Tuesdays Tidbits

Good morning, all....from sunny California! Actually, it is raining here. And the locals? They freak out in rain like Carolinians freak out in an inch of snow. Ahem.......Not much time so you will get a list.

1. I am currently "borrowing" internet from the place we are delivering. It is unsecured wifi so that can't be stealing, right?

2. I am assuming since it is a place of work, they had a little trouble with their employees on the internet and they blocked facebook. I thought about asking them to unblock it for me but if you refer back to number 1, you will see why I didn't.

3. If my allergies didn't hate me out here, and the liberals weren't so plentiful, I would pack up tomorrow and move to San Diego. Yes....you read that right. It feels like spring time and it is beyond wonderful. It warms my heart.

4. My lovely church Elevation (www.elevationchurch.org) is having an Americana theme this coming Sunday and after the 11:15 service there will be a carnival. Not sure if we will make it but if you are in the Charlotte area you should check it out! As Sheyna said...they don't do anything halfway so I can only imagine it will be wonderful~

5. Speaking of Elevation.....The Sunday after next they will begin a series called "The "F" Bomb". I'll give you a moment to pick your jaw up off the floor. Back yet? The F stands for forgiveness and people-I am about to crawl out of my skin waiting on it to start. There are many people in my life who I have tried to forgive through the years but somehow I am still in bondage from my past. I want to shout about this series from the rooftops because I feel like it will be life changing for some people. Please check it out online if you aren't in the Charlotte area. www.elevationchurch.org. Go to media and then sermon archive. The sermons are posted the day after they are preached.

6. Speaking of the aforementioned series...I think I am going to blog all the way through it. I think it will be my constructive way of working through it. To be quite honest, I am a little nervous about it. I am expecting it to challenge me and pull me in directions that I have never gone before. I am giddy like a school girl. I want nothing more than to be free of bondage from my past...and I can assure you that my husband wants that for me too. And I want it for him.

7. I apologize (well, not really) for rambling so much about the series. I CANNOT CONTAIN THE EXCITEMENT.

8. Seth was accepted into the 6th grade in the charter school! We were a little worried because students that have been in traditional public schools are usually a bit behind charter school students. We have some work to do with him over the summer to get him totally up to speed, but she says we should be good in the fall!

9. The last time we were home we travelled. Which we were expecting. The time before that we ended up being gone the entire time we were home. That was unexpected. This time when we get home? Olin has informed everyone that if they want to see us they will have to come to our house. If I don't deep clean soon, I am afraid that the health department will shut my house down. I say we are living in filth. Some people would tell you I am being a bit melodramatic. However, if it motivates me to clean, I am erring on the side of drama. Just sayin'.

10. I always end with ten. Why break habit now? If you are still reading it is an absolutel miracle. Please be praying that Olin and I are led to jobs that will allow us to provide for our family (off the road) and that we find them in a timely manner. I know our timing isn't always God's timing.....I am just hoping He sees it the same way I do. Hey...didn't say I was a perfect christian.....Just keepin' it real. I know the job market is a difficult one right now, but He has opened every other door to allow us to come off the road and make major changes in our lives. We are trusting that He has already made provisions for work.

Thanks for reading....See you all again sometime really soon........Hopefully, sooner than later. I am trying to get better with the whole blogging thing. We'll see if it works out.....

Why wait one more hour?

Dear Olin,

Technically, it is the night before Father's day. It won't start for one more hour. But why wait? :) I am nothing, if not impatient.

I want to start by saying that you are a wonderful father. I watch you grow as a man of God and a father to Seth every day and I am honored to be a part of that journey with you. I love to see Seth when we go to pick him up and he comes running out of the house yelling..."Daddy!!!" The look on his face is priceless, and one I hope that neither one of us ever forget. As we begin to navigate the waters of pre-teens, know that he won't always have that look. There will be days when he hates us. And that will mean that we are doing our job. At the end of the day, know that we are not here on earth to teach him to love us...we are here on earth to teach him to love Him. That will be all that's important.

One of my favorite things to do is walk into Seth's room and "catch" you guys with ten million legos laid out on the floor....you and Seth both laying on your bellies...creating some type of genius structure with plastic little blocks. Little blocks that, when I have to take them apart eventually will make my fingers raw! I am not sure of all the conversations that take place on the bedroom floor of our tiny apartment but I am sure they are conversations that Seth will remember for a lifetime.


If there is one thing that makes me sad this Fathers Day it is this: that I have not made you a father yet. Something about me is broken. You and I both know that God can fix it and that He can make it happen. Usually I am good with it....but I can't help but to think what you would look like the first time you held our child in the delivery room. The first time you changed their diaper. You holding those tiny little hands in your large ones as they learn to take their first steps. You see....I am honored to watch you be a father to Seth. I am sad that I missed all those times of seeing you with a baby. For this-and for maybe never making you a father to a second child-I am truly sorry. Another child deserves to have you to help raise them and teach them. If it never happens, I will rest in the knowledge that God knows what he is doing and I am not in control of that. Eventually. For now, I guess it's ok to hope.

Happy Father's Day to the man who taught me what a father looks like. To the love of my life. I hope your day is as amazing as it can be (while we are at work).....I promise a celebration with the little one when we get home!

I love you with all my heart,
Courtney

Of Monkeys and Men

Dear Seth,

It is 8:38pm on Wednesday night. I don't think you are thinking about it as much as I am, but tonight is the last night you will ever be in elementary school. As of tomorrow at 10:30 in the morning, you will be a young man.

As your elementary years come to an end, it is hard to wrap my brain around all that you accomplished during them. You may not realize it now, but the foundation of who you are has been formed in the last 6 years. I wasn't around from the beginning of them but some things you did learn that I know will serve you as you grow into adulthood are these:

Share! When you started school, you learned that the world didn't just include you all day long. There are places where community things have to be shared-like it or not. While this isn't always an easy thing to learn when you start school, it is true throughout your life. The main thing to take away from this lesson is this: God gives you gifts. He had plans for you before you were even here. These gifts aren't all about you. It is all about making His kingdom grow! These gifts are yours to share!!!! If you hide it away only for yourself, it will do you absolutely no good.

Alarm Clocks! You learned to hate them....lol! You learned that discipline means that you need to go to bed earlier because you HAVE to get up for school each week morning. You may not like it-but this helps prepare you for later in life when you have to get up to go to a job or college. As you get older and more independent, it is crazy to think of you waking up to your own alarm clock and doing it all by yourself....but isn't this our job as parents? To teach you how to do these things so that one day you can do them on your own? Because I can say that I really don't like it. I'll do it-b/c I have to but I don't like it!

Education- We, along with everyone else you have encountered, have pounded into your brain that your education is one of the most important things you will ever achieve. Education unlocks doors for you that nothing else can. Always remember that people can take everything away from you-all of your material posessions-but they cannot take away what you have learned. That is yours to keep. With that being said, I promise that me and your daddy will do the best to expose you (and your brain) to things that are true. We promise to do our best to steer you towards the right path and support you in decisions you make concerning this. You see, education isn't all about text books. It is also learning about where you came from and where you are going. It is learning about what God did for you and everyone else. It's learning that everyone-including all of your family-will let you down. We will all fail you. God is the only one that will not. While you may not learn this in a classroom, Daddy and I promise to teach you this at home. This is the most important thing that nobody can take away from you. Always hold this truth the closest to your heart. We know that this only gets harder to hold onto the older you get, and peer pressure will try to convince you that it is uncool to believe. We promise to pray every single day that you become a man of God that will continue to stand up for what you know is right.

Bullying-I struggled with whether or not I was going to address this or not. However, I decided that if I wanted this around for you to read years later, this needed to be recorded. You can take tons of lessons away from the things that you have encountered this year. There will be bullies in life. There will be mean people that just want to take what you have or make you feel like less of a person. This stands VERY true in Christianity. There will be people that don't like you simply because you are a christian. They will say hurtful things. Please know that this is just because they want what you have. I am not saying that this will not be a struggle. Even if you know why they are mean...at the end of the day it doesn't make it hurtful or hard to deal with. But know this-Your value and worth...everything that you are and do.....is held solely by God. You will never find your self worth in a person or material things.

I will end with those three. This post is getting long...but there is more to say. I am sure I will say it all at some point in time.....but as you get ready for bed....I can't help but feel like a chapter of you is closing. Rest assured-a bigger chapter is opening! One that we are all anticipating! But tomorrow as you walk the hall of that elementary school for the last time as a student remember this: You may be turning into a young man....but you will always be my monkey. I love you and will be praying for you during all of these transitions! The best is yet to come!

Love Always,
Mama Monkey

Minus a Title

This will be a post without a title. I don't have one. I don't have the energy to come up with a creative one. Just deal with it. Please?

Ok. I work on lists, people. I have actually thought of changing my blog to one that has posts that are all in list format. I love this idea until I think of something profound I would like to write that won't fit in a list format. Then I change my mind. Here goes:

1. We are home for a couple of days. We are going to spend the evening with a certain 11 year old monkey that I'm dying to see. Soon.

2. We checked out a charter school for said monkey this morning. They amazingly had a couple of openings in the grade that he is going into...and every other grade has a waiting list. Now just to decide if that is the best for him....

3. Caroline is healing well from her surgery. She is sad that she will never give me granddogs, but her husband Artie understands. This seems to help with her hormonal menopausal symptoms. Therapy may still be needed. We'll let you know.

4. I need to get going on the gathering of all of my yard sale things. My house is a wee bit more cluttered than I would like for it to be. That problem will solved as soon as possible.

5. If any readers homeschool, please let me know what cirriculum you use. We are looking to supplement school in the fall and for work in the summer. Monkey doesn't know this.....I think I'll keep it as a surprise....

6. The hubs and I are looking for jobs in the area...and we hopefully got some great leads this morning. Praying that they pan out in the time frame we need them too. We know God isn't pacing the floors of Heaven, so we will try not to wear a path in our living room carpet either. In His time.....In His time.....(I'm currently chanting this)

7. I normally don't end on odd numbers, but I can't think of anything else that I need to say right now. I need to get packed to head towards the in-laws for the evening and get the dogs bag packed. I need to switch laundry out and keep working towards getting re-packed to head back to work. Millions of little things to do and not enough time! Maybe there will be a better post later tonight?