Well, I went away for a weekend, leaving my boys and girl for the first time, and everyone survived! I guess that means I can take getaways more often. <grin> Just kidding. I wouldn’t be able to survive as I would die of homesickness. The picture of Matt & Brennan standing out front waving me goodbye with Molly’s eyes glued to my disappearing car was enough to slay me. They were in the same position when I got home, and boy, was I beaming. They were, too. Kudos to Matt for holding down the fort excellently, even with a sick baby (who’s only gotten worse with a fever and off-the-charts crankiness). The one upside of a sick baby is that he loves to snuggle. After his morning bottle, he stayed in my arms for an hour and a half, fading in and out, a wretched cough being the culprit of his restlessness.
Where was I? Houston. For what? A celebration. What was I celebrating? Faithfully memorizing 24 verses throughout 2009 with the Living Proof Live blog community. And what a sweet celebration it was!
After feeling like we’d been going non-stop since Christmas, we made the decision that it would be nice for me to go to Houston by myself. Since I’m an introvert, that works well, being that it’s a key way I rejuvenate. And from the moment I got in the car to head south, to the time I drove back in our driveway at home, the Lord was clearly with me and blessing the weekend every step of the way! I was able to meet up with a friend, Lydia, who was in a discipleship group of mine from a few years ago. We ate lunch at Té on Friday and enjoyed some hot tea, even though it was 78 degrees outside. All the ladies who flew to Texas from the north, LOVED the warm weather. I, on the other hand, am praying for a reversal of the warming trend we’re experiencing. My daffodils should not be sprouting yet! The hotel I stayed at even let me have the special group rate, even though when I’d made the reservation they’d given all the special rate rooms away! On Saturday afternoon, I was also able to catch up with my cousin, Nicole, and her hubby, which was a sweet treat as well. Aside from my first and (prayerfully) last time driving on the wrong side of the street towards oncoming cars, which was one of the worst feelings ever, I navigated through Houston pretty well.
I was ecstatic to have time to do fun things I don’t normally have the free-time to do: reading, tweeting, getting caught up on a scrapbook project of sorts. You’d think sleep would have been something I’d taken advantage of catching up on, but nope, I tried to get as much accomplished in my time alone as I could. The Siesta Scripture Memory Team celebration started Friday night and lasted until Saturday at noon. It was incredibly special from the get-go! The LPM staff loved on us so well with all that they planned. I was able to meet some special bloggers, like Amanda, whom I’ve wanted to meet for a long time, and it was such a gift to me to meet her! Then nearly en-route to Houston, I found out that Big Mama and Marla Taviano were going to be there as well. Bonus! Granted, I probably came across as a psycho wanting to hang out with the three of them as much as I could and of course, I’m the type of person who gets all nervous when I meet people I respect and admire. It’s rather a nuisance, because I feel all unnatural and like a stalker. So who knows what they think of me. But I think all of them are super, incredibly gracious and warm, and I still have a dream to get to know them better. That might just be possible if I don’t come across as psycho. <grin> Or should it be <muahahaha>? I loved getting to meet several sweet ladies whom I talked to in the taco line or who welcomed me to sit next to them since I was by myself. My Scripture memory buddies, Brennan and Miss Molly, weren’t with me this weekend, but they were sure a part of the journey of feasting on those 24 verses as we’d work on them on our afternoon walks. Instead, a nice lady, Deborah, let me share my verses with her. It was such a great group of “siestas”, and it was an honor to be there!
If you want a run down of the weekend in detail, I highly recommend you read Amanda’s post here on the LPM blog. It gives a fun overview of the events. There are a number of things about the weekend that I am savoring and treasuring in my heart. Most of all, it was a weekend to celebrate the culmination of how the Lord has shown me His faithfulness and goodness to me over the past year, particularly as He’s helped me be a momma. Beth Moore was right when she said that if anyone got a hold of our spirals with all the verses we’ve worked on, someone would have clear insight into what we’d walked through, wrestled over, and rejoiced in all year long. I leave you with the very first verse of 2009 that I memorized, and one I deeply held onto all year long:
And He will be the stability of your times, a wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge. The fear of the Lord is his treasure.
Isaiah 33:6 (NASB)
Oh, and how could I resist not leaving you with a couple of my favorite pictures of my boys from the weekend (they had a blast together!)?
Here are my boys helping me practice my verses on Friday morning before I left (Matt still has sleepy eyes). <grin>
And then there’s this character:
I tell you what, while the weekend away in all regards was sweet, there is nothing sweeter than being back with my boys!
