Create in Me a Pure Heart

This week's verse to memorize is:

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Psalm 51:10

This verse always takes me back.  Well, the verse put to song actually. Every year we would sing this song at summer camp and then for months after that my older sister Amber and I would sing it and try to harmonize it perfectly. Well, I would basically try to keep the melody in tune and Amber would harmonize perfectly.  I always have these flashbacks of singing it in our van as our parents drove us places.   

Even though I've sang it hundreds of times, this verse always hits me deep.  And concentrating on it again couldn't have come at a better time for me.  With the feelings of depression I had this winter, my focus had become skewed. I took my eyes off the cross a bit and put them more on myself.

For my quiet time this morning I studied verses 10-12 and prayed them over and over again.  And slowly I began to feel it.  The presence of the Lord.  Something I have missed these past few months.  As the sun streamed in the windows this morning, I closed my eyes and reveled in this feeling.  I didn't realize how much I missed my friend and just how far I'd pushed Him away. I missed the Holy Spirit teaching me and revealing himself to me through Scripture. There is no feeling on this earth that can compare.  Oh how I've missed it!

I feel clean.

I feel renewed.

I feel restored.

I feel joy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Create in me a clean heart oh God
And renew a right spirit within me
Create in me a clean heart oh God
And renew a right spirit within me


Cast me not away
From thy presence oh Lord
Take not thy Holy Spirit from me
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation


And renew a right spirit within me

I Now Pronounce You....

Brooklynn, Anderson, Rylie

Rylie got to flower girl with her cousins in Jamie and Andy's wedding last weekend.  As you can tell, she's completely eating it up.  In anticipation of what's to come we've been living, eating, breathing wedding around this house for the past few months.  I figured it would wear off after the wedding, but it's only gotten worse. 

Here was the scene in our house yesterday for most of the day....

First I take wedding pictures of Jamie and Andy:

(I serve as both the photographer and the preacher.)

So typical of the groom to step on the train!

Then come the vows and ring exchange:  all we need are hair ties and love around here.

Sealed with a kiss....

I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Divine!


I had to take extra pictures of the bride because this is momentous in our house.  Usually Austyn is Andy, but Rylie was feeling especially generous on this day.

Funny Thing About Weddings...

My favorite line in the movie Eat, Pray, Love is, "funny thing about weddings, you always end up thinking about yourself." 

(Don't waste your time watching the movie by the way.  Disappointing. Boring. Forgettable.)

Well, my beautiful cousin got married this past weekend and guess what?  So true. I thought about myself plenty.


Pre-wedding thoughts:

Should I wear the blue dress or go with my stand-by black one?

Big earrings or long necklace? (because I never do both at the same time)

Why can't the sun just shine? I am going to look pasty white in my dress.

Mid-wedding thoughts:

Wow, I wish I would have done my hair differently at my wedding, Jamie's is gorgeous.  I practically had a beehive.

Those ribbons are so pretty, why did I decorate with so much tulle at my wedding? I guess, on the positive side, with all that netting there was no way mosquitoes were getting in the church. Ha, that was kind of funny maybe I'll try it out on someone later.

Hmmm...I like that song, wish that would've been out when I got married.

Can't believe it's been 10 years since my wedding!  I am so old!  I am in my thirties, wearing a blue dress with spaghetti straps (which I can tell my mom still disapproves of....totally should've went with the black one that covers my shoulders) and, to make matters worse, my hair is frizzy today.  Darn humidity...

Eric looked smokin' on our wedding day...I would do it all over again in a heartbeat, minus the tulle of course.

Post-wedding thoughts:

Ohhhh, look at all these gifts!  If only I could register again, I need some serving bowls.

She was right not to have an open mic at her reception...what was I thinking??

I need to find my dad and try out my mosquito joke on him, he's always up for a laugh...

What I wouldn't give to be on my honeymoon right now!

Despite all thoughts about myself at weddings, the hopeless romantic in me always thinks:  Is there anything more beautiful than a bride about to pledge herself forever to the man she loves?

Jamie, you were gorgeous.  Thanks for letting us be a part of your beautiful day. Looking forward to having Andy in the family!

I'm also very happy for you that the world didn't actually end on your wedding day.

*************************************

This week's verse:

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses.  We do not know what we ought to pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us, with groans that words cannot express.  And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
Romans 8:26-27

It's Time

If I had made a list of things I would never do, I think "getting emotional at a preschool graduation" might have be on it. But just look at these girls! I couldn't stop my mind from going 12 years down the road and thinking of high school graduation.  How could I not get a little lump in my throat?  Plus, they played the song "Let Them Be Little" during the slide show and that gets me every time.

The time has finally come.  The time I felt on some days couldn't get here fast enough.  Yet, on other days, I didn't want it to come.  It's the time that everyone kept telling me would be here before I knew it.  The time to let go a bit.

It's time for school.

We Love You Ry!

Our prayer for you is that you love the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind.  All the rest is just living that out.

Tami is Patient

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.  It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never ends....faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8,13

In the book Crazy Love, the author challenges readers "to take the phrase Love is patient and substitute your name for the word love." Then do it for every phrase in the passage.

I can't even get past the first one without chuckling to myself.  In fact, it would probably work better for me to insert the word "not" or take it out depending on the phrase.  (Tami is not patient and kind. Tami does envy or boast...) 

When Austyn spilled a cup of water all over the floor this morning, I caught myself repeating over and over in my head "Tami is patient. Tami is patient. Tami is patient."  This did stop me from acting extremely annoyed - which I was - but at least I didn't show it.  Baby steps.

Anyway, I thought I would pass on the challenge!

********************************************

This Week's Verse

But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, "the Lord be exalted!"

Psalm 40:16

If Only I Had Less Shoes

At church on Sunday for Mother's Day they announced there would be prizes to give away for mothers who met the requirements for some questions. 

(Note to future self: do not jump on this - a bottle of Snapple is not worth it.)

********************************

What mother in here has the most shoes?  40 pairs?  Stand up if you have 40 or more pairs of shoes!

Oh crap. Do I have 40 pairs of shoes? Probably, but I'm not 100 % sure so I'm totally not standing up.

Really?  No one?  Okay how about 30?  Flip flops count!

I definitely have 30 shoes.  Definitely 40 if you count flip flops. Do I stand up?  Oh geez, no one else is standing! What do I do?  Look like the only materialistic girl in the place?  There must be 100 women here...Why is no one standing!  Fine I'll stand up.  Can't lie in church.  Oh thank God, two other women stood up too.

Okay tie breaker.  Do any of you women standing have 35 pairs of shoes?

Yes, I do, but I really want to sit down. Why couldn't I have won the prize for having a baby in the back seat of a car...much more respectable way to win. I need to look at Eric, is he totally embarrassed?  Does he want me to sit down?  He does!  Oh no, the other 2 women sat down!  Liars! What should I...

Tami Driggers!  She wins the prize for having the most pairs of shoes, so make sure to look at her feet when you see her!

Ha ha. No don't look at my feet, I need a pedicure! Why didn't I just stay seated?  I can already hear next week's sermon..."Don't be like Tami Driggers and own 35 pairs of shoes!  What would happen if she would give away half, just half of those shoes?  The world would be a better place..."

***************************

And all for this...

Mother's Day and Expectations

After some reflection on my Mother's Day I've come to the conclusion that I have set impossibly high standards for this day.  For some reason, I expect the world to stop and revolve around me for a day. 

Consider this my wake up call.  It doesn't.

At the end of the day yesterday, the house was still a mess, the laundry not put away, the dishes in the sink, and the plants needed watered. I kind of just wanted to cry.  Well, maybe smart off to someone and then cry.

These feelings I was having were ridiculous because I had already had a great day. My girls both told me how much they loved me and hand made me gifts and cards.  My husband cooked me breakfast and gave me a ring with the girls' birthstones in it. Wonderful....probably a heck of a lot more recognition than most moms get.  Right?  So why did I end the day feeling a little disappointed?

Expectations. Those darn things that plague you in every relationship you have.  The things that no person can ever live up to.

Thankfully these selfish feelings were pretty short lived.  My amazing friend  called last night and, among other things, asked how my Mother's Day was and I pathetically told her I was a little disappointed. After I hung up and sort of realized how awful I sounded, my "woe is me" attitude was quickly replaced with gratitude.

I get to be a mom.  I get to be celebrated on Mother's Day.

I can't expect my family to read my mind.
I can't expect 1 day to reflect an overwhelming appreciation for my daily tasks over the last 364 days.
I can't expect anyone to do my job the way I think it should be done.
I can't expect perfection.  (a particularly hard one for me)

Mess and all, the Lord has given me an awesome husband and two incredible children.  I don't need the girls to bow at my feet for bringing them into the world. I need to be thankful that I got to bring them into the world.

Thank you Lord for this lesson on expectations and being thankful for what you have given me.  I'm sorry I need so many lessons!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This week's verse

Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done.  The things you planned for us no one can recount to you: were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.

Psalm 40:5

Why My Mom is the Coolest

I thought it fitting to do another Why My Mom is the Coolest post since Mother's Day is around the corner.  (And I got some more pics the last time I went home.)

My mom is the coolest because she's one of the best decorators I know.  She can out decorate me any day of the week.  And she's pretty much the only person who can work a deer head into her decor and make it look like it belongs there. 

Everytime I come home, I see something different.  She has reinvented, refinished, recovered, redone something down to the very last detail.

I love the western spin on everything.
I love that she has her own style and completely embraces it. 
I love even more that it's not tacky.
I love that no matter what she does to the house, it always feels like home.
She makes me proud.

Happy Mother's Day to my cool and beautiful mom!

I Ain't As Good As I Once Was

Eric had some meetings in Lawrence this weekend so we decided to turn it into a family vacation and go to the Great Wolf Lodge.

Don't you just love how excited kids get to stay in a hotel? 

This picture makes me happy :).

We hit the ground running...

Story time at 8 pm every night

Pajama's and slippers encouraged! We loved it!

We got to meet Violet and Wiley the Wolves. Rylie was convinced that her and Wiley had the same name...we haven't quite mastered our "R's" yet.

The girls had to go to the arcade every time they had a different outfit on to see what it looked like under the black lights.

We had such a fun time on our little vacation. But, Eric and I decided that we are definitely not in our prime anymore. Here are a few things that came out of our mouths this weekend:

• We need to look into energy drinks.
• Wow, how many stairs up to the slides
• Hey girls, let's just float for a while.
• My ankles hurt.
• My legs are sore.
• Is it bed time yet?
• Hot tub anyone?

Oh, and here were some additional thoughts of mine:

• I need a tan
• I am running the stairs at the football field the minute we get back.
• I need a tan
• Why? For the love of God do I not own a swim skirt?
• I need a tan
• Hope no one gets behind me when I climb the stairs to the slide.
• I need a tan

Gotta love swimsuit season!  I knew there had to be something positive about winter....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This week's verse

(Love this one!)

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Ephesians 6:12-13