Saturday

Just a quick check-in to say that we are busy packing and getting ready for the big move next Saturday! :)

Stopped by the house today to check in with the contractor and make sure he thought he'd still be on schedule before we rented a truck. He actually was about to call us with a question so our timing was perfect! Thanks God! The roof has been repaired. The kitchen floor is coming along, and they picked up our flooring for the living room & downstairs bedroom today and got that ready to go. He also told Rob & I that after he went out on the deck he has decided that he is going to replace the rotting and deteriorating seats & rails on the deck!!!! How awesome is that?!?! We really like this contractor so far; he's been perfect to us and I hope will continue to be so. I'd like to call him back in a couple years to do some work in the upstairs as the kids move out. :)

From the house, we went on to reserve our moving truck, stopped by Lowe's to update the quote for our new frig for the bank (since they took so long and our quote expired!), ran by a small local furniture store to get the quote on replacing the kids' mattresses since they are getting worn out, and the boys are too big for their bunk bed now. Rob & I grabbed a sandwich and took a short drive in the country as it was just so pretty out today. It felt so nice to have the windows down and enjoy some warm, sunny weather!!! I've been busy packing the kitchen most of the afternoon. With M & B's help, we got a lot done! My menu and grocery list for this last week here are made, and I've run out of boxes to pack in.

It's after 10 already, and tonight we lose an hour, so soon we three girls will run by the house to take a quick peak before taking S home to her bed. Soon she'll be living with us permanently which will hopefully be great for all involved. :) I always wanted another daughter, and God has blessed me with a chance to love another young lady almost as much as I love my own. Someday I want to blog about this more, but now is not the time.

The weather was just plain GORGEOUS today! Perfect spring weather, just hope it's here to stay this time. :) Weird weather we've had this week- rain last Saturday turning to ice & snow on Sunday afternoon/evening with 5 inches total of snow/ice! Then a few days later we're in the 60's & 70's- not that I'm complaining. Just a funny weather week! Got to love that old lion known as "March!"

Well, I'm off to take a peak at my house before I put my head and body down to rest.

Night God! Night world!
Rebekah :)

a profound thought that says how i feel about God

You need to read this; it so speaks how I feel much of the time about God. She hit it right on the head. It's not that I doubt God's power or His ability. I know He can move mountains, create stars, or do any number of miracles. It's just that in the scheme of all the "big" things God can do, I doubt my importance to Him in all that He has to do. How can God have time to deal with my little insignificant, sometimes selfish interests and prayer needs? And this is where I have struggled for so many, many years. She just says it right out. I love how she is so real and open. I wish more Christians were like that.

Anywhooo, Angie wrote something way more beautiful and profound than I could ever think of doing. You will be blessed. Go, read, and have a great day!

Love,
Rebekah :0

In Like a Lion

March came in like a lion for sure here in Greensboro! We actually had SNOW, lovely SNOW!!!!
This is the first and last "real snow" we'll see in this house as we're moving in a couple weeks. That made it even more special. I know my family will think I've finally lost it taking and posting so many pictures of snow when they're sick of it and ready for spring! Oh well, what can I say? After four years of no snow, it was a beautiful reminder of home! And today, the world just looks wonderful, even here in the city! Guess it's true- "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." And to me, snow is beautiful!!!!!

Looking up under my magnolia tree.

My poor dogwood tree; it had started budding out and then comes the snow.

As we always used to do since the kids were tiny and we lived in the Midwest, we took a late night walk out in the snow last night- Rob, the boys & I. Barbara didn't want to go out in the cold. :) It was so neat!!!

the magnolia tree by our driveway

Samson's first time to be in any snow of measurable amount. He was trying to decide what to think about the snow, when I caught him by surprise with my flash. I didn't no dogs could squint! :) He DOES NOT like the red light on my camera though, I know that!

our backyard- about 11PM

the front yard at 10 PM or so

The "Aftermath"

our back yard this morning

one of the trees in the front yard actually lost a few limbs

one of our wires hanging way down low this morning

the dogwood tree

Wishes for My Children

Yesterday, the president of HPU, in his talk to the parents, made many comments I liked as well as many that made me say, "Hmmm..." I've been thinking about things he said, and I'm going to have to think some more on a few points.

President Qubein made an object lesson out of a bag of Hershey's Kisses and a box of Godiva chocolates.

He discussed how each is made and their costs. Talked about how we wives would feel if our hubby brought us a mug of kisses wrapped up in a dollar bag (called that cheap) and joked about how our hubby would be in trouble... :) Compared to how we would feel if he brought us a box of Godivas. Visualized how the box of chocolates are hand-made by a chocolatier in white coat and gloves... The cost? The bag of Hershey's kisses, what about maybe $4 or $5 & the box of chocolates (I checked this morning) over $40. He was making the point that we want the best for our children. A public education is a Hershey's bag of chocolate, and HPU is the Godiva chocolates. The speech was a good speech, and I'm oversimplifying it a great deal. But that was the basic point.

Now let me say, President Qubein is certainly an excellent speaker, and his life is very inspirational to say the least. I am sure that HPU is an excellent school; and I definitely enjoyed listening to him speak.

I should also say that my viewpoint is definitely slanted; see I'm a Hershey's Kisses kind of gal. I went to public schools my whole life, attended a public state college, worked in public schools 11 of the 15 years I've been teaching... I'm not putting myself down here, but I am saying my viewpoint is not against the "Kisses" kind of chocolate. I've never even had a fancy chocolate like a Godiva. I'm sure they're wonderfully delicious, but I don't feel deprived because I have never tasted something so wonderful. On the contrary, my life is richer for having known and worked with a whole lot of "normal" people from the "kisses" side of life. I don't think having something so wonderfully rich and decadent could make up for the lessons I've learned along the way or the people who have touched my life and hopefully whose lives I have touched.

President Qubein talked about how we are all alike; we all want the best for our children. We all want our children to have it better than we did. I had to stop and think for a minute there. What is it I wish for my children? A better life than I had? What from my life would I like them to improve on? Do I really wish that? I think this good desire comes from generations of families who had to toil and work hard for what they had, which often wasn't much.

I am all for having a good life; Rob & I have gone hungry, have had to live with family because we had nowhere to go, have faced financial disasters, have seen repossesion and collection agencies, and known the shame of taking help in many forms. God has been taking care of us though through all that!!!!!! Rob & I just bought our first home, we drive two nice cars which we just purchased in the last year or two... I don't want to go back to those hard days, EVER! But really are these the things I wish for my children? Should they be? Am I just crazy for sitting there in that auditorium and saying, "I don't wish that for my daughter or my sons."?

So what is it I do wish for my children? Certainly I wish and hope and pray that they won't make the financial mistakes Rob & I made. I hope they will have it easier financially than we did and that their choices and decisions will be wise and God-chosen when it comes to the big things in life- who they will date & marry, the jobs they will choose, where they will live, and how they will raise their children. I have always hoped they would never know death in the way my sister & I did- up close, personal, and ugly. I have always hoped and tried to protect them from family hurts that we have known.

Outside of those things, though, I have had a wonderful, rich life- a life I am very content in. Really, taking stock of what I have- I have a family that loves me. I have a momma who has supported me in everything and loved me no matter what stupid things I did or said. I had a daddy who loved me. I have a pop who loved me so much he chose to make me his daughter even when he didn't have to; he has loved me every day since and loved my hubby as his own son and my children as his own grandchildren. He has been the father he didn't have to be. I have a husband who has stood by me for over 20 years now. He has been my best friend, my love, my confidant. He helped me through college; he was there for 3 births, and only God knows how many difficult and joyous moments along the way. He has never left me even when times got tough. I have three children, three wonderful almost grown young people who love me and do show it in so many ways. I have the love of so many students, and the privilege of working with families and have done so in three states for 15 years this week.

Above all these things, I have a heavenly Father who has loved me since before time began. I have his unending mercy & forgiveness. I have His steadfast support and help in times of need, and His warm smile shines down on me from time to time to remind me that I'm right where I ought to be doing just what I ought to be.

I don't wish for my children to have a life filled with everything rich and wonderful and terrific. What do I wish for? Well first off, I don't wish- I pray.

• I pray for my children that they will serve God every single day they draw a breath, that they will marry Godly people, and will raise their children to love God and serve Him only.
• I pray that they will make wiser choices than their parents did.
• I pray that they will learn the important lessons in life that will make them better people, better husbands & wife, and better parents.
• I pray that God will be with them always and keep them in His hand and on His path.
• I pray that no matter what hard times come their way (because I believe even the wealthy have hard times, maybe not $ issues, but other just as serious issues), they will always seek Him. And when these times come, that they will pass as quickly as possible, but that my children will learn from them and become better, stronger people.
• I pray that my children will minister to others in need and won't forget "the least of these," (the lowly hershey's kisses kind of people).

I don't pray that my kids have it better than me. I pray that they become a better person than I am through whatever means God chooses to make it happen, and that they will NEVER, not even one day, stop serving Him.