Having our kids and grand girls together makes me one happy momma! I had a long 4-day weekend scheduled with a teacher professional day thrown in and a personal day to boot which left time to relax and ENJOY our family and get everybody together under one roof.
Marshall and Terry have been doing the same historical reading and often times spend long phone conversations connecting with each other on the selections they've just completed
Monday, Mat went to Cushing to the hospital and the Bell guys took off for Cache, OK to scout out the Quannah Parker Memorial and Home Place -- (We girls aren't the history buffs- so we opted out to lunch out at Hideaways -- while they finally found Quannah Parker's house (It was in a run down condition --Marshall fell through the porch floor).
Afterwards, Bethany put the girls to rest -- while I begged off and to stay and play with them after they woke up. She and Katie got some much needed girl time and ran errands.
Sydney wasn't too crazy about the feel of the sand on her feet but she certainly did "dig" the slide and all the climbing!!!
Tuesday I had to head back to school for an in-service and Marshall and Katie took Campbell to the Zoo --
where she had her first taste of Cotton Candy
Wednesday we worked in a bagel breakfast and Katie and Marshall and I went to Peppers for lunch before our pamper time at a new nail salon in South Tulsa.
Our times together go all too quickly -- but we do squeeze in as much family time as we can for the short time we're all in the same town!
Yesterday at Youth Alive (YA) I posed the question, "Do you think Jesus likes Valentines Day?"
-- By this time girls had been getting deliveries of flowers in class-- students (mostly girls) had gotten something from their secret cupid and we had been playing this stupid heart game since first hour -- where the girl had to wear this heart around her neck and not talk to the boy for all day -- if he got her to talk she had to give up her heart -- OF course there were plenty of guys who wanted to win that one!!! My students (girls) decided it was a sexist game and they were too smart to play--
My guys thought that Valentines day was a lot of pressure on the men -- some even thought that it was pretty much a trap to have a holiday where you had to buy something mushy for that special girl. I warned them that the color or type of flowers they were giving could be saying something more committed than they intended. LOL
My YA kids thought that it was always Valentines Day in Heaven --
That Jesus did love it and was always about sending us those reminders of how much HE loves us
That HE was always talking to God about us
We talked through the verse -- "Greater LOVE has no one than he lay down his life for his friends" --
and I told them of someone who had actually given up her life to save her little nephew from being run over by a car. . . they thought about WHO might do that for them.
And those cheesy conversation hearts with the lovey dovey slogans -- they spiritualized those:
"No Doubt" -- don't ever doubt my love for you
"No Way" -- will I let you live without me
"Party Time" -- that, yes, it is always party time in Heaven and yes, Jesus DOES love a party. -- we decided that a party He would "work" the room and make sure he connected with EVERYBODY there in a meaningful and deep connecting way. . . HE did show up at weddings --
And for what HE feels about Valentine's Day -- we decided HE wants every day to be Valentine's Day for us -- giving his love notes and messages to our peeps and those he puts in our path.
