Eveloony...

This is my beautiful niece Evelyn. Last night my sis told me the most adorable story about her that I had to write it down. Evelyn is 7, and the youngest in my sister's family. She is like most "babies" of the family, she is quite sure she was born to help her parents raise her sister and brother:) I am sure some of you with a few children can relate. Anyway, she is very quick witted and very smart, and of course she has a beautiful name. Evelyn. We have come up with many nicknames for her, some are as follows: Ev, Evelou, Eveloony, loony, loon, Evelovely and so on. She takes it well, and often comes back with a suitable nickname for whoever is teasing her.

I have always admired my hubby's relationship with his nieces. He is always fun, always happy to see them, and always takes an interest in what is interesting to them. He is never cross, annoyed or too busy for them. He just loves them, and they love him. So that brings me to my story... Last night, my sis and her family were getting dressed for a photography session at their church for the church directory. My sis was running around the house with her hubby trying to get my nephew and nieces dressed nicely and still get out the door on time. (A difficult task for any mom) So the kids were busy dressing (which means putting clothes on and then changing them, and then changing them again, and again...) So my sis was periodically checking on them and when she checked on Ev, she was busy fussing with a necklace. Specifically, a Kitty locket. My sis told her she needed to be more concerned with her clothing then the necklace, but Ev kept insisting over and over that the locket was very important and so the clothes needed to match it and she had to make sure everything she had on coordinated with the locket. It was her centerpiece. My sis was getting frustrated, trying to hurry her along and really not having much time for the "locket fuss". Finally, my sis bent down to help her with the locket as she could no longer deny its importance in Ev's evening. When she opened the locket, my hubby's face was staring at her! Sis was surprised and marveled at how nice it was that Ev had a picture of Uncle T in her locket. Ev was a little embarassed, but told her mom that she had cut Uncle's head out of a picture of our family and placed it in her locket some time ago. Sis told her how sweet it was to have a special picture in her locket, and they were able to match the clothes and head out to the photography session.

On the way to the church, in the car, sis could hear Ev telling her sister Sophie, that her Uncle T is so, so handsome! I'd say little Ev has great taste!!

Anyone still reading?

This post is an apology to my 2-3 loyal readers :) I am still here...I just wanted to let you know that football is in full swing, 5 boys on 4 different teams is running this mama ragged! I will have some football photos to share this weekend though so keep checking on me! I promise to get back to blogging really soon.

I wanted to give you a glimpse of my football schedule:
5:15 begin readying the boys for practice (this really consists of yelling, looking for pads, yelling, looking for helmets, yelling, looking for mouthpieces...
5:30 still searching for football paraphanalia...some kids falling out of the house on the way to the car carrying cleats and barefoot, gatorade in hand.
5:45 drive A, R, and G to the field for practice, drop them off and head up to the high school to pick up B from practice.
6:00 head back home drop off B and pick up K for practice.
6:15 head up to the field to drop of K for practice.
6:30 head back home to fix dinner for B, and say hello to hubby.
8:00 head up to the field to pick up A, R, and G from practice.
8:15 drop off kids at home.
8:30 head up to the field to pick up K from practice.
9:00 feed remaining children and hubby.
9:30 finish homework (which by the way in Nj is a ridiculous amount!)
10:00-11:00 put kids to bed.

If you're exhausted from reading it, I can relate. We do this four nights a week, and I have to tell you being a nurse in the operating room is the easy part of my day!! Oh well, its all surely worth it (?) Someday when they play in the NFL, they can cart me around!!!

Crazy Love...

I haven't posted in quite some time. It's not that I haven't thought of it, I really have many times. It's just that, honestly, I have been journeying through a season of change that has been overwhelming. It has been hard to gain perspective, hard to see through the fog, hard to settle my feet amidst the busy schedules. I haven't wanted to write about discouragement and disappointment. The Lord calls me to be filled with joy...but honestly, lately, I have been far from joyful. Seems I have been spending more time filled with anxiety and fear, searching for answers, and really just trying to steady myself. It wasn't working very well. Really, it wasn't working at all.
What worried me the most however, is that during this season, I felt a distance from the Lord. I was conscious of it, but felt it was out of my control. I was definitely worried about it, because deep in my soul I know I am nothing without Him. That I need Him for my very next breath, yet I found myself seeking Him less and less, and relying on myself more and more. I don't know if you've been there before, or maybe you're there now, but I know exactly where relying on myself leads to...a huge pit.
The beautiful thing about our Savior is that He is faithful to love us. He loves me even when I am spinning out of control, even when I am full of myself, even when I am depressed over the "distance" between us. So depressed that I wallow in self pity and wonder "where are you in this Lord?" I am reminded of the passage in Scripture where Moses is too tired to hold up his staff any longer. To summarize the story, Moses has to rely on his friend to hold up his arms in order to support the staff. This picture reminds us of the importance of lifting one another up, not physically, but spiritually. And I am sure some sisters have been lifting me up lately...
A few days ago, I was visiting with my mom. I shared with her the distance I was feeling from the Lord and she handed me a book. It's little and red and its titled "Crazy Love...Overwhelmed by a Relentless God" by Francis Chan. I have to tell you, it was a gift to me from the Lord. The entire book (and its just perfectly short!) is about being in love with Jesus. In fact it's almost a guide to being obsessed with Jesus. He has stirred my soul, renewed my strength, and guided my path. He has deepened my desire to live like the disciples, to be in love with my Savior, and to love others as He does. He has given me a purpose like no other...to live my life a sacrifice to my King.
I want to leave you tonight with one of my favorite quotes from the book:
"Obsessed people are more concerned with obeying God than doing what is expected or fulfilling the status quo. A person who is obsessed with Jesus will do things that don't always make sense in terms of success or wealth on this earth. As Martin Luther put it, 'There are two days on my calendar: this day and that day'"
Thank you Jesus for your crazy love for me!
Thanks for the book, mom:)