Thirty is not the New Twenty....

Today I turn 31.  

Instead of donning a sticker slapped to my chest that reads, "372 months", I will buy my first box of hair dye and call it good.  

Yea.  You read that right.  Hair dye.  Anyone else out there need a "nice and easy" (and CHEAP!) solution to all of these grays!!  Yikes.  And, let's talk about these gray hairs.  They are wiry little things, sticking up all over my head and peppering my temples... why have I not been warned!!  

AND for my 31st birthday WISH LIST I would like to add the following two items,


1: And extra inch to the tops of all of my jeans, because let's face it I can no longer pull off low-rise jeans. This muffin top is extra fluffy.

2: Someone to pay all of my bills.  Let me tell you how to deflate a fun day... open all your bills at one time, add them up and take a look at that number.  whaaa-whaaa.  Adulthood is so over rated.


But guess what, I won't be blowing out candles today... because the only cake I will receive is from GOOGLE!  The internet is so thoughtful...

Here are more birthday pics to entertain you.  The birthday selfies I took... in order to document my 31 years of life, of course.  Dutch crawling all over me, crying (as normal) and Zadie taking a breathing treatment due to the cold front that swooped in over night.

One of the best gifts I received this morning is pictured below.  Thank you Dutch for being kind enough to your old decrepit mother, and NOT putting all of the toilet paper IN THE TOILET... as you have been doing the last week.  My heart skipped a beat with pure joy when I stumbled upon this scene!! I thought,  "Yes!! I don't have to dig it out of the toilet!" 

One highlight was when Minnie Mouse and Thor showed up to help with my birthday dinner last night.  What honorable guests to have at my table on such a special day.  I am sure they had planets to save, enemies to attack and questions to ask Tootles... (Can I get an "Ooooh Tooootles", anyone...anyone?) 

BONUS... at least my feet look young and hip at 31.... maybe it is not true for the rest of my body, but hey, my feet are nice and trendy!!  Good job toesies.

Speaking of feet, this is what came to welcome me in bed this morning... the sound of six pitter-pattering feet.  Sweet feet, bringing me kisses, wishes and hugs.  

When we married I don't think I thought that nights in my thirties would be spent annoying my husband with posting pictures of him to instagram... but a little part of me likes it.  Isn't he cute?  Looking at me  with that... "PUT THAT CAMERA UP OR I'M GONNNA..." look.  But, honey, such a sweet moment must be documented.  And, who is looking at him when Dutch looks so cute?  

Thirties are when real life hits the fan, people.  When nights are long... and... so are the days...  I feel that I am just now standing on two feet.  I have claimed grace for my own, because heaven knows I need a good measure, and I have learned how to divvy it out in heaps.

I have learned that authenticity is a rare commodity and that loyalty is more precious than fine jewels.  I have forgiven and forgotten, and I pray others have done the same for me.


Thirty is NOT the new twenty.  It is much richer and sweeter.  The food is better and the people are kinder.  The hugs longer and the smiles wider.  I am sure it only gets better from here, and that excites me.  To know that the thrill of life has just begun, and the appreciation for those whom I love will be deeper still.

31 is not too bad.  I'll take it.

Now, excuse me, while I decide whether to pay the gas bill with my birthday money, or buy my first pair of mom jeans... because I think I have earned the right to wear a high waist line.



thanks for reading friends.



(EDIT---- Natalie, my SIL just dropped off a cupcake... so, Google was out done!!)

Linked up today to @ Prowess and Pearls Doing You Well Wednesday. 

Matters of Faith

"The thing Christ seeks is faith and wherever it is, HE finds it."- Matthew Henry

I am inching my way through the book of Matthew right now.  I feel as if I am standing up close to the spout of  a fire hydrant with my mouth open and ready for a drink of wisdom, but reading the words of Jesus is just.too.much. for this girl to take in.  It's like eating pure, raw, straight from the comb honey... so rich, so thick, so sweet.  I must take small bites and savor them, marinate in them, think on them...before I can move on to the next gulp of sweetness.

Today, I read the story of the Roman Centurion who came to Jesus asking him to heal his servant.  (Matthew 8:5-13) It was quite comical as I was reading the oh-so-wise teachings of Jesus while listening to the wiggles sing "Mashed Banana, Mashed Banana" in the background.   But as I kept reading the happy music suddenly faded as the gravity of HIS words hit my heart.

Jesus says to the man, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith." 

Suddenly, my chest became heavy and the matter of my own faith slapped me in the face.  (Not something I was expecting!)  At first, I was riddled with guilt and conviction.  The question hit me; Heather, you claim to have a deep and wide covering of faith, but do you?


Have I indeed abandoned cynicism and doubt?  Or do I clinch them tightly to my chest with one hand and then reach for Jesus with the other? 


And again, Matthew Henry's words ran through my mind. "The thing Christ seeks is faith and wherever it is, HE finds it."


In examining my own faith, thoughts started flooding my mind:


So often my faith is used as a crutch, and not the legs I stand on. 

So often my faith is the safety net, and not the surface on which I walk. 

So often my faith is my rope to grab, and not the sail I fly from. 



Is the faith that I claim to have, the same faith that stops Jesus in his path as this Roman Soldier did? Probably not.  

If Jesus called me to follow him while I was mending nets, as James and John were, I'd most likely call back, "5 more minutes Lord... I'll be there in 5 minutes" because in my mind I would be thinking, "I might need those nets some day".   Having a back up plan is probably not a good way to prove my faith.

Faith is all Jesus desires.  I want to stand in the high places and wave my flag of faith as a banner of allegiance, but when I examine my life, I find that I use it for everything else.

- to mop up my spills of sin
- to cover my cold and broken feet from life's harsh elements
- to wrap around my friends who are bruised and broken

I want to picture my banner of faith as bright, bold, attractive, sparkly... but instead it is tattered, torn, thread bare, dirty.

This thing.  This banner.  This faith... It is what I bury myself in when my world has crumbled, and it is what I cling to when the walls around me collapse.  It has become both my sail and my rope.  It has given me a net to be caught in, and a surface to walk upon.  My faith is a disheveled heap and sloppy mess; and used, it is.

Faith is so simple, yet at the same time the most complex quality of my life.  I don't "get it", but I trust it with every fiber of my being.  Which leads me to end on this note.  The one thing that I am sure of and that I am learning more and more is that:

There is power in Faith.  There is power in Christ.  And when these powers collide miracles happen.

You can quote me on that.  ;)



Thanks for reading friends.

A Halloween Reminisce...

So.  Yesterday was Halloween.

We were driving to our Fall Party with friends when Daxx asked me "So, Mom, why do we celebrate Halloween?  What does Halloween mean?"

I wasn't sure how to answer him.  I knew his little tender heart could not take the real answer.  I felt a twinge of conviction, so I had to think quickly.  Being the sly deviant mother that I am I dodged all bullets with complete finesse and asked him, "So what did Elliott dress up as today?"...

SUCCESS... Crisis diverted, sticky situation skirted. Daxx went on for 20 minutes talking about his classmates costumes.

I guess, we will have to address this topic in the years to come, but honestly I am still enjoying the innocence of my children dressing up in fun costumes and watching them run from house to house, yelling "trick or treat" at the tops of their lungs, all while standing with outstretched arms and wide-eyes as candy is tossed into their buckets.

A part of me LOVES Halloween. I am not sure why... maybe because for one evening out of the year, I get a taste of "community".  I see children running carelessly through the streets, adults walking alongside in groups, talking and laughing, the sun setting as we circle blocks and wave hello to neighbors.   For one night the walls of politics are broken down, family drama set aside, religious disputes tabled; neighbors become friends and communities are brought together with one purpose... the children.

It is ironic (don't you think)... that the night we encourage community is the same night we teach our children to pretend to be someone they are not.  The idea that it is fun to talk to our neighbor when we wear a mask, or it's normal to laugh and wave hello when we are donning a costume.   All of this in comparison to the other 364 days of the year, when we keep our distance, make conversations short and avoid contact at all cost....

Confusing... even for me.

     


I don't know.  Maybe all this thinking is too deep for such a sugary holiday.

But, it is something to think about.  (Well, something I think about?) 


Nevertheless, I enjoy Halloween.  I admit it.


I am curious... WHAT IS YOUR HALLOWEEN REFLECTION? Do you agree?  Disagree?  Do you share the "meaning" of halloween with your young child?




For your enjoyment I have added a few pictures from Halloweens past.

2009:
DAXX'S Frist Halloween Costume... he went to Trunk-or-Treat as "DENVER" 

2010:
Daxx's costume was "a trucker"... classy, right?

2011: Zadie was a Lady Bug and Daxx was Spiderman

2012: Zadie was Ariel and Daxx was Flash... Dutch was "shark bait" which you can see his picture below. 

SHARK BAIT! 

2013: Dutch as Buzz Lightyear, Daxx as Spiderman, and Zadie as Sulley.

Thanks for reading friends....