It only takes a moment...

The deafening screaming and thrilling excitement

of this final score, which sent our team to this Saturday's Superbowl,

was silenced when my son, the center (#51),

was left lying motionless in the middle of the field. An angry opposing player laid out a late hit cheap shot to what we were told was my son's spinal cord.
The clock showed zero, signifying the team's victory, but there was no cheering, no celebratory high fives, no ecstatic teenage boys...only silence.
As a parent, you realize, in a moment like this, that we have no guarantees on how much time we have.
The Lord has graciously given our children as His precious gifts to us, but we are merely stewards of these gifts.
Stewarding gifts that I am not worthy of tending is humbling.
We think that we can control situations when they are under our guard.
My tendency is to squeeze.
Squeeze tightly.
It's such a struggle to hold my hands wide open and offer my children as a living sacrifice.

And in those moments, I am reminded again that through adversity, God's power is not only realized, but magnified.
Yesterday, His grace was shown to a family that was truly undeserving.
I glanced at my husband across the field and could see tears in his eyes as our son continued to remain motionless.
And then after minutes, which in a momma's heart seemed like days,
he moved.
Thank you, Lord.
It could have been his time, and I would have had to choose joy for the years that we were given...but, it wasn't!
And for that I rejoice.

*****************************
And now, with Matthew's only repercussion being the aching body of an 80 year old, we can regroup, and realize that our sons' are heading to the Superbowl - the National Championship. The season started with 3,000 teams and it is down to the Final 2.
After a season of tremendous hardship, their dreams are being realized. They were interviewed for the NFL Network and the game will be shown on both the NFL Network and ESPN.
Their measurements were just taken for new uniforms that they are being fitted for especially for Saturday's game...just like the Pro Bowl.
Win or Lose, they dug deep, and became men.
When they were down 12-0 after the first game, and had emotionally given up, they dug deep, and chose to "Just do it!"
They showed that it's not about who they are as individuals. There are no winners with a me first mentality....winning only comes from understanding that it's about the rest of the team.

"Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts. "

Pop Warner Superbowl...is youth sports worth it?

What I am going to briefly describe will be hard to believe...yep...feel free to shake your head along with me.
For the last four months, I have been a football mom...
4 days a week...all day Saturday...every Saturday...
This sports mom thing has its advantages, but by mid October, I am ready for it to be done. I want to recapture my life, and this year....it was not to be - IS not to be...for two more weeks.

WE ARE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL, and it's been laced with drama!
Yep, my two oldest sons made it to the Pop Warner National Championship round to be played next week in Orlando at the ESPN Wide World of Sports arena.
There has been serious drama surrounding my two oldest sons team this year, and quite frankly, I have spent the last 5 weeks grieving over the reality of what adults will do to win...a game!
Last month I had a post titled...
The Corruption of Youth Sports.

Yep, I did...a little harsh, so I didn't post it. I shared about the struggle for families to prioritize:
to reclaim their families, and stress the importance of encouraging character development.

Ok, here is where you tell me to get off of my soap box because I am climbing up...right now...and I guarantee I will yell everything I can from the top of my lungs in whatever I can type in umm.... ten minutes.
Ready....GO!!!

I then vented on this post because our whole team felt like we were living in a bad made for TV movie. A movie that seemed so surreal because we just kept shaking our heads and saying, "Is this seriously happening?"
Certainly not....people don't really live/act like this, do they?

In my posts, I had links to numerous TV interviews with our coach, and newspaper articles written about our team regarding their COURT cases and the lawsuits surrounding the wins. One disgruntled opponent was trying to disqualify our team based on an "illegal roster", and was pulling out all stops to make it happen.
I had pictures of the legal papers that the policemen SERVED two opposing teams. Papers that told them they had to cease and dissis (who even knows how to spell that) and immediately stop the game that they were trying to underhandedly play in order to remove us from the championship). My kids witnessed people being physically restrained numerous times, language that would make your ears triple pierce on command, and stories surrounding illegal gambling rings that was the whole center focus of the drama.

Ah...there's nothing like the beauty that comes from a little healthy competition among YOUTH SPORTS.

And through it all, we have been trying to teach our boys about life. Youth sports, when kept in perspective, gives you multiple opportunities for life lessons.
Life lessons that demonstrate how to win-lose gracefully...with honor and respect...with humility and gratefulness regardless of how others are treating you. Opportunities to measure accomplishment in the light of God's grace.
This is very hard to do when society is telling you that the end justifies the means, and unfortunately, my sons have seen "the means" .
I am not up to taking the time to process my thoughts and write them in an endearing way about all the life lessons we have learned through this whole mess...you kind of get the vomited version, but one thing rings true...
Character isn't developed in the midst of adversity.
Character is revealed during these times.
Take the time now to be intentional with planting the seeds of character and virtue in your own life, and the lives of your children, so when the tough times come, virtue and God's righteousness can be magnified through these challenges.
If we don't instill it now, trust me.....the other side isn't so pretty
Stars Wars rings true....come on over to the dark side, and yikes...many came.


With all that being said....I am SO proud of their team, and how they handled things. We have been blessed with a very generous coach who loves these kids.
I am seriously one of those moms who could care less about the success of the game, but I CARE DEEPLY about what they do with that success or lack of it.
They have persevered under some pretty difficult situations. For 13-16 year old boys, what they have endured was tough stuff. Through it all, their team (and the parents who come from such vastly different walks of life) were brought much closer together.
Adversity will either make or break a situation and for them...they overcame.

The midget league started with 3,000 teams and only 8 are heading to Disney.

Since planning for a week long trip in the middle of Dec. was definitely not on my calendar, I am trying to process all that needs to be done to leave this next week.
Survival mode has kicked in just when I was getting ready to have my calendar cleared for my 4 break that I live for all fall.
Do you know how many things I have to cancel? UGH!
Doesn't spontaneous and Disney seem like an oxymoron?
If anyone has an ideas on cheap Disney tickets, I would love to know.
I heard that you can buy hopper passes that people haven't finished....is this true?

I need to wrap this up...it was going to be a short post this Monday morning.
Here I am with my mom and daughter in mid -October when being a football mom was still a good thing. :)

Congrats, guys......you deserve it!
This isn't their regional championship picture. My hubby took those today to blow up some posters for the coach.
Saturday's game was played under the lights in the pouring 45 degree rain.

To drink or not to drink...

We spend countless hours with our Middle School/High School aged sons talking about choices.
One of my responsibilities as a parent is not only to love, inspire, nurture, etc, etc. , but to give them the tools of learning, and the ability to ask the hard questions...especially those difficult life questions.
I don't want them to regurgitate spiritually sound "Jesus" answers that they think I expect. They know those too well growing up in our home,
and I abhor hypocrisy.
Our desire is to raise thinkers.
Thinkers, who examine a situation through the lens of absolute truth, will find that it holds up under scrutiny.
So, my young sons, here is the "tool" you need to question this issue accurately, and arrive at a valid conclusion.
I have dug deep into my reservoir of wealth
to find what might bring the truth to light.
To drink or not to drink...that is the question?
So, please my teen age sons, I desire your sincere contemplation on the consequences of underage drinking.

Pray, ponder, persevere....pretty please.

Yep, the consequence of sin.

Don't worry, boys, when it truly becomes a temptation, you can bet your mom will do a bit more than just show this picture.....xoxo

My Son's First Kiss

What's a boy to do when he has parents who truly

encourage waiting....

a long time...

for that first special kiss?Trust me, honey, if she's not the right one...

you will go "ewwww."

Thanks to a new website, iHeartFAces, for the opportunity to share this archived post.

The Cozy Factor

The cuddly, cozy factor just oozed from my bed.

I was enveloped in my own hiatus...
a haven amidst this simple place I call home.

I was snuggled up with a riveting book (which hasn't happened much since I started blogging), and my third son climbed into bed with me.
We were sharing life together in a precious way -
our hopes, dreams, and the hidden desires of our hearts.
Feet intertwined.

We were celebrating family, and I was reveling in the fact that yes,
middle school boys do love their mommas.
Don't listen for a minute to what everyone else tells you.

He slowly started scratching and rubbing my back. (This is the son we are trying to encourage into the dermatology field...he loves skin, poking, popping, prodding....but, unfortunately, to our financial chagrin - only his family's....he declares.)
Slowly, he drags his finger down my thigh and exclaims in horror, "Holy cow, mom, look at that huge bulging vein. It goes all the way down your leg, and it's so dark blue."
My 5 year old daughter heard the commotion and decided to defend, and encourage my honor.
"Wow, it looks just like a spider web."
(Hmm...does she know that she's on to something? I believe they may have already termed it that, my sweet medically minded princess...spider veins, anyone?)

Since, the thigh analysis was in full force, he decided to trudge forth into the epitome of self discovery. As he smashed his two hands together around that bulging thigh of mine (just as I would imagine my womanly parts would feel during my first mammogram), he simply stated,
"Mom, your thigh is as big as my waist. Seriously, mom. It is.
Just take a look."

Ahh....celebrating life!! Who doesn't love it?
I guess we'll work on his bedside manner before med school. :)

The Little Things...

For those who frequent my blog,
you know that one of my passions is CHOOSING JOY.
I love to celebrate the simple things, and stimulate the senses. It is by taking your everyday rituals, and turning them into something meaningful, that your house becomes a true haven - a sanctuary.
It's about turning the ordinary into the extraordinary, and that extraordinary is often so simple.
I often get asked,"What is your dream?"
I honestly reply, "I am living it."
Is it hard to believe that a college educated woman could be living her dream by being at home with her five children?
I think people that have met me through speaking engagements, music or work from home avenues assume that I am short changing myself.
I didn't plan on posting about any of this today, but I just had to share an example of how God's faithfulness continues to speak to my dream.
This confirmation happened today through a simple act of the ordinary ministering to my lonely soul in extraordinary ways.

Every morning I drag myself to the coffee urn and freshly grind my Starbucks roast. This morning, to my horror (and horror it it surely was), I remembered that it was empty...not a bean to be found. This has never happened.
(I buy the 2 lb. pack from Starbucks and it's always in supply.)
What is a girl to do without her morning coffee?
For those of you that are coffee drinkers, you are relating....I knew I was gearing up for a coffee headache.
To those of you who have no idea what I am talking about,
you may be thinking "addiction."

The morning continued and an hour later, one of my teenage sons came to me with this unbelievable site. It was full before....oops.

He had no idea that I didn't have my Starbucks this morning, but he saw a little bit of cold coffee (don't even make a snide remark here or it will ruin the moment:),
knew that that was exactly how I made our "coffee smoothies," and decided to make one for me...unannounced, unasked for, and completely unexpected.
For those of you who have teens, or remember those teenage years, the simple act of my son making his own special Frappuccino on a dreary, rainy morning for his little, old, not- so- happy mommy....made my day!
I know that you can understand.
He made something that was so simple become a balm to sooth my soul.
I choose joy in the journey, and am so thankful that I have a Lord who continues to bless and affirm this adventure even when the road is really rocky, the climb is woefully windy, and the descent is delightfully daring.
It's times likes this when the Lord chooses to speak to me.
He affirms that the consistency and work is worth it.
He assures me that the times when I want to pull out my hair is not in vain (like a few times when I was just trying to type this).
He knows this, and allowed the ordinary actsof my teen age son become an extraordinary affirmation for his weary mother.

Come join me, let's snuggle on the sofa over this coffee, and share life.
It's really, really yummy.
Who needs a Starbucks barista when you have a blessing of a boy...I mean young man?

And since I now have a time limit on the computer, just like my kids, I am confessing to my eldest that I did go past the 15 minute limit and the timer did go off. I shut it off....OK. Your mother is admitting it, and you're right - 15 minutes is too short to get anything done, but 30 minutes is just right (without any editing, of course:)