Family and Friends

This is going to be just a short reflection. Today I woke up in Stillwater, Oklahoma. My home away from home. Or maybe it's just one of my homes. It's been 6 months since Jacob and I have been here to see OUR family (his by birth, mine by marriage and love) and that was far too long to go without. Jacob and I have been living in Gaithersburg, Maryland for the last 2 years of our life; far from both sides of our family and constantly having to divide our vacation time between the two of them. It's been so hard at points, and this has been one of those points.
I've always been a family person. I'm not really a home-body--I went to Oklahoma for school while my family lives in Florida; I spent 6 months living in Spain learning the language; I traveled solo (or sometimes with a couple of friends) through England and continental Europe. So I don't consider myself a home-body. But no matter how many adventures I take, no matter how many new places I see and love, the saying is always true for me. "There's no place like home."
Home really is where the heart is. Coming from a girl who has moved 14 or 15 times in her life, I know that home isn't a location, not a town or a building you live it. It's where you are surrounded by people who love you and know you. People who don't base your love on performance or what you have to offer. It's being with people who laugh with delight when you do something embarassing because you are so precious to them, they don't laugh to make fun but laugh to love.
It's good to be home. I get to go home to Florida in a couple weeks too! I love being home.

Fireflies and Bunnies

So Jacob and I are having the time of our lives babysitting 3 of our most FAVORITE kids in the world: Jordyn, Camden and Morgan. Their parents are world travelers and we are live-in sitters for a few days. Well wouldn't you know that when babysitting 6, 8, and 10 some good stories are bound to arise. I thought this one was definitely worth sharing...

Last night we put the kids to bed and were down stairs quickly cleaning up the dishes so we could go enjoy cable t.v. for a little while (we don't have cable at our house) when Morgan - 6 came downstairs sniffing. "I'm scared..." of the dark it turns out. So I walked her back to her room where I prayed with her and sang her a song I remembered from my Children's Church days. I was just beginning to explain to her that "God gives His angels charge over us to keep us in all of our ways," and that right then in that very moment there were angels guarding all around her room, when a firefly sparked right in front of our faces! I was shocked. It was one of those moments that stuns you with its perfection and timeliness. I was speechless for a moment then all of the sudden I said, "See Morgan, God wants you to know that He's here and so are His angels." We watched the firefly dance around the room for a little while until he took his post by the door. She was so excited/happy I can't believe she went back to bed; this time not out of fear of the dark but excited about God's Firefly. It was so sweet.

I went about my business for the rest of the night and into the next morning, forgetting what had happened. We dragged the kids out of bed, ate breakfast, fought hair tangles and got ready for VBS. As we were leaving the kids noticed 3 baby rabbits out in the side yard. They quietly followed them around the house while Jacob and I looked for the minivan keys and put our shoes on. I went out back to tell the kids it was time to go and Morgan started whispering something to me. She was whispering because she didn't want to scare the rabbits away so I bent closer. She asked with the sweetest, most innocent look in her eyes, "What's God telling me now?"

I could have cried for joy in that moment. The precious reminder I had so quickly forgotten the night before had stuck in her memory through to the next awesome moment when God's creation declared His glory! Psalm 19:1-3 I'm so busy, so anxious, so "productive" most of the time that I miss the whisper of God speaking to my heart, "I love you child."

'He loves you Morgan. That's what God's telling you right now. Every time you see a bunny, every time you notice a pretty flower, every time a bird chirps or you get to play outside on a sunny day, that's God telling you how much He loves you." I was speaking to her but also to me.

"The Heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard." He's speaking right now. Are you listening???

I'm really bad at blogging...

It's been a little while since I've written. I keep taking pictures thinking "I need to blog these!" I guess I'm still not use to doing this regularly so please forgive my lapse of time.
It's been a few weeks now but recently Jacob surprised me with a romantic dinner/hike. He told me to wear comfortable shoes, he packed up dinner (sandwiches and Vernors) and we headed out on a surprise adventure. We drove for about an hour until we reached a state park in Maryland called "Cunningham Falls."
We hit the trail in search of the park's name sake. It was a beautiful evening with the sun just behind the trees so we could enjoy one of the final days of cool spring temperatures. Maryland keeps surprising me, I have to say, with it's diversity and beauty. I guess I've been so close to the capital beltway for these 2 years that I forgot there's more to Maryland than D.C. and Baltimore.
The hike was peaceful (we took the easier option since we were already hungry) and ended at the picturesque Cunningham Falls. It wasn't like regular steep waterfalls that I was use to seeing. It's more of a giant rock with a river flowing down it. The first thing I spotted was the "Warning" sign; the first thing Jacob spotted were all of the adventure-seekers climbing the steep rocks. He naturally wanted to join in, I naturally wanted to eat.
After much debating, me sounding like a "chicken" and a little bit of dinner, Jacob headed up the steep sloped without me. I stayed back to "take pictures." This is precisely the moment I remembered something about myself. I don't like to be the chicken in my group. I'll wimp out if other people wimp out with me, but I refuse to be left behind. There's nothing like a good dare to get you climbing. It wasn't too hard (it's was DEFINITELY not easy either!) and I made it up the rocks to surprise Jacob. Of course Jacob wasn't satisfied with his feat either so he had to go one more step and climb out to the rock that NO ONE was on that hung out OVER the waterfall! This time I did NOT follow but stayed behind to take pictures.
It was a fun afternoon. I am glad I ignored the warning sign (or rather Jacob ignored it for me). If I hadn't, I would have never seen Maryland from that particular view!