A basketball fool? Not so much...

Is it normal that my child, during his very first basketball game, tapped his coach on the leg (she's pretty tall) and told her "I'm tired! Can I lay down on the sidelines?"

Probably not the most effective way to get on the coach's good side...

Words I needed to hear...

Gabe and I have been taking a new class at our church that revolves around the book "The Smart Stepfamily" by Ron L. Deal on Wednesday evenings.

I have really struggled with coming to terms with being a "divorced" woman. It's embarrassing, it is heart-wrenching, and it is just plain hard to handle. Anyone who thinks it's been no big deal to me is dead wrong. Many have talked about me, confronted me with how they feel, and condemned me for preceding with the divorce.

As I was reading our lesson for this week from our smart stepfamilies book, I came across this paragraph and wanted to share. There might be someone out there in blog world that needs to hear this...or maybe I just need to hear it myself and see it written down in order to start healing my heart.

"The answer to the question 'How does God feel about me and my less-than-perfect family situation?' is this: God loves and forgives the imperfect people in stepfamilies the same way he loves and forgives the imperfect people in biological families. Furthermore, people in stepfamilies are not 'second-rate Christians,' simply because there is no such thing as a 'first-rate Christian.' We're all sinners and all less than perfect. All our families are less than ideal. And we all need a Savior." - p. 58 in "The Smart Stepfamily" by Ron L. Deal

Basketball

My little man is playing basketball! He had his third basketball practice today and is getting much better:) After practice I was telling him that he did a great job playing defense (had his arms up and guarded his man) and he said "Mom, did I play as good as that Jordan guy?" I was trying to think if there was a little boy named Jordan on his team when he said "You know, Mom, the guy on my shoes!" Ohhhhh....he meant Michael Jordan:)! Here is a short video from his 2nd practice:

Art...

When I saw this today on another blog, it INSPIRED me. To put my story out there...to create...to be myself even when everyone else laughs. I want to dedicate this post to my precious Susie - who we miss more than words can express and think about everytime we see the bright colors in this world. You were my one and only art teacher...my babysitter...my mom's best friend...and a beautiful, beautiful angel to us all.





Love you, Sus!

Sneak peek...

A few days ago in the freezing temperatures and snow-covered ground,

I photographed a super-cute couple:) I just HAD to put a little sneak peek on

here for Alyssa, cause I know she is impatiently waiting for the edited photos...

I've edited several more, but wanted them to be a surprise -

hope you like them, Alyssa!!

Exercise

We are on Snow Day #2 (which coincidentally followed very close behind Christmas vacation) and Max and I are getting a little stir crazy. Ok - I'm not really, I could stay home in my PJ's everyday for the rest of my life and not be bored. But my active 4 yr. old little man has a tad bit too much energy to just sit and relax like I do:)

We've resorted to exercise. Ok - maybe not so much me, but Max and Uncle Clay have. Here is my little man demonstrating his outstanding form while doing push-ups. His mother on the other hand, literally CAN NOT do even 1. No joke. But sssshhhhh...don't tell anyone:)

Finding peace...

The last few weeks I have struggled with finding peace in my life.

Have you ever had that feeling? Just an uneasy...detached...hard-to-explain feeling? I'm not sure what is going on, but I do know that God is giving me this feeling for a reason. I'm in the process of soul-searching, Bible studying, deep listening, and heart following...

and it's not easy for me to be vulnerable and throw all this out there into "blog world"...

I'm just hoping you guys will cover me in prayer and help me find my way. Wait...not my way, but HIS. Thanks guys, I knew you would understand:)