The Little Town We Call Home

It's one of my most favorite times of the year, as the temperatures are getting cooler and the days are getting shorter. Yes, I'm one of those people who enjoys it when the daylight runs out early.

We are in football season, and with my husband coaching football with our youngest son, his "off" days are now on Monday's. Date nights are rare for us because of his work schedule, so we get to enjoy "day dates" more often . Plus, with the kiddos at school for 6+hrs, we have more time to enjoy during the "day dates" compared to the 2-3hrs of "date night" bc we're both ready for bed by 10:00pm at the latest.

February 16, 2015

February 25, 2015

I love the town we live in, especially the downtown area, due to the nostalgia feel with the old courthouse, homes, and Churches. It's like stepping back in time as you drive down the one way streets and try to visualize how life once was in this town. My favorite is to hear the courthouse clock on the hour AND the Church bells from the Methodist Church across the street from the courthouse.

Caddy-corner on the opposite side of the courthouse, there once was an old service station that has long since closed. Many years have passed, many businesses have occupied the space, and now the space has been renovated into what is known as "Main St. Station". Here, a variety of food trucks park their mobile "kitchens", fire up the smokers and grills, and serve some of the most delicious meals for you to sit and enjoy at one of the many picnic tables under the awning. Food trucks are definitely not the only options. Some of the best coffee is served from some of our favorite Baristas at "Koffee With A Kause"...and a perfect place to go after I've dropped everyone off at school.

On my husbands recent "off" day, we went for a short drive to Main St. Station for a spontaneous breakfast date after seeing a Facebook post from a new food truck we had not yet tried..."Mom's Kitchen". The FB post was for some "French Toast Nuggets", and for anyone who knows our crazy family, breakfast is our weakness. It's our jam {no pun intended}. Our family likes to eat breakfast anytime of the day but especially for dinner. 

As yummy as the "French Toast Nuggets" looked on the FB post, our minds quickly changed when we read what the "special" was for breakfast; 2 pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. When our food was ready, and brought out to us....OMJesus!!! I immediately told Michael, "these look like Dad's pancakes", and from there we began a conversation with the owner of "Mom's Kitchen" as he shared the story behind the name, how he "inherited" the business, how he cooks the meals, if everything is made-from-scratch, etc..

If you're in the area, and looking for a place to eat with different options, I highly recommend "Main St. Station". Be sure to visit "Mom's Kitchen" and enjoy some SCRUMPTY'licious food with amazing service. Also, be sure to thank him for his 26yrs of service in the U.S. Marines 🇺🇸

In The Laundry: Believe In Something. Sacrifice Everything

In The Laundry? Yep...that's where I received an "ah-ha"moment. Or as I call them...a revelation, but better known as a word from God. It sounds kind of crazy when you think about it - to "hear from God" while doing laundry, but that's exactly how it happened. Over the last several days, there's been so much controversy surrounding the recent NIKE announcement and then the statement that followed, "Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything". That's pretty bold and as I "read" the negativity unfold on social media, as individuals expressed and/or demonstrated their protests, I heard the washing machine signal the end of the cycle. As I pulled out each piece of clothing, I realized I had several items in this ONE single load with the NIKE brand and/or logo on it. The more pieces of clothing I pulled out, the more I kept hearing the word "sacrifice". So, I did what any SAHM would do...I talked to myself. I asked myself questions. In reality,  I was talking to God and asking Him questions.

***Just a little side note: Yes, I verbally talk to God. And yes, He responds to me. I just have to be willing to listen.***
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Sorting through the clothes that went in the dryer, and what went on hangers to hang dry, my thoughts went to my husband and our children. We are a family of 6 living off of ONE single income...my husbands. God has blessed us in the 15yrs we've been married and it has allowed me to be a SAHM. Reminded of the single income we live off of, I began to think of the individuals who publicly expressed their thoughts about NIKE'S decision by burning, cutting, and throwing out their NIKE clothes, which then had me thanking God. Crazy, huh? I know!!! Why would the thought of people burning their clothes cause me to thank God? Simple. Because I think about the hours, and the time, my husband puts in at work that takes him away from his family just so we can have the things we have.

I think about the children I have grown to love like my own, the ones I've met through years of volunteering at the schools, who would give ANYTHING just to own ONE piece of clothing with a name brand on it. These same children who have gone to school wearing the same clothes from the day before because their life isn't as "grand" as others. Teachers who give selflessly from their own pockets to feed and clothe these children. The homeless who literally have nothing but the clothes they currently wear. Yet, we don't stop long enough to think about the less fortunate, the ones who have little to nothing, because the bandwagon is filling up and we need to secure our spot. We live in a world where we are "living out" just as Scripture says:

(2 Tim. 3:2-4 NIV)
"People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God."

(2 Tim. 3:2-4 CEV)
"You can be certain that in the last days there will be some very hard times. People will love only themselves and money. They will be proud, stuck-up, rude, and disobedient to their parents. They will also be ungrateful, godless, heartless, and hateful. Their words will be cruel, and they will have no self-control or pity. These people will hate everything good. They will be sneaky, reckless, and puffed up with pride. Instead of loving God, they will love pleasure."

Father's Day 2018

Mother's Day 2018

Living on one single income comes with a lot of lessons. The biggest one, and most challenging, is learning to be frugal with spending which includes giving up the desire to "keep up with the Jones'", the desire to purchase only name brand items. Sure I shop name brand, as the picture of the laundry indicated, however...CLEARANCE!!! Clearance, and/or inexpensive, racks are where I go to first after browsing through the store. Being frugal challenges you to get creative, and let me tell you, that's where a new "trend" is born. I hear complaints ALL...THE...TIME...about how individuals won't shop here or there because it's too "cheap" for them and/or not a name brand. There's that desire to "fit in" and be excepted by those we surround ourselves with. I was "cured" of this REAL quick having four children, ESPECIALLY two daughters. The girls & I can go to Walmart and/or Goodwill....yes, I said it....WALMART and GOODWILL...and find some of THE cutest, most stylish clothes and put together an outfit for A LOT less than what we would have paid at a department store. The compliments we receive, the inquiries of where the outfit came from, reminds us that we can still be just as cute & stylish without breaking the bank. It's also a reminder that we weren't created to "fit in" but to "stand out".
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Processing the negativity on social media, the TV, and in public...I shook my head, shocked in disbelief, at some of the things people were saying and doing. Burning clothes. Cutting the NIKE logo off their socks. Pulling shares from stock. Slinging racial comments so freely with no regards to how this one single word..."race"...has already created so much division. The word "unity" has been nullified and no longer exists in what is supposed to be a "UNITED States of America...ONE nation UNDER God. INDIVISIBLE...". But that's another topic for later.

While I continued to process the negativity, I began to wander through the pages of Scripture. I wandered through the Old Testament stopping at the Book of Exodus chapters 19 where Moses went up Mount Sinai, and chapter 20 when he came back down to deliver The Ten Commandments. I love how God reminds me of things in the midst of chaos. His SECOND commandment:
"You shall NOT make for yourself an idol in the form of ANYTHING in heaven above or ON EARTH beneath or the waters below"(Exodus 20:2 NIV). So how does this apply to us? We don't realize how often, or how much, we express idolatry just in the simple things of purchasing clothing like NIKE (brand name), athletes (someone we want to be like), as well as Hollywood life (actors/actresses). We are in a sense worshiping these things, these individuals, and God's FIRST commandment is: "You shall have NO OTHER gods before Me" (Exodus 20:1 NIV). Yes, God gives us the desires of our hearts because He loves to see His children happy, but it's when our desires take our focus off of Him that we start to idolize our possessions. "Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4 NIV)

*** Side note. NO...I am nothing whatsoever like, not even close in comparison to, Dean Caldwell. Don't know who he is...look him up. INCREDIBLE gift. The man is literally a walking Bible.***

photo courtesy of Google

Thinking back to the phrase that's been seen on social media, in the news, and now as part of the marketing campaign for NIKE, has caused so much controversy: "Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything". What is it really that's being sacrificed? A career? Money? Popularity? What does this sacrifice look like? The loss of a career? The loss of money? The loss of followers? My goodness...all these questions surrounding a 9-letter word. Where to start? How do you answer? Is there an answer? There IS an answer to ALL of these questions.

I have heard the word "sacrifice" repeatedly over the last several days and most recently in our Sunday morning "Coffee & Community" class at Church. When I hear a word, and/or a phrase, several times in a short period, that's usually God giving me a "hint". A "hint" to study, research, and understand what the meaning of it is. It's God's way of telling me, "Hey, there's Scripture you can apply to what you're hearing". Being the curious wanderer, I began to do the research, the studying, the looking-up-in-Scripture, with my pen and paper in hand.

Starting with the question, "What is sacrifice?", I pulled up good ol' Webster and then the dictionary in the back of my Bible. I already knew what the meaning was, and now that I had taken the time to actually look up the definition, it gave me a clearer picture of what sacrifice looks like. I am a very visual person and I began to "see the picture" of sacrifice.

* to offer something to God for worship or payment of sin" (Bible)
* the act of giving up something that you want to keep especially in order to get or do something else or to help someone; an act of killing a person or an animal in a religious ceremony as an offering to please God; a person or animal that is killed in sacrifice. (Webster) 

photo courtesy of Google

Sacrifice is love. Sacrifice is giving up of ones own self for others. God loved so deeply that He himself came in the form of man, through the Virgin Mary, under the name of Jesus, and was sacrificed to show His love for us. Talk about sacrificial love. God's love for us is a testimony, an example, of what sacrifice is AND looks like. This kind of sacrificial love is seen today on a daily basis, 2000+ years later after the ultimate sacrifice. It has continued through generations since the death of Jesus, as many military men and women, police officers, fire fighters, and rescue workers have sacrificed their own lives for others. They have walked into the "line of fire", the unknown, uncertain if they would survive to see the rising of the sun at the start of a new day or if they would wake to see the face of Jesus.

"God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die." (John 3:16 CEV)

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." (1 Corinthians 13:4‭-‬7 NIV)

"The greatest way to show love for friends is to die for them." (John 15:13 CEV)

"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." (John 15:13 NIV)

The answer to the numerous questions surrounding the 9-letter word that has caused so much controversy is simple...NOTHING. Nothing is being sacrificed. Not a career. Not money. Not popularity because NOT an ounce of blood was shed, NOT one life was given up for another. Was there a risk? Absolutely. There is always a chance at losing all that one possesses, including fame & fortune, when you take a risk. It's called "stepping out in faith". What does "stepping out in faith" look like? Simple...putting your feet into action moving towards the hope you've imagined.