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  • 01.08.2010 That Solomon is a Pretty Smart Guy
    10 Comments

    Do you avoid certain books of the Bible? Maybe not on purpose, but are there those books that you always flip through and never actually read? I do. And one of those books was Ecclesiastes. Doesn’t that just sound like it’s filled with a whole lot of old testament laws that don’t necessarily apply to us in today’s society? That’s exactly what I told Jeremiah the other morning at breakfast when I asked him what book he wanted me to read from and he said, “Let’s do Ecclesiastes.”

    He laughingly pointed out that he thought I was confusing it with Leviticus. Dad, are you cringing right now? Apparently I don’t know my Bible like I should 🙂 Anywho, we gave the unintentionally avoided Ecclesiastes a go, and now I am loving it. If God promises to make someone the wisest man to ever live, it might be a good idea to listen to what they have to say:
    So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself,…I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never be anyone like you, nor will there ever be.” 1 Kings 3:11-12
    I’ll pre-warn you that it starts off pretty depressing, but I came to this yesterday morning and it has stuck in my heart so deeply:
    Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work–this is a gift from God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart. Ecclesiastes 5:19-20
    What better gift could there be?!!! I want that! How often do I remind myself that here, in this home, with a husband and children to tend, is exactly what I’ve always longed for… And how often do I bang around in my discontentment? Literally bang. Bang the dishes in the sink (because I feel like I’ve washed 10,000 of them already that day), bang the car door (because I feel like I’ve strapped 95 carseats over the course of three “quick” errands), banged the girls’ bedroom door closed (because I’ve told them to be quiet and take a nap for the hundredth time). I don’t want to bang around! I want to be “occupied with gladness of heart” because of how richly He has blessed me…and most of all how much He loves me.
    So yesterday, I reflected on those verses as I cleaned the mud off Pace’s back from her attempt to make a snow angel–even though none of the snow was sticking to the ground.
    I reflected on them while I learned the hard way that galoshes don’t only trap compacted snow in their crevices but also dirt and grime–that gets tracked throughout the house.
    I reflected on them while I cleaned up the diarrhea Locks had all over the one rug in our house (I think he developed a nervous stomach after guarding the girls in their state of snow hysteria in the front yard).

    I reflected on them during Pace’s sassy attitude and during Mary Aplin’s constant shenanigans 🙂But I must say that there are lots of moments, when it is ever-so-easy to be thankful for right where I am:



  • 01.06.2010 It’s Time
    12 Comments

    Have y’all forgotten that we’re moving to Seattle in July? I have. It seemed so far away in time and space that it just wasn’t real. I’ve also learned about myself, that I can decrease my naturally high level of stress by categorizing things in my mind and sticking a date on them for when it is time to start worrying about that particular gorilla. The “Selling our House and Finding a Home is Seattle” category had a date of January 1. So, I’d been able to forget, sort of, until now.

    Now, I’ve been scouring the internet, pestering every friend of a friend who lives over there, and emailing pictures and prices to my husband day and night. I just started and already he gets a glazed-over expression every time the word “house” comes to my lips–knowing that a long list of pros and cons is about to spill out of my mouth.
    You see, I love houses. I think my love has multiplied because in almost every old book I read (and you all know there are a lot of them :)), the homes are characters unto themselves. They are such a part of the family and life and heart of the characters, that you cannot separate them. Somehow, I’ve started to feel this way too. Have you ever noticed that when I post about my house, I refer to her as a her. It’s because she most certainly is a lady. At times cantankerous, occasionally in need of correction, but always a sturdy and loving accomplice to our lives.

    Can you sense how hard it’s going to be for me to pick a new place to live? Especially when you factor in that the cost of living in Seattle seems to be around double what it is here in Birmingham? I started searching in our current price range and found that we would be living in, what looked like, government housing :).

    And another thing…a thing I hesitate to share with you…a thing I’ve been pondering in my heart. Oh well, I’ll just admit it. I’ve made it my goal to finish my book while we’re in Seattle. I feel like God has sort of carved out this time and place for just that goal. Both the girls will be in “school” for at least a few hours a couple of days a week. Jeremiah is probably going to be working a lot. Then there is Seattle itself–rainy, and full of good coffee and old book shops…whenever I picture us living there, I see myself sitting at a desk, with a hot cup of coffee warming my hands, gazing out a rain-splashed window at the city and ocean and mountain peaks in the distance, with my book growing steadily day by day in front of me.

    I hope you all remind me of this next year, when I’m living the same ‘ol hectic life, just in another town 🙂 But seriously, if I’m going to write that book, I’ve got to find just the right little hovel to love us all for that year. I know she’s out there waiting…she may even be a he this time…you never know!

    If there’s anyone out there with any Seattle suggestions, I’d be ever so thankful.

    **I took all those pictures on our last trip to Seattle, which I wrote about, if you care to read, here and here. I talk about why we’re moving there, here and here, in case you’re new around here 🙂


  • 01.04.2010 Got A Minute…or an Hour?
    4 Comments

    I know everybody is over and done with Christmas, but since I didn’t blog at all during this Christmas season and since this blog is the only family scrapbook we have, you’re going to have to endure Christmas for just one more post 🙂

    Lest anyone forget, Caroline is still gettin‘ married, and we’re still celebratin‘!

    And servin‘! 🙂

    Speaking of Christmas cards ;), I cannot sing the praises of Brooke Chamblee enough!!!!!!!! She designed and printed our Christmas cards this year, did it lickety split and at a GREAT price. I am just sick I didn’t get it together enough to share the secret of her with you before you all did your Christmas cards but don’t FEAR! She also does invitations, birth announcements, and all manner of other creative and beautiful things. Check out her etsy site and her blog!

    We had a pretty special visitor three nights before Christmas. Santa was taking a trial run over the Birmingham metro area, and he decided to stop in to visit two little girls that had been especially good this year.

    This was Pace’s reaction when she saw his big red suit filling our doorway. Can you sense the awe mixed with fear? She immediately turned and fled to the back of the house 🙂 It reminded me of the way we want to hide from our sin. I hope that it’s not wrong to compare Santa with Christ, but to Pace at that moment, there was a visible presence standing before her who knew just exactly how naughty or nice she’d been. That’s what she said when I came to coax her out of the room, “Mommy, is he going to be mad at me?”

    Mary Aplin, on the other hand (who had a lot more sin she should have been concerned about :)), looked at him like he was just another curious visitor popping in for the night. No fear. Just, “Wuz up? You’re kind of funny lookin‘”

    Santa had a helper with him, and after about fifteen minutes of good talk, both girls had warmed up considerably.
    This was the gift he brought, and after he gave it to her, Pace ran away again. This time she returned on her own with her favorite princess stamp that she wanted to give him as a present. She said, “Will you take this back to the North Pole with you?”

    I’m about to make another Christ comparison, but it’s just so dead on I can’t help myself. In awe of his grace for all her faults, her immediate response was an impulsive need to give.

    “Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne…” Revelation 4:9-10

    Santa returned on Christmas Eve. He didn’t say hello in person this time, but he did leave this note, and a little stamp 🙂

    Then, on Christmas morning, we had enough food to feed the five thousand, even though there were only fifteen of us crammed happily into our cozy home.

    This was taken just before the singing began, and I disappeared down to the basement to START wrapping presents 🙂

    After brunch and singing, we opened presents with the Maddox family (I think poor Ashley was still in the kitchen doing dishes.)
    Christmas night we celebrated with the Clark family, and it began with a beautiful dinner at Taylor and John David’s house.

    I feel like we try every year, since losing Mom, to make our traditions more and more different. This was definitely the best so far. We ate lamb and couscous (How gourmet is that?! I’d never even eaten lamb before), and then John David led some very adult discussion about the birth of our Savior by handing out selections from literature and the Bible for each family member to read aloud and then discuss. It was such a sweet and reverent time, and was a great way to lead into…

    …CRAZY present opening time 🙂

    And to wrap up this crazy disjointed post, here’s the only pictures I took from Jeremiah’s week of New Year’s vacation when we all spent the whole time wallering around his parent’s farm with the stomach bug…stomach virus…stomach curse…stomach hell, really, I think would be the best way to say it.
    I adore this old car.Jeremiah asked me recently, if I could have any car in the world what it would be. This is what I said. An old MG that runs like a brand new car.

    This is one that Dr. Maddox (with a little help from Jeremiah and Josh when they were little) fixed up. It runs well, but not well enough that I am brave enough to DRIVE it instead of just riding in it 🙂How quickly do you think I’d be arrested if I got my dream car and you saw me driving down the road with this kind of safety going on in the backseat? Not even a seatbelt between ’em.

    And finally, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!