God's love

Lately I've been reading The Seeking Heart by Fenelon. Each exerpt is about a page long and hits you right in the gut. Just when I think I've got this "God's love" thing under control, I realize how selfish I still really am. Fenelon says, "Love others in and for God. Often you love yourself, reflected in another. Is this the love of God? No, it is self-love, and not real friendship." He goes on to say how we should love what God has deposited in them instead of what they can do for us. MAN! I'm busted! Last week Gabe and Judah met two boys who live in the projects near our house. They are 8 and 5 years old. They have no manners, they fight and push, they want everything we have (toys and food), they come over every day and don't understand if my boys are unable to come out and play, and they use foul language. Yet at the same time, they are tender, hungry for love and attention, and are like sponges when we talk to them about Jesus. It is such a challenge for me to be patient and loving towards them. They have not been disciplined and are only obedient after they have been asked five or six times. Later on, Fenelon says, "Can you love God and not love those he has asked you to love? Can He not supply you with the love you need to obey Him? God's love in you endures all things, bears all things, hopes all good things for others...Love is touched with compassion for the sorrow of others, but causes you to think nothing of you own." Even though it is hard and inconvenient for me to love those boys, I know they have been sent from God. For me, this as a season of dying to my selfishness. For them, it is a season of God's love being poured out into empty and dry souls.

The 411 on our vacation

Our vacation began with the unexpected and ended with more of the same. We were driving on the Interstate, on our way to Florida, when a rock popped up and shattered the side window of our van. And yes, Isaiah was sitting right next it. Thankfully he stayed calm. Judah slept through the whole thing and Gabe freaked out. He was so afraid someone was going to start bleeding. I guess we won't be expecting him to be a doctor! We made one night's stop at the Covenant House, which is always refreshing, and off to Orlando the next day with a brand new window. The resort was so nice. The pool area had an enormous pirate ship in the middle of it that looked similar to a kiddie area in a water park. They had a water slide and two hot tubs. The kids loved it. We went to Sea World, Magic Kingdom, and Animal Kingdom. It was fun but so hot and tiring. I'm really not sure if it was worth it for us or the kids! My favorite day was, and always is, the shopping at the Outlet Mall. On the way home, we got news that our A/C went out while we were gone. We couldn't get anyone over to fix it for 3 days! Thankfully my mom lives in Hammond and has two extra bedrooms! We finally arrived home last night and went straight to Gabe's tee-ball game. Today was my first official day back and it's great to be home! Thank you Jesus (and Aaron) that I have such a nice and comfortable home! And thanks to the Marix's who always make vacation fun and memorable!

We're going on vacation!!!!!

We leave for Florida in 2 days!!!! I'm so pumped! It's still up in the air about what we will be doing, so I'll have to let ya'll know when we get back. So far it's looking like Magic Kingdom (Disney World), Bush Gardens, Sea World, a Tampa Bay Devil Rays game (that's baseball for all you non-sports fans), and of course as much beach time as we can squeeze in. All of this with a total of 6 kids between two couples and one of those kids is a 3 week old newborn! The last time I went to the beach was in April for a "girls only" trip. We had a blast reminiscing about 90's music and talking about our husbands, but the weather was FREEZING and the wind was kickin, so no beach time for us. We spent all of our time in restaurants and malls! My kind of trip anyway. I'll try to write while I'm sipping peach iced tea on the beach, but no promises!