I started on a journey 3 weeks ago that I didn't and still don't know where I am going and where God is taking me. She Lives Out Loud has been a time on Tuesday nights that has been a saving grace, time of reflection, and a time to renew. It is amazing how much God loves this girl that can't seem to keep it together, that runs the other way when things get hard, who asks more from him than I could ever repay, and who on a daily basis finds little time, if any, to fit Him in. In spite of that, he has still blessed me beyond measure.
I think the most amazing thing about my God story and my life journey are the people that He has put into my life. For most of my life there has always been someone there to stand in the gaps. Women and men that have served as a parents, mentors, friends, protectors, confidants, teachers, and much more. No matter where I have turned or which path I have taken, there has always been someone there to help, fix, listen, and take care of me. I truly believe these people are from God.
My life story is nothing more than a turbulent first few years, middle is filled with love, hope, and being spoiled, and the end as of now is more being spoiled and being blessed beyond my wildest dreams. In my story, however, are God's finger prints everywhere, in the form of love from others. People that simply have blessed me because they love me where am in life. They don't care who I am, where I am from, or how crazy I am in all my glory. People love me for me, no matter the me that I am at the time.
Amazing people like Geoff, my Mom, Dad, Aunt Helen, Uncle Blaine, Alex, Aaron, Aunt Patsy, Uncle Henry, Erin, Erin, Aaron, Granny Reichert, Papa Reichert, Grandma Irene, Papa B, Uncle Johnny, Aunt Francis, Jimmy and Sandy Schimmel, Neely Schimmel, Dane Schimmel, Grandpa Schimmel, Grandma Schimmel, the House family, Elaine -Natalie-Ryan Bates, Darlene Taylor, the Jordan family, Lisa Willis, Christy Lynch-Burcham and her wonderful mom, Lookeba MBC, Hinton MBC, Oakdale MBC, Bethel Baptist Church, Cedar Hills Youth Camp, Mrs. Tucker, Mrs. Summers, Mrs. McGregor, Pete and Sharleen Rathmell, LaDonna Ball, Grace Point Church, my workout group, Waltina Hannah, and so many others that I could fill up pages and pages and pages of names, but I won't. I won't because some of them don't have names, some of them don't even have faces, and some of them I have long since forgotten - but God hasn't. All of these people are God's fingerprints. God's way of showing himself to me on earth. Sure I have had "God moments" where I knew only because of him am I still here, but it is the moments that aren't as significant that take my breath away.
Thank you to all of you that have taken my breath away and continue to take my breath away on a daily basis. God's love that has been shown through you is nothing less than a Heavenly treasure here on earth. I truly don't deserve God's love but He gives it freely because he loves me in ways I cannot yet comprehend. I stand on Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 on a daily basis and truly believe that "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." I also believe that everyone has a purpose in those seasons. I may not always understand why people come in or go out of my life but I know that God knows. Every single person's fingerprint on my life is amazing, cherished, and blessed.
My prayer for each of you is simple. Dear Lord, please bless all those who have blessed me until their cup runs over. Thank you for always filling the gaps and for leaving your fingerprints of love all over my life. Amen.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Big Girl...Stick With Your Dancing Doctor Idea
Big Girl and Little Lady decided to play barber shop yesterday....Little Lady's hair lost.
Yesterday afternoon started off like any other. I picked Big Girl up from school, came home, did snack, watched 30 minutes of TV, and then told them they had to go play for a little bit while I tried to pick up (ha!). I went to check on them a couple of times and they were playing really well...or so I thought. After I had checked on them, I came in, sat down for a minute and flipped on the TV for some reason. A few minutes later Little Lady comes out and says "Emma has scissors." OK. Wait. What? Wait. What has happened to your hair? What the? BIG GIRL!!!! WHAT DID YOU DO?!?! GET IN TIME OUT RIGHT NOW!!!! WHAT THE? WHAT THE? WHAT DID YOU DO? WHAT DID YOU DO? WHAT DID YOU DO? WHY DID YOU DO THIS? Big Girl simply says "Sisters hair was too long. She needed a hair cut." At this point I am crying historically (yes...historically) and trying to figure out the what, why, and where this hair cutting has happened.
I call Big Grasshopper and leave the following message crying....bawling......OK....snot coming out my nose, tears dripping on my clothes crying.....BIG GIRL JUST CUT LITTLE LADIES HAIR!!!!! CRYING...and I hang up. I bet that is a great message.....yup....classic Kristin message.
I then call my WONDERFUL hair goddess person and beg her to help me. She takes me in laughing and fixes Madison's hair.
I know most kids do this and it is a right of passage, but to say that we have talked about not cutting hair is an under statement. Every time we have out scissors (which will be never, ever, not until they are 35 will they get to use another pair of scissors in this house) I talk to them about only cutting paper, and only cutting things we need to cut. We never, ever, under any circumstance think we need to cut clothing, Barbie hair, or someone's hair, including our own. (Think all my talking has really paid off...don't ya think?)
My verdict at the end of the day is Big Girl should stick to her dancing doctor idea of what she wants to be....and it is just hair....it grows back....right?
Yesterday afternoon started off like any other. I picked Big Girl up from school, came home, did snack, watched 30 minutes of TV, and then told them they had to go play for a little bit while I tried to pick up (ha!). I went to check on them a couple of times and they were playing really well...or so I thought. After I had checked on them, I came in, sat down for a minute and flipped on the TV for some reason. A few minutes later Little Lady comes out and says "Emma has scissors." OK. Wait. What? Wait. What has happened to your hair? What the? BIG GIRL!!!! WHAT DID YOU DO?!?! GET IN TIME OUT RIGHT NOW!!!! WHAT THE? WHAT THE? WHAT DID YOU DO? WHAT DID YOU DO? WHAT DID YOU DO? WHY DID YOU DO THIS? Big Girl simply says "Sisters hair was too long. She needed a hair cut." At this point I am crying historically (yes...historically) and trying to figure out the what, why, and where this hair cutting has happened.
I call Big Grasshopper and leave the following message crying....bawling......OK....snot coming out my nose, tears dripping on my clothes crying.....BIG GIRL JUST CUT LITTLE LADIES HAIR!!!!! CRYING...and I hang up. I bet that is a great message.....yup....classic Kristin message.
I then call my WONDERFUL hair goddess person and beg her to help me. She takes me in laughing and fixes Madison's hair.
I know most kids do this and it is a right of passage, but to say that we have talked about not cutting hair is an under statement. Every time we have out scissors (which will be never, ever, not until they are 35 will they get to use another pair of scissors in this house) I talk to them about only cutting paper, and only cutting things we need to cut. We never, ever, under any circumstance think we need to cut clothing, Barbie hair, or someone's hair, including our own. (Think all my talking has really paid off...don't ya think?)
My verdict at the end of the day is Big Girl should stick to her dancing doctor idea of what she wants to be....and it is just hair....it grows back....right?
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Tomorrow, Tomorrow, Your Only A Day Away.....
Tomorrow...sweet tomorrow....
The day Emma was born was so special. For one it meant that my body would quit having high blood pressure and I could go back to feeling somewhat normal and two it meant I would finally get to see this bundle of joy that I had waited on for the last 9 months. After she was cleaned up, everyone got a good look at her, and I was all alone for a few minutes with this little person it hit me....I would never be able to completely protect her again.
I know that she isn't going off to college and I am not sending her away to a deserted island but tomorrow is one more thing I can't completely protect her from. I can't choose her friends, can't make people be nice, can't always help her make the best choice, and I will not be there every second to know that she is OK. I can't protect her.
So for me....tomorrow is just a day away....but if today slows down to a crawl....that will be just fine for me...because today I can protect her and know that she is OK.
The day Emma was born was so special. For one it meant that my body would quit having high blood pressure and I could go back to feeling somewhat normal and two it meant I would finally get to see this bundle of joy that I had waited on for the last 9 months. After she was cleaned up, everyone got a good look at her, and I was all alone for a few minutes with this little person it hit me....I would never be able to completely protect her again.
I know that she isn't going off to college and I am not sending her away to a deserted island but tomorrow is one more thing I can't completely protect her from. I can't choose her friends, can't make people be nice, can't always help her make the best choice, and I will not be there every second to know that she is OK. I can't protect her.
So for me....tomorrow is just a day away....but if today slows down to a crawl....that will be just fine for me...because today I can protect her and know that she is OK.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Things Never Said About Having Children
There are unwritten and unspoken things about having children. Things that if a people who do not have children learned before having kids themselves would maybe make them rethink having the beauties in the first place. Why are these things unspoken? 1. We who have children want others to be in misery with us so we don't tell them the REAL horrors. 2. You sign a waiver (in the hospital while drugged up) saying you will never, ever, under any real circumstance tell any childless couple what life is really like after you take home that precious little bundle of joy. OK...well maybe you don't sign a waiver but I do think there is an unwritten code that some things just aren't talked about. 3. We who have children want to laugh at people who don't have children when they actually do. Most people who don't have children have a preconceived notion that they can parent better than we can or that they would do things different. What normally happens is they turn out to be average parents just like us and do crazy things just like us and so then we get to laugh at all their "if I was a parent" theories. So what are the the things unspoken or things you have to sign a waiver to never ever tell a childless parent?
1. You will NEVER, EVER, EVER sleep a whole night the same way you did before you had your bundle of joy. The first 6-12 weeks are the most sleep deprived time but even after you think you should go back to peacefully sleeping through the night you don't. You get up to see if they are breathing. You hear every cough. You hear if they roll over. You hear if they go to the bathroom. You hear EVERYTHING. You also STILL have to get up. They get sick. They throw up. They have to go to the bathroom. They want to play with their dolls or cars at 3 in the morning. Sleeping is NEVER the same.....EVER....
2. The amount of poop one child can have on any given day is so massively unproportional to how big they actually are. It is ridiculous! You think they should have tiny little poops and that it should only happen 1-2 times a day. Nope. Some days I have wondered how on earth that much poop can come from such a small child. When the girls were babies they seemed to be poop factories....OK...and so they were poop factories....but I would absolutely be amazed at how much poop would come out of them at any given time...and just when I thought they were done....oh no...they would poop...AGAIN!!!
3. Throwing up. Not spit up...Throw up....on you, around you, in your mouth, in your hair, on your clothes, on your new leather sofa, on the carpet, in the bed, anywhere but in the toilet. It happens. It still happens and Big Girl and Little Lady are 5 and 3. Neither of them can seem to find a toilet when it needs to be done and the mom instinct is just to let them to puke on you. Yup.....pleasant....I know.
4. Vacations are for.......SLEEPING!!! Yes...you will just want to sleep! I know...you think you are going to want to do all the usual things when you go on vacation without the little beauties for the first time like drinking, having sex, partying it up, etc. Nope...After Big Girl was born we had our 4th anniversary. We decided to go up to Branson for one night. We dropped her off with Nana and away we went. I thought we would have a great time. We would eat out, get some rest, have sex which we haven't had since she was born because we were so tired (see #1 if you don't remember the lack of sleep part) and just really do some fun things. We got to Branson, checked in to the hotel and decided to nap....for 4, FOUR, 4 hours! We got up go eat, see the show we had bought tickets for, and then went to the hotel back and fell promptly to sleep....AGAIN! The next morning at 9:30 we wake up to remember that check out at this hotel is at 11. Oh yes we did have some fun in between the sleeping...but there was JUST SLEEPING happening.
5. Most parents will tell you that sex will become way over rated...because it NEVER happens. Being sleep deprived and smelling like poop or throw up or both at the same time is not the picture of attractive. If it does happen it is short, sweat, and hurried. Long gone will be the days of pretty night gowns and candles. Long gone are the days that the acts of lust could take forever and no one would care. In are the days of someone screaming at the door that some cartoon is over, their sister won't share, or that they need milk. In are also the days were you say "hurry...you have 5 minutes make them count....do you really think they are asleep?....etc." Yup...romantic don't you think?
6. Children are dirty and gross little creatures. They are always getting into things. They are always putting things in their little mouths that they shouldn't...like dog poop, rocks, coins, crayons, play do, etc. I don't think I have gone a day in over 5 years where I haven't been utterly disgusted by something one of my children has done. They are always showing me things I would rather not see, doing things I wish they wouldn't do, and putting things in places...well...we won't go there.
These are 6 of the more obvious things to list. I could write 94 more to round out to an even hundred but I can't. Remember...I signed an oath. But I will tell you this if you are still reading. I wouldn't change a thing. For all the sleep I have lost and for everything else that has happened, I wouldn't change a thing. I would actually go back if I could and do it all again. I long for the nights were I had 3 am feedings so I can hold Big Girl again and have her stare up at me with her big brown eyes or for mornings where I could escape for a few moments to have some quiet nursing time with Little Lady. They grow up so fast and as I look back over the last 5 years I laugh and cry. There really are crazy things that happen that no one tells you about....but I wouldn't change a thing.
1. You will NEVER, EVER, EVER sleep a whole night the same way you did before you had your bundle of joy. The first 6-12 weeks are the most sleep deprived time but even after you think you should go back to peacefully sleeping through the night you don't. You get up to see if they are breathing. You hear every cough. You hear if they roll over. You hear if they go to the bathroom. You hear EVERYTHING. You also STILL have to get up. They get sick. They throw up. They have to go to the bathroom. They want to play with their dolls or cars at 3 in the morning. Sleeping is NEVER the same.....EVER....
2. The amount of poop one child can have on any given day is so massively unproportional to how big they actually are. It is ridiculous! You think they should have tiny little poops and that it should only happen 1-2 times a day. Nope. Some days I have wondered how on earth that much poop can come from such a small child. When the girls were babies they seemed to be poop factories....OK...and so they were poop factories....but I would absolutely be amazed at how much poop would come out of them at any given time...and just when I thought they were done....oh no...they would poop...AGAIN!!!
3. Throwing up. Not spit up...Throw up....on you, around you, in your mouth, in your hair, on your clothes, on your new leather sofa, on the carpet, in the bed, anywhere but in the toilet. It happens. It still happens and Big Girl and Little Lady are 5 and 3. Neither of them can seem to find a toilet when it needs to be done and the mom instinct is just to let them to puke on you. Yup.....pleasant....I know.
4. Vacations are for.......SLEEPING!!! Yes...you will just want to sleep! I know...you think you are going to want to do all the usual things when you go on vacation without the little beauties for the first time like drinking, having sex, partying it up, etc. Nope...After Big Girl was born we had our 4th anniversary. We decided to go up to Branson for one night. We dropped her off with Nana and away we went. I thought we would have a great time. We would eat out, get some rest, have sex which we haven't had since she was born because we were so tired (see #1 if you don't remember the lack of sleep part) and just really do some fun things. We got to Branson, checked in to the hotel and decided to nap....for 4, FOUR, 4 hours! We got up go eat, see the show we had bought tickets for, and then went to the hotel back and fell promptly to sleep....AGAIN! The next morning at 9:30 we wake up to remember that check out at this hotel is at 11. Oh yes we did have some fun in between the sleeping...but there was JUST SLEEPING happening.
5. Most parents will tell you that sex will become way over rated...because it NEVER happens. Being sleep deprived and smelling like poop or throw up or both at the same time is not the picture of attractive. If it does happen it is short, sweat, and hurried. Long gone will be the days of pretty night gowns and candles. Long gone are the days that the acts of lust could take forever and no one would care. In are the days of someone screaming at the door that some cartoon is over, their sister won't share, or that they need milk. In are also the days were you say "hurry...you have 5 minutes make them count....do you really think they are asleep?....etc." Yup...romantic don't you think?
6. Children are dirty and gross little creatures. They are always getting into things. They are always putting things in their little mouths that they shouldn't...like dog poop, rocks, coins, crayons, play do, etc. I don't think I have gone a day in over 5 years where I haven't been utterly disgusted by something one of my children has done. They are always showing me things I would rather not see, doing things I wish they wouldn't do, and putting things in places...well...we won't go there.
These are 6 of the more obvious things to list. I could write 94 more to round out to an even hundred but I can't. Remember...I signed an oath. But I will tell you this if you are still reading. I wouldn't change a thing. For all the sleep I have lost and for everything else that has happened, I wouldn't change a thing. I would actually go back if I could and do it all again. I long for the nights were I had 3 am feedings so I can hold Big Girl again and have her stare up at me with her big brown eyes or for mornings where I could escape for a few moments to have some quiet nursing time with Little Lady. They grow up so fast and as I look back over the last 5 years I laugh and cry. There really are crazy things that happen that no one tells you about....but I wouldn't change a thing.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Adventure Point Camp 2010 - Grace Point Church
As a PK I have been to my fair share of church camps and vacation Bible schools. Never have I had this much fun or been so warn out. It is a true pleasure to be a small part of a big church doing huge things for NWA and the world!!
Friday, May 28, 2010
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