Celebrating 6 Years

Well, Wesley and I have been married for 6 years now. It has been wonderful. I suppose I've said enough mushy things about my man in previous posts, but I have to say some more. He is the most wonderful man in the world. He loves and pursues the Lord with passion and out of the love he has for Jesus comes his love for the kids and me.

Though we still have a long way to go on our journey together and we are constantly being shaped, broken, and reshaped, I can honestly say my husband tries to love me the way Paul commanded husbands to love their wives in Ephesians 5:25-28. And because I know he has God's glory and my best interests at heart I willingly submit to his leadership.

This surprise anniversary trip is a very small example of that. He secretly planned to by tickets to a MUSICAL, which generally he is not a big fan of. However, he knew it was something I would love and therefore, put aside his own preferences to meet an unimportant (in the grand scheme of things) desire of mine. In the end, he ended up enjoying the play!

So, what did we go see? He bought us tickets to see Fiddler on the Roof, one of my all time favorite musicals. On top of all that, it was the last tour starring Topol, the original movie star. Topol has come to be the one and only true Reb Tevye. But God didn't stop in the blessings! We were also at the same hotel as the cast and had an opportunity to ride the elevator with "the Rabbi" and "Motel the tailor".

I know I sound star struck, and typically I tend to be a snob when it comes to famous people (thinking people who fall all over themselves are ridiculous), but for me, I was star struck. Don't get me wrong, I didn't rush at them screaming or even ask for an autograph. Wesley and I calmly spoke with the actors, commended them on their performances, asked them a few generic questions and wished them a happy visit in Texas. I can honestly say it was one of the most fun experiences of my life and will not soon forget it.

Wesley and I ate at the bistro upstairs in the Music Hall at Fair Park. Yummy.

Sitting in our seats.

View from our seats! 7th row, baby!

Yes, I broke the rules and snuck some pictures (I'm not typically a rule breaker)--but I didn't use a flash and some of them were blurry.

Topol. The moment he stepped on the stage the theater erupted in applause and cheering. He is absolutely amazing. Here he is singing the opening song, "Tradition!"

Here Topol is singing his other famous song, "If I Were a Rich Man". Whenever he would make his "signature move" of shaking his arms in the air while stomping, everyone cheered and clapped. We tried to figure out how old this guy is. At the youngest he has to be 75, and yet he runs all over the stage and dances like he did when he made the movie over 40 years ago!

The bottle dancers. I put my camera away too soon to get a picture of all four sliding on their knees. No one dropped a bottle!

The next morning we decided to eat a brunch at the Cracker Barrel. We didn't really eat the rest of the day!

I know this post is getting long, but I couldn't resist doing this. For those of you who have not seen Fiddler on the Roof, here are two of the most famous scenes. The basic story is about a Jewish man and his relationship with God. He and his family endure many hardships and persecution, but he always seeks God in every circumstance. It's a very sweet and yet sad story.

The first segment is "If I were a Rich Man".

This song is "Matchmaker" sung by Reb Tevye's (Topol) daughters.

I am so thankful that the great Matchmaker ordained Wesley and I to be together. He in his great love and wisdom brought me a "matchless match".

A Walk Down Memory Lane...or Wading Through Memory Creek

Wesley and I are a part of a group of RHS alumni who are getting our 10 year reunion together this summer. Part of that process has been to look for pictures for a slide show we will present at the dinner. What memories it has brought back! Some good and some….well, let’s just say that now I understand that I didn’t really know as much as I thought I did or what was truly best for myself. I am struck by God’s grace and mercy as I have seen His mighty hand guiding our lives at every turn.

Most of my high school pictures also contain Wesley. Yes, we were high school sweethearts, and because of that I am amazed at what God has done in our lives. We have officially known each other for at least 16 or 17 years, been in a relationship of some kind for 12, and married for almost 6. I am so thankful.

I spent most of the day contemplating how far we’ve come. I realized several things about life. Here are a few of those thoughts in no particular order:

1. Time goes by really, really, really fast.
2. I was not fat in high school--even though I believed I was.
3. Wesley was and still is very skinny.
4. Wesley is really glad that ankle socks became more popular (me too).
5. We really do lose our hair (at least my husband did) as we get older.
6. I'm not as excited about fishing as I was when we took these pictures.
7. Wesley made and continues to make me more adventurous.
8. Even though I thought Wesley was hot stuff when we were teenagers, Wesley truly is more handsome to me today than when we were younger (I can't wait for him to have a little gray hair).
9. I love him more now than I ever could have dreamed when we were kids.
10. He is still my very best friend in the entire world.

The pictures below are some from one of our most favorite dates in high school. We went to Gatesville, fished at a friend's ranch, ate at a little diner in town and then went to the drive in movie theater. We saw "Never Been Kissed" with Drew Barrymore as Josie Geller. Just so you know, we did NOT name our daughter after her character and we hope she will never be called "Josie Grossie".

Up until this particular date I thought that Wesley was a guy I might want to marry someday, but after this day, I knew it with all my heart.

Thank you, Jesus, for your gift. Thank you for our life together on this earth. I know you are the One who makes it possible.

Sharefest Waco 2009

The first weekend in May our family participated in Sharefest. It is a chance for churches across Central Texas to join together in serving our community--to really be the hands and feet of Jesus. What's so amazing is that several of the churches are from different denominations and we can lay aside our surface differences in order to unite and glorify our King even more. We were so blessed by the experience and look forward to more opportunities like this.

Before the work began we had worship and a time of prayer for everyone involved. One of the pastors stood up to give a word of encouragement to everyone. In a nutshell he said that to the rest of the world we look like crazy people for taking our one day off, getting up early, going to mow someone else's yard for free (when many of us pay to have ours mowed), clean up trash, paint schools, do landscaping...we look crazy to the people of the world because we aren't of this world. We've been make new creations by Jesus Christ and when our "old self" wanted to roll back over and go to sleep instead of getting up to help someone else, we remember what Christ did for us. Christ died that we might be made new, therefore, to show others the way to Christ, we "die" to our selfishness and live to love others. That is why we do this.

"...but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. " 1 Corinthians 1:23-25

Here's a video that recaps the day for the volunteers from our church family. I hope you enjoy.

Caleb's First Hair Cut

The first hair cut for Caleb came a lot faster than it did for Josie. We had no excuses to keep the mullet with him like we did for Josie. I was so nervous that he would not handle it well, especially when we got there and saw a little boy screaming and fighting his parents to sit in the car. Caleb resisted at first, but when he realized he could really steer it and play with the radio he was so happy.

Of course, when we were in the process of getting Caleb's appointment Josie chimed in that she wanted a hair cut too. This was my chance! I had to take it while I could. She's been so against cutting her hair (because she wants "princess hair like Aurora's") even though she needed it so badly. Praise the Lord!

Aren't they adorable!

Barbara

A few weeks ago our children's minister felt God's leading to step out of her position of leadership from our church. She has been an amazing minister, teacher, example and friend to our family. We love her dearly and will miss her energy and joy upon seeing children walk into the church building.

Josie and Caleb LOVE Barbara so much and have received so much love from her.

This is a picture of Barbara and the kids at the reception we held in her honor.

Mother Daughter Tea

The weekend before Mother's Day Wesley's mom invited both of her daughters in law, her granddaughters, their other grandmothers and aunts to sit all together at the Arboretum's annual Mother-Daughter Tea. We had a wonderful time, and although Josie and I didn't have hats, we still were able to be a part of the "southern, ladylike traditions".

Josie and her grandmothers, Yaya and Nana.

Auntie Jenna, Hannah, and Kathryn.

Sweet cousins.

A Gift from Pubs and Yaya

In April my dad built a sand and water table for the kids. I was inspired by our friends (the Massingills) and asked my dad to do something similar. Being the creative genius he is, he took the idea and ran with it. I think he had as much fun planning and building it as my kids have had playing in it.

As you can see it is not complete. I still have to paint it and put the canopy on. When that is done, I'll post a final picture.

Obviously, the kids love it. Despite the fact we now have to take multiple baths a day, it entertains them for a very long time and ensures the need for very long naps. A beautiful gift.

Thanks, Dad!

April in Review

Sleeping Beauty Tea Party with shortbread cookies

Happy Easter! We had a lovely weekend celebrating Jesus' victory over the grave and our salvation through His grace. We spent time with family and celebrating Passover, Good Friday, and Sunday with our church family.

Little monster-saurus devouring some helpless ice cream.

(For all you healthy people, don't worry. It's organic whole milk with a chocolate powder of vitamins, minerals, and LOTS of protein. We've been giving them to Josie to try and make her gain weight--Dr.'s orders.)

April showers....get us muddy.

Mr. Contentment

Whitney, Josie's BFF, has returned from her internship...with PINK ICE CREAM! Hurray!