4th of July

4th of July was spent watching fireworks on Bass Lake with good friends.

  l-r; Michael, Spinner, Eric
The flag which inspired Fracis Scott Keyes "Star Spangled Banner"
Michelle, Me, Ginger 
Fireworks on Bass Lake  
Emilie, Noah, Olivia, Emma and Josie

We are thankful for our many freedoms.

Especially Spinner, who exercised his freedom to wear his hair however
he wa-unts (South Carolinin accent).

How did you celebrate Independence Day?

bringing home the bacon

my mom worked as a waitress at a Cindy's Restaurant when i was young.

in my little girl opinion she had a fun job; serving hot cakes and coffee to early risers, carrying 20 plates at a time, and wearing the coolest uniform in all of Oakdale! 

i thought she was the prettiest when she wore her uniform; a white ruffly blouse, "Belinda" name tag, brown polyester wrap around skirt, nude nylons, waitress shoes, the whole ensemble made complete with her permed hair pulled back in a banana clip.

tips were the highlight of her waitressing job. helping her sort, count, and roll the change that jingled in her brown polyester pockets was a highlight of my younger years.  i believed we were wealthy when we took rolled coins to the bank, then drove off in our baby blue datsun to rent-to-own to make a weekly payment on our washing machine and dryer.

it's obvious why at 10 years old i wanted to be a waitress. with my magnetic personality i was bound to have pockets full of my own jingly change, annnnnddd  i REALLY wanted to wear that cool Cindy's Restaurant uniform.

one hot august day while my mom was at work, i decided it was time i began working at Cindy's Restaurant too.  i didn't call and ask for an interview, i didn't fill out an application, i decided to take action, i planned on walking right in to Cindy's and going directly to the manager's office and asking for a job.  (i've always been the type to take the bull by the horns... maybe this is because i grew up in "the cowboy capitol of the world").

i believed i was old enough because i finally owned my first pair of high heel sandals. adding to my new maturity was the nude nylons i owned to wear with them.   nude nylons and high heels had launched me into adulthood, and would guarantee me a job for sure!

 i grabbed my only white ruffly top and paired it with one of my mom's brown polyester wrap around work skirts. then i pulled my permed-like-mom's-hair up in a banana clip, and finished the ensemble  with some of my mom's hot-pink avon lipstick.  in my 10 year old mind i had grown from 10 to 16 in minuets!

(photo of banana clips for those of you who sadly missed the opportunity to wear them in the 80's)

and then i waited...

waited for the baby blue datsun to pull into the drive way with my mom home from work. i knew she'd be thrilled at my enthusiasm to start bringing home some bacon too. she wouldn't hesitate to drive me down to Cindy's to ask her boss, Manny, for a job of my own.

i was devastated when she walked through the door, thought i was playing dress up, and refused to drive me to Cindy's. i was adamant about having a waitressing job of my own, and begged to walk to the restaurant on my own.  my mom agreed.

Cindy's was easily 10 blocks and 1 highway crossing away.  my mother thought i'd make it two blocks in the august heat and heals,  turn around and return home. however the thought of my own jingling change in my pockets kept me walking.    

i arrived at Cindy's, walked right in, past all the customers, and directly to Manny's office.  there i entertained him with my plea to be hired, and how he wouldn't be disappointed.  Manny was just promising to hire me when i was 16, when my embarrassed mother walked in (she had been driving the streets of Oakdale looking for me).  she grabbed me by one arm, and escorted me out of Cindy's, as i waved a proud goodbye to her paying customers!

by the time i was 16 brown polyester skirts and jingling pockets didn't appeal to me.  my banana clips were retired , as was my childhood dream of becoming a waitress.
Manny should have hired me when he had the chance.  

this post was written for flashback friday. 

to read other flashback friday stories visit 

together for good.

burst my bubble

 i mentioned in a previous post that we have "taken a break from our church."

we love our church family.  next to jesus, i don't think there is anyone who could be madlier in love with them than me.

which makes leaving for any amount of time so so hard.

but God wants us to.  he keeps revealing this to us.  we have to be obedient, like it or not.

 in the meantime i count on him to know the bigger picture,  the bigger glory.

in his mercy he is showing us glimpses of his bigger glory.

bigger glory conversations;

after reading scripture together as a family the other evening, a conversation regarding faith ignited.  emilie (10) said to us, "even though it is hard to not be at our church, i can see that it is good.  i didn't know what faith was before.  i didn't have a reason to need to have faith and trust God before.  since we left our church, i need God.  i have been reading my bible and praying (she really has been).  i am understanding what faith is for the first time and i can see that is good."

noah commented that his faith is expanding as well.  he shared that leaders in his new sunday school class have shared their testimonies.  their stories of redemption and coming into relationship with Jesus is deepening his own faith.

 i can see that at this time, this is very good for our children. our family has up to this point, been in the safe bubble of church and home-school community that we have created for them.  everything and everyone is familiar and safe. 

God told me at the beginning of this "taking a break form our church" journey that he wanted to burst our bubble. 

as he bursts our jones bubble he is tenderly caring for our hearts,  taking me back to that faith i had in the beginning, nurturing and expanding our faith- and especially the faith of our children,  revealing his power to us, and causing us to fall madly in love with the BIGGER body of Christ.

 {each of our stories is tailored by God to wonderfully and mysteriously fit us. this is our story.  i am not encouraging you to leave your church.   i do encourage you to be sensitive to the Spirits leading in your own life, and in the life of your family.  i encourage you to be obedient to the Holy Spirit's leading in all areas.} 

"Old Friends are best

less you can find a new {blog} friend

to make an old one out of"

From "Maycation" with blog friends Sarah Markley & Kristen Cheney.

Necklaces by Lisa Leonard.

this-that-and-too-much-of-the-other

i'm "that mom."

the one i feared, and determined i'd never be.

i'm short fused and blow at the tiniest unintentional offenses;

book neglected on the couch,

beverage cups rejected, and multiplying on the counter,

light left on in the bedroom closet,

fingernail clippings in the sink (eeeww),

a mountain of shoes piled up beside the shoe bins,

this-that-and-too-much-of-the-other forgotten in the van,

videos, wii games, and remote controls abandoned in the family room.

like ALL parents, i have many opportunities to EXPLODE!

i lack in the grace department.  i EXPLODE.... A LOT.

but i don't want to be  "that mom" anymore.

yes, i want my 3 to be responsible, follow through, finish well people, but the route i'm taking (nagging, yelling,  fill-in-the-blank-ing at them) is doing them more harm than good.

though i lack in the grace department, this can't be used as an excuse to be graceless.

i am  not incapable of being gracious. my longtime faithless friends; Frustration, Control, Disappointment, and Selfishness would like me to think otherwise (let's call them the "Plagues").

But Grace has pursued me.  yes, we've dated a little.  Grace sees in me what i cannot see in myself, but have secretly hoped was there.  In just a few encounters i've grown madly-in-like with Grace (Love is in our future, i know it).  i'm ready to jump into a committed relationship with Grace (Grace told me it wants me, just as i am).

it's not a surprise that the "Plagues" won't let me sever our relationship easily. i want to break it off, but the familiarity of our twisted relationship is so tantalizing (especially when i'm in pain, or hOrMoNaL). 

however, i know something they don't... i am made in Christ's image.

Jesus is Grace.

And because of Him, "i am a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come."

I Am Grace. 



my hope is that someday my children will say,  "i want to be a mom like my mom."  she defeated Frustration, Control, Disappointment, and Selfishness.  she looked for grace and found it... nestled on the couch cushions, multiplied on the counter, shining in the closet, on top of a mountain, and in this-that-and-too-much-of-the-other.  she embraced the Grace she found {which was ALWAYS embracing her}, and wrapped Grace around us."

Dear Grace,  help me to seek You, find You, embrace You, live in You, extend You. i long to open my doors to You. to live in Your wide-open spaces, and to bring glory to You.  thank you for the opportunities my children give me to look for You.  Help me to seek you instead of settling into my not-so-old habits.  shape me into who You want, and have written me to be- an image/reflection of Grace.  glorifying you , may my children learn to embrace you as well, live in Your fullness, and glorify You as well. In Jesus, Amen.

  

a good evening is...

reading together from the good book.  

engaging with each other in conversations that stir our hearts, 

and mold our spirits.  

  

a bit of what we're reading 

Romans 5,  The Message

 "By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us- set us right with him, make us fit for him- we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus.  And that's not all; We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his doors to us.  We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand- out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting praise." 

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 a bit of summer rain accompanied by a double rainbow, then followed by a glorious sunset.

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a game of risk 

(i was seated on the love-seat beside them, flipping threw the pages of a magazine, listening to war strategy).   

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the evening made complete with summer's favorite treat,
smores. 

How do you spend a summer evening?