Another Day in Paradise

It's been a good weekend.

Friday Rach & Zekers spent the morning at their friends' house, giving Danny & me some much-needed time to run errands, rake leaves, change the oil in the truck, and spend quality time with Kari Bou - and each other. We picked them up and drove from there to do a little Christmas shopping. It was one of those rare times where I had a list made out, knew exactly where I wanted to go, and bought exactly what I set out to buy. (Generally I find all sorts of great things on sale and spend way too much, then freak out about it all the way home.) The kids even got to hang out at the mall's new play area while I relaxed and ate a pretzel. On the way back, we had dinner at McDonald's - all five of us - for $13.93. Coupons are a beautiful thing.

Saturday evening we celebrated Grandmoo's birthday (the kids call her that because of her deep love of cows) at LaRosa's, then hung out some more with the fam back at the house, had old fashioned sugar cream pie, attempted to take some pix with all the cousins, and scrambled to get everything breakable out of Kari Bou's reach to prevent her from breaking another lamp.

Sunday, we visited a recently-planted church about an hour south of here, and then Danny and the pastor left for a 2-day church-planting summit in Columbus. The service really touched my heart, and God gave me the added gift of talking with a couple of very good friends from high school, who now attend the church, and who I haven't seen in years. It was actually like a mini-reunion. It's funny how you can miss someone and not even realize it until suddenly your lives touch again and the years of being apart just sort of melt away (until you meet their school-aged children for the first time!).

That evening, I attended a pastor appreciation "shrimp boil" hosted by a group of church friends. It is humbling and touching beyond what words can express to be with so many people who genuinely care. And it was fun getting to know a couple of our newer staff members a little better. Even though it was strange to be there without Danny, the night was like a soft blanket: the laughter, and the sharing, and most of all the HUGS - warmed my soul to the core. A couple of the families even recruited their kids - both high school seniors - to babysit for free!

Today the kids have made it their personal mission to test me to the limit. Zeke melted down in the car because Rachel wouldn't stop calling him "Sir Oliver Cheeks" and Rachel busted a large container of yogurt at Kroger, then letting me know that "That's why you don't let a child carry yogurt around, Mom." Karis now has three large scabs and one goose egg on her noggin to add to the 2 bruises from yesterday. She also got her hands on my cell phone and called my sister; once we figured out what was going on, we ended up having a very nice conversation.

All in all, times are good. I thank God for Danny. I thank God for our precious children. I thank God for extended family, for old friends and new ones. And I thank Him for a way to preserve these things, to write them all out, so that they won't be forgotten.