Weekend Life

The Lord has been so gentle and faithful to us as we have moved across the country, begun a new job, and entered into a new community. I cannot wait to tell more of those specific details and how He has met us and given to us beyond all our hopes.

But first, let me begin with this past weekend.  An example of how gentle He is?  We came to this unit, the 75th Ranger Regiment ready for anything, but most certainly ready to jump in head first and begin with a crazy schedule right from the start.  Well, we have indeed started in the Regiment, but it has been such an "easing into it" sort of start, for which we are incredibly thankful!  Our new home is about 3 miles away from base, which means that Daniel has come home for both breakfast and lunch these past two weeks.  How wonderful!  From a schedule in Olympia where he left at 5, way before we woke up, to coming home around 6 or 7. . . being able to see him in the morning and then just a few hours later for lunch is the most amazing thing for us and makes the days seem so short.  We have had short weeks as well with this past weekend having been a four day weekend and this upcoming one being a three day weekend.  We couldn't be more grateful for this slow way to begin.

The four days of the weekend were full and I just wanted to share a few quick moments; moments that made us laugh, and moments that made us cry with thankfulness, and moments of pure joy.

So.  We live in the South now.  And that means bugs.  Big bugs.  Like 4 inch Palmetto bugs.  It was Friday nap time and Tirzah and I were just tucking her in when I happened to look up at those lovely curtains Yoyo and I had made for her three years ago.  There,  beside one of the Yoyos was that very thing.  The biggest palmetto bug I have ever seen!  4 inches of gross brown body and about another two inches of wiggling, gross antennas (ok, maybe not THAT big... but it was big).  I squealed and so of course my daughter looks over to see it and jumps out of bed in an instant.  I calmly went to the kitchen to grab a ball jar (my favorite all-purpose love) and top and went hunting for that bug.  My first attempt sent me squealing and wiggling all over the place, sent Tirzah hiding behind her bed, and sent the bug crawling ever quicker up to the top of the curtains.  I looked at Tirzah curled up in the corner and realized I was the adult, I was the one who HAD to get that bug or else she would definitely not be taking a nap that day.  So, second attempt, got him right in the ball jar and threw him to the chickens (Yes!  We have chickens... 4 of them!!), and my what excitement ensued from that!  The chickens fought over him and chased each other all around their coop until finally in all the effort, the bug was simply lost.  I have never had a chicken look at me like that before: Henrietta with her head cocked to the side in question: "don't you have another?"  Ever since then, the chickens expect a palmetto bug each and every time we open the coop door.
. . .  Moments of laughter.

Here are some pictures of Greg and Daniel building the coop!

Another moment to share.  Daniel and I were out at the fire pit on Sunday night, sipping sangria and loving the night air, waiting for Tirzah to come out and join us (Thad had already been put to bed).  It seemed to be taking her quite some time to come out and I heard a very large crash but was not sure if it was from our house or from somewhere else.  But I told Daniel I was going in just to check on her.  As I walked to the back door I could hear the pitter patter of her feet running through the house as she met me at the back door, lip bloodied and hand shaking.  Poor girl.  Her whole dresser, like 5 drawers and everything on top had fallen over when she tried to get a pair of pants from the top drawer.  As Daniel and I walked back with her to her room to see the whole dresser on the floor, shelves strewn pretty much everywhere, we looked at each other in disbelief, knowing that she could have been really and truly hurt and believing that she had been protected/pushed out of the way. . .
  Moments that made us cry with thankfulness.

Here she is, in her Princess glory.  With a blue fish bubble wand as her princess wand, and blue bags for gloves

And then there we were.  Sunday evening now, gathered around that table that Daniel built for us, having just enjoyed homemade pizza and now entering into our devotion time.  It was a moment that encapsulated parenting:  We began the conversation discussing God's forgiveness, got distracted with Tirzah's comment: "Mama, your underarm looks like it has tiny bugs all over it" continued with discussing arm-pit hair social rules, and then finished the conversation with God's grace. . .
  Moments of joy.

Oh Life. . . 

What were your moments this weekend?