I Saw God Today...

Yesterday on my way home there was nothing on the radio. So, I began to do what has become a very annoying habit, even to me, I hit the SCAN button to see what I could find. On two different stations I heard this line "I saw God today..." nothing else just those words. After the second time I turned off the radio and started to think how many times do I see God in a day and don't even acknowledge Him, say thank you, or even smile at His work.

If I spent everyday with a friend and never made a reference to their presence why would they want to spend their time with me? Is God any different?

Lately I have been working on being a participant in my life, not a just spectator (prompting the "Lessons Learned" post).

So, I'm going to pay attention and take note of when I see God in my life. Like before, it may not always be serious but it will be honest.

"I saw God today...

...when Kyler woke up smiling. (5-29)

...this morning someone stopped to let me turn left in front of them. (5-30)

...when Kevin held my hand. (5-31)

...in the thunder and lightening. (6-01)

...when I saw the clouds moving. (6-02)

...when Kyler crawled onto my lap last night and went to sleep. (6-03)

...when I was cooking dinner and no one interrupted me. (6-04)

Super NIT

Here are a few pictures of Kyler from this weekend at the Super NIT. There were 12 teams in our age division from Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas. We went 3-0 in Pool Play and were the #2 Seed going into the Semi-finals. Lost to the team that won it all. We ended up placing 3rd; we could have done better, but 3rd isn't to bad for a first year team.

__________________________________________

a perfect fit

on deck

a stand-up double on Saturday

ready for the throwdown to 2nd

that makes strike 1

A Friend I Don't Even Know

We all have friends, some have more than others, but we all have them. The people in our life that we can count on to be there when we need someone to cry with, yell at, or to shake us back to reality. I have many people in my life that I'm lucky enough to call my friends. However, I have those two or three people that I have to talk to everyday or I feel like my day wasn't complete.
More recently, I have discovered that I have friends that I haven't even met yet. People that inspire me, people that give me strength, people that encourage me by the words that they write and yet they don't even know me. We were out of town this weekend and I found myself anxious to get back home to be able to catch up on my reading. I couldn't wait to see what interesting and insightful words they were going to have for me. I just knew it would be great words of wisdom!
As I read I felt like someone was smacking (that's an Oklahoma word) me on the head saying, "buck up (another Oklahoma phrase), what have you been thinking?" As I read the words on the screen, I started to feel my eyes fill up and the screen became blurry. Those were the words that I needed to hear telling me "my need IS worthy to Him" and "I just have to REACH OUT with one finger" and my favorite "hold on to the boat". How can a person I have never met, never seen in person, never talked to on the phone, or never even exchanged an email with know what I need to hear? I don't know exactly, my only answer is that it was God using her to shake me back to reality.

Lessons Learned

What did you learn today? That is the question I ask Kyler every night before we pray. It doesn't have to be anything serious, usually it isn't, it just has to be something he learned that day. Recently, he has been asking me the same question. So, I have decided to keep a list of all the things I learn in a week...so here you go:

Sunday ~ I learned that you shouldn't wear flip-flops to the ballpark. It makes for very nasty feet.

Monday ~ I learned that my red peep toe heels give me the worst blisters!

Tuesday ~ I learned that trying something new can turn out to be alright!

Wednesday ~ I learned that I give way to much advice and I should try to listen more!

Thursday ~ I learned that hair is just hair and will it grow back!

Friday ~ I learned that four hours in a car without stopping is my limit!

Saturday ~ I learned that when you ride with someone else you are no longer in control of your schedule!

Sunday ~ I learned that I should be more thankful for the blessings that I have in my life!

So there you go, a week of what I learned. Looking back it doesn't appear that I learned anything that is going to win me the Noble Prize, but at night when I go to bed I can honestly say that I was paying enough attention to my day to walk away learning something about myself.

Family

The British writer, Jane Howard, said, "Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one."

It's been said that you can't choose your family. You're just stuck with them. Good or bad they're yours. Some may think that to be true, I don't think that is your only option.

People who know us know that we moved here from Oklahoma and all of our family still lives there. That family is our roots. They are the ones that will love us no matter what, through thick & thin, through good & bad, through rich & poor, they stick by us.

This weekend we were at the ballpark again and we had very long breaks between games and I was thinking about our "Summer Family." During the Spring & Summer we see them more than we see our real family; almost every weekend and at least one night a week. We eat together, celebrate birthday's together, pray for one another, look out for each other, watch over each other's children, when we travel we stay together, we do all the things you do with a family. However, we have no blood bond, none of us knew each other before last September. Yet we treat each other like family, sometimes better than family. We took our boys to a baseball tryout and for ten of us it was congratulations, meet your new brothers & sisters.

In Webster's Dictionary one of the definitions of family is: an association of people who share a common belief or activity. For us our common belief or activity is baseball. Through this simple game we have met some of the most interesting people. We have one family that moved here from Los Angeles to make a better life for their boys. One father has been back less than a year from doing an 18 month tour of duty in Iraq with the National Guard. Another family has a four year old daughter, lives and hour away from where we practice and is never late. Another family alternates each weekend; one goes with their daughter to her softball games and one brings their son to our baseball games. We have a single dad who is raising two boys (13 & 9) who each play competitive baseball. One of our coaches has a new baby with a rare condition and requires the use of a feeding tube sometimes to finish a bottle, yet both, mom & baby rarely miss a game. March through July, this is our family. Sure we have arguments, misunderstandings, differences of opinions, but we always get over it, because that is what families do. We have chosen to share our time, our children, and our love with this group of people. Good or bad they are ours, I'm thankful God blessed us with a great one.

Marshmallowy Clouds

On my way to work today I looked up at the bright blue sky. We haven't had very many of those recently and it was a nice treat to see. It was also filled with clouds; not little wispy ones, but the great big white marshmallowy ones. All of a sudden I was taken back to laying in the backyard that I grew up in. Sometimes the boy who lived across the street and I would lay on our backs and watch the clouds. We would try to make animals or shapes out of them. He didn't like to lay there very long but he would for a minute, sometimes two, and we would just watch the clouds.
That same boy taught me how to shoot a free throw. He would hit me in the leg with a baseball when he was learning how to pitch. He would ride along side me on my go-cart, even though I had thrown him off a few times. He would rescue me from a mouse that had taken up residence in my room. He was the first boy that I got to boss around, since I was the older, by a whole 2 months and a few days, and because I was the girl and I said so. It's funny how something as simple as clouds in the sky can trigger a thousand memories.
Like children do we grew up, moved away, and have families of our own now. When I go back home to my parents house I sometimes look over at his drive way and remember all the wonderful days we spent together doing nothing. He was my first best friend.

Mother's Day

This Sunday was Mother's Day. This holiday always makes me grin, not because there is a present involved, but because I thought that this was a holiday that wouldn't apply to me! To me, motherhood meant giving up my life. Why would I want to willingly give up my whole life for someone that is only half mine? That sounded crazy to me. Until I heard the words, "If you want children, you better have them now." I was 23, been married for only eight months, living in a place where we knew no one, and I had just started a new job. I had to make this decision today? Right now, no way. I didn't know much but I knew that this was going to be easy, no kids! I'm not ready for "the Motherhood." I'm to young, I never really thought I would have them anyway, no big deal, right? Two months later I was pregnant and on May 6, 1998 I was a mom. I soon realized that I was giving up my life, as I knew it, for a better one, for someone that doesn't even belong to me. Kyler is God's child, not mine. He reminds me every night when he says, "I'm glad God picked you to take care of me." I never thought I could love anything as much as I love that little boy.

Boys

I don't understand boys. It's an anthem that I have been singing for years. Why do boys think burping the alphabet is a talent? Why is everything a competition? Why do we have to watch SportsCenter at 7:30 every morning since we just watched the same one at 10:30 the night before? How can they not care if their shirt doesn't match their shorts? My personal favorite, why do they think they can leave the house with chocolate milk still on their face? I just don't get it. Can someone please explain this to me?
I have realized that my 10 year old son is not that different from my 35 year old husband. I am in amazement how much they are alike. I've heard it said that boys are simple, their whole life is food, sleep, sports, and girls; not necessarily in that order, but those are the basics. As I watch my son get older I'm beginning to see that to be true. A few months ago we were watching a football game and they showed the cheerleaders and I said, "She has a cute haircut." my sons reply, "She had hair." My husband laughed and I was speechless. He was 9 at the time.
I think I may be in trouble. Kyler has taught me a few things, for instance, that having an ERA of 2.89 is a good thing, that you can't play football with 12 men on the field, there is a difference between PS2 and XBOX, and my personal favorite, even though I still don't understand boys, he is a gift from God. I just have to read the directions that HE provides me and do the best I can.