Random Thoughts with Liz

This is one of those blog posts where I'm just going to share a bunch of random things. No one particular theme/topic. Are you ready?

*We have cool neighbors. I have started typing out about three different stories here & keep deleting them because they are all too lengthy. But trust me when I say, I'm glad we live in this neighborhood. Great people! (Thank you for all the times you've let us borrow an egg, a can of soup, your cinnamon....)

*My sweet 11 yr old boy is only a couple years away from becoming an Eagle Scout! Today he went to a merit badge event to earn his First Aid badge. Larry (the resident Eagle) tells me that if he continues to work at this pace, it should only take him a year or two to reach Eagle. Wow! I'm so proud of him!

*Tonight, said Boy Scout went to take a shower. Shortly after I heard the water begin to run, he came out of the bathroom grinning. He commented about how awesome his socks smelled. He just wanted to let us know. ha ha ha ha!

*I am reading a book right now that doesn't at all fit my usual literary selections. It's a sarcastic, silly book. (See my Friday Phone Dump post for a picture & the title.) It's not at all my normal 'style', but I'm having fun reading it. It cracks me up!

*We're still struggling to make the monthly budget balance. But it's ok. I have determined that this is just the season of life we're in right now. Plenty of other people have scrimped & saved & pinched pennies and barely made it through life. I am doing all I can to clip coupons, use up things in the pantry & freezer, take on little side jobs for extra $$ and basically just avoiding spending anything at all most of the time. I know it's not permanent. We will leave this season of life sooner or later. (hopefully sooner....but if God has a lesson to teach us or hope to grant us while we live this, I'm game.)

*Tonight Kari Jobe did a concert at our old church. Tickets were $20. Tomorrow morning, Natalie Grant will be there. That concert is free. As much as I love both of them, I had to step back & realize a couple of things. 1. We don't have $20 to spare for a concert ticket. I might be able to pull a rabbit out of the hat & figure it out budget-wise, but I am doing my very best to keep us on track & a concert is certainly not a 'need'. (Plus I can listen to them both online for free.) 2. Going back to our old church (where Larry was on staff) is still weird for us. We have both been there for one event or another since we left. It's a local mega-ish sort of church & they host a lot of concerts/events. Even so, there are just too many memories there for it to feel anything be awkward & odd. Maybe one day it won't.

*I love to worship. I know this is not new news. I know I've said it here before. But some days, more than others, I just want to spend the whole day singing & praising God. I know it sounds REALLY strange for some people. But honestly, I'd totally dig having a whole day to do nothing at all but listen to various worship CDs & focus solely on Him. To sit & medidate on the Word and pray. There is something about spending time in His presence that just can't be quenched by ANYTHING else.

*My husband rocks. I told him today on Facebook: I ♥ that you are involved with the kids....that you aren't afraid to change a diaper, wipe a snotty nose, mop up puke, change sheets in the middle of the night while I clean up a kid who wet the bed. I love that you help me drive kids to school in the mornings, go to every football game, every Scout event, every band competition, every dance recital & soccer game. I realize how lucky I am to have married you and how blessed our kids are to have you as their daddy. And then on top of all that, I get a hottie who loves Jesus. What more could a girl ask for?

*I am so blessed. A few weeks ago, we decided that it was time for me to take a season off from teaching the preschoolers at church. The thing is, when we re-joined this church in 2009, we promised each other that we'd take some time (specifically, six months) to JUST be part of the church....before we got involved with teaching things, leading things, etc. But I'm so bad at that. I want to do something...to serve, to minister, to help...so by the time the 6 month mark rolled around, I already had a couple months' experience in the 4-5 yr old classroom. I LOVED my time in there, but right now it's time for me to be Larry's wife. To rest, to sit by him in Sunday School, to be able to get to the worship service on time, to hang out with him until he finds his niche. He's had a tough time getting re-integrated into serving roles since he left full-time ministry. AND....about the time we decided that I'd take some time off, offers to do childcare (with mostly preschoolers!) started pouring in. Between working at our church and 2 other local churches (and these are paid childcare jobs!), I get to have my 'fix' of little ones while making a little extra money. I love how God orchestrates these things!!

*Speaking of church things....
Our church has small groups that we've always enjoyed being a part of. Over the course of the past year, Larry & I co-led a group with another couple. Within the first couple of months, we probably should've let the group go because it became clear (to me at least) that it wasn't going to be successful. Larry & the other couple's husband both had very demanding jobs that required lots of time away from home all week, so the last thing they needed to have to focus on was leading a small group on the weekends. And the 'chemistry' just wasn't there with the members. We plugged along for the full year. I think we were trying to prove to ourselves that we weren't quitters...plus we really wanted to be in a small group. But the reality is, the group died. We let it go in July. And now that Fall has rolled around, we're trying to figure out which new group we want to get involved in. There are a couple we're considering. But we're also considering not doing anything at all. We have so many things going on all week long that we've kind of enjoyed the last couple of months where we've had Sunday nights off. Praying for God to guide us exactly where we should be very soon!

*Last night, both of my girls braided their hair all over their head just to be silly. They slept with it like that & were in awe of the waves they found this morning when they took the braids down. Savannah's hair looked crimped, like we did our hair in the 80s. Or was it the early 90s? Fun memories!

*Last night I listened to the Matt Maher "Alive Again" CD on my way to the grocery store. This song has been playing in my head all day. I love it. So catchy.


*It's late. Time for this blogger to go to bed. Goodnight.