And so it begins.....

We did something super spontaneous on Saturday. We were planning to get our Christmas tree at a nearby tree lot on Saturday. We've gone to this lot before, they have hayrides for the kids etc. It was almost lunch time. Pete was coming back from playing ball and I had come home from the gym with the boys. I called him and said "how about going to Boone to get our tree today"? It was time for Garrett's nap and I knew my other narcoleptic son would fall asleep in the car too. All I could think of was a nice quiet ride with Pete and to see my ole stomping grounds again.
We had a lot of fun. As we rolled back into our driveway that evening, Pete said " That was fun, I don't know if I would want to do that every year but it was fun". What he should have said was, "what were we thinking taking a 4 year old and a 2 year old up a mountain to cut down a tree!" But it will be a fond memory!

I'm Back.....

I don't have any pictures......I don't even take pictures of my children very often, it's terrible I know. If I did scrap booking, I would have to have some pretty darn good looking stickers, because there would just be a lack of pictures on my part.
My trip was wonderful, so relaxing. I went with my best friend from college, one of my bridesmaids in my wedding and another friend from the camp I worked at back in college. (Basically, my best friend introduced me to the other girls back in college.)It was great to be around people you don't have to worry about what to say or not say. I can say things around these girls and they just roll their eyes and say, "only Meredith would say that" and I am more than okay with that!
We had a huge pasta dinner at the beach condo on Friday night, drank some wine, laughed and caught up a million miles a second. Saturday is our big day of shopping at the outlets. I got at least half of my Christmas shopping done. Saturday night we went to Bonefish Grill. We told the waitress ahead of time that we did not want to be rushed. Between 4 of us girls we have 10 children. A nice quiet meal was all we wanted. We probably stayed there for over 2 hours!
Sunday we slept in until about 7:30, that's all we could do, ridiculous I know! We headed back to our appropriate cities after lunch. It was so great, I keep thanking Pete. I came home to a house that was still standing, boys that ran to me and to a husband that looked more than grateful!

Ready, Set, I'm gone


The clothes are set aside in order of days; nightime, Saturday, church

The clean sippies cups are laid out

The food has been bought

The diaper bag is full of any disaster that may occur

I'm on my way out........

My girl's beach weekend is about to start; shopping, sleeping, eating!! Who could ask for more??!

Resting under his leadership

There is no dancing around the subject of submission between wives to their husbands. God calls wives to submit to their husbands and for husbands to dwell with them(their wives) with understanding, giving honor to the wife. (1 Peter 3:7) We rarely hear the later part of this verse used in our current culture.
Our culture does not promote the husband being the leader of the household. The very word "submit" in our culture gives the picture of not being heard, not being able to share in thought or to give advice within a marriage relationship. I don't believe this was God's idea for submission.
Marriage is a wonderful gift. It can be hard. I think the hard times bring you closer together for the next battle that comes.
With all this said.......I've had a hard week. We found out about some criminal activity we have had going on behind our neighborhood. My first inclination was we gotta move, flee, run and I'm done; meaning I don't want to even fight. These circumstances have brought up a lot of fear, dissatisfaction and has tainted my view of our back yard.
I am a doer, motivated, "get it done right now" type of person. I have a plan and I have a back up plan for my original plan, if this gives you any idea how I can be.
My husband is patient, slow to respond and thoughtful with his words and actions. Great combination for us, huh?!
First thing Pete said, we going to do was to trust God and His protection of us. I told him very honestly, "I can trust God; I am not sure I can trust you through this". I wasn't sure I could trust him with the decision of leading our family through these circumstances. It was out of my mouth before I realized it. At first, I wanted to apologize but then again, it was the honest truth. I have a hard time holding anything back verbally, especially with my husband and those closest around me. I know it hurt him to some degree. He asked to carry this burden with me and he would help me take it to the cross. He never said I must submit(our current cultural view of submitting) to listen to him or anything of that nature. He did honor me and say very clearly that he will lead us through this and that God has placed himself in our family to do so. He told me not to stop telling him my concerns, fears and even my own desires.
I was praying yesterday telling the Lord( I am even bossy with God sometimes) that I wanted Him to speak to my husband's heart. I wanted the Lord to tell Pete, to do what I wanted. After some prayer, I felt clearly that the Lord had already spoken to him.
I need to rest in my husband's leadership over our family. After all, who placed Pete in my life from the beginning? To finish off with the verse from 1 Peter 3:7, "Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. I am still not comfortable with my surroundings. This week, I am thankful I am in a place of surrendering this burden to the Lord. I feel like I am being honored through this time by my husband yet also being led by him. The Word promises by doing so my prayers will not be hindered. If I truly rely on God's care for me; I must trust the man that He placed in my life to care for me.

This makes me smile...



I'm not sure if it's because Pete is getting ready to drop me or if it's just knowing we like laughing together~