In September I learned...

my girls will jump at the chance to clean my closet if I pay them with Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

laughter is the best response when clothes are discovered on the clothesline in an unexpected rainstorm. 

there is a helium shortage, and on the day we traditionally send a bundle of balloons to heaven, it will be impossible to get latex balloons when there is a helium shortage. And that is okay, because remembering and hoping aren't dependent on a tradition and balloons, but on God, Who there will never be a shortage of. 

  
that celebrating our 17th anniversary with a 9:30 a.m. reservation at Josefini Tortelli's (where we were served heart shaped pancakes, while wearing our pj's) will cause my heart to explode and my eyes to tear up with all kinds of  "and I can't afford it but it's mine."

that having an 11 yr old personal assistant is the bomb diggity!!  Josie is quick to help with day to day operations around the house, and also volunteers to stuff envelopes for our business.  She knows her way around the iPhone, and answers calls and texts for me when I drive, and also helps organize our appointments and schedule. She's one cool cat!  

that the Magnum delivery truck is at the same location every Friday at 10 a.m....I  may be scheming a plan to hijack the truck.

 
 I should have started seeing my chiropractor a year ago. 

face-timing with a dear friend while peeling potatoes is much better than peeling potatoes alone.  

(or considered) that my kids will be parents much longer than they will be my children in my home. They will live many many more days understanding how difficult it is navigating this parenting gig then they will live being erked at how we have handled it.

that sending a pride-swallowing text to my teenager saying  "I'm sorry I've been gripey at you"  gets a return text of "Thank you for the apology. I forgive you, and I'm sorry for being negative."  I really love that this kid hates discord between us as much as I do, and wants to get back to harmony as  desperately as I do.

 Available in the Kiss the Sky shop

that most adults had an off-the-wall English teacher in high school. Mine was a goofy, polyester wearing, pioneer of organic eating, placenta planting- Mr. Corcoran.  Noah currently has a bizarre English teacher.  Maybe this is a rite of passage?

after biking 4 miles, my family will park illegally when hungry for tri-tip sammies.

 these delicious lyrics-
"Be lifted higher than all You've overcome
Your name be louder than any other song
There is no power that come against Your love
The cross was enough
The cross was enough,"
Which remind me that Jesus is capable of overcoming so much more than small-minded-me thinks He can.  Sheesh! He conquered death, right!! Everything else is a walk in the park compared to that. 

What did you learn in September? 
 
 Live in Peace,

  I'm linking up with Emily, from Chatting at the Sky. 

Perspective

And I can't afford it, but it's mine

Recently, I was listening to a song I've heard a thousand times, "Something Changed" by Sara Groves, but this time one particular line from the song caught my attention- 

"And I can't afford it, but it's mine."

The reason it struck me is because I have been consumed with worry about our finances. So consumed that I can often waste my days fretting about the future, comparing and envying, feeling entitled, and buying a lie that God is withholding favor from me.
 
Hearing the lyrics, "and I can't afford it, but it's mine," has been a wake-up-call that my soul desperately needed.  This line has been on replay in my Spirit, and has lead me to replace that worry with this question- 'what IS MINE that I can't afford?' 
The answer is too much!

...

Emilie sits with me. Gives me her words, "You really are my best friend." She tears up, and voices how "lucky" she is to have Michael and I for her parents. She blesses. ...and I can't afford it, but it's mine.

Noah takes my hand, and the world is watching, but he refuses to care, he takes my hand and we walk. ...and I can't afford it, but it's mine.

Josie stops me in the hallway in mismatched jammies and tussled hair, she wraps her 11 yr old arms around me tight, "Mommy, I just love you." ... and I can't afford it, but it's mine.

I step outside to stand in the summer rain. The clouds shield my little part of the world from the exhausting heat. Michael joins me, wraps his arms around my waist, and pulls me close. ... and I can't afford it, but it's mine.

I encounter a sweet friend in the local coffee shop. We sip coffee, spill words and hearts, and hope in the the LORD our God together. ...and I can't afford it, but it's mine. 

I open up the word and read- "For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams." Isaiah 44:3-4, and I embrace this truth, and remember that there is no-thing I want more than the Spirit poured out on my offspring, and blessing on my descendants. ...and I can't afford His Promises, but they are mine! 

 Yes, too much is mine which I cannot afford.
As I transfer my focus from have-not to have

 I see clearly 

that 

I am rolling in it!

   What can't you afford, but it's yours?

*************************************************

"Something Changed,"  Sara Groves

Something changed inside me broke wide open all spilled out
Till I had no doubt that something changed

Never would have believed it till I felt it in my own heart
In the deepest part the healing came

And I cannot make it
And I cannot fake it
And I can't afford it
But it's mine

Something so amazing in a heart so dark and dim
When a wall falls down and the light comes in

And I cannot make it
And I cannot fake it
And I can't afford it
But it's mine

Live in Peace,