Blessed Beyond Belief

One of our dear friends has a quote that we have adopted, "Blessed Beyond Belief."  Recently, we had a day off of school and it turned out to be one of those days where I was able to stop and really see how truly "blessed beyond belief" I am.  Between work, baseball, church, band, and other commitments, days off like that are few and far between.  The boys and I started the day decorating a friends' classroom for her 50th birthday!  I'm blessed to have such good friends!

We left my school and headed to lunch with my mom.  I'm blessed to have such a great family! 

And after lunch, we headed home for what we thought would be another day of housework.  Instead, we decided to kick back and enjoy the day.  Our recipe for a perfect day looked something like this:

• beautiful, picture perfect weather
• baseball bats and all kinds of balls strewn across the backyard
• Warren and 3 "big kids" out back, going back and forth between the trampoline and a baseball game
• Harper and 2 "little kids" next door, having a dance party
• glasses of water sitting everywhere
• one pan of brownies and one full batch of cookies....gone!

And what did I do?  I left the laundry in the basket, dishes in the sink, ungraded papers in the bag, and sat on the back porch and soaked it all in.  I'm blessed to live in a great neighborhood, with fantastic neighbors who all have boys for my kids to play with. 

Fast forward several days....when it was a bit more difficult to realize how blessed we are.  Chris and the boys were bouncing on the trampoline, when apparently something went wrong.  Warren got very, very upset and came storming inside, crying and screaming, "I'm going to move!"  I followed him to his bedroom and tried to calm him down, asking where he would move to.  Through the screaming and tears he replied "I don't know, but maybe I'll become poor and stand on a sidewalk with a sign.  Then maybe when Daddy and Harper come by, maybe they'll want me to come back home."

Update...Warren did not move and is not standing on a sidewalk holding a sign. We are blessed beyond belief!

Happy Valentine's Day!

It has been a crazy busy season in our house.  But, between school starting, baseball season coming and going, piano practicing, Chris changing positions and a billion other things...I have managed to try to jot down some of those precious "mommy moments" that I know are going to be passing by all too quickly.

Those of you who know Harper may appreciate this first story more than others.  But for those who don't know him.....here's what you need to know:  Harper is our tough guy, scared is not a part of his vocabulary.  While he may look incredibly cuddly, he is anything but.  He doesn't like to be held, doesn't like to be kissed or hugged.  (I'm sure this is my payback; I don't know where he gets it from?)   

Back up to a couple of nights ago.....Just when I thought all was right with the world...Chris ran to Publix and the boys were in bed, asleep.  Or so I thought.  Shortly after Chris headed out, I rejoiced with the few minutes of solitude I (thought) I had.  Out walked Harper.  As I sat typing on the computer, he walked up with a big frown on his face as only Harper can do.  Quickly realizing this was a one time thing with Harper, I didn't even think twice before I stopped typing and spun around to him crawling up in my lap.  He looked at me, frown on his face and said "Mommy, I'm scared."  I replied, "Aww, buddy, what are you scared of?"  Mr. Independent caught me off guard when he said "Mommy, I'm scared of getting bigger.  I don't want to be 5."  Well, melt my heart!  I tried to console him by saying, "But Harper, when you're 5 you get to go to Kindergarten."  Not missing a beat, he outsmarted me...."But Mommy, then I will have to do homework."  I tried changing the subject, but he came right back to being scared..."Mommy, I'm don't want to lose my teeth either."  

Several days later, Harper and I were on our way to school one morning.  It was Spirit Week at his school and this particular day was Wacky Day.  It also happened to be Friday...Pizza Day.  Harper and I were talking about the word "wacky."  (The educator in me is always trying to squeeze in a good vocabulary lesson.)  To illustrate, I said "Harper, do you know what would be really wacky?  What if today, Pizza Day, you had pizza with M-n-M's on it?  That would definitely be wacky!"  I looked in the rear view mirror to see his eyes widen and his little eyebrows raise.  "Actuwee Mommy, I fink I may wike that."  So, maybe that was my non-example of "wacky"?

Then, tonight, as we sat around our table, preparing for Valentine's Day, the boys were making their teachers' cards when Warren asked, "Mom, what does Valentine's Day honor?"  Hmmm....good question, I thought.  "Well buddy, I guess it honors love.  It honors the people we love and the people who love us."

Harper chimed in "Momma, how did you and daddy marry?"  Hmmm...another good question.  This was a little more than I bargained for.  I was looking forward to pink and purple hearts, and maybe a few giggles thrown in about girlfriends.



 "When Daddy and I knew we loved each other so much we wanted to get married, we went down to church and met with Pastor Riley one day.  The three of us prayed and asked God to bless us by marrying us."  After he thought about it for a minute, he replied "Well, I'm gonna marry Ashwee."  I know it's probably still too early to tell, but I'm gonna pray he continues to have good judgement!      

For Such a Time As This

I am a teacher…in a public school….where they say God is not allowed.  But, ask any God loving public school teacher and I feel certain they will disagree.   It is true that we are not allowed to “force” our beliefs on our students….but we are allowed to share our beliefs.  We are allowed to live out God’s calling in our lives.  We are allowed to live a Godly life and we are allowed to show Christ through our words and actions.

Three years ago I began mentoring a fifth grader.  Jamari was a tough kid, with a lot of attitude.  The first day I met him, I observed him in his classroom when he walked over to me and said “You think I’m stupid, don’t you?”  Wow!  I had my work cut out for me. 

Our story continues far beyond the school house walls.  Throughout the year, Jamari became more than “just a kid I mentored.”   As I got to know Jamari better, I got to know a very smart and funny, but very angry young man.  Most of our staff knew Jamari in some capacity...and that’s not usually a good thing.   

For the year I worked with him, he became “one of my own.”  I talked to Jamari a lot about my own two boys, and I talked to my own two boys a lot about Jamari.  Without knowing each other, they had become brothers. 

As you have probably heard (or at least figured out while reading this magazine), our church is a Worship Plus 3 church.  That means we are called to Worship Plus 3 (that is, Worship plus Grow, Serve and Invite).  Being a large, very active church, it is easy to find places to worship, grow and serve on any given day.  While my husband and I worship and serve in the Contemporary Service, our boys worship in Sunday school.  I am part of a women’s Bible study, which allows me an opportunity to grow in my faith.  Our boys attend SPLASH on Sunday nights, which gives them an opportunity to grow and serve.  While we were very good at worshiping, growing and serving, we weren’t doing our part for inviting.

This was almost too convenient and completely obvious.  Without reservation, I invited Jamari to join my boys at SPLASH one Sunday night.  Knowing that his mother had no transportation, I also invited to pick him up “on the way.”  As the word traveled throughout the staff at my school, I was met with questions, like “Don’t you know where he lives?” and “You’re not going out there by yourself, are you?”  Fortunately, I work with a staff where I heard more of “That’s awesome!”  and “Ohmygosh, he will love it!”

As my family and I drove out to pick Jamari up, my (then) four-year old son asked me why we had to pick him up.  I explained that not everyone has a car, but we were lucky enough to have one, so “it would be nice if we could pick Jamari up.”  We talked for a few minutes about thanking God for giving us jobs so that we can make money to buy things like our car.  As we turned into Jamari’s neighborhood, kids came from all over to see who we were; many of whom I recognized from my school.  Jamari climbed in our car and I was finally able to introduce him to my two boys. 

Jamari had a great time at SPLASH and asked to go back.  After taking him several times, it dawned on me…instead of enduring all the stares every time we pulled into his neighborhood, why not invite them to come with us?  So, we did.  We ended up taking three of those boys several times to SPLASH.  They loved it!  They loved getting to know my boys and my boys loved getting to know them. 

As they spoke about it at SPLASH, Jamari started asking me about camp.  I talked it over with his mom and decided to invite him to go to camp.  We were able to offer him a scholarship to cover part of the cost; and many of my school staff members donated money to help offset the cost as well.

I met Jamari’s mom and dad at our Fellowship Center to see him off.  After camp, I heard from him frequently the rest of that summer.  His mother told me he had the time of his life, experienced things he would never otherwise have experienced, and almost immediately asked to go back next year. 

I wish I could tell you that Jamari and I have remained close.  Unfortunately we lost contact after he started middle school.  Sometimes God does that.  He puts people in our lives for “such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).  My time with Jamari was meant to invite him to experience God’s love.  Had I not met Jamari, I never would have met the other boys who were also invited. 

I pray that Jamari and his friends have a place of worship, are surrounded by others who will help their faith grow, are encouraged to serve and yet others who will invite them to experience that which he experienced here…even if “for such a time as this.”