Dedication or Stubborness . . .

My parents will celebrate 50 years of marriage in 21 days. I am so proud of them for making it to this milestone. As I type this my father has just had a quadruple bypass and is still in the hospital. He is doing great and will be out of the hospital in the next few days. Their road to this anniversary has not been easy, it has been filled with trials, tragedy, struggles. It has also been filled with love, family, fun. So how do some couples keep it together for so long and then there are the couples who don't make it. What quality do the couples who make it have? I have wondered that for years, as I have seen couples that I thought were "perfect" fall apart. Just recently in the news was a story of Al & Tipper Gore who are divorcing after 40 years. Really? How do you live with and love someone that long and then go your separate ways. My parents, as I look back at their marriage just since I have been able to observe, the qualities that I observe that keeps them together, dedication, loyalty, stubborness. I am not joking I think it takes a lot of stubborness to stick it out during the hard times. Both my parents are like rocks strengthwise, My mom has been so strong during daddy's health crisis, this is how she shows she loves him, she has not left his side in the week since he became ill. Daddy shows his concern for mom's safety and her comfort by wanting her to go home and rest but she is running the show right now. So I guess there are many qualities but as my parents get ready to celebrate a milestone that so many will not ever have a chance to get to, I hope and pray that hubby and I make it that far also, we are approaching our 15th anniversary so only 35 to go.

Random Thoughts

I am at loose ends today, I don't have to go back to the school and pick up my girls today, they are going home with a friend to spend the night. Don't quite know what to do with all that extra time! I am not really feeling all that great so I have stayed home today. My sweet hubby knows I don't like to drive in the rain and since I woke up with a headache, he drove our girls to school, I rode along but was very thankful I wasn't doing the driving. It was raining so hard and water was standing everywhere because we have had so much rain in the past 3 months that the ground just won't take anymore.

I have been feeling like I am at a crossroads in my life. I am looking into going back to school, I have been interested in nutrition for a while and now that I have been subbing and I am really enjoying it, I have been wondering about teaching, both would be very time consuming so I am praying and researching my options.

I have been reading some books on how to raise a Godly daughter and how to prevent her from being mean. I am learning a lot about how God uses even the bad situations in our lives to teach us and bring us closer to him. I feel such a heavy responsibility to raise my daughters up in a Godly way. God chose me to be their mama, he could have chosen anyone else but he chose me to be theirs and that is very humbling to me. Johnny and I have always known that God has a special purpose for both their lives and we want to do whatever it takes to help them find and fulfill that purpose. They both accepted the Lord into their hearts at 7 years old, and started telling others about him immediately, they are so bold, I have always been shy with others but they just want others to love Jesus as much as they do.

That is all for now, I need to go find something for this sore throat.

Character Building

My daughters go to a small private christian school that was started last year. This year the school started a sports program starting with a football team. We have a volleyball team, cross country team and now basketball. Our football team was plagued with injuries, some of our players had never even stepped on a football field-ever. This team lost every game and most of them were huge losses but to stand on the sidelines and feel the pride of our school for those players and the fact that no one really cared that we got beat but that no matter how battered and bruised our players were they kept playing. This is a reoccuring theme with our basketball team. Last night my daughters cheered for their first time-nervous and proud mama moment. Anyway I digress. Our basketball team was up against a team with a player who is 6 foot 5 and one who is 6 foot 9. Wow I think our talled player is 6 foot tall. Our players listened to their coaches and kept the score close. They have played this team before and they knew what they were up against, but they showed up, excited and ready to play. They played with heart and at the end of the game it was 145-108. I am proud that my daughters are able to attend these games and see what it is to lose and still hold your head high. Lesson to be learned - you can't always win but you can be gracious no matter what. Second lesson - Have fun.

First year sports programs are always gonna be rough, but I think and hope that these kids are better people for this. They have all been told they are building something for the future and they truly are- a legacy to be proud of. These players and staff have earned my respect for holding their heads high, Thank you for setting such a amazing example for kids who look up to you.

Our school mascot is the Warrior. My new definition of a warrior is someone may not win every fight or war but continues to fight no matter the odds. Go Warriors!!!