this and that

So heres the deal on vacation stories...as soon as I get our deposit back from the house Tony says I can begin to speak publicly...until then I better keep my trap shut (my words, not my husbands)...you never know whose browsing these things and might alert the landlord. :) Thanks for all the encouragement on sharing these stories. I assure you they will be the worth the wait.

I am speaking next week at ACU's lectureship...I would so appreciate your prayers. I had mentioned a while back my topic of transparency in the Body of Christ. So often in studying I realize the Lord is revealing some things that I might share them...others that I might change something in myself. I think this time more than ever the list of "that I might change them in myself" was a lot longer than what He revealed that I will share with everyone. It has been convicting, uncomfortable, and exactly what I should of been working on. I am looking forward to it...with a healthy dose of fear, trepidation and full stomach of butterflies. I will share more when I get back.

The other night I had one of those "you have got to be kidding nights" I had just explained to Tony how I had not been sleeping well and how my tasks around the house seemed to mulitply daily...in other words I was having a week when I did not feel like I was accomplishing anything. He encouraged me to go to bed early (And I did). Sometime in the night I woke up to an odd sound (somehow Tony never awakens to these) I got up and walked into our bathroom...what's that? Oh Payton peeing in our bathtub. I stood in amazement and watched...there was no stopping him unless I wanted to swing a solid stream around our whole bathroom. I shook my head, picked him up (He was still asleep) washed his hands, (at least we are hygenic when we pee in the bathtub) and carried him back to bed making a mental note to myself that our bathtub and tub toys must be throughly bleached the next day. I was so tired I immediately went back to bed. It felt like I slept for ever but when I looked at the clock 15 minutes later when I heard an ear piercing scream I realized I had not been. Once again sleeping beauty (whom I married and I love) slept soundly through this. I ran to the boys room to see Benjamin standing on his bed, pants down...you guessed it...peeing. Seriously now. All over everything. I bathed Benjamin (in a different bathtub than Payton had just used), got him new pajamas, got new sheets, piled up his comforter, his mattress pad, his sheets on an already full laundry basket and went back to bed...my list for the next day multiplying as I slept.

I love these 3 boys the Lord has given me. Weeks like this one that feel crazy, dirty, and unorganized I am thankful that the Lord has given me the ability to laugh. In Jeremiah 30 the Lord is giving the Israelites a message through His prophet Jeremiah...he tells Jeremiah to let the people know new days are ahead where "Thanksgivings will pour out of the windows; laughter will spill through the doors." I want our boys to have that view of our home...on some nights there are heavy tears, heavy hearts and a very overwhelmed mom in the middle of it...but if they catch a few glimpses of that thats ok...even more than a few, I am still ok...because overall I want them to reflect on this home and remember that on most days it was a place where thanksgiving poured out and laughter was spilled (along with the entire jug of orange juice when Benjamin was thirsty in the middle of that same night and decided to get himself a drink.) Thank goodness the Lord's words were true for Israel, even now as they are true for us...a new day came for all of us in the form of Christ...May His name be praised.