Duke Gardens!

My parents came up this weekend and we were excited for a beautiful mid-70's Saturday to go to Duke Gardens for a picnic to celebrate Mama's birthday.  In actuality, the weather shifted to chilly, cloudy, and windy, but we went anyway and had a great time.

Lunch is served!  We are loving Kentucky Grilled Chicken for easy picnic food!

 A few presents, some of which were declared, "It's pretty!  It's mine!" by little miss Julia, who seems to believe in her self-given title, "I am a sleepy princess girl!"  

 We loved this area of the gardens with a bridge, tunnel, and stream.

Time for some tree climbing!  First Gray... 

 then Joshua...

 then the big boy:)

 Loved these beautiful flowers!

The kids were totally into the fountain, especially when Matt gave the permission to try to get the coins from the bottom of it:) 

This fish pond was really neat. 

 There were some really big bright orange ones.

 Then we found some big magnolia trees to climb...

 and climb...

 and climb...

 and climb...

with photo ops 

Until we saw the "no climbing" sign.  Whoops.  Time to head back home.  What a nice afternoon! 

Happy Birthday, Mama!!  We love you!!

Quote #15 (last one)- One Thousand Gifts

"What that first and catastrophic sin of ingratitude ruptured, what that one bite of the forbidden fruit stole from those fully alive--union--can be repaired by exact inverse of the Garden:  lifestyle gratitude and a willingness to eat of the bread He gives in this moment."

Julia's latest 'must read'

Looking for that special book every girl needs to read....

You know, the kind that will really change your life?

Julia's pick:

She was carrying this one around the other night, hoping to "gain 30 pounds of muscles in 5 weeks" by osmosis I guess:)

Game on!

We have been a bunch of game players these days and just thought I'd share some ones we like for those with little ones around.

This one was a birthday present for Gray and it's the current fav.  It's monopoly for kids, pirate style.

You get to give "High Hooks", swab the deck, talk like a pirate, get your treasure,

use a lot of counting and math skills, and

demand money for those that land on your spot with a hearty "ARG!"

Toy Story Uno is another good one.  We've had this for awhile, but now that the boys both understand the rules well, it's a lot more fun...well until Gray gets too many cards and employs the technique of putting them all facedown on the floor and picking them up one at a time to find a needed card every time he is a turn.

The Sock Monkey game was borrowed from Mimi and was an instant hit.  One person hides the monkey and the rest find it, using process of elimination with question cards.  Of course if our house had more than 5 rooms to look in or if we included upstairs, it would probably be a little more entertaining.  As it is, when we draw a card that says, "Is it in a room with a bed?" or "with a table?" or "with a bookshelf?", it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where that monkey is!

A Christmas present favorite was the Angry Birds board game.  The boys are obsessed with the video game, which drives me crazy because there is nothing else in the world to them when they have that game on.  This game is much more interactive, less addictive, and they don't have to wait till the weekend to play it, so it's a good pick for before bed game time!

You set up the scene with pigs and building materials and use a sling shot and toy birds to knock it down.

Taking a break for snuggle time with Daddy.

We give ourselves a few extra turns to make it more doable.  You'd be surprised that it's not that easy!  Well, at least for me.  Last game I don't think I got any points!

And taking another break to stand on Daddy.

This is just a random picture taken by Gray that I thought was pretty funny.

Quote #14- One Thousand Gifts

"Our happiness comes, too, not in the having, but in the handing over."

"Spend the whole of your one wild and beautiful life investing in many lives, and God simply will not be outdone.  God extravagantly pays back everything we give away and exactly in the currency that is not of this world but the one we yearn for:  Joy in Him."

Soccer Season!

It's been fun (mostly) participating in soccer this year.  The boys seem to enjoy being on separate teams rather than competing against each other and aside from the always unpredictable peeing Julia, we've managed the practices and games pretty well.  Last practice, I met one of the dads on Joshua's team and we had a lengthy conversation about where we have lived, kids, etc.  Julia was sitting beside us in a foldout chair and towards the end of our conversation, she quietly tells me she peed and I look down to see her sitting in a puddle.  I never know what to do in these situations!  Are people offended or grossed out?  Do I change her privately?  Can I laugh it off or is it weird?  Oh well, no one has complained yet!

Here are some pictures from the last game.  Both boys are very focused on the ball and keep up well with the action, though one is significantly more intense than the other!

Retreat!

Friday:  the day I'd been waiting for for almost 2 months...our church women's retreat!  Back at the end of February, I started thinking about how great our retreat had been the year before and felt like it would be fun to help plan another one this year.  I had some great helpers and after approximately 87 emails back and forth, we had a complete plan for a retreat focused on friendship.  I was so excited!

Friday afternoon I got everything ready and a new friend of mine came by and let Gray and I hitch a ride with them to the strawberry patch.  It was a nice diversion while I waited for the hour when I could head to the site of the retreat.  Gray had fun and was very proud of his picks, asking me to "see how much I picked!" every two minutes.  

Finally it was time to go!  I was a little nervous because I was doing some of the speaking, which if you know me, is not my cup of tea!  But it all worked out.  We started the evening with a dozen or so ladies and by the end of the night, we had 22.  We ate, we talked.

 We got to know each other and talked a lot about what it means to be a good friend and what we appreciate in friends.

 One of my favorite parts was gathering around the piano (and flute) and singing praise songs and hymns together.  There's just something about worshipping with people that you feel a close connection with that gives me chills!

What I didn't expect was what  whirlwind it was.  After all that preparation and the adrenaline of speaking in front of the group, keeping things running smoothly, etc, it seemed to be over in no time!

  We also played a game and the handful of us that spent the night watched a late movie.

It was really great the next morning for seven of us to eat breakfast and process together all that we were thinking about friendships in our church and vision for women's ministry.

Though I don't know that I want to be in charge of planning another retreat, I'm glad I did it this time.  God showed me a lot and I think a lot of good things are still to come from it.  It was really neat to see how we all really want true friendships but struggle to initiate them and how we all really want to help each woman in the church feel included.  Looking forward to see how God will use us to build each other up!

Quote #13- One Thousand Gifts

"At the last, this is what will determine a fulfilling, meaningful life, a life that, behind all the facades, every one of us longs to live:  gratitude for the blessings that expresses itself by becoming the blessing."

"The moment you think of serving people, you begin to have a notion that other people owe you something for your pains.  But when Christ is at the center- when dishes, laundry, work, is my song of thanks to Him, joy rains.

Passionately serving Christ alone makes us the loving servant to all.  The contented, deep joy is always in the touching of Christ- in whatever skin he comes to us in."

Quote #12- One Thousand Gifts

"The demanding of my own will is the singular force that smothers out joy- nothing else.  My own wild desire to protect my joy at all costs is the exact force that kills my joy.

The secret of joy's flame:  Humbly let go.  Let go of trying to do, let go of trying to control, let go of my own way, let go of my own fears.

Let God blow His wind, His trials, oxygen for joy's fire.  Leave the hand open and be.

Be at peace.  Bend the knee and be small and let God give what God chooses to give because He only gives love and whisper surprised thanks.

I can empty [my will] because counting His graces has awakened me to how He cherishes me, holds me, passionately values me.  I can empty because I am full of His love.  I can trust."

Awesome blog

If you have heard me write about "Kisses from Katie" or have read her blog yourself, you may want to check out this one:

http://www.onalightstand.com/

She is a friend of my friend and is in Uganda right now and will be working with Katie's ministry Amazima some of the time.  Reading her stories is sad, but powerful.  I think it's good not to close our eyes and ears to tough situations but to pray and think and figure out God's perspective and how we should respond.

Quote #11- One Thousand Gifts

See Exodus 33.

"When it gets dark, it's only because God has tucked me in a cleft of the rock and covered me, protected, with His hand?  It is in the dark that God is passing by.  Dark is the holiest ground, the glory passing by.  In the blackest, God is closest, at work, forging His perfect and right will.  Though it is black and we can't see and our world seems to be free-falling and we feel utterly alone, Christ is most present to us, I-beam supporting in earthquake.  Then He will remove His hand.  Then we will look.  Then we look back and see His back."

Expecting the Unexpected

This weekend was our third Kids' Night Out.  We had met with our pastor a few days prior and established a goal of forming deeper relationships with the families in order to find out what will most help them instead of just guessing at their needs and offering that.  So we hoped on Friday to see the usual parents and ask some specific questions to them.  We knew some would be on a field trip, but we prayed some would come anyway.

They didn't.

None came that we knew.

Only one mother we'd never met brought her 3 children and one of their friends.  They were precious and we enjoyed talking with them and playing with them, but in the back of my mind I was disappointed we missed the opportunity to pursue our goal.  Having just met this one mother, we didn't feel like it was the time to dive in very deep with her.

So we focused our efforts on what we did have:  4 children that have a great need for love and attention.  They were very open to interacting with us and though a few were a bit challenging, they had fun and one openly told us he didn't want to leave.

But leave they did.  Their mom came a bit early and we were left to clean up and assess what to do with all the leftover groceries.

Now begins part 2 of our story, which Matt likes to call "The Amazing Race:  Grace Hill Ladies Edition".

My friend Robyn suggested we deliver the groceries to the families and since we finished up a little early, we decided to go ahead and try to do it that night.  She bravely dialed them all up and they were all so responsive to our request to deliver.  Those that she left messages with called us back right away and every single family said yes to us coming.

So Robyn, another friend, and I bravely (praying all the way, mostly motivated by all of our lack of navigation skills!!) loaded up her truck with groceries and headed out to all sorts of areas of town that we'd never been to.

At the end of the night, we had had quite the experience...aside from our driving adventures and mishaps, we had been to several families' homes, had some good conversations that let us in on several of their situations, talked to some of the girls that didn't make it, gotten hugged and thanked, heard how much they appreciated the program and groceries, and felt a whole lot closer to becoming friends with these ladies.

Sounds a lot like what we felt like needed to happen that night, right?

Why was I surprised?  We feel like God led us to this program and we've been trying so hard to suppress ourselves and our own plans, that His would be clear.  Of course he will answer the needs he places before us!

So slowly I'm learning to expect the unexpected when I am humble enough and patient enough to trust in God's plan and timing.  So hard to not rush ahead, get disappointed, try to make my own way.  But he is present and he is working, both in me and through this program.

So excited to see how he enables us to come alongside these parents and children and together work to better their situations!

For now, waiting, praying, beginning to really love these families.

So thankful.

Quote #10- One Thousand Gifts

Read the story of Jacob in Genesis for a better picture of this quote:

"The Lord has to break us down at the strongest part of our self-life before He can have His own way of blessing with us.  Wrestle with God, beg to see the blessings and all faces become the face of God.  The secret to joy is to keep seeking God where we doubt He is."

Quote #9- One Thousand Gifts

Read the story of Hagar in Genesis to get a better picture of this quote:

"I'm blind to joy's well every time I really don't want it.  The well is always there.  And I choose not to see it.

Don't I really want joy?  Don't I really want the fullest life?

When you know you're Hagar and you finally come to the end of yourself and all the water in your canteen is gone and you know that you and your son are going to die if you don't get some joy to the lips and down the parched throat--and now, when you can no longer stand to see those you love die all around you from emptiness...remember:  You have to want to see the well before you can drink from it.  You have to want to see joy, God in the moment."

What's Growin' On?

Don't you just love a good pun?  No?  Just me I guess.  I remembered today that it's been almost a month since I showed you pictures of our newly planted garden and so much has happened since then:)  Here what's growing these days:

I planted the rest of the lettuce seeds a week ago by our front steps.  Probably tacky, but hey- it's food!

Also have some hollyhocks coming up and soon some black-eyed susans and painted daisies.  I just love watching stuff grow from a seed! 

Here's the view of the area by the front steps.  Today I also planted swiss chard there and transplanted some purple cabbage that I thinned out from the garden. 

 By the mailbox we have Cindy's grandma's irises, though they aren't in bloom like many I've seen in our neighborhood.  

I also interspersed some gladiolas, which are coming up too...see the reddish thing in the middle? 

 More gladiolas are by the steps on the other side.  Can't wait for them to bloom this summer!

And then we have the vegetable garden... Yes we went very cheap and got some "tree protection area" orange plastic fence from the woods out back to cover the garden when everything's big and tempting to rabbits.  Yes, I do realize this is tacky. 

 Onions!

 Purple Cabbage!  My favorite right now, though the picture doesn't show the color well.

 Peas!  These guys have really taken off.

 If you look carefully you can see two green things that are supposed to be huge sunflowers this summer.  And there's supposed to be a third coming up too!

 Spinach.  This stuff makes me nervous because it's growing so slowly and apparently won't last once it gets hot.  Hopefully it will mature but I just don't know about these things.

 Marigolds...These are newly planted so hard to see I know.

 Carrots!

 Tomatoes!  I grew these in pots from seed and transplanted them and they seem to be doing great.

Lots of lettuce! 

And what else is growing?
One big boy!

And another big boy!  They got Spiderman hats yesterday and love wearing them.  Joshua puts on his sunglasses and declares himself a Rock Star.

The grass is growing too!  Not so bare and muddy anymore.

And this little girl and her mass of hair is growing.

She got her first pair of flip flops last week...Dora ones.  She LOVES them and has not worn a single other pair (aside from adult ones) since she got them...even for Easter:)

And here are the peppers, which will soon go in the ground.

And one last picture...these buddies are getting tons of together time this week since Joshua's on Spring Break.  They have their fights but are mostly inseparable.