Five Minute Friday...me...a hero???

Today is Five Minute Friday. One word...five minutes...no editing. Today's word is HERO.

go...

I love to look up words in Webster's 1828 dictionary. So I looked up hero this morning. The second definition strikes me as interesting. It simply states a hero is a great, illustrious or extraordinary person. It doesn't say a hero wears a cape, it doesn't say a hero is famous, athletic or rich...it simply says great, illustrious or extraordinary.

When my kids were little they made me feel like I was great, illustrious and extraordinary. They were amazed at all my "talents". They could never figure out how I knew everything. I think they really thought I had eyes in the back of my head. They were so easily amazed. I will never forget the summer Brian and I worked out stress in our lives by golfing regularly. We would often times take the kids with us to walk the course...it saved us babysitting money and burned some of their excess energy. Whenever Brian and I would hit the ball at least one of the kids would gasp and say wow...what a great shot. I would smile...walk 50 yards and hit that ball again. They didn't know I had just duffed it, they thought I was great!

So moms...remember today that to those little ones...you are a hero. To them you are great...you are illustrious...you are extraordinary. Even when you are stressed and duff it...they look up to you...they love you. To them its not about performance...its about love. They don't care if your hair is a bit disheveled or they don't even care about your facebook status, they love you...just the way you are!

Just dreamin'...

I have always loved listening to my husband preach. I find it a privilege to get to see the time and energy he spends preparing his sermons, I get to pray for him and cheer him on. It truly is an honor to be his wife!

It can be an interesting experience listening to the man you share life with preaching. Some Sundays I find myself distracted (ok...the proper term here is actually annoyed with him) and it's challenging to listen to him preach. I mean we are just a normal couple and some days things just don't quite click. Some Sundays I find myself distracted (ok...the proper term here is actually twitterpatted) and find myself smiling inside that this is my man. Doesn't matter what he says...I'm in love. Some Sundays I find myself distracted (ok...proper term here is critical...ouch) and I find myself picking at what he is wearing  or what he does with his arms or how he pronounces something. None of these ways is the ideal way to be open to what God is saying through Brian.

Thankfully most weeks, I am attentive and my heart is prepared to hear what God is saying, Sunday was one such day. God spoke right to my heart, just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes.

Brian's current sermon series is called Finding Your Place on the Wall, a study on the book of Nehemiah. On Sunday he spoke about pursuing dreams. He said if God has given you a dream then don't give up, he said to keep your dream alive. God spoke to me and reminded me of a dream that Brian and I share, a dream we were letting die. We didn't intentionally let it die, but we did let life get in the way. We have had so many changes and big events in our lives that we put this dream on the shelf and forgot it was there.

As Brian continued to preach, I felt excitement. I felt something stirring up inside of me. God gave us a vision and a dream several years ago, is now the time for us to begin working together towards that vision? (Don't worry kids and church family...this dream does not involve a move!)

When God gives you a dream, He doesn't just leave you hanging. He will give the tools and resources needed. Sometimes He allows you to carry that dream in your heart for a time, I believe He uses this time to prepare your heart.

So, now is the time for Brian and I to begin praying and discussing this dream. I find myself excited to see just what this means. How about you? What has God placed on your heart? What passions do you have? What makes your heart beat? Read through the book of Nehemiah and see how his burden and dream became a reality. God worked through Nehemiah and that wall got built. What's your wall?

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stay tuned for more on our dream...right now its just for us...

Five Minute Friday...Visit

On Fridays I link up with a group who like to blog for Five Minutes. We call it Five Minute Friday, it helps me get the cobwebs out and just write whatever comes to mind. We are given one word and five minutes to write on that word...no editing allowed! Today's word is VISIT.

Go...

Hi, my name is Brenda and I'm an empty-nester...

 Some days I love being able to say that, as my husband and I enjoy another adventure or just a quiet evening at home. Some days, that statement brings tears to my eyes as I find myself missing the hub of activity kids at home can bring. The hardest days come right after a visit with the kids...those days the silence is our home is deafening.

Its hard sometimes to wrap my mind around the fact that when we see the kids now, it is called a visit. Seems so formal, so removed from doing life together. Of course there is nothing formal about our visits. I cherish them so much, they are filled with noise, laughter, telling stories, playing games and now with a grandchild in the mix...cuddling. We have such limited time together we truly make the most out of our "visits". Just last week we saw all of our kids on the same day...not at the same time, but it was  big travel day and we got a little bit of time with each one!

Yes, life is different now. Different isn't a bad thing...but different does take some time to adjust to. Hello has become my new favorite word, good bye...not so much. I have found that when I have a day where I miss the kids, I have two sources of strength to lean on. First and foremost is God, He comforts me and His word encourages me. The other one is Brian, he gives me a shoulder and allows me to have a bad day now and again.

And now I find myself looking forward to our next visit...but in the meantime I will continue to be mom...I will love them and pray for them and keep in touch!

Sometimes visiting requires a plane ride...

24 years...wow!

The past year has been quite a busy year for my daughter Ashley....

She and Larry celebrated their first anniversary with a trip to Lake Superior....

She graduated from college...

Her sister Abby got married...

 

Her friend Heather got married...

 

She and Larry moved to the east coast so Larry could attend Gordon-Conwell Seminary..

She also spent most of the year growing...

And she is now a mommy...

Today, Ashley is celebrating her 24th birthday. Not sure what she's going to do to top her last year, but I am sure God has some pretty amazing adventures ahead for this amazing woman.

Today also marks 24 years of me being a mother, I am now 48 which means I have been a mother for half my life. Wow, that fact amazes me! It truly does not feel like it was that long ago that I was holding my baby. I was in awe at how much I loved her from the beginning. I could stare at her for hours, all her little expressions were so precious to me. In the past 24 years I have tried to show and tell her just how much I love her; but how do you really explain a mother's love? It's a love like no other, it's truly amazing. I finally have a good way to help her understand just how much I love her. Ashley is now a mother herself, I see how she looks at Ellie, it is exactly how I looked at her. She now knows just how much I love her because she loves her daughter the same way!

Ashley Elizabeth, I love you! Happy birthday my sweet daughter!!

My granddaughter on the left...My daughter on the right.

Three generations...all about 24 years apart in age.

This answer to prayer has a name...

Brian and I like to call the way we parent...intentional parenting. One very tangible way we did this was by praying for our children. As they grew we had several things we prayed for...there was the immediate needs, the spiritual issues, and of course future things. One of the biggest future things we would pray for is their spouses. Obviously when they were little we had no idea who those spouses would be; yet that didn't detour us from praying.

As our daughters grew into women, God sent their spouses to them and we began praying for them by name. What a joy to watch God answer our prayers for them with such Godly men.

A little over a year ago...October 2012...we began to see that God was perhaps answering this prayer for a spouse in a our son's life. I will never forget the call, the day I found out my little boy was twitterpatted! He had only been gone a little over a month and I would frequently start out the phone calls from him with one question...do you have a girlfriend yet. I never actually expected him to say yes...not so soon after arriving on campus. Well, this time when I asked the question there was a pause on his end and I knew what was coming next. He told us about this girl named Brittany he had met over the summer working at camp. They began dating soon afterwards, but it was long distance as Caleb was in Texas and Brittany was in Minnesota. That was a long school year for them. We noticed a sudden increase in his texts and cell phone minutes!

 

It has been fun watching these two get to know each other and develop a strong relationship. Caleb has been intentional in honoring God with how he treats Britt. He wrote his own resolution and had Brian and I sign it. He framed a copy and keeps it in his dorm room to remind him of what those resolutions are.

After a summer of working together at camp again and a fall of attending college just minutes apart, their relationship has grown even more. They are no longer in the infatuation phase. In fact, they are actually now in the engaged phase! Yes, that's right my little boy is getting married. He proposed to Brittany just a few days ago and she said yes!! So God answered our prayer for a spouse for our son and that answer is named Brittany.

We are of course thrilled for them and excited to watch as God unfolds His plans for their future. I have to admit its a little surreal thinking about my son...my little boy...getting down on one knee and proposing. This boy who at one time only had eyes for his mommy, this little boy who declared in high school girls have too much drama, this little boy who is now a man...he's in love! My new prayer is that I would not be a Marie Barone (Everybody Loves Raymond) type of mother-in-law; but rather that I will be one who welcomes Brittany in as a daughter. I recently ran across the term daughter of my heart; that is what Brittany is to me.

I don't always enjoy the fact that my kids are grown and out of the house...some days it is extremely hard having an empty nest; but I do enjoy watching them grow and follow Jesus. I treasure watching God answer our prayers in their lives. What an amazing privilege God has given Brian and I to have a front row seat to their lives!!!