A Mother's Day lesson

Thankful in all things. This is my goal.

Sometimes, it is really hard.  

I travel a lot for work, which means that I am away from my family quite a bit.  But, it is what I am called to do right now. 

I traveled home on Friday, knowing that I would leave again on Sunday.  Mother’s Day.  Not my favorite, but the option of leaving my home at 3am on Monday morning, didn’t seem much better.  So, on Mother’s day, I left for South Carolina.

I arrived in Charleston, picked up my bags and rental car, and headed out of the airport.  I was heading to Whole Foods to buy my food for the week.  I was bummed to be by myself.  I really wanted him to come on this trip with me.  But, I was heading to Whole Foods, one of my favorite places to shop.

I drove around the airport and was still on International Drive, when I became accutely aware of how thankful I was to be alone. I looked to the right to make sure it was safe to change lanes and when I looked back, everyone in front of me had stopped. 

I didn’t stop in time.

In an instant, I slammed on the brakes, heard a crash, saw the car in front of me become one with my rental car and heard what sounded like a gunshot.  My left hand slapped my face, my bag flew onto the dash and my foot kept pressing on the brake, although I was thoroughly stopped. 

Airbags hurt.

Thankfully, I was wearing my seatbelt. {grace}

Thankfully, my left hand was on the right side of the steering wheel, so my arm took the brunt of the impact from the airbag. {grace}

Thankfully, my arm withstood the force of the airbag and did not break. So, I can still perform my work duties this week {grace}

Thankfully, the man in the car I hit was not injured. {grace}

Thankfully, my little one was safe in Texas with his Mimi. {grace}

Thankfully, apart from some cuts and bruises, I am fine. {grace}

If it were up to me, my little one would have been with me. Thankfully, I have a Father who knows better.  I was sad to not be with my little one, but I would have been more sad for him to have been in the car with me.

• My little sister Jenia sits very close to her steering wheel due to her itty-bitty-ness.  We have talked for months about her needed to get a new car or get her pedals extended.  We will stop talking about it this week.  It will happen.  Before Friday.
• I have always known that it is bad for little ones to ride in the front seat.  I thought I knew why.  Now, I really know. Little ones shouldn’t have to deal with airbags.
• My brothers sometimes question the use of seatbelts.  They “drive big trucks” and think they will be fine.  It doesn’t matter how big the truck is, the airbag still goes off in your face.  Seatbelts not only keep you in the car, but they keep you off the airbag.
• My little one’s car seat has been known to be installed on the sides of the back seat from time to time.  He will be in the middle of the seat from now on...

Airbags are great things.  They are a great source of protection.  The plastic that covers them keeps them ready to protect.  But, when the airbag goes off, the plastic has to go somewhere.  It hurts when you get in the way.  It’s best to stay away from both if possible.

Sometimes, we have to learn hard lessons.  

Thankfully, my Father used Mother's Day to make me a more grateful daughter, a better, safer Mummy and a more {lovingly} forceful sister. 

My prayer is that my cuts and bruises will help to prevent others cuts and bruises.

Moral of the story:

Wear your seatbelt.

Don’t sit too close to the steering wheel.

Know that He always knows best.

Learn to recognize His grace in everything.

happy mothers day!

a weekend full of fun

This weekend, someone turned two.

TWO!
Seriously?
Um, I totally did NOT authorize that.

But, I did authorize the ridiculously fun weekend that we had with our family!
No work, No hotels, No alarms.
Too much sugar, Too much sleep, Too much fun


Want a glimpse?

Sparkly Shoes #493

 Backseat Entertainment #494

 Sugar, Sugar, Sugar #495

Serious Painting #496

 and more sugar...

 more backseat entertainment

 camera phone Easter pics #497

We had lots of fun playing and hanging out!
We even had family in from Virginia - we were just having so much fun with them that the iPhone was MIA - which means the pictures are on Jimmy {the real camera, who doesn't travel with me for work}
So, you will have to wait to see those beauties!

Speaking of beauty...we also took a few senior pictures of a pretty fabulous little graduate!
Here's a sneak peek...

the end {of my trip} is near

I've been on the road since January.

I've been to the east coast, the west coast and everywhere in between.

I even spent a week in Spain. 

Thankfully, the little one and either his pops or his Jubie have been with me most of the time.

In the midst of my travel, I inadvertently enrolled in 3 classes at one time.  

Yes, I'm a glutton for punishment. And, I evidently need a class in enrolling in classes.

I'm so grateful that as of last Friday, I successfully finished one of them.

(do you hear that noise? it's the hallelujah chorus!)

Summary:

I am now only enrolled in 2 classes at one time.

Tomorrow night, I return to Texas.

Tonight is my last night in a hotel for the next 10 days.

This is fabulous news.

monocular vision

Sometimes, life is just too hard.
Often times, I am asked how I am able to manage a kid, husband, work and school.  My normal answer is one day at a time.  If I spent my time trying to figure out the "how" I would never have time for the "do" - so instead, I don't question it...I just do it.  
Until a day like today.
The hubs, little one and my favorite 17 year old sister are with me all week.  It's great.  
My computer had to have it's hard drive replaced and my external hard drive is not willing to release it's contents to my new hard drive.  Not so great.
My dear friend had her long awaited court date today.  Everything was looking good.  The lawyer said that she was confident things would work out well.  Custody of her 3 sweet girls would definitely be supervised.  Things would be better for the girls.  They would be safe from their father who hurt them in such evil ways. 
Then, somehow today, things fell apart.  The lawyer did her job.  My friend and my father testified and testified well.  Things looked great.  The judge even stated that the lawyer "won her case" - but he also stated that "he wanted to believe the father" - so standard custody was awarded.  Until Derrick proved him wrong.
WHAT?!
Yep, you read it right.  The father who hurt his 3 beautiful baby girls in such evil ways has been given a free pass.  The father who uses more prescription pain pills than one could ever be prescribed has been given the ability to see his girls unsupervised.  Without proof of a clean drug test.  He can drive them around even though he has numerous driving warrants in his home state.   He can do all of this without paying child support.  In fact, since he has only made 3 payments in the last 3 years, the judge decided to cut his payments in half, so that he could hopefully make that amount.
My favorite part - he got to see them tonight.  1 hour after the judge signed his orders.  Those precious girls, who haven't seen their father more than once in over 3 years, were placed in his car and required to spend time with him.  They cried, they didn't want to go.  But, they were not given a choice. Their mom was bound by the court to allow this to happen.
I just don't even know what to say.  I know that our judicial system was set up to protect the innocent, but I don't see how any of this is in the interest of these 3 beautiful girls. This was a Judicial FAIL in the Stephenville court system.
I could think of numerous things that I would want to say to Derrick, or questions to ask the Judge, but none of them would really convey how I feel.  
So, instead, I will go to the One who can make a difference.  I will pray for "monocular vision" - I want to see with one eye only.  


I want to see His beauty, because everything else is just ugly.