Broken

Back from the beach. It was a nice, then stressful, then nice again trip. I won't bore you with all the details but it consisted of me having to buy a new cellphone, the hot water heater in our unit catching on fire and me coming home 2 days early with Colin, who had canker sores in his mouth and all down his throat.

We are all back together again now and Colin is on the mend.

But...that isn't what this post is going to be about.

On Tuesday Josh and I were walking along the beach collecting sea shells. I would run grab one then throw it back because it was broken. You see...I'm a bit of a perfectionist. I don't want my shells to have cracks in them. I want to find them intact. I've done this for as long as I can remember. I've gone to this exact beach every year since I was 6 years old and each trip I look for shells.

I noticed Josh running up ahead in the surf, picking up shells and putting them into his bucket. I caught up with him and asked to see the ones he had found. All broken. Pieces of shells but none of them intact.

I told him he didn't want those and we needed to throw them back but then he looked up at me and said, "But, I like them this way. I think they are beautiful."

I asked him why he thought that and after a minute he said that these shells had gone a long way through the ocean to get to the shore and had been bumped and cracked and broken and it was hard but they made it.

I let him run ahead to find more broken shells and it struck me what a great lesson he had given me.

We have all gone a long way through the ocean to get to the shore and we've been bumped and cracked and broken and it has been hard but we made it and God thinks we're beautiful the way we are.

So we came home from the beach with a bucket full of broken shells.

And I think they are beautiful.

Disconnecting

In a mere 7 hours Josh and I will be on our way to the beach until Saturday. John, Patrick & Colin will be coming down to join us on Wednesday afternoon and I miss them already.

I've decided to disconnect on this trip. No laptop. No checking my emails. No reading blogs each morning. It will be a nice change.

Sand. Sun. Ocean waves. Good books. And my Josh. We don't really get to spend that much time alone together so this is a great plan. Other than the missing my other guys part.

Running

I never thought I would be a runner. It has never really held any draw for me and I thought people who did it were a little kooky. I mean why go out early in the morning to do something that leaves you gasping for air and sweating like a pig? Or am I the only one who is gasping and pig-like after a run?

But...I am getting into it. I can see the distance I go increasing week by week. I started out being able to run for about a minute before I had to stop and walk. Now, I'm up to running almost 3/4 of a mile before I have to stop.

My total distance has increase from a mile to a mile and a half. My time is improving as well.

Now my feet don't hit the floor in the morning just dying to go run but once I get out there I'm ready to go and feel a great sense of accomplishment once I cross that point where I know I'm done for the day.

When God Gets Personal...With My Character

Mark 1:9

Lost Words in our Society: Humility

Humility is not a natural thing...it is a supernatural expression through Jesus Christ.

Phil. 2:3-7

Humility is honestly assessing ourselves in light of God's holiness and our sinfulness.

To practice humility means I'll put the well-being of others before my own personal fame or glory.

www.Iamsecond.com

Matthew 23:11-12
1 Peter 5:6

Humility is often expressed in non-obvious ways.

Pride is the #1 quality of Satan.

Humility doesn't lead to insignificance. It results in honor and value in God's eyes.

John 3:30
Matthew 18:1-4

Growing Pains

12 1/2 is a difficult age. I was just telling a friend that I love Patrick always but there are definitely days I don't like him very much and I'm sure he feels the same way about me.

I learned a while back that I can't control things no matter how much I think I can. Sometimes God has a different idea in mind than I do.

If you aren't at the 12 year mark let me warn you IT IS COMING. :o)

It is like he woke up and his brain leaked out of his ears and he can't remember his homework or assignments or supplies. He blows off tests and thinks he can just slide by. He says we are too strict and he might be right in some areas...we are evaluating that.

We asked him what he wanted to be if he could be anything in the world and you know what his answer was? "Normal."

I had to break it to him that he will never be normal. He's smart. He's attractive. He's funny. He isn't average. He is above average and I don't get why he would want to settle for just being average.

If I saw him doing his very best then I would know he got it. But the way he approaches school and his attitude about the future confuses me.

He has the opportunity to take some honors classes soon and he doesn't want to do it. "Only geeks take those classes." Hey, kid? Your MOM was one of those geeks!

He has indicated he wants to go ahead with his baptism soon and we are very happy about that.

I just want him to live up to his potential.

I KNOW I can't force him to do it...there is that control issue again...but I know he always seems to choose to do things the hard way and it is going to cause him to have a hard road ahead.

I know a large portion of it is his exposure to his biological dad but there is little I can do to combat that other than talk him through it.

Just pray I have wisdom in raising this little person who is exactly like me.