ETC: Heart Touching

My husband's birthday was the weekend before Thanksgiving, Day one of our pilgrimage to Pittsburgh. I wanted to be sure it was duly noted given the craziness of the trip and the tightness of the budget. He deserves to have a special day, but he also understands that where we are special has limits.

At the same time, I want our kids - mostly Grace at this point, to learn how important it is to show others how special they are to you. I suppose I am sort of bias in this, because I teach her to do the things I would do to show someone they were special...but anyway. In the midst of packing and preparing, I made sure to take her with me to buy his gift even thought I could have ordered it on-line or gone while she was at school. She needs to see me to nice things for her daddy. Then we wrapped! And then she made his card.

This is the part that totally touched my heart...and it wasn't just that she had to make him numerous cards. And it wasn't just the sweet way she asked me to write things like "I love you, Daddy" so that she could copy them herself onto the card. She made him a birthday banner....Just like the one's I have made for her, and her brother and some very dear friends. She was so proud and so excited.

It meant so much to me that she saw what I do for her as a way to for her to show her daddy love. I love that she got it...with out me saying a word!


Check out the other ETC'ers over at The Anderson Crew!

Saturday Success…

Oh what a week it has been…but don’t I say that every week!

This week’s success is actually a sneak peek into next week… Tomorrow my dreamy husband and I celebrate 7 years of wedded bliss…well, okay 7 years of marriage and countless moments of wedded bliss!

When we were still dating we marked several anniversaries with letters to each other –progress reports of sort, celebrations of the good, moving on past the bad and looking forward to the next, whatever the next may be. 

Tomorrow our big plan is to have breakfast together and then work a craft booth at the Historic Appomattox Railroad Festival.  It isn’t the most glamorous anniversary, but it will be good.

I love my husband, and I am proud to be his wife and mother to his children. I am proud of all we have accomplished together and I look forward to what is yet to come.

Happy Anniversary, Terry. I love you.

Words on Wednesday….

 

There are several Tim McGraw songs that are very dear to my heart.  One such song is Watch the Wind Blow By, which was our first dance at our wedding reception. 

But, I am not a Tim McGraw fan…I am just not.  I will listen when one of his songs is on the radio, most

of the time.

Earlier this week, I was on the way to pick up my daughter from school when It’s Your Love  came on the radio. I was listening as I sat at a stop light and at first I wasn’t feeling it, but then the lyric:

It does something to me,

It sends a shock right through me,

It’s your love.

That is just what I feel in those moments when things haven’t been so good or I haven’t been my best and I am quietly reminded of God’s love for me. It is just like a shock, a jolt…a reset button and a reminder of who is in control and how I am called to live.

And then next few lines get even better:

Better than I was, more than I am
And all of this happened by taking your hand
And who I am now is who I wanted to be
And now that we're together
I'm stronger than ever, I'm happy and free

Isn’t that amazing…! Doesn’t that sound like a beautiful relationship? One you would want to have? To be so in love with someone that makes you better, more than you can be on your own? So in love that you feel free? That is powerful love, God’s love for us.

Each day I try to take God’s hand – more firmly each day, and when I do it feels so good. It is the days when I think I don’t need to or I forget and let go that aren’t so good. 

What a blessing that each day God is there all day with His hand out for mine…

Free Advice Friday

Whew! Has it been a day here...a few good (but busy) things that I will share tomorrow in Saturday’s success...and a few not so good things. So...It is late and I am just getting this. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

Friday...Supporting each other...

What does it mean to support someone?

Support –verb (used with object)
1. to bear or hold up (a load, mass, structure, part, etc.); serve as a foundation for.
2. to sustain or withstand (weight, pressure, strain, etc.) without giving way; serve as a prop for.
3. to undergo or endure, especially with patience or submission; tolerate.

Reading this reminded me of our first weeks here in Law School Land, when my husband and I attended a breakfast for law students and spouses. The pastor who spoke that morning talked about how a submissive wife is a pillar holding up her husband rather than being held down. Being supportive is an active role that takes strength, determination and courage. Each of the definitions about ties back to this idea, as well.

I know, as a friend, this is not something I do well, but I am blessed to have friends who live and breathe this! My friend Chrissy is right there. She listens to every vent, she hears every complaint AND she builds me up, she encourages me. I see her do the same thing with her girls. She uses ever correction as a chance to build them up and teach them. She does freely for those around her. She gives from her heart, always.  When I see her succeed, it makes me want to try harder. When I watch her give (and not just to me – but to everyone) I want to give, too. When she shares hospitality, I want to offer hospitality to her and others. She is an encouragement and an example.

I am I like that? When I am “supportive” of others do I help them to become better or do I just try to make myself look good – or worse, do I just try to make myself look better than the person I am helping?  Is my first priority to make myself look good or is it to be helpful?  How can I better hold up a friend?  How can I be an encouragement?

 Okay that turned into some deep introspection...but really how can we support each other? How can we as women, mothers, and friends build foundations of support for each other? How can we bolster each other? How can we endure for each other?

We are all at different places in our lives and we all need different things, but there is certainly some universality amongst our needs – a friend to listen, a friend to build us up, a friend to encourage us.  As Friday quickly fades away into the weekend,  it is my goal to help others through encouragement. I want to notice my friend successes and celebrate them – whether they are two steps behind me or ten steps ahead.

There is so much to learn from you....my friends...

What’s in a Friday?

Friday Free- for-all

Free Advice Friday

Freely Friday

Girl Talk Date Line Friday

None of those seem to do justice to what I would like Fridays at the TIAMO blog to be about. I want Fridays to be a day we can share and learn from each other in a purposeful and respectful way….BECAUSE…too many times in the past few weeks and months I have been talking with girl friends about any number of things and it has come to this – we are or know people who feel alone in something, feel like they can’t share something, feel afraid or alone…and there is no good reason for that!

Girls we need to encourage and embrace each other. We need to support each other. We need to hold one another in prayer. We live in too connected of a world to isolate ourselves. We live in too social of a world to be alone. We have too loving of a God to not turn to him together in prayer.

Too many times the choices we make as women are used to divide us.  How we support our families, how we feed our babies, how we do everything we do…There are plenty of things in each these and millions of other topics to discuss and debate, but that need not divide.

We, as women, have the power to right so much of the wrong in this world, soften the hurts and build up the weak. God has given us tremendous gifts as women, as wives and mother, as aunts and sisters, as daughters and friends.  How can we help each other with these gifts? I believe the first step is to talk (not gossip) about our lives…

So on Fridays lets meet here…and talk.

I’d love to hear from you about what we can talk about. I am no expert (in anything!) but I know we all have something to bring to the table.