Shackin' Up

I read The Shack..... in 2 days. It is one of those books you walk away from without really walking away...ever. This book takes your image of God and shakes it up in a wonderful way. It makes you cry and question, and once, slam the book shut and slide it across the floor. It reminds you, or it reminded me anyway, that most of what we do with religion has very little, if anything, to do with God. God is about relationships that was the whole point of Jesus.

Disney World!!!!!!

I know this post is way overdue. I have not exactly known how to post about our vacation to Disney World.... or how to sift through 600 pictures. It was truly the most amazing experience of my life, and even though it would have been fun to go as a kid, there was something so amazing about sharing the experience for the first time with my own kids. Every experience for me while we were there was like experiencing one of my senses for the first time. My children spent eight days seeing and experiencing things that I have waited a lifetime to see and experience. They met the characters from their fantasies, and felt the "magic" that is Disney World in such a fresh and innocent way. It was the stuff dreams are made of and I am so grateful that my family was able to go and have this time together. The pictures I've chosen don't even begin to show you the things we saw. The countries we were able to visit, the smells, sights, sounds and feelings.... but they do show you the joy that is written all over our faces as we encountered these things. The memories we made will be cherished for a lifetime.

A Word about Fathers

First I have to confess that this is a result of reading a highly moving post about a dad this morning. It reminded me of so many things that I appreciate about my father, that I finally decided that it would be ridiculous not to post about it.

My father was born into extreme poverty in South Arkansas in 1947. It is hard to convey the level of simplicity his life held without conjuring up mental pictures crossing somewhere between Old Yeller and Little House on the Prairie. My father's father was born in 1886 (that is not a typo) and had already raised a family and buried his first wife when my father was born. (I am now going to revert to calling him Daddy, because that is what I really call him and it feels too strange to call him father.) The home daddy was born into was a 2-room house with no running water or electricity. His mom cooked on an old cook stove, and his dad plowed with a mule drawn plow. Somewhere in his middle years he and his mom moved to town and his father passed away. Daddy continued the rest of his childhood in relative poverty in South Arkansas and was churched in the Southern Baptist tradition (I'm pretty sure those are the only churches in South Arkansas.) Although my Grandmother was a wonderful person who loved her son dearly, Daddy, for all practical purposes, raised himself through his teenage years.

This seems like the beginning of a sad story but really it is one of amazing determination and strength of character. Because somehow, against all odds and statistics, my daddy rose up, not only finishing high school in a time when many did not, but going to college, and then law school. He somehow completely rose above the circumstances of his childhood and strove for a future.

Something else happened that began a very important part of my daddy's life during this time..... he walked away from God, and claimed instead to be an atheist.

Daddy began a promising career as an attorney, becoming the Public Defender of his city, and running in the right circles. I am told that during this period of time he wore a large leather cowboy hat and smoked giant, fat cigars (I have not found any photographic evidence of this and am forced to believe the storytellers at their word.)

I cannot do the next sequence of events justice, although I've heard them many times. Through a series of what can only be called miraculous events Daddy radically changed his life, giving it over to God completely. He also realized that God had something in mind for him. During this period of time he also married my mom, and began immediately raising a family. He gave up his aspirations of political greatness and instead developed a new one...... being a great father. And he was. I don't remember more than a handful of times that my daddy wasn't home at 5:30 in the evening, sitting down to have dinner with us, asking us about our day. My daddy didn't work on cars or play golf or have other hobbies (all of which are perfectly fine), he instead spent every weekend at home, doing whatever needed doing around our house, and just generally being there. He began a modest law career, to make ends meet, and instead focused on the ministry, pastoring a church for a time, doing some work of a traveling evangelist (always with us in tow), and eventually 15-17 years ago staring a ministry called South Church. South Church feeds and meets the needs of many homeless and impoverished people in our community. Many of the people are mentally ill and generally hard to be around, they call on him at all hours, often showing up at his law office to ask for help, and he helps them..... endlessly. My daddy prayed for me every night of my childhood that I can remember right up to the night prior to my wedding. He then preformed the ceremony, I will cherish that memory always.

As an adult with more understanding of the society I live in, I have reached a new and profound understanding of the love and quiet sacrifice my Daddy made for our family. One of the first things I realized was that Daddy probably didn't prefer driving the old beat up vehicles he always drove downtown to work (where BMW's and Mercedes are the norm), but instead gave up having nice vehicles so that each of his 6 children could have a vehicle of their own. He probably would have liked to have lived in nicer homes, but instead offered each of us financial assistance in getting started in life. He has baptized each of his grandchildren as they have made their own decisions to follow Christ, and his oldest nephew has already decided that his papa is his spiritual hero, traveling and spreading the gospel, even at the age of 17. Daddy has never turned me away when I needed him, and I am in awe.

My daddy's story is one of strength, character and overcoming the things of the world in order to work for a greater, eternal good. Some kids don't have dads, I have a legacy to pass onto my children.

Thank you Daddy.

I've Been Tagged

The Rules:
1. Post the rules of the game at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

QUESTIONS:

What were you doing five years ago?
Five years ago I was a full-time stay at home mom (who never stayed home). I had a 1 year old,3 year old and 6-7 year old. I was in the throws of a rigorous therapy schedule with my son which required driving back and forth 3-6 times weekly, a daughter in pre-competition gymnastics who had to be at the gym at least twice weekly. Basically I lived in my car, lived breathed and immersed myself in autism and related education, put my son on a gluten and casein free died which required cooking ridiculous amounts of food and basically making my hobby "find the thing boy-child will eat" and regularly reminded myself to breath in and out. Now, right before this goes into sounding like a complete bitchfest, I must say, this was one of the most fulfilling times in my life. I think because looking back I see how much purpose I had.

What are five things on your to-do list for today?
1. Take the kids swimming.
2. Blog for the first time in 2 months.
3. Do laundry (oh hurray!)
4. Paint my nails.
5. Attend a non-profit event with my awesome husband.

What are five snacks you enjoy?
1. A Margarita and anything.

2. Cheese and crackers.

3. Cubed cheese and wine.

4. Any kind of chips and dip.

5. Bread and Italian dipping oil.

CARBS ANYONE!!!

What are five things you would do if you were a billionaire?
1. Pay off my parents home and debt (I know how much of it I caused).

2. Buy my father-in-laws 1957 Chevy back for him.

3. Finance my church in any way possible.

4. Start an Autism Awareness foundation (Ness we may have to be in this together).

5. Buy my husband the biggest bad ass truck I can find (he really deserves it.)

What are five of your bad habits?
1. procrastinating

2. giving up.... before I start

3. second guessing myself

4. picking at blemishes or anything else that looks mildly pickable

5. NEVER SAYING NO TO ANYTHING!!!!!!!!

What are five places where you have lived?
Believe it or not, I have only lived 3 places (this even means houses) in my entire life.

1. A certain city in Arkansas (moved into the house at 5 months of age)

2. A small farm in Arkansas (moved into the house 4 months shy of my 16th birthday)

3. My current home in small town, Arkansas (moved into the house in 1995 and still live here)

What are five jobs you’ve had?

1. Legal secretary (ooh aaah)

2. Nursery coordinator (these are very distinguished jobs)

3. Office Manager to a Pediatric Occupational Therapy Clinic

4. Substitute teacher

5. Teacher's Aide (or I'm going to be in the fall)

I Tag:
Jody, Cassie (start a blog already) and Aaron