like you.

It breaks my heart as she wonders about you and why you left her. As she wonders why she wasn't good enough for you. As she wonders about the forces that affected your decision. I hurt for her because I can't help her. 

You grew her, brought her into the world and left her, and she wonders why. She wonders if you know her Jesus - and if she will get to see you in Heaven. 

I hope so. I hope that you know her Jesus. I hope you somehow can know how amazing this child you grew is. I hope we do well by you in how we love her and grow her and cherish her. 

I wonder. I wonder what you wonder about her. 

The Grands!

We have a superb set of "grands" in our family. Each one brings to the table some amazingly unique gifts and together they are the absolute perfect combination of grandparents. 

My mom & step dad are the grands that cover the critical. The critical crisis of coverage when we need help or the critical school event where a grandparent's presence means everything to a child who is new to family relationships. 

Grandparents Day at Eastside Christian Schools was a HUGE success for Becky and Cami because Grandma and Granddad were there! 

My dad is the the "steady Eddie" of the group. Every five or six weeks, he arrives. The routine is the same. There are not great events (except that the girls insist that we celebrate his birthday!). He is woven into the fabric of the flow of their lives. So much so that their internal clocks signal every four weeks or so the question "when is Pop-pop coming home?". 

Doug's dad is the "spoiler". You know the type..drops in - scatters the infield of children with candy and toys and cash (for the older ones!), lets them break the rules, jumps on the bed..all that jazz! Something every grandchild needs! 

Our grandparents are troopers. I am sure that not all of them all the time understand how we parent or why we do it so differently than they did. They sometimes don't understand the depths of the trauma of our kids - or how our faith sustains us. They certainly don't always understand everything - but they hang in with us and more importantly - they are present for our kids. They are part of the foundation of our kids family - our kids who are learning really what family means. 

They are Grand grands!!! 

Who are those masked women!

It's been a while. 

A loooong time.

For a lot of reasons - none of which are earth shattering or over whelming. 

It's just the way it is.

So I have some catching up to do. Rather than do it in chronological order, I am going to shift it up here and do some theme posts.

So we have the first one - costumes! 

Becky LOVES science - and got to be the junior scientist a few weeks back. She was in her element (pun intended!) 

 There was a birthday party - featuring Rapunzel...Katie's favorite princess. 

 Then we rolled into Halloween! 

My three little kittens! 

 The Scarecrow & Farmer festival in 1st grade....

 And of course, Crazy Red Hair Day! 

And of course...we can't leave out....Squid Head! 

Standing on Holy Ground

I walked on Holy Ground this weekend. I went to a place where the presence of the Holy Spirit was unmistakable and palpable. Where the air was thick with the presence of God. Where Jesus reached out and held His children in His Hands. 

It wasn't a grand cathedral.

It wasn't an alter with a cross.

It wasn't a quiet prayer corner, a church fellowship room, the banks of the Jordan river or a garden in Jerusalem. 

It was in a hallway in a arena in Charlotte. With a rowdy bunch of groupies standing by waiting for the band to appear. 

And it was a Holy Ground.

It was also the back room of a mediocre hotel steak house.

And it was a Holy Ground. 

Holy space. Invaded by the Spirit. 

Meeting women exactly where they needed to be met. 

Speaking life and truth and love into the deepest recesses of their inner beings. 

Not based upon rules of performance, placement of icons, consistency in theological applications. 

Based solely upon the love of the Son of Man. The commitment to follow the Savior. The acknowledgment of the One Sovereign God. 

Holy Ground. 

Oh How He Loves Us.