Lessons from Barbie

When I was little I had a hot pink and bright yellow Barbie doll car. It was big enough to fit two Barbies and lots of their stuff. It even had a real FM radio in the trunk that could actually play the radio! My friends would want to play Barbie's at my house just so they could play with that car.

As I grew older, I always said I was going to save that car for my daughter to play with one day. It was a treasure from my childhood that I wanted to pass on. There were many years between me playing Barbie's and my future child playing with it; in the meantime, it sat on a shelf in my bedroom collecting dust. My sisters would see it and their little eyes would light up. They would ask me to play with it, but there was no way I was going to risk something happening to that car! No way. I'd rather it sit on the shelf covered in dust than risk them breaking off a headlight.

Finally, and I do mean finally, the time came that I had a daughter and that she was old enough to play with it. She thought it was really neat, but she wasn't into Barbies like I had been. It got some use out of it, all the while I'd be shouting, "Remember, that used to be Mommy's and I saved it just for you. You have to take care of it!" Yeah, what was I thinking?

A few months ago, while Randol was at the beach with Wesley's family, I cleaned out her room. Sitting in her closet, taking up almost a whole shelf, sat my old hot pink and bright yellow Barbie car, once again collecting dust as it had for so long at my parents house. I contemplated what to do with it. It certainly didn't need to be taking up so much room in my daughter's closet when she never plays with it anymore. I thought about giving it away, but I just couldn't bring myself to do that. I thought about sticking it in the garage or the shed with all the other overflow of stuff we have. I couldn't, in that moment decide what to do with it, so I did what I always do, I stuck it on the desk in my room-to collect dust and stare at me until I decided its fate.

A few days later, Foster spotted it and got so excited. He grabbed my hand, dragged me into my room to show me and said, "Look! It's a big car, Mama!" I had two choices; I could hide it (in the garage of course) and not risk it getting damaged or I could relinquish this silly car and give it to my son, knowing all the headlights and the bumper and everything else WILL fall off of it. Much to his excitement, I handed him the car.

About a week later, my mother was at my house. She laughed when she saw my sons pushing my hot pink Barbie car down the hallway with Batman sitting in the drivers seat. She said, "I can't believe you are letting them play with that car!" She knew just what a prized possession it had been to me. It was then that I realized just how much it hadn't bothered me when the headlight and the bumper fell off, as it crashed into a big blue dump truck. I was just so happy to see someone playing with it. It's funny how all those years I'd been saving it unknowingly for my future sons-not my daughters, to play with!

I am so glad that my boys are able to enjoy that car, but they have plenty of cars to enjoy already. It would not have been a big deal if they would've missed out on playing with the bright yellow Barbie limo. I have thought about how much fun my sisters could have had with that car, or if I had given it away to a needy child who didn't have any fun toys to play with. They might have even passed it on to some other child by now. So many more people could have enjoyed that silly car, if I hadn't chosen to be selfish and let it collect dust for so long.

It is so easy to forget that all that we have, is not really ours at all. The house we live in and the cars we drive, are all God's provision for us. One day, we will be accountable for what we've done with God's stuff! Jesus tells a parable about a wealthy man who decides to build a bigger barn and store all of his grain and possessions for himself. He decides to sit around and do nothing, since he has so much stored up for the years to come. God calls him a fool and the man dies before he is able to enjoy the abundance of his wealth. Jesus warns, "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." (Luke 12:13-21).

Sometimes I have to reevaluate my life and see, just what have I put on the shelf to collect dust because I don't want to risk something happening to it. What have I claimed as "Mine" and not God's? Is there anything He wants me to use to further His kingdom that I am selfishly holding back? It could be giving up a few hours a week to teach Sunday school. It might be holding off to buy that new appliance so that you can sponsor a youth to go on a mission trip. It could be something as simple as driving across town to bring a meal to someone. It might be a talent you have that you are either using for the wrong reasons or have just abandoned it for a long while. What does God want you to do with what He has given you? Look around and see just how good God is. Don't spend your life looking at what others have or hording what you do have, for yourself. Give, just as He has given to you.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.

And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need

but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue

but with actions and in truth.

1 John 3:16-18

I ♥ Faces: Silhouettes

This week the theme at I ♥ Faces is Silhouettes. This is not hard to do, if you have a bright light source like the sun to help. Unfortunately, it seems that the past week or so has been pretty rainy and dreary down in Georgia. I took a few silhouettes at the horse farm and thought I had my picture for this week...that was until Wesley asked if I'd want to take the kids to feed the ducks at the park. My mom and I are suckers for back pictures and I took quite a few of the kids lined up along the lake feeding the ducks. This picture was my favorite and what would you know-it also happens to be a silhouette! I know it probably looks like Will is my favorite child since it's once again a picture of him; he just happens to be my one active child that will let me take his picture, thus I have more shots of him than the others :) There are no favorites in this house :)

Head on over to http://www.iheartfaces.com/ to check out all the other neat silhouette pictures! Sit back and be inspired!

Wordless Wednesday: My Sweet Randol

I ♥ Faces: Put Your Best Face Forward!

Amateur Category

My friend Shannon is an avid photographer who always enters into the I ♥ Faces contest every week. I have been following this web site for a while now because of her (Thank you Shannon!) and I always think about what picture I would enter. Every week there is a new theme to center your photograph around. I have already learned so much from I ♥ Faces by going to different photographers web sites and seeing what they do and how they do it. Many of you know that the Canon 40D that I got for Christmas has truly changed my life :) I know that sounds silly, but it is so true! I have fallen in love, more than I ever thought I could, with taking pictures. Now don't get me wrong, I've always loved taking pictures, from the first time I got my hands on a little S-10 camera in junior high school, but having an SLR camera is a whole different world! I grew up in a family where we'd joke that we should all have stock in Kodak because they'd never go out of business as long as the Graydon Gals were around! That was back when Kodak was the only name in film. My family has always, always had at least three or four cameras clicking at any given family occasion!

Anyway...I finally decided to quit sitting on the bench and actually enter the contest. This week the theme at I ♥ Faces is, what would you know...faces! To make it even sweeter, they are giving away a free Blurb Book as well as making a book of all the best submissions from this week! I had a hard time deciding which "face" picture I wanted to submit. I finally decided that in honor of my son Will's second birthday, I would post a picture of him and his sweet brown eyes that I love so much!

I'd love to hear what you think! Don't forget to head on over to http://www.iheartfaces.com/ to check out all the other beautiful faces this week! And for those of you who love to take pictures like I do, take the plunge and submit your own photo!

I am submitting this photo into the www.iheartfaces.com Blurb book photo contest. If chosen, I grant I ♥ Faces permission to use my photo in a printed version of a book for commercial use and possibly advertising of a photo book on both the Blurb and I ♥ Faces web sites.

The Ramblings of a Mom

Last week I thought a lot about Mother's Day. My husband must have asked me twenty times what I wanted for Mother's Day. I have to admit that I never really thought about it, nor did I know. I was so consumed with what to do for my own mother and my mother-in-law that I forgot, I'm a mother too. I have never really looked at that holiday as a day to celebrate me, but as a day to give back to the women who have taught me so much about what it means to be a mom.

Recently, people have asked how it feels to be a mother of four. Whenever folks say that, it kind of throws me. A mother of four. That sounds like a lot of kids! (That's always my first thought!) How can that be? Am I really the mother of four? I have friends who have five, six and seven children and I'm sure they laugh at my comments! I guess I never thought I'd be fortunate enough to have four children. I am blessed beyond measure in ways I never would have expected. I often ask God if He's sure I am up to the task. Can I raise these children in the manner He wants, to be who He wants them to be? Oh I hope so, I really do. If there is a "job" I pray I am successful at, it's raising children.

Another realization I've had is that Randol may be our only daughter. All those times I got frustrated putting clothes on her baby dolls or Barbies; all the times she'd play dress up and have tea parties with her babies; it never occurred to me that I may never have the opportunity to do that again and I took it all for granted. I always assumed I'd have three daughters. I don't know why I always thought that, maybe it's because my mom had three girls. As we approach the beginning of her "tween" years and all that comes with puberty and adolescent, female hormones, I hope I can remember to not take it for granted, to enjoy every moment of having a daughter because for better or worse, it might be my only opportunity.

God has also taught me just how much fun little boys can be. I was scared to death when they first said, "It's a boy!" when Foster was born. I can remember telling God,"A boy? I don't know what to do with a boy, Lord!" I'm sure He just chuckled at me, knowing I would have much more than just one son! Now, I am so glad that He has given me sons. What a joy they are! It is such a huge responsibility to think of raising men, raising Heads of Households to be Godly husbands and fathers. I worry about someone not cherishing Randol and not taking advantage of her-especially knowing she could be dating boys within the next ten years. With my boys, I am raising them to have the characteristics and morals that I want Randol's future spouse to have. I never realized from a mothers perspective, how different it is, raising daughters and sons! Oh, what a responsibility parenting is!

Life has been interesting these past five weeks. I was so worried about what it would be like having a newborn around, that it never occurred to me that I should have been more worried over having a two and three year old in the house at one time. My newborn-he's a piece of cake compared to them! I remember when Randol was two and I never thought it would end, only to have people tell me that three's were worse than the terrible two's. I remember the day I could hear their comments echo in my mind as I realized they were so right. Now I have both in my house at once. I have had moments where I didn't think they'd live until their father came home from work. I've had moments where all three boys are crying, wanting only me and then Randol stubs her toe and adds to the tears herself. I've walked in on Will yanking Sam's ears as hard as he can or shouting, "Eye!" as he pokes him in the eye. I've walked into the living room, to see Foster running across the room, jumping over Sam, only to hit him with his foot as he jumped over him. There have been many times I've had to swallow my own tears from being so frustrated and exhausted myself. I have entered into my "Fog Years" as my mother calls it. These are the years I will not really remember. At times I jokingly think that might be a good thing :)

Not long ago I read something that asked "What is it about your life that will be different in five years?" Then it followed up with asking, "In five years, what will you miss from your life today?" That really got my mind going. In five short years I'll have a 15 year old daughter, and 8, 7 and 5 year old sons. A huge difference from my 10 year old daughter and 3, 2 and newborn sons! So what will I miss from today?

I'll miss Randol wanting to hang out with me and the way she says, "Mom, will there be time to snuggle tonight?"I'll miss the way she plays with her brothers, getting on the ground at their level. I'll miss the way Foster insists on giving me a kiss on my cheek before going to bed. I'll even miss the way he pesters me to do laundry so he can watch the washer. I'll miss Will's hugs that are always followed by a huge squeeze. I'll miss the way he says, "I hold you"and "I go you" whenever I leave to go to the store. I'll miss Sam's newborn smell and the times I can just sit and hold him in all his sweetness. I'll miss the joy I feel watching him smile up at me and hold my huge hand in his. I'll miss the preciousness that comes with a newborn.

It would be easy to miss all of these things, but what about all the crying and the dirty diapers and the sleepless nights? If I really think about it, I'm sure I'll miss those too. All of that is apart of my life, it is who I am and apart of God's purpose for my life, in raising children. I am right where God wants me to be and to wish my life was different would be cheating myself of all the blessings God has for me, in THIS time, in THIS moment. Life changes so fast. We are here one day and gone the next. I don't have time to waste, being frustrated or upset over silly things.

Before I know it, my children will be grown and God willing, I'll be watching my grandchildren play. I don't have one conversation with my daughter, one hug or kiss from my sons that I can afford to take for granted. Everyday and every moment is a gift from above.

What will you look back on in five years and miss? What is God desperately trying to show you today? In the midst of the stresses of life, He is telling you something. Are you listening? Have you figured out what His purpose is for your life right now, in this time? Don't take today for granted, for you don't know how many days you have left, to enjoy the life you have.

A man can do nothing better than to eat, drink and find satisfaction in his work.

This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him,

who can eat or find enjoyment?

To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom,

knowledge and happiness,

but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering

and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God...

Ecclesiastes 2:24-26a

Wordless Wednesday