Red River Pearl

Gary called yesterday and said he may be able to buy a red Honda Pilot from a Honda lease auction today. He wanted to know if we were interested in a red one.

Red is not my absolute favorite color and it's not Stephen's top choice, either, but he does really like the red and I'm starting to get excited about the possibility. Yesterday my yucky heart showed its face. I had to willfully submit to Stephen on this issue after an emotional afternoon but God's already changing my heart on the issue.

God's much less concerned about what color our car is and always interested in seeing our hearts change. If we do get this Red River Pearl Honda Pilot, the red on the outside of the car will make me think of a heart and will serve as a reminder that while man looks at outer appearances, God looks at the heart. Maybe everytime I see a red car it can remind me of that.

So we'll see what happens with this particular car. Who knows what God has for us! Whatever it is He will be glorified.

No Car Today

I got halfway to Columbia on Wednesday and got a phone call indicating that the dealership decided to show the car to one more customer and they would let us know if they could sell it to at the close of business on Wednesday. We did not get a phone call on Wednesday night but Thursday morning found out it was sold. The car dealer did not keep his word. He had verbally committed to sell us the car on Tuesday night.

When I got the phone call I immediately felt like I was supposed to spend some time praising Him. I put on the radio and the song "More Than Enough" was on. He IS more than enough!

I am learning a few lessons through this process.

I was reading in the Psalms yesterday morning in Columbia before I found out the news and these two verses jumped off the page:

Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
Who pardons all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases;
Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.
Psalm 103:1-5

Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Psalm 106:1

On the way home I turned on the radio again (my iPod was dead) and a few of the lyrics stuck with me:

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You Jesus, bring the rain

Surrender don't come natural to me
I'd rather fight You for something I don't really want
Than to take what You give that I need
And I've beat my head against so many walls
I'm falling down, I'm falling on my knees
And this Salvation Army band is playing this hymn
And Your grace rings out so deep
It makes my resistance seem so thin
Oh, hold me Jesus, I'm shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory
Won't You be my Prince of Peace

So here's what a small part of what this circumstance is teaching me:

God's justice is much better than mine. Love does not take into account a wrong suffered - even when there was a wrong suffered! :)

God says "No" to a prayer request when that is how He is most glorified. I am most blessed when He is most glorified.

God will bring me good things and I cannot possibly know what is good for me but He does! He is always good. He is infinitely wise, tender and compassionate.

Now as I move past the disappointment I am moving into a place of waiting. He has given us a huge gift. We had been eating, breathing, thinking, speaking and talking car from Saturday to Thursday. Stephen said to me on the phone Wednesday night, "I cannot go through this again." The great thing is, we don't have to.

My mom's boyfriend, Larry, has a friend named Gary (yes, I know it rhymes) and he is a car dealer. He has promised to give us what we were previously offered for our X-Terra (and that was a generous offer). He has also agreed to find a 2006 Pilot and says it will likely have less miles and will be for less money. He said we just need to be patient and that it may take weeks, not months. He said to just keep my cell phone on!

So now, we find ourselves in a waiting pattern. I've been in this place more times than I can count as an adult and have never found it pleasant but am learning to be content in the wait. I have been given a gift. I do not have to search for a car. I do not have to worry that our car will not be worth as much as the SUV market gets even more soft. I do not have to even think about a car. I just have to wait on a phone call. That is a gift. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you.

I will struggle to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and not think about the car but I know that He can be trusted and I know He wants to give us good things. What more could I ask for?

Too Good To Be True?

We may actually be buying a Honda Pilot in Columbia tomorrow. If the deal works out, this may be the car I come home in:

Stephen decided in the shower on Saturday that he was willing to sacrifice and trade in his favorite-car-ever so the family could have a car with more room and not have to get a cheap minivan when Brody gains two more pounds and outgrows his infant carrier.

We will all miss the old "Terra" tremendously. We brought two babies home from the hospital in that car, we drove her to Daytona Beach, Savannah, Beaufort, Charleston. Plus, it's our "Fisher Price" car - it handles my "woopsies" like a durable toy. This is the one of the pictures I sent to the salesperson in Columbia today. Our Terra's last day at home:

Gotta Gotta Gittle

Meet Sydney's puppy named Gotta Gotta Gittle (Gittle sounds like little):

Meet Sydney's other puppy, Mama Gotta Gotta Gittle:

And the happy family...

Just in case you're wanting to run out an get a Gotta Gotta Gittle for yourself, we got her several years ago in a McDonald's Happy Meal with Little People figures. But if you like big dogs, Mama Gotta Gotta Gittle is made by Fisher Price and is still for sale in most toy stores! (Thanks, Miss Marsha!)

Bed Made

Abby made her bed today without being asked. She didn't tell me right away, just waited and acted like it was normal. I was so excited I had to take a picture.

Bartender?

Abby and Sydney threw up this morning (Happy Fathers Day, Daddy). I've been in "give-them-one-tablespoon-of-clear-liquids-every-5-minutes" phase for hours now. Sydney did sleep for 2 hours but Abby was up.

Instead of jello shots in shot glasses I'm serving them jello water in medicine cups. I feel like a bartender.

Looking forward to the part where they sleep and can eat when they wake up. Gotta go - the 5 minute timer is going off again.

Snaggled Teeth

Breakfast was eventful today. Abby was eating cinnamon toast and held up a white thing to ask me what it was. At first I thought it was something that came out of her nose (gross, I know) but then I realized what it was so I said, "Abby is that a TOOTH?" She started crying hysterically and tried to put the tooth in her mouth, blood pouring out. She was telling me that she didn't want it to be a tooth. Oh, my heart sank.

Part of her response is probably my fault. We are having her 5-year portrait that we've been saving up for on Wednesday. It was supposed to be two weeks ago but Mitchell (the photographer) and I both had conflicts and needed to reschedule. At Abby's dentist in January the hygienist said she thought we had about 6 months before she lost any teeth. I was feeling pretty confident and told several people I wanted Abby to have some color (a tan) in her picture but didn't want her to lose her teeth first. Plus Stephen tells her if she doesn't brush her teeth, they'll fall out. :)

It's not as bad as I thought it would be, even. When Abby smiles her normal smile, her bottom teeth do not even show. My friend, Greta, called this morning and she told me Mitchell had actually made some one's hair stand up in a picture so I feel very confident that even IF we got an all-teeth smile, he could add some white where there is none.

However, I have been on the brink of tears all day, and it has nothing to do with the portrait. Abby has been very quiet all day. I saw her struggling at lunch to chew the bread on her sandwich and it just broke my heart.

I took her to Publix with me during Sydney and Brody's nap time. When we were waiting to get her free cookie, Abby asked if I could please be the one to tell the Bakery lady, "Thank You." (She didn't want her to see her missing tooth.) I told Abby that it would mean so much more coming from her and she quickly said she was going to change her mind and say it. I'm glad she was tender-hearted about it.

Later in Publix, Abby pointed at something on the chip aisle. I thought she wanted Sunchips. I told her we had chips at home, asked what she wanted (annoyed a little that she wasn't using words) and she pointed to a pack of costume/dress up jewelry hanging up. I asked her why she wanted it. She said she didn't want it but she was showing me the woman's smile - you couldn't see her bottom teeth. That made Abby smile a little grin. I was happy to have a grin at this point in the day.

Stephen has taken her on a date to Toys R Us. I am sure she will have lots to smile about when she gets home. I am planning to reinforce the idea that beauty is fleeting but that God looks at our hearts and that is what we need to be most concerned about.

Having said that, I am still a little sad, too. Abby is losing her baby-ness. With every baby tooth that goes she will become a little more grown up. I don't know why this phase from preschooler to school aged child has been harder for me than all the other phases, but it has.

I think tomorrow, when she sees all the other older kids at the church building that can stick their tongues through their cute little snagged-toothed mouths she will be fine. Abby doesn't like to be the pioneer if she doesn't have to be. I can relate because I am the same way. Fine to lead when I have to but very content to follow when someone else wants to lead.

Anyway, the tooth fairy will leave her something tonight under her pillow. We decided that quickly this morning. How MUCH to leave her is the question?!?

Abby showing me her teeth a few days later