Reflections on the Weekend

My heart is full of thanks on this dark and rainy Monday morning.

The kids had a busy day on Friday.  Thursday night Ella said, "I'm actually excited to go to bed because I can't wait for tomorrow!"  Big Daddy picked them up in the morning for a round of golf and lunch at McDonald's.  They've been waiting for a chance to wear their caps to the golf course.

I had errands I needed to run in preparation for a wedding shower on Sunday, so a super-sweet friend picked up the kids and took them to a movie.  They had all kinds of fun.  Ella was dying for another chance in the photo booth.

 

After the movie the kids met me at the mall where I was buying a gift.  KJ was working late, so we ate dinner together and made a Target run for more party supplies and a few purchases for Easter.  The kids were troopers, especially sweet nap-less James.  Ella was moaning about how tired she was until I told her we needed to buy her new shoes for Easter.  She perked up because no girl is ever too tired to buy new shoes.

Yesterday was one of those non-stop Sundays that I sometimes dread, thinking they will be stressful, but they end up being so sweet and satisfying because of the kindness of the Lord.  It was a perfect, sunny and warm day here, so warm James wore shorts to church.  This was a good thing since he's had a growth spurt, and all of his pants are too short.

Spring in the South

Sunday School was such a good time of discussing God's Word as we finished our study in Hosea.  I love how the Spirit starts connecting dots from all of the other things bouncing around in my brain, giving me fuller understanding.  Earlier in the week I'd watched the Classical Baby Poetry Show again with the kids, and I was thinking of how much I loved the phrase from Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnet 43, "I love thee freely, as men strive for right."  And there it was in Hosea yesterday, "I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely...".  Love that pursues, given freely without recriminations is a beautiful thing, and that is how God loves and pursues us.

Sometimes the real-ness of the gospel story overwhelms me.  All of these things we believe by faith really happened, and the story we're a part of is just as fantastic as Thor, when a god from another world suddenly appears on the scene.  In fact, I think that's what I appreciate about super-hero movies in general, the sense that there is more out there than what we see, that we live in a world where wonderful things have happened, where John says, "The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it...".

We had a sweet time last night of showering these two with love, blessings, prayers, gifts, and advice as they prepare for marriage.  It was encouraging seeing the body of Christ all working together to make a lovely night for two that we love.

And that's a wrap for our weekend.