PARENTAL FEELINGS: FROM EMBARRASSED TO PROUD TO BITTERSWEET...

When this boy of mine was a senior in high school, he surprised us by telling us he wanted to spend all his hard earned money on a snow cone shack.  I was pretty hesitant, not knowing anything about this kind of business, but he didn't listen to me (good thing in this case), and went for it.  Obviously I'm not a risk taker!

The last three summers he's learned to brew syrup, keep up inventory, talk to his landlord, and make customers into friends.  He's also transformed the shack with a new deck, new paint job, shade sails, new yard games, wrapped the Mystery Machine, and even added a mobile trailer to the business!

I went from an embarrassed mother (to have the Mystery Machine parked at my house) to an amazed one at his business ability.  He loved his customers, knew what they would order before they asked, and chatted it up with all kinds of people.  He built things I had no idea he could do!  He learned so much!

So as he sells his business to move on to other things, I have to say it's bittersweet.  Even though his supplies took up a lot of room in our house and garage, sometimes he made messes in the kitchen and the vehicles were in the driveway, it was truly a great experience for him and us.

So the lesson for the parents here:

LET YOUR KIDS TRY THINGS.  EVEN THINGS YOU'RE UNSURE OF.  

You'll probably learn something yourself.

WEDDING SHOWER WITH A PRANKSTER...

Today I got to go to a wedding shower for my son and almost daughter-in-law!

So pretty and delicious.

Especially these little chocolate cream pies!

Then there was the prankster wondering who was ready for a shower!

Her grandmother cross-stitched this for them!

Such a blessing to have friends and family and those who love our kids and will pray for them!   God is good!

TAKING THE TIME...

As everyone in the world seems to be on vacation, we are here, plugging away, doing the same old thing...OK....enough of that!

We have gotten to do some wonderful things lately, and I'm so thankful!  A friend just lost her brother-in-law in a car accident, which reminds me of my sister.  Her husband's blog and Facebook posts about it remind us to HUG OUR LOVED ONES.  What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. James 4:14 

We've been so fortunate lately to connect with friends and family in so many different ways.  If your schedule is too busy to do this, then do something about it!  TAKE THE TIME.  Enjoy the ones in your life.

Playing cards after a hard days work with family

 Swimming with my niece and her friends and their babies

 Hosting a Farewell party for a family in our Bible class

Having no awkward date with The Hubs

HARD DECISIONS...

Over the weekend we went to my sweet MIL's home to help with a clean up project.  Earlier this year she had lost some fence sections and a shed due to a storm.  The family decided it was time to give her a little help on her property.  It was a good time even thought the work was hard!  Then on Sunday we stayed for worship time with everyone.  Afterwards we went to a great potluck dinner:

Small town church potlucks are still alive and well!  This one was really special, though.  An older couple (in their 90's!) were being honored, much to their surprise.  They had spent 50 years of their married life at this congregation and served in various ways.  they had made the decision recently to move to a retirement community in another city.  I don't even know all the ways they have served, but I do know that every time I visited they greeted me with a hug.  He would hand out the sermon notes.  She was a hostess for my wedding shower and also read a poem at that event that she had written especially for the occasion!  I'm told she has written numerous poems.  They also made a ministry out of taking others to doctor's appointments that were not just around the corner.  It's a trek to the nearest city!

As they were honored with kind words and presented with a gift and also cash, a poem was read in their honor.  They were humbled and could barely look up.  But she spoke and said something I thought was very wise and of course reflected their faith in God.

"When we moved here 50 years ago, we thought it was the right thing to do.  And now, we think this is the right thing to do."  She went on to describe the amenities at the retirement center and encouraged everyone to visit.  I was thinking about how she mentioned giving thought (and prayer, I'm sure) to the big decisions in their life together.  I'm sure this was one of the hardest ones!

Many times as adult children we are put in a very uncomfortable place in making decisions for our parents when they are no longer able to care for themselves.  It was nice to see these two making the decision on their own.  Their words spoke volumes but their actions even more.  It was a great example to all in attendance.  Thankful to be there Sunday!

KILZ AND OTHER SPIRITUAL THOUGHTS...

Sunday a young man prayed before we took the Lord's Supper.  In his prayer he thanked God that Jesus' blood was "thick enough to cover us."  I thought about that particular wording for a long time.  It didn't roll off like water, or leave any gaping spaces, it was thick enough to cover us - all of us!  As thoughts often do, I went to a remodeling project we were involved with recently.  We used KILZ, a product used to prep walls before painting.  It covers over the existing paint, mold, odors, and many other things. It gets the wall ready for new life!  Jesus' blood KILZ all our sin.  No more old you or stinky sin remains!

As I chuckled to myself over where my brain had gone with the THICK BLOOD and KILZ, I was thankful once again for the salvation we are provided through Christ!

SISTER LOVE...

My one and only sister turned 50 recently.  She is one inspiring woman!  She has worked diligently as a teacher and now an administrator in the school system for her whole adult life.  But probably her toughest challenge came almost two years ago when she and her husband John were in a car accident and he lost his life instantly.  Her world was turned upside down due to an inattentive driver.  Despite her own health struggles and the loss of John she "keeps on keeping on!"  Her faith is strong and she believes in making the best of whatever situation you are given.  She also knows how to laugh and delights in old-fashioned tin toys and kittens.  She is a keeper of the home and her two girls have an excellent role model of faith and positive thinking.  Even though we have different interests and "jobs," we are close and can be brutally honest with each other and listen to each other through our ups and downs.  So thankful for my little sis!

I threw a party for her - a surprise party with family and friends and co-workers.  We had such a great time honoring her!

We went to a local restaurant called Hidalgo's, and used a back room they have.  They were so helpful and let me decorate a little bit.  The signs were red paper plates that I wrote messages on with a chalk marker.  I glued two of them together with a dowel rod in between, then we stood them up and with a little scotch tape they stood up by the menu holder.  I decided to make name place holders so that everyone would know at least one person they were sitting by, and that worked out well.  I also got some fancy cookies from a local bakery with red polka dot napkins and put those out at each place setting instead of messing with a cake.  It was a great option and looked really cute!

LOG CABIN LOOK....

While we were away on vacation, our youngest son decided to change his bedroom!  That means all three of our kids have redone their rooms in the past 6 months.  I guess they're trying to tell us they're growing up.  They aren't 13 anymore!  I loved this room, despite all the stuff.  You can see when he was 13 we painted it olive green with tan and orange stripes to match the colors in the duvet.  Most of the furniture was from IKEA, and I really liked what we did with his bedroom door.  Had it been a nice solid wood door I probably wouldn't have done stickers but you know, with this old house, almost anything goes!  

So, here's the new log cabin look!  He did this with some old fence panels he bought somewhere...

 He also painted the walls gray.

This kid is always full of surprises!