Fast Friday #15

1) We worked all Saturday evening last weekend to set up our garden and truly enjoyed the peacefulness and the dirt on our hands. The hours just slipped away. We made a list as a family at home and then it grew at the farm store. Dustin contributed- corn, okra, tomatoes, peppers, cantaloupe, lettuce and green beans. I added- popcorn, cucumbers, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, watermelon, and squash. Aubree begged for strawberries. So we’re dabbling in a bit of it all. Some of it is already barely hanging on.

2) Lyla has enough hair to hold a bow on her own and has started to push the little shopping cart and climb on the slide in the backyard. I have a feeling this child will be our climber- she shows no fear but also a little more coordination that her older sister

3) I’m done nursing, which is a little sad but also a bit of relief. It’s taken Lyla about four days to adjust which has been heartbreaking, but really pretty good. Good news is that she has taken to her sippy cup! Bad news- my days of nursing her back to sleep for three more hours at 5am are over. Now it is just screams until we get up and stay up. Good bye any thought of sleeping in for the next few years.

4) Aubree wrote her name all by herself. Where does time go?

5) We are the proud owners of a 1975 Ford 4000 Tractor. I actually mean kid like, beaming smiles- proud. Dustin and I were both thrilled. I think we felt a little more like really farm-loving-country-living people. I felt like a teenager begging to drive, although it has been several years since I had drove a tractor I managed to get it to the gate without incident. My dad would be proud.

Fast Five Friday #5

I can’t believe it’s the last official week of summer and my last week of full maternity leave.  Starting next week I’ll be working part time before returning full time in October.  This has been a nice week and I have tried to really savor my last few days will my girls.

Another Chick-Fil-A Post

I  have a friend that has a great blog called, “My Life in the Hills.”  She posts her own thoughts but from time to time includes excerpts from her great grandmother’s journal.  I have found it so fascinating that she has the privilege to take a sneak peek into her great grandma’s life.  It is the romantic in me that loves written word and the chance to explore the mind of someone who so directly shaped your own existence despite the fact that you never knew them.  (You can check out her blog by using the link on the left under “blogs I follow.”)

I started with those comments to say that I hope my kids, grandkids, and maybe even great grandkids will someday appreciate this, my online journal, as much as my friend appreciates her great grandmothers.  It is for that reason that I am posting yet more online comments about the crazy Chick-Fil-A debate.  Someday I want my kids to look back and see the lessons and values we tried to instill in them even before they are old enough to actively remember.

So yes, Aubree and Lyla, we took you to Chick-Fil-A appreciation day held August 1, 2012 in Springfield.  Yes, we waited in a line of cars for nearing two hours.  I know the car behind us had to wonder why I kept getting out of the front of our car and crawling into the back.   Aubree was easy to entertain but Lyla took a little more attention.  One of those back of the car trips was to nurse.  (On a side note I  felt a little liberated to nurse semi-publically, but did so because the way our car is the third row of the Traverse is greatly hidden.)  We had lots of time to people watch.  The crowd was extremely diverse.  All ages from college kids all the way up to seniors.  There were lots and lots of families.  We only saw one instance of a drivers irritation with another driver.  I didn’t notice that the parking lot or surrounding areas were full of trash and most everyone seemed very courteous.  At one point we let a woman in a minivan get ahead of us in the line.  Once we got up to the drive-through the attendant handed us a ten dollar bill and said that the woman we let in just wanted us to know that she appreciated our kindness.

Dustin and I wanted our family to participate because we want our girls to know that they have the right to express their beliefs as Christians and resist the public pressure to hide them because society doesn’t deem it politically correct.  Mr. Cathy was not hateful toward homosexuals.  He simply said he believed in the traditional definition of marriage.  This is the one man- one woman union that is clearly laid out in the bible.  Dustin and I pray and discuss often how to handle issues such as this with our girls.  We want them to love and care about all people.   We want them to know that we are all sinners and that no sin is greater than the next.  Ultimately, we want our daughters to be Christ-like.  This includes understanding what sin is and exactly what Christ did so that we can receive freedom in salvation from our sins.

Dustin and I pray about this so often because it seems that we now live in the times when good is called evil and evil is called good.  I know that my two girls will face pressures and most likely persecution for their stances as Christians.  We hope that we can instill in them ultimate truths because it is what will set us free.  We participated in this day as a family  because in a time when the family unit is attacked from all directions we can stand for truth together.  I hope that they will stay unashamed of  the gospel and proclaim and live in truth.  No matter our ages, 27, 25, 2, or three weeks it is always the right time to let the word divide and to love all sinners.