Mothers and Daughters

Okay so I know God has a sense of humor because he gave me a child when I was 40. Hope He got some good laughs from that. ha ha Seriously though we were told we couldn't have any children after I miscarried a few years before, so Hannah was a little miracle. And I have another daughter who is seventeen and will be a senior in high school. Two daughters, ten years apart that is God's sense of humor with me. They are nothing alike in temperament either. Sometimes I don't know what to do with either one.

My oldest daughter has had a rough time of it the last several years. I thought I had found the perfect high school for her and left my teaching position that I had held for six years to begin teaching at a new school. I made some great friends there and she did too. She was on the worship team and was growing so much as a Christian it was awesome to watch. But then after two years the school closed and it wasn't pretty how it did: friendships ended, trusts were broken and it crushed my daughters, not to mention what it did to me. My youngest daughter went to school there as well pre-k and kdg. She cried when we drove by and saw the gates were padlocked and stuff had been thrown out practically into the street. We were all wounded and disillusioned with Christian schools and I really didn't want to teach anymore. I had no idea what we were going to do and then I was asked to teach at another Christian school and I said no three times. I found a school for Hannah (my youngest) and she started first grade and made some new friends. Finally I said yes to teaching and Gretchen enrolled in the school. Well, here we are looking at what to do with her senior year because ...wait for it...that school closed too.

Now don't get me wrong, I do believe God had a purpose for both of us going there last year. I met some great women that have become my friends and Gretchen made some awesome friends as well. One guy in particular that means the world to her, and she has been dating for eight months. He is a great guy, with a heart for God and my daughter. But I may write more about him in another blog, this one is for mothers and daughters. So now I am asking God what next? We have made the decision to send Hannah to public school and see how she does there We don't have the money right now to send her back to the Christian school she went to last year. And Gretchen, well we may do a part-time enrollment at yet a third high school and also some college courses. I know God will help me know what is best.

I miss my mom! It is times like these that I would love to be able to pick up the phone and just call her and say "HELP!"

Summer Nights and Memories

     Tonight my husband took me to the Muny to see "Little Shop of Horrors" and I loved it. The music was great, the singing was great and even though it doesn't have a traditional happy ending, it is still a good show. I like that there are consequences for the characters actions and that seeking after the things of this world is shown in a negative light by the end of the show. I still remember the summer before we were married that my husband took me to see "Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat". He doesn't really like musicals but he knows they make me happy.You see I love musicals, always have and always will. I remember going to the Muny as a child with my family and it was such a special treat. We would drive the 88 miles from Springfield, would eat a picnic supper and we rarely got food at the Muny because it was a tradition to go to Ted Drewes afterwards. We would eat that delicious custard and then fall asleep on the drive home. We wouldn't get home until 2 in the morning but we didn't care because the night was worth it.

     Such great memories were made on summer nights. If it wasn't the Muny, it was the Route 66 Drive-in or our own local version of the Muny (much smaller, but fun nevertheless). It was important to my mom and dad that we do stuff as a family. Again, not sure I appreciated it then but I sure do now. It seems like my memories of summers are the strongest. Eating our dinner outside on our patio with dad cooking ribs on the grill and mom bringing out steaming platters of corn on the cob and green beans from our garden. Watermelon was one of our favorite deserts and our crazy dog would drink out of the empty shell after my mom would fill the other half with melon balls. There it is again, food and memories it seems like sometimes you can't have one without the other. I mean if you think about it the first miracle took place around food. Mary probably couldn't drink a glass of wine after the wedding without remembering what her "Son" had done there.

     Today I am thankful for date nights with my husband, musicals and summer nights

Peaches and Cream

Last night I had a fresh peach with some cream and it was delicious. It tasted sooo good but it also made me feel good. It brought back childhood memories of my family and our little house on West Glenn and how great summer was growing up. I like it when food not only tastes good but makes you feel good. And it seems like if you think about it a lot of our memories are tied to food. When I was a girl I never thought there would be a network devoted to food and now there is and I think there is more than one. In the summer dad would make homemade peach ice cream and it was the best! I remember going to get the rock salt that we would use in the ice cream maker and picking out the best peaches and then having our friends, the Medleys, over for some wonderful ice cream.
I think I took so much for granted growing up and sometimes wish I could get in a time machine and do some things different. If I could go back I would tell my mom thanks for all of the yummy meals she made in the heat of the summer without a microwave.( ha ha we are so spoiled)  I would tell me g'ma thanks for the summers at her house reading books from the library on the porch swing. I would tell my g'pa thanks for taking me fishing and showing me that grasshoppers make the best bait. I still have my dad with me so I try to remember to tell him thanks for all the things he does for my family and I.
Today I am thankful for memories!

Hmm

     I guess it is time to make my own blog. I love to write so why not write in cyberspace. Today is July 28th and it is hot in St. Louis. I can't believe it is 103, that is too hot. It makes me feel like St. Louis is sick with the flu and running a high temp and needs to take an aspirin. So the title of my blog should probably be explained. I feel like my life has been a walk in grace. As long as I can remember God has been a part of my life. I remember when I was nine I started my grace walk and have been walking ever since.
     What exactly is grace? I really like the definition that grace is getting what you don't deserve and mercy is not getting what you do. Thinking that we deserve nothing makes our blessings that much better. "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. " Romans 5:8 
See what I mean,we don't deserve anything yet Christ gave us everything. I had always kind of played around with the idea of keeping a gratitude journal. I think I may use this blog for that as well as for my musings.
     Things I am thankful for today: my family, air conditioning, the time to be able to create this blog.