Never Ever Dull
With every conversation, I always seem to end with "Never a dull moment"....our lives are rich, complex, and beautiful stories. Join me in laughing about everyday things and appreciating life-bumpy roads and all.
Today my daughter will walk across the stage and graduate from NC State. Amazingly and a surprise to both of us, she's doing this early and with honors. I never would have dreamed this would happen....
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Not too terribly long ago, I entertained the kids by taking them to Krispy Kreme in our pj's. (I know-such a wild and crazy life, huh?!) We would select our favs and watch them carefully be placed in a box. We grabbed a bunch of napkins and headed toward a booth. From there, we'd devour each doughnut, savoring every bite. One day, I started up a random conversation with my crew and it went like this: Doughnuts reflect our personalities. See, I chose a chocolate covered doughnut with rainbow sprinkles. That pretty much sums me up: I love extra sweetness (globs of chocolate) and enjoy creativity (the colorful sprinkles). The kids studied their doughnuts and realized that they had chosen doughnuts that truly did display their personalities. The football for the kid with aspirations to make it big in the NFL, chocolate iced with creme filling for the one who seemingly is quiet but really is always overflowing with sweetness, holiday shaped doughnut covered in colorful holiday icing and sprinkles for the kid who will never grow up and has endless spunk, etc. As it so often happens with my gang, it got competitive after that. As people came into KK, we began predicting what they would pick. Oh, that person is a blueberry (who gets those doughnuts at Krispy Kreme? That's borderline healthy!) Those would be for the ladies arriving in their Lulu Lemon workout clothes. Then you could always figure out those who wanted plain. Simple, not over the top kind-of-folk. Crullers were easy to pick out. If you don't know what that is, you need to visit Krispy Kreme and try out this experiment. The tough call was between a raspberry-filled and a custard....hard decision and could go either way. You really should give this experiment a try. It just goes to show you that you are what you eat. I love Christmas Eve services: family & friends reuniting, children's voices and cries during the message at those quiet moments, old and young singing my favorite carols, the look of anticipation on little children's faces. But my favorite part of the whole night is when all the lights are turned off. And then, in complete darkness, one candle is lit. Gradually, more candles are lighted and everyone is mesmerized. Most churches sing Silent Night or Joy to the World at this point. A time to pause and reflect on the purpose of celebrating Christmas. One Christmas Eve service in Franklin, TN, the worship pastor shared how as a kid, he tried to keep his candle burning. He left the church and carefully shielded the candle so that it would continue to burn brightly. I could see raised eyebrows in the congregation as kids looked to their parents with that look: Can I do that? What an idea!!! As we left the service, kids were definitely trying this novel idea out. However, it was a very blustery night and it kind of turned into a dangerous event. I remember seeing boys running trying to make it to their family vans making "barricades" with their coats to protect their flames. Girls with long flowing hair were concentrating more on the candle as their perfectly curled locks were about to be singed. No one made it far that evening with those candles burning. Sometimes, our lives are just like that. We strive really hard following a great message to keep our lights burning in the midst of everything. Aspirations and hopes to keep our lights bright and to be a change in our dark world. But along the way, we encounter outside elements that extinguish that light. For me, I know juggling life with four kids and all their activities, trying to serve and eat nutritious meals, grocery shopping for the food to prepare those meals, doctor appointments for all, working full time and looking for ways to supplement my income, and on and on.... That's what can make my light go out. As I start this day, my prayer is that you and I can keep the light burning. No matter what comes our way. No matter what our "extinguishers" might be. Try and provide barricades and shield your light from those outside elements. I get that it's hard but let's all strive to keep our lights burning. One light makes a difference in the darkness. "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:16 With the bulk of my Christmas shopping done and being a dreary rainy Saturday, I suggest to my kids that we go shopping for a new collar for Banks. Just a replacement that could double as his Christmas gift from us. Sounds like a simple and easy outing, right? Not really.
Every day, people head to their jobs. Some love what they do. Others not so much. For me, I really do. My daily interactions with my little people in my third grade classroom make me laugh, tear up, and feel like I'm really making an impact in their lives. This week, I had the pleasure of dining with them in our cafeteria. On normal days, I head to my classroom to prep for the rest of the day and re-fuel with friends. But this week, I sat with my students and had conversations. Actually, i just listened. They were sooooo excited to have me there that they could not stop talking. Here's what the discussions looked like:
Kid: What has 2 holes and runs? Me: I don't know. What? Kid: Your nose. Get it. Your nose has 2 holes. They're called nostrils. And then your nose can run. Like mine did this morning. Remember how I had to keep getting up to get tissues? It's because my nose is running. Not really running. Like with shoes on but running like that stuff that comes out of it. My sister is really really sick. .......(never took a breath while he talked. I promise!) Kid: Ms. Flower Me: Mmmm-hmmmm. (me-eating peanut butter on bagel) Kid: What's your favorite thing? Me: Hot chocolate with lots and lots of marshmallows. Why? Kid: I'm going to buy all that for you. Me: Aww...Why? Kid: Just because (big grin...my heart melts) I look at teaching as more of a vehicle to love on kids and their families. Some of the students I have seek refuge within my classroom walls. They need someone to hug them and tell them they are treasured. Others are like miniature volcanoes erupting with enthusiasm and desiring for an adult to simply listen to them. I do hug, look at them in their eyes and tell them how much they rock, and listen to all the things they have to tell me. Some days, I am just plain exhausted. But on those days, I know I've done my job well and know I've made a difference in my little world. My kids and I have always been close. Very close. Now especially during holiday breaks, we're closer than ever. Coming in from college, the girls pile all their clothes into a corner of the house and claim their sleeping spots. They have no bedroom to drop all their belongings into. The boys have overtaken the bedroom situation. Moving from Nashville to Raleigh was different. We downsized from a 3500 square foot home to 1100 square feet. and added a puppy to the chaos who is now a whopping 77 pounds. Although that may seem like a drastic change, it really hasn't been. We're the kind of family that ends up on the same couch...all together. Laughing, sharing stories from the day, pondering life, asking questions....just being together. Not perfect. Don't picture all of us sitting calmly like in the final scene from the end of a Hallmark movie. It's more like lively bantering back and forth, stealing blankets and pillows when one is not looking, etc. One night, we were all lying in our spots, when one child (hint: the blonde one) said, "Good night, John Mark." There was a silence in our little abode as we all pondered who she was talking to. Then, i could hear her belly laughing. "Wait, is it John Mark?"....Without even having to raise my voice, I responded, "I think you meant John Boy." See I didn't even have to get up to share that tidbit of info with that very blonde child.
We've realized that we don't miss all the space that we had in Tennessee (except when the puppy decides to wake at 5:30 am and everyone can hear the happy whines as he tries desperately to find anyone to pay attention to him-but everyone fakes being asleep). Nope. We are really content being in our smaller home. All we need is one comfy couch and togetherness. |
AuthorFun-loving mom to 4 kids and 1 big puppy. Fifth grade teacher of amazing little people who have never ending things to share with me. Love to discuss Jesus, diy projects, and life. Trying to keep it simple: Love Jesus, love people. Archives
December 2021
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