Pure Joy

The past couple of days have been hard mommy days.  Nothing major, just really tiresome.  I feel like all I have done is teach life lessons and put out emotional fires.  With hormonal teenage girls, a rambunctious boy who is set on aggravating everyone in the house, and  a little girl who thinks I don't like her anymore, I am just plum wore out.  I keep resting on the peace that God promises new mercies each day but I find that I am thinking that everyday, again and again .....and tomorrow I will too  :-)

As the mother of 4 and a pastor's wife, sometimes life just turns crazy.  Sometimes I can totally tell that it is the enemies attack on our family.  But sometimes it is just exhaustion, disorganization and mood swings that turn our house inside out.  Our family is a happy family and we enjoy being together..... most days :-)  But sometimes we get so used to our life that we miss the really special moments. I call those "pure joy" moments. 

The big girls volunteer at a local horse farm.  They LOVE horses!  They spend 4 hours a week working with disabled children and teaching them to ride. It is so cool that they get to spend time with the horses while doing something that has such value.  Yesterday we drove up to the horse farm and I caught a glimpse of one of the girls running along side a young girl who has autism.  Both my girl and the girl on the horse had smiles as big as the sky.  I really couldn't tell who was happier or having more fun. It was definitely a "pure joy" moment.  One that I would have missed had I been texting or running my mouth.  But God lined up my timing just right to see it. 

Last Sunday in church I was standing at the back of the auditorium and I saw one of our young volunteers standing with some of our elementary kids.  She (the adult) had her hands raised praising God during one of the worship songs.  She was oblivious to the little girl standing beside her who looked up and saw her hands raised and then gently raised her own.  In one small moment she taught this child that she has freedom to worship.  It was definitely a "pure joy" moment and I just happened to be standing in the right place to see it.

This past weekend we were driving downtown, we stopped at a red light and saw the backs of a couple holding hands.  Steven and I leaned forward to get a closer look and saw that it was a couple we know, who's marriage has been struggling. Almost at a loss for words, Steven quietly said,"God is good."
A "pure joy" moment. 

Time and time again God ordains "pure joy" moments. It isn't that the moment is for you or for them. But it is one of those moments that points straight to God. In this twisted, screwed up world that we live in, it is a moment where God kind of shows off. Not is a sunset over the ocean kind of way, but in a quiet gentle breeze kind of way.  It is almost as if for a small second our heart beats with the same rhythm as God's heart. Or time pauses and we are standing in the exact place created for us. Like when an entire room starts to applaud and at a certain point everyone is clapping together.  

So yes, life can be crazy.  It can turn upside down quickly.  But if we look out for those "pure joy" moments not only will we be sure to see them but we might just find ourselves in the middle of one.

~LL

God's unique provision

I read this passage this morning and thought it was worth blogging.

1 Samuel 21:1-9 

The back story to this scripture is when Jonathan found out that his father wanted to kill David.  He told his best friend David, and David had to flee for his life.   David is running and goes to the city of Nob (aka The city of Priest).  I imagine he went there to seek refuge.  To be closer to God maybe.  He was running scared!  So he goes to the priest and he says that he is hungry and asks for food.  **here is where the unique provision happens**  The priest says to David,"Well, I don't have normal food, but I do have this Holy Bread."  Really, God could have given him a number of things, including normal bread, but instead He gave him consecrated bread.  Then David goes on to request a sword too.  And **here we go again** the only sword available is the very sword that David had used to kill Goliath. God could have provided him with many things but instead He gave him a sword with a HUGE meaning.

As I read this morning I was reminded how God ALWAYS takes care of us.  It may not be in the way that we ask Him to, or even in the way we pray, but He always does.  God's provisions may simply be to provide food for our family when we need it. Or it might be to provide Goliath's sword to fight the battle.  No matter how He chooses to provide we must trust that it is in His time and for His glory.

~LL

NYC run-down

Last weekend Steven and I had the opportunity to spend a couple of days in NYC.  We knew there would be tons of walking and late nights so we decided to only take the older kiddos.  We left the littles with friends. We were there for 2 days and I am still exhausted :-) In stead of telling you all of the things that we did, I will instead share our list and what we thought of them.

#1 Brothers Pizza- Great pizza place on Staten Island.  Though we couldn't understand anything that was said, the food was great!

#2 Staten Island Ferry- Fun view into the city.  First day into the city it was 101 and hazy.  Hard to see a good view of the city until we were close. 

#3 China Town-Tons of fun and weirdness :-).  We weren't in China Town for more than a block and we had people whispering in our ears "Coach,Prada,Guess,Gucci"."You want bag, come come!!"  Good laughs, but no bags were bought.

#4 Tasty Hand Pulled Noodle- Eating a here turned out to be one of the biggest treats of the trip. We had done our research before and found this restaurant on the FoodNetwork page.  It was featured on "The Best thing I ever Ate" watch HERE .  It was hands down the best Chinese food I have eaten.  LOVED IT!!!

#5 Doughnut Plant-This doughnut place was researched by Baily.  She has earned her stripes before in picking some pretty cool places that we have to check on when on vacation.  So we made the walk and enjoyed the fruits of our labor. (or jelly doughnuts for our labor :-)  Actually I had a creme brulee doughnut.  Complete with a fire glazed top.  You can see more about this doughnut shop HERE.  

 

#6 Bagels- We woke up on Friday and the main thing on our minds was breakfast.  And what else could we eat for breakfast while in NYC except bagels.  We ended up with a bag of about 15-16 bagels that were as big as our head.  Good food :-)  No Pictures :-(

#7 Subway to Time Square- Subway was fun and clean.  Nothing too crazy.  The girls were a little nervous but that passed quickly.

Until they saw this dude (the one getting off the subway.....not Steven :-)

#8 Serendipity 3- Frozen hot chocolate...... (nuff said)

 

 

PS-Though it was fun and a novelty to go.....IMHO it wasn't worth the wait :-(  Maybe we will try the new one that they just opened up in Georgetown.

#9 Dylan's Candy Bar- Amazing 3 story candy store right down from Serendipity.  Great place to "wait" to get into Serendipity.  

#10 Toys R Us- WOW!  They had a Ferris wheel in the middle of the store, a Barbie House that was actually a Barbie store, a life size T-rex, and an almost life-size Optimus Prime.

  

Dad enjoying Barbie world!

We also hit the M&M store, the Disney store, H & M, The Apple store, Junior's Cheesecake, American Girl, and much more.  Here are the other fun shots that I got to take.

Shelby's true self

Baily

Baily and Mom

Steven and Dirty Elmo

I have this urge to kiss him :-)

Central Park

Carriages at Central Park

Looking up at the Apple Store

Shelby and her dream date

Weirdo in the glass

Busy Time Square

Family Night- Minute to Win it

It has been a while since we have had the opportunity to do family night. I always seem to get back on track with family nights in the Summertime.  So hopefully this Summer the same will be true.  This time our family night was Minute to Win it.  I did a little research and discovered that most of the challenges can be replicated with little to no money.  In fact most of our challenges came straight from the Dollar store.  YAY!! for a bargain.

Here are some pictures of our night.


Stack Attack
This is what it is suppose to be....


And this is some of the shots I snapped of us trying to get it done :-)

 

Separation Anxiety

This is what it is suppose to look like....

And this is us getting it done.

Penny Hose
Their version....

Our version!

 

Face the Cookie

Them....

US....

and like father....

like son....

 

Paper Dragon

Theirs.....

 

Ours......

 

Fun times, great memories, lots of laughs!

~I am thankful~
~LL