Ellie's Princess

I've been mulling over some thoughts for the past few days, trying to formulate them clearly enough to put them on paper. All of my thoughts stem from a simple trip to Walmart that ended up providing a life changing Truth for me.

I have to preface this by saying that the Walmart nearest my house is often referred to as "the ghetto." It is frequented by many questionable characters, and it's not a place I often (if ever) visit alone after dark. :-)

On this particular afternoon, I was hurrying through the parking lot trying to get through the double doors when I spotted a woman. I'm going to be brutally honest here. This woman caught my attention because of her size. She was extremely overweight, so much so that she could barely walk. Every step seemed incredibly difficult, and she leaned on her cart for assistance every time she picked up her foot to move forward. I tried not to stare and kept walking when an enthusiastic comment from Ellie nearly stopped me in my tracks: "Mommy!!! Look at her BEAUTIFUL princess dress!!!!" I glanced back to see that this woman was indeed wearing a dress with a bright yellow flowing skirt.  I quietly acknowledged Ellie's comment and moved on, but her words rang in my head and have stuck in my heart ever since.

In her childlike innocence, Ellie had missed the flaw that I had seen instantly.  Ellie looked at this woman and only saw her beauty. As I've thought about this over the last few days, I realized how clearly Ellie reflected our God of grace who died for mankind to secure our redemption even while we were yet sinners (Rom5:8) A perfect, holy God who extends a relationship to me, who pursues me, and who loves me unconditionally despite my many shortcomings, sins, selfishness, and pride. A righteous God who is in need of nothing, yet still desires a relationship with me. An amazing God who is complete in Himself yet still chooses to use me for His Purposes. A loving God who calls me His Bride and promises to return for me and take me to His glorious home, even when I sometimes live as though this world is all there is. Because of Christ, God can look at me and see beauty. God can cover over my many flaws and see His Bride. Or in Ellie's words, His "Princess." :-)

How I pray that God would give me the eyes of a child to see others the way God sees, to extend to others the same incredible grace I have received. "As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (Jn 13:34-35)

What a difference we could make if we chose to see value in those that the world rejects, if we chose to overlook the flaws and see the masterpiece, if we chose to remember all we have been saved from and the ugliness of our own sin more often so that we could humbly extend grace to those the world often dismisses or avoids. How many lives would be changed if we allowed the gracious love of God to so radically impact and fill us that we couldn't do any less than love others with His love?

Today I went to the commissary with the kids. It was pouring down rain (I literally had to blow dry my hair a second time after returning home because I looked like a drowned rat!), and the kids were tired. Ethan fussed loudly almost the entire time. Brandon tried a food sample that he disliked, then proceeded to gag and puke on the commissary floor. Obviously, the trip was not going well! Shortly after the puking incident, a woman approached me with a kind smile and said, "I just wanted you to know I remember the days of having young children. I know it can be hard, but you are doing a great job. Good for you. And your children are BEAUTIFUL!"

I'm sure it took quite a lot for her to look past Ethan's red, blotchy, snotty face and Brandon's hands full of puke-covered wipes (we were in search of a trash can, after all!), but she did. She overlooked it all and spoke life-giving, loving words. She may have no idea just how deeply I needed encouragement or how vastly she changed my perspective, but I pray I never forget that moment. I pray that God will give me eyes to see people as His priceless masterpieces and the grace to love others as richly, freely, and impartially as He does.

I pray I never forget the lesson I learned from Ellie's Princess.

Ellie's Princess

I've been mulling over some thoughts for the past few days, trying to formulate them clearly enough to put them on paper. All of my thoughts stem from a simple trip to Walmart that ended up providing a life changing Truth for me.

I have to preface this by saying that the Walmart nearest my house is often referred to as "the ghetto." It is frequented by many questionable characters, its parking lot is often known to have  homeless people walking around asking for money, and it's not a place I often (if ever) visit alone after dark. :-)

On this particular afternoon, I was hurrying through the parking lot trying to get through the double doors when I spotted a woman. I'm going to be brutally honest here. This woman caught my attention because of her size. She was extremely overweight, so much so that she could barely walk. Every step seemed incredibly difficult, and she leaned on her cart for assistance every time she picked up her foot to move forward. I tried not to stare and kept walking when an enthusiastic comment from Ellie nearly stopped me in my tracks: "Mommy!!! Look at her BEAUTIFUL princess dress!!!!" I glanced back to see that this woman was indeed wearing a dress with a bright yellow flowing skirt.  I quietly acknowledged Ellie's comment and moved on, but her words rang in my head and have stuck in my heart ever since.

In her childlike innocence, Ellie had missed the flaw that I had seen instantly.  Ellie looked at this woman and only saw her beauty. As I've thought about this over the last few days, I realized how clearly Ellie reflected our God of grace who died for mankind to secure our redemption even while we were yet sinners (Rom5:8) A perfect, holy God who extends a relationship to me, who pursues me, and who loves me unconditionally despite my many shortcomings, sins, selfishness, and pride. A righteous God who is in need of nothing, yet still desires a relationship with me. An amazing God who is complete in Himself yet still chooses to use me for His Purposes. A loving God who calls me His Bride and promises to return for me and take me to His glorious home, even when I sometimes live as though this world is all there is. Because of Christ, God can look at me and see beauty. God can cover over my many flaws and see His Bride. Or in Ellie's words, His "Princess." :-)

How I pray that God would give me the eyes of a child to see others the way God sees, to extend to others the same incredible grace I have received. "As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (Jn 13:34-35)

What a difference we could make if we chose to see value in those that the world rejects, if we chose to overlook the flaws and see the masterpiece, if we chose to remember all we have been saved from and the ugliness of our own sin more often so that we could humbly extend grace to those the world often dismisses or avoids. How many lives would be changed if we allowed the gracious love of God to so radically impact and fill us that we couldn't do any less than love others with His love?

Today I went to the commissary with the kids. It was pouring down rain (I literally had to blow dry my hair a second time after returning home because I looked like a drowned rat!), and the kids were tired. Ethan fussed loudly almost the entire time. Brandon tried a food sample that he disliked, then proceeded to gag and puke on the commissary floor. Obviously, the trip was not going well! Shortly after the puking incident, a woman approached me with a kind smile and said, "I just wanted you to know I remember the days of having young children. I know it can be hard, but you are doing a great job. Good for you. And your children are BEAUTIFUL!"

I'm sure it took quite a lot for her to look past Ethan's red, blotchy, snotty face and Brandon's hands full of puke-covered wipes (we were in search of a trash can, after all!), but she did. She overlooked it all and spoke life-giving, loving words. She may have no idea just how deeply I needed encouragement or how vastly she changed my perspective, but I pray I never forget that moment. I pray that God will give me eyes to see people as His priceless masterpieces and the grace to love others as richly, freely, and impartially as He does.

I pray I never forget the lesson I learned from Ellie's Princess.

Beans

The highlight of my Saturday was most definitely the memorial service for Beans. Beans, you ask? Yes, Beans. The dead frog that Li'l B found in the creek. In an effort to get him to resist playing with the dead (and rather smelly, I might add!) frog, I suggested burying him. While at first that idea was met with great resistance (after all, the ants live underground! They would get him for sure!), I managed to win B over by bringing out a small box and offering to help give him a proper burial. :-)



Brandon has only been to one funeral, but he remembered enough about it to know that graves need "signs" next to them, and that graves need flowers around them. He suggested that we "make up" a birthday for Beans, and that he and Beans should be the same age. Therefore, the paper gravestone we made for Beans records his birthday to have been February 13th.



B then asked me what people do at funerals. After giving a few ideas, B stood next to the graveside and offered up these "nice words" about Beans: "Beans loved to jump. He loved to hop. He loved the creek. And I loved Beans. Rest in Peace, Beans." (yes, I did coach him with the last line. I couldn't help myself!! And actually, the first time he got it wrong and said, "Rest in Beans." It was all I could do not to lose it. This was a very serious moment after all! :-D)



He ended the service by singing an adorable and sincere version of "5 Green and Speckled Frogs." :-) (After all, isn't that a most appropriate song for a froggy funeral?!) :-D



After the "service" was over, B would come periodically and check on me: Mom? Are you still sad about Beans, even though you don't have any tears? I told him I was ok, and to which he replied, "Oh, I am, too. I am still sad, though." The events of the day also spurred questions such as, "Where do animals go when they die? Do they have souls? Do they have spirits?"



In addition, the pre-service digging spurred the rest of the afternoons activities: digging holes for rocks, digging holes for leaves, digging holes for pinecones ... well, you get the idea. :-) Of course since I had shown such proficiency at digging a grave for Beans, I was invited to join in the digging fun. As I sat there digging in the dirt with my boy, he randomly said to Ellie and I, "I'm so thankful that I have a Mommy. And I'm SO thankful that she plays with me." As if my heart hadn't melted several times over already, he set me off again. What a sweetheart.

Could having a 5 year old boy be any more fun?!

Could I be more richly blessed?

R.I.P., Beans... :-D :-D

Whirlwind month!

Eek, almost a month between blogs. That's just how it goes sometimes I guess. What can I say? It's been a great, busy few weeks. Here's a quick recap...

*We enjoyed a week long visit with Matt, Kristi, and the kiddos. What a blast! The kids are quickly becoming sweet friends, spent many hours playing outside (yay for spring in February. I love the south!!!), and the adults fit in lots of  talking, teasing, and fun as well. Aaaand, I totally forgot to get Kristi's pictures from her camera, so photos from that great week will have to wait.



* The day after Matt and Kristi left, we enjoyed a visit from Grandmama and Grandpapa Barr. :-) They took Brandon and Ellie on several fun adventures, babysat all three so B and I could have a date night, and joined us for Brandon's 5th birthday party. Our time with them literally flew by! Ellie insisted that they should just stay here "forever!" :-) So sweet.



*Saturday we threw a bowling birthday party for our big 5 year old! What fun to get a little group of kiddos together to bowl together. Too cute. One of my favorite moments was watching a ball go down the lane in slow motion (no joke!), take FOREVER to arrive at the other end, and then, somehow, create enough force to cause a strike!!! :-D We all just burst out laughing.

*Brandon and Ellie also had their first dentist appointments this week! Since you never know for sure how your kids will react to new things, I tried to prep them as well as I could and just hoped all would go well. :-) They did wonderfully ... opened their mouths wide like alligators, let the dentist "count" every tooth and then polish them clean, opened and closed their mouth for "Mr. Thirsty" (the water sucker thingy;-)), sat perfectly still for x-rays, and even attempted to rinse with flouride. I felt like a bit cheesy coming in with my camera, but I just had to get a few pictures of their first dental adventure. We love our dentist here!!!

[caption id="attachment_127" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="I told Ethan to smile...:) Love that kid!"][/caption]



*On top of our family adventures, Brandon is very busy with the course he is in and is under a lot of stress. We are learning daily to surrender the pressures, stresses, and busyness to the Lord. He has sustained us thus far, and it's neat to see Him continue to provide and in the midst of the stresses give us opportunities for growth and ministry with those He's placing in our path.



So there's a quick recap. I will try my best to make my next post a bit more witty, catchy, and creative. :-) For now, this is all I've got. :-) Sending love! :-)