don't quit!

This has been a challenging year for both of my boys. Specifically sports from football to baseball have thrown numerous hurdles our way :) Zach and I were talking the other night about difficulties we face in life; and I shared with him something that I am learning. Things will rarely be fair and oftentimes, life will not go your way; but the people who become really great will somehow pull themselves up out of the crap and move forward! Do not ever ever quit. With God's grace plow ahead and do not give up. I heard a great man say that what determines a man's greatness is what it takes to discourage him. Everyone faces difficulty; but the ones who rise to the top are those who purpose to never quit.

mom

Today, on Mothers Day, I want to list some things I really appreciate about my mom.

Mom has always been a huge supporter of my Dad and his dreams.
Although she is a school teacher, all she REALLY wanted to be was a mother, and we benefitted greatly from that!
Mom sacrificed and stayed at home with us when we were in school. For that I will be eternally grateful.
She is so dang organized that I was shocked to find out for myself how difficult motherhood actually is.
She loves to sing!! I am so glad that she finally has a huge choir to sing with.
She is a natural teacher and a very good one.
After giving birth to me, she weighed less than she did before she was pregnant. She wore her tiny clothes home from the hospital--so unfair! I most certainly did not take after her in that respect!
She has dimples, wavy hair, dark eyebrows and everyone in her family has blue eyes.
When I was growing up, I would wash the dishes and she would rinse them. She always washed the last big pot for me :)
I never ever hear her complain.
She loves to tap dance! And she loves the beach.
She and Dad aspired to raise up leaders and trained us that way.
She always did what she thought was right even if it was difficult to do.
She played with us when we were growing up and let us build tents and stores all over her living room.
I have watched her, an only child, after losing both of her parents at an early age, depend on God to fill that gap.
She can eat a serious amount of movie popcorn!
She is beautiful inside and out.
She has never thought that she deserves anything, but she deserves the world!
I love you, MOM!

creek

The boys have been playing in the creek this weekend!
Yesterday they found 2 snakes, a turtle and a frog!
I love it when they get that outside time! Yea spring!

it's nice to be understood

I really like to be understood. In fact, it really bothers me when I mean one thing and someone thinks I mean something else. I started thinking about it and realized that probably the most misunderstood Person is God. That makes me feel sad for Him. By misunderstood, I mean that He is so cool, and He wants to be close to us; but people misconstrue His thoughts. I think it is in our human nature to misunderstand Him and to think that He is always upset at us. Most people believe that He is rarely happy about us and that He has lots of impossible hoops for us to jump through. In truth, like any good dad or any good friend, He wants to give us the very best! I guess that's one reason that in Proverbs, He tells us to seek understanding. I bet He likes to be understood too :)

someone pays a price

Many years ago, I attended a large conference for women. The music was wonderful and just to be in a huge room with 20,000 women worshipping God was an experience in itself. I do not remember what the speakers talked about that day, but I clearly remember what I took home from that conference. I took home with me the decision that I did not desire to be one of those famous conference speakers! Before, I had thought it would be cool to speak to a ton of people and share words of wisdom with the multitudes; but after hearing what these women had been through, I had changed my mind. These famous speakers seemed to have paid a huge price for their audience. They had experienced a magnitude of loss and grief that, not only was shocking to me, but was clearly the very reason that they had so much influence and so much to share. I decided that day that I would just like to be little me, enjoying my family and taking advantage of the little opportunities of influence God brought my way, for I do not desire the tragic road to fame.

With all glory being given to God, we know that anything good is a gift from Him. Any success is because of grace, and not because of anyone's skill or influence. However, with that in mind, I have come to understand that when you see something that is great, successful or influential, you can know that someone has paid a price for it. If a family is close, and everyone in that family loves God and has successful marriages, someone has sacrificed for that to happen. If a business is growing and multiplying, someone has paid a price for its success.

The road to influence is a costly road. The pathway to success is lined with unadvertised hardship. The blessing of it all is that, when God calls us to go down a path, He is the One who gives us grace to endure the difficulties and the peace to enjoy the blessings. He alone knows where the roads of our lives will lead, but we can be at rest in His will, focusing on the path He has laid out for us!

meeting Truett Cathy

Yesterday, we had the incredible opportunity to meet Truett Cathy, the 89 year-old founder of ChicFil-A. As their company used our church building for a conference for their team leaders, we had the pleasure of gleaning a piece of wisdom from this very humble, yet successful business man. ChicFil-A serves chicken to 37 states in 1500 restaurants. Here are some quotes from Truett Cathy:

"Courtesy is very cheap, but it pays great dividends."

"Sometimes success is disguised as hard work."

"If you can conceive it and believe it, you can achieve it."

"Have a lot of 'want to.' I believe you can do anything if you want to."

"If you will help enough people get what they want out of life, you will wind up getting what you want out of life."

"Listen when your children are ready to talk, not when you are ready to talk."

He said he was planning on living to be 100 years old because "very few people die after 100 years old." :)

"Protect your name." Proverbs 22:1 "A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches."

"Time is the most valuable gift you can give someone."

buffalo's

Zach's baseball team filmed a commercial for Buffalo's Southwest Cafe. The commercial should air locally before each Braves game! For being in the commercial, all of the players got an all-u-can-eat buffet and a $25 gift card. So, last night, Zach took us to dinner!!