Monday, January 21, 2008

blogville

I've seen on several blogs that some creepy people can come around and visit a blog.
It's so awesome how my God talks to me. I asked Him what to do? Should I give it up? It's just an ole lady's ramblings and I wouldn't want to inadvertantly exploit my family. I asked Him about it (and also my blog friend, Susan) and He sent me a great response.
First of all, LPM blog had a roll call. Seeing the results of that poll caused me to feel part of something good and bigger than myself. When I read others' stories, it opens my heart to their lives, their joys and struggles and takes my focus off of ME and Me and me. Their little notes of encouragement, their thoughts and prayers give me comfort and a sense of God in my life that goes beyond the place where I live or the church I attend.
Secondly, my friend Susan, sent me an e-mail that just basically said Trust God with the blog. It makes me laugh at myself because that's generally the thing I need to do with most situations. She recommended changing the way I reference my family as well.
A few years ago when our children were small, my husband read the Chronicles of Narnia to them. They were excited that the four children were just like them, 2 and 2, and frequently (actually, they still sometimes discuss it) referred to themselves by their Narnia name. I've decided to refer to them the same way here in this surreal world of the internet. My oldest, Peter and the wayward second son, Edmund, with my elder daughter as Susan and the baby, the star - Lucy. I pray that their lives would one day be stories of the power of Jesus in their lives, that the adventures in life that they have, good and bad, would ultimately center around their faith in Christ.
I find that I'm thankful that God answered me as He did. The Christian women's blogs that I read enrich my life simply by sharing the living out of everyday faith.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

A Little Snow

We had a little snow today. It's mostly slush but mixed in was some sleet. Here in Virginia things come to a halt when there's a little snow and so, school let out at noon. I was sweeping and praying as my young driver was to drive home for the first time in such a mess. "Keep her safe, Lord".
She was late and at last, the phone rang. She was giving her friend a ride home and the van slid down a hill and hit another car. She was fine; the other driver was fine and her friend was fine. The woman in the other car called the police, however. My daughter wasn't charged because the damage was so little but we have to report it to the insurance company which doesn't make her daddy very happy at all.
It's funny to me that she's pouted in her room all afternoon because we were upset with her. Yesterday, when she was supposed to be at a friend's house, I passed her on the road. I called her and asked her where she was going. "Oh, we're just going to Starbucks." I told her that, at this stage of the game, she needs to call and ask to drive anywhere she goes. Near or far. Passengers or not. "OK" she said.
She conceded that it wasn't a good idea to try to drive to her friend's house but what she couldn't concede to was that she had disobeyed me. Frequently, she ignores things I've asked her to do or makes light of doing something that I've told her not to do and does it anyway. Ahhh, the wonder years...

We interrupt this blog:
I just had a phone call from my mama's cousin, Grace. (I think that makes her my 2nd cousin.) She's almost 81. I haven't heard from her in years. In the course of catching up, she told me that her only daughter, whose around my age, had lost her husband last year. He was 51. They have 4 children, 2 older boys in college and high school, a 12 year old daughter and a 10 year old son. It grieves my heart for them and reminds me to keep life in His perspective, not my own.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Mama ramblings

We took my oldest back to school on Sunday evening. He's starting his last semester at UVA. He's excited, but also apprehensive about starting out there in the big bad world. I expressed my confidence in God's provision for him and he just smiled and said not a thing. He's tasted the forbidden fruit and isn't at all sure he wants to give it up for faith.
I have to be careful not to measure where he, or any one of my children, is with God based on outward appearances. If anyone had measured my faith at 22 based on my behavior, I'm pretty confident they would have found me lacking.
It's easier to see God working in my second son's life. My boy has demonstrated so completely how unable he feels to move forward that any movement, and there has been some, has to be coming from the Lord. I don't know where he is with the drug use. I still see evidence that it's a problem and until he deals with it, I'm not sure his steps to go to school will do much for him. I am trusting God's provision for him and just keep praying.
My elder daughter is becoming more and more stressed and difficult about college. She doesn't know where to she wants to go and bases her opinions about schools on what her friends say. My suggestions are met with disdain simply because they come from me. My husband and I picked a weekend in April to do visits and signed her up to take tours at three liberal arts schools that have theatre/dance programs. She's willing to go but is not very enthusiastic. Happily for me, we've done this once already and I don't take it as personally as I did with kid #1. I'm trusting God and keeping on praying. I know that He will lead her to just the right place for her.
The youngest is facing life alone with mom and dad in just over a year. She'll be starting high school as her big sister goes off to college. It's going to be interesting to see how the three of us do. I'm waiting on the Lord for where she's going to high school. She's in a small k-8 private school for the last year and a half because public school is too overwhelming for her. Right now, the options aren't all that great but we still have some time for something to come to the front.
Last year at this time, we were a different kind of family; I was a different kind of mom. The Lord has done some hard, painful work in us and in me but it has been worth it. I do hope this year is a gentler one but somehow with all the big changes coming up, I doubt it.