What I Found This Morning

This was what I found this morning when I went to get Abigail to put her in the car. It was too sweet to not take a picture. I just loved that little booty sticking up in the air.

The Gift of Jury Duty

Whenever I have heard people mention jury duty, it has always been followed with groans. Well last week I had my first experience with jury duty and I can honestly say that God blessed me through my time served.



Monday was a reporting day. First of all, I got to sleep in a bit since I didn't have to report until nine. Another teacher from school was also there, and I enjoyed talking to him for awhile in the morning. Then I got to sit and read which is something I love to do, but rarely get the chance these days. I actually got selected to be on jury. While listening to the testimony in the case, I was reminded how blessed I am because of the husband and family that I have. Seeing how the court system works was very interesting. It was certainly a break from my normal day. During the HOUR and a HALF lunch break, I was able to run errands and eat out. I usually get 27 minutes. Another gift was the chance to sit in the sun and read my Bible. The sun on my shoulders was like feeling God's hand resting on me while I read.

I ended up being put on a jury. It was an interesting process which I am glad to know more about. The legal system surely has its flaws, but hearing and watching the proceedings was fascinating. The family involved has been on my mind and in my prayers since then. We left the court house at 5 on Monday and were to report back on Tuesday at 9. This mean another morning of sleeping a bit later than the norm. I'll take every few minutes I can get. I ended up being the alternate juror so I did not get to participate in the deliberation. I was sent to sit in a room and read for over 2 hours. It was amazing. FOr me the gift of time to read was so welcome. To me extended reading time is a luxury that is reserved only for summer and holidays. So what would have been torture for some was a heavenly blessing for me.

I had to report back on Thursday. This time I "knew" several of the women in the room, so we started chatting like old friends. We sat there for about an hour without being called to do anythign until we were dismissed. During that time I heard these women around me having various conversations about God, faith, churches, the Holy Spirit. It was completely uplifting to be surrounded by strangers talking about God. It was a reminder from God to me that He is alive, active and working. He's even at the court house. As we walked out we said goodbye and a couple of them women told me that they would be praying for me. How wonderful to have just met these people, but because of the love of Christ, we are connected. I have new "friends" out there lifting me up before the Father. I wish I did actually know these ladies. It seems like I would love to have lunch with them and learn from them. What a gift from a week that was supposed to be awful.

God gave me margin. We've been doing a video series in our Sunday School about margin in our lives which is basically have room around the edges. Lately I have been struggling to find margins with my time. There hasn't seemed to be any extra anywhere. So for me, God gave me the gift of Jury Duty which allowed for the gift of margin. Bits of time opened up. Hopefully I glorified God in the way that I used that time. God can use anything for his glory. He took a week that I had partly dreaded and turned it into a gift to bless me emotionally and spiritually. God is so good.

My Special Girl

I could probably fill up several posts about my sweet girl. She totally amazes me on a daily basis. Being her mom is one of the greatest pleasures of my life. She has brought so much joy and fun to my life. Of course being a mom has it's definite challenges too, but those seem to be outweighed by the joy.

I call her my joy spreader. That's the job God has given her for right now, and she does it so well. She spreads smiles everywhere we go. It makes me so proud to be her mom. We get comments about her smile and eyes from strangers on a regular basis. We say that we need to find a way to make some money off this kid.

She is changing all the time. She walks everywhere. So many people warned me about how she would be into everything once she started walking. She's been into everything for so long now that I don't really notice a change now that she's only on two feet.

Abigail can now point out noses. She can show where hers is and most peoples when she wants to do it. She knows what a puppy says. When we say Go Dawgs, she responds with woo woo. She's already a UGA fan when she wants to. My sweet girl is very loving. We ask for "loves" and most of the time she lays her head on us or hugs us around the neck. Recently she has started giving kisses. Let me tell you, you've never had a kiss quite like it. Her kisses are open mouth right smack on the nose. Sometimes she uses her tongue, and every now and then her teeth. It's always quite slobbery, but I wouldn't trade them for the world.

Her grin lights up her whole face and my whole world. I miss her terribly everyday when I'm away from her, but I enjoy my precious time with her so much. Yesterday she cried everytime I left the room. It's hard on Daddy, but it makes me feel good to be reminded that she does love her mommy. She knows love her too, even though I'm away during her days.

I could go on and on, but I'll end it here. God has truly blessed me with a wonderful child. I couldn't ask for anything better.

The end of the birthday cake
The first bite

Climbing into the toy basket. She's a wild one

family shot before the party

Posing with her new birthday wagon

New Stove!!

This may be silly, but I am quite excited about the new stove I got yesterday. Most people rave about their gas stoves and how wonderful they are. I had never been impressed with mine. In fact, I didn't like it. We finally figured out that it was the cheapest model and wasn't a great piece of equipment. What finally made us decide to get the new one was how hot ours got on the front. If Little Miss had touched it while it was on it would have burned those baby hands. So of course as good parents we got a new one. I am quite excited about this new stove. I can't wait to get it into action.

The drawer below the stove is my favorite feature. My old one didn't have that, now my baking pans are not going to jump 0ut of the cabinet every time I open it. Also, my future kitchen helper is pretty cute too.

Here she is....

Blessings

In the spring I wrote a couple blog posts about blessings that I wwas really feeling. Now I am feeling the need to do that again. My life is so incredibly blessed. God has given me so much, but for some reason I still tend to get down on things at times. I get down on me, and forget about
riches he has so lavishly poured out on me. So here's the run down from right now.

• I had a long conversation with a friend at work. We are very different in our beliefs, places in life, ages, etc. but found so many places where we are on the same page. Finding out that others feel the same way that I helps. It's nice to not be alone. Since she does have a few extra years experience on me, she has wisdom to pass down, but is not pushy with it at all.


• God is working, and I know it. I truly believe that he has his hand actively involved in several things right now. I'm not sure what he's planning, but I know He's doing something.


• Work is much better this year than last. My colleagues are great. My students are pleasant and fun to teach. They have a LOT to learn, but I enjoy them. We have a new program starting up that is going to require a good amount of work for us, but the start date has gotten pushed back which gives us a a little more room to breathe without the new added pressure.
• My daughter is learning new things all the time. She's changing constantly which is hard when I feel like I'm missing so much, but it's amazing to watch her. It's almost like she changes right before my eyes.
• My husband patiently listened to me tearfully trying to explain some feelings that I didn't quite have the right words for. He helped me by listening and loving and trying to understand even when I didn't exactly know what it was I was trying to say.
• I had an extra day off this week to enjoy my life.
• This will be my 6th week of keeping up with my exercise goal. We are talking morning running here. I even increased my speed and time. Yes, I'm a beast!

Wanting to Blog

I really do want to blog on this thingamajiggy. I even have thoughts sometimes. Life has been treating me well. We've celebrated a year of Miss Abigail's life which has been amazing. I truly love being her mother. We've had school, we played, we've worked. That's about the summary life. God is blessing me infinitely. He's working on my heart and answering prayers that had been kept down in my heart and only shared with him. We've had some good study at church. College football has begun. Abigail is walking everywhere. Life is so good and so full. I would love to write about each of these things individually, and I hope to at some point. Right now, this is all that time allows. My day off schedule has been full of reading kiddy books, playing on the floor and rolling the ball across the floor. It's been wonderful. I am trying to remind myself that the most important things, and the most urgent things are not always the same. At times, I focus on the urgent and forget the important. Dirty toilets will stay dirty as long as I let them, but toddlers grow at an incredibly fast pace. So here's to dirty toilets. Let's just view them as signs of good priorities and loving mommies.