Grace is enough

Some fun pictures from Family Camp last weekend:  



Good morning! 

Right now I'm sitting here, cup of coffee to my left, Brooke Rebecca to my far left, Dumbo on TV and Paige on the couch w/ a sippy and some cheerios - we're all still in jammies - and I'm taking this moment to myself before the day begins.  

Life couldn't be better.  It really couldn't.  

I'm in a place in my life that I've never been before, and honestly you don't hear many people talk about life the way that I am lately.  It's soo fun, sooo good and really, to be honest:  perfect.  

(RIGHT when I typed that, Brooke dropped her sippy on the floor and said "uh oh"  .... figures!) 

Anyways .. comic relief aside, life really does feel good right now and unfortunately that scares me to death.  

I guess it's because I have been through it.  I've been though some pretty hard stuff  and to be in a place where things feel GOOD and RIGHT is scary because someone has hard-wired it into my head that God doesn't work through the easy stuff .. he doesn't change and form us while we're in the easy places.  He works when life is hard.  

A quote from a book I'm currently reading:  

"If you know the way God works, then you realize that being deported, banished, captured, jailed, or enslaved is just another way of saying that you are being sent by God on a mission.  That's how God orchestrates the spread of His redemptive narrative.  You see, in God's economy, good news often comes of age in rather harsh circumstances."  

SEE????  It's common ... it's known ... so what does this mean?  

Truth be known:  I'm scared that something terrible is going to happen to ruin all that is well with me, and for what it's worth, I want to buck the system.  

Now I know the answers ... I was in ministry ... I know what to say ... and it was actually said perfectly to me by a good friend.  "Maybe God isn't in the chiseling, mashing, forming stages of sculpting you ... maybe he's sanding, blowing off the dust" ... which feels GOOD to hear ... I need that truth  ... but we all know that the hard stuff is going to come ... life doesn't stay perfect.  

So today I don't have anything profound to say ... just an update.  A line from a Caedman's Call song to end ...

My faith is like shifting sand

changed by every wave

My faith is like shifting sand

So I stand on GRACE

Where Have I Been???? (and p.s."A Day In The Life")

 Alright, I'm getting back into the routine, but I know I will continue to blog and break .. blog and break ... just an fyi.   THANK YOU for checking my blog each day -- I love when I write and things click and become something more than just my thoughts.  It couldn't be more than "just thoughts" without readers though .. so thank you. 

SOO ... since my last post: 

Paige became Supergirl .. 

Brooke turned one ....

SEVEN cousins (under age 5) took an adorable picture on our front porch...

and soooo much more ... 

It has been an awesome summer.  This morning everyone is up early and we're heading to the park.  I'll write more later ... 

---p.s. --- "A Day In The Life" (it's now 3:30 p.m.)

So .. the trip to the park ... can I just tell you what it's like to be me ... this story, known to my sister and I would be "A Becky" ... just one of those things that happens to me ... 

I felt good this a.m.  I got the girls dressed in matching outfits (which normally is NOT my thing .. but these aren't TOO matchy-matchy .. but just enough), I did my make-up and hair - put on a cute outfit.  We all looked great and I was planning on taking some adorable pictures of the girls at the Belleview park/petting zoo... so we get our picnic packed, shoes on, sippies in hand, and headed out.  

First stop:  Wells Fargo.  Mom's out of cash, so we gotta hit the ATM. 

Second Stop:  Drive-Thru Starbucks (need I explain?) 

Third Stop: park .. bliss .. fun ... Beach girls being adorable and taking cute pictures. 

k, so what's the problem?  

See .. between the first and second stop, the car, specifically Brooke's side of the car, sounded a bit like an off-set dryer .. thudthudthudthudthudthud.  

I was actually pulling into the parking lot of  Starbucks when we all heard the mysterious noise. So I pulled into a parking spot, checked out the tire, and alas, there it was, a HUGE metal thing sticking in my tire.  (Insert profanity here ... sorry, but it was the first/only thought that came to my head). 

So the next thing I did was get my venti iced carmel macchiato (what?) and then headed to the "Big O" that the nice starbucks lady said was "just around the corner" ... 

It wasn't "just around the corner" .. or .. I never saw it.  (quite possible)

So I did the next best thing -- called my Dreamy to tell him that I was driving the car on a tire that had a huge metal thing in it with his precious babies in the back seat.  I asked him to please "google" Big O and rescue us!  Poor Mark ... he doesn't deserve my brainlessness ... 

His computer didn't seem to be cooperating, the noise was still thudding, and my head was on a swivel (that was for you DH) trying to locate SOME KIND of tire store.  

Suddenly:  silence

Was it gone?  Was the problem fixed?  Maybe the metal thing wasn't actually IN the tire, it was just stuck in the tread???  Could I be that lucky???  

Still googling, still searching ... and then the next noise began ... MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM (those are very VERY loud "Ms"). 

I'm still on the phone with Mark and at this point, I know I have no choice but to pull over.  I take a right and there it is ... Good Year/Jiffy Lube ... ya gotta love the Big Man's sense of humor ... He must have needed a "Becky" today.  

So we go in, sit the girls in front of the TV that is in the lobby .. Barney ... God Bless Barney ... candy .. God Bless candy ... and wait for the prognosis. 

Long story short .. the "big metal thing" containing tire is no longer with us, we now have a new one ... and the spare worked beautifully to get us to the park today.  It was a wonderful day at the park ... we just had a little detour getting there.  

Now is the time when I like to pull something together that feels really fuzzy and warm and makes me cry a little .. and all of that emotion is there for me with just a few cliches:  God Provides.  He Gives and Takes Away.  He is with us.  Oh, and yes, God does have a sense of humor. 

I'm just so glad I know Him.  and today, for me, was just another reminder of how well He knows me. and loves me.  and never lets me out of his sight for one second .. even if I think I've got it all under control myself.