The Wobbly Shopping Cart

It seems I always choose 'that' buggy (or is it called a "shopping cart"?). The one that has just one crazy wheel that wants to go its own way...

Recently, I ran into the grocery store to get a few things. It was the end of the work day and I was melting from the heat. The building where I work on the MU campus has a hard time regulating the AC and heat, and with temperatures rising to 81 degrees in my classroom, at the end of the day my shirt was now stuck to my back and my hair had been damp for hours. (Yeah, I know- lovely picture) So I was determined to spend as little time as possible in the store. Just get my short list of necessities (I always shop with a list) and get home to my AC and a dry shirt.

I snatched the buggy from beside the door and took off. I'm not a "fast walker"- that family award goes to Hannah Gaunch- but I was certainly not wasting time. I was barely past the registers when the vicious wobbling began. I'm not talking about a gentle shake... I'm talking a spastic, arm-giggling vibration that stopped me in my tracks. (sigh) I debated walking back to the door and swapping out the buggy for a more compliant one, but stubbornly decided to press on. After all, the sooner I was done, the sooner I could feel COOL for the first time that day. I turned and headed down the aisle to get my first item and for a moment all was well, but as I increased my walking speed, the violent shaking began again. Seriously? I just want to get my food and go hoooome. I slowed down... and it was smooth sailing once again. Sped up- crazy shaking. Hmmm. It was in that moment- in the dairy section- when God humbled me once again and spoke to my heart. Not about groceries, but about my life.

 "Slow Down". But Lord, I'm on a mission here. I'm hot and tired and I want to go home and be comfortable. "But when you hurry you miss SO much. Did you see the sky when you walked into the store? It was a beautiful shade of blue. Did you see the baby in the cart that you just passed? I created every cell of that infant and he is a marvelous work. Did you know that there is someone you know from high school just two rows over? If you're rushing along, you will be tempted to grin and keep walking - if you even notice them at all- instead of realizing the divine appointment I arranged for you and you alone." I guess I never though about it that way before. I was just so focused on myself- my time, my feelings and my family that I wasn't looking past myself. "And do you remember when Matthew wrote my words in Matthew 6:32, Your heavenly Father knows your needs?.' I know you're hot and tired. I love you far beyond your comprehension and its because I always want the best for you that need to slow down."

"One more thing... do you realize that this is what you do? You're 'on a mission' in your life, barreling ahead with a list of things you want to accomplish."    But Lord, the things on my list aren't necessarily bad are they? "No... but are those things you're hurrying after the things that are best for you? Things I've given you to do?  'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' Check your ever changing life list regularly- and make sure that it contains the plans I have for you. And if you aren't sure what should be on it and what you should leave off that list of activities and goals- just ask me. Because I know."

I grabbed a dozen eggs, and the rest of my things. And the buggy didn't shake once because I slowed down. I saw a friend of Hannah's- that comes to our youth group sometimes. I made small talk with the woman at the check out. And I made sure to look up at the sky when I left the store. Yep, still like a sauna out there. But... the sky was a really pretty color. I suppose the Lord could have created the world in black and white. I'm so glad he didn't. It took me maybe an extra 10 minutes at the store but it was worth the reminder. I never want to be in such a rush that I can't be stopped in my tracks by God's presence- even if its in the form of a wobbly shopping cart.

Highlights of June

When I started writing on this blog a few years ago, one thing I didn't want it to be was a list of all the activities the kids were involved, awards they won and trips we took. I wanted to make sure our family and friends who would read the blog knew those things, of course, but I wanted them to know more than that- I wanted to give them insight into the heart of our family. Lately, I've been simply jumping onto the blog site once a month to hurry and 'catch up' on my blogging and have gotten away from my original intent. I'm going to make more of an effort in the future to share those 'deeper' things and not just snapshots and moments.  But, this month has flown- much more so than I thought it would- and so for today, I'm feel like I'm barely able to catch you up on the highlights of June.

Becca (right) brought along two of her theater friends on the church youth trip to King's Island Amusement Park. She is a crazy person. I'm not opposed to roller coasters and last year when I went as a chaperone, I rode a few. But they rode the Beast over and over. The Beast is a wooden roller coaster and I really hate it because it shakes you to pieces. What's the fun in that? I guess Becca knows! Hannah went also and they had a great day.

Our one year old puppy, Sasha, got caught on a fence and cut her back badly, needing about 2 dozen stitches. Unfortunately, the stitches opened up a week later and it's taken all month for her to heal, requiring extra care and medicine. But, she's finally this week about back to normal and will have a scar no one will even see under that fur.

I had lunch to Welcome my friend Julia's baby girl into the world... and to say Goodbye to their family as they move out of state. Her husband is a physician and will spend a year in Cincinnati before returning home to practice medicine in Minnesota. Such a sweet family- I'll miss them! But.. Cincinnati isn't so far and a road trip may be in order.

Yep. Those are a lot of cupcakes. And I made every one- it was fun!

We hosted a graduation party for Hannah at our neighborhood pool one evening, about 2 weeks after graduation. It was pretty low-key, just teenagers eating snacks, swimming, being goofy and listening to music. 

This guy was in honor of the University of South Carolina mascot. They are the 'Gamecocks".. aka fighting chickens. So I gave him 'angry eyes' so he looks mad enough to fight. 

Karla, Ashley, Brooke, and Hannah.

One highlight of the evening was when Lou did some diving off the board and while treading water, lost his wedding band. I should have known he'd loose it- I bought it for him when he was 80 pounds heavier.We weren't upset- it wasn't terribly valuable and it wasn't actually his original wedding band. (That one is at home in a box to keep because it's damaged.) He and all the guys took turns diving to the bottom to no avail. Later, the lifeguard refused to give up and found it. We thanked him with a cupcake.

Oh, the bantering that took place beside the pool! 

Louie really is just one of the kids- I think Karla was dancing... but you never can tell.

As the only 2 'adults' we were trying to behave. We cannot (can NOT) be old enough to have 2 kids in college. (sigh). 

Roasting marshmallows for s'mores over candle flames. It worked! It was a good party and I'm glad her friends helped her celebrate her graduation and future at South Carolina. Speaking of South Carolina...

I had 2 weeks vacation, and since we weren't taking a family vacation this year, Hannah and I left during my time off to Columbia for her Freshman Orientation. It was crowded and hot, but there was an excitement in the air!

This is Katherine, the young lady that will most likely be her roommate next year, and her mom, Regina. They live an hour and 40 minutes from campus. They've only lived there a few years and before that, lived in  NYC,  in Manhattan. She and Hannah seem to click, and she's super bubbly and positive. I like her a lot.

This is her dorm- McClintock, an older girl's dorm in a cluster of girl's dorms near the center of campus, right next to the student center/dining hall- perfect location!

This is the courtyard in front of the dorm. That day, she met with an adviser, registered for classes, got her student i.d., and got lots of advice about thriving as a freshman. Basically, I'd say she's ready to go tomorrow!

We needed to go 7 hours north to get home... but the beach was 2 hours southeast. So we took a detour and spent about 2 and a half hours laying on the beach. We haven't been to the beach for more than 2 years and so I just kept smelling the air and feeling the breeze. Someone really needs to be able to bottle that! We ate at the little outdoor cafe on the pier, shook the sand off and with a (slightly) heavy heart headed home.

She started her Freshman summer reading- like I said, she's ready to go tomorrow!

Wish the whole family could have been with us. (Don't know why this picture is sideways, hmmm.) Anyway, we texted Becca this picture.

A moment of beach joy.

Reality. Back home and back to work. Hannah has worked like a crazy person all summer, babysitting and working long hours at her job at Justice. Hey, she's saving her cash and raking up lots of retail job experience. 

Isn't she the cutest? Becca went out in one of our few rain showers this month to snap a few pictures. She loves photography and is actually pretty good at it. Maybe one day she'll let me post a few pictures she's taken.

For work, I needed to get certified in child CPR, etc, so I took an all day class at our local Red Cross chapter. I took the training in the past but its really been a long time and this covered adult and child CPR, First Aid and AED training. So... if anyone gets choked, shows signs of stroke or heart attack or... gets impaled (you never know) I'm ready. :)

Other parts of work are more fun- we're setting up our preschool room for a camping theme. The sticks have cotton balls on the end so they can 'roast marshmallows' over the 'fire'. Anything to spark conversation!

One more item to get her ready to go- a laptop for all those paper's she'll write, homework assignments she'll read... OK- for all the movies she'll watch, pictures she'll post. (Thanks, Jake, for the advice.)

Garrett had two big goals this summer- 1)to take on online general ed class and boost his GPA, and also 2)to get a job, ideally having to do with medicine. He's halfway through his online class and has an A so far- History. And last week, he got an amazing opportunity for a job. He's been pretty upset because he turned in 11 applications and had 3 interviews that he thought went great- but wasn't hired. Then, my dad saw an opportunity for a 'clerkship' that is for undergrad students to work with a local well-loved pediatrician in the NICU. It involved 4 weeks of shadowing the doctor then writing a research paper. It's also a paid position- perfect. Best of all will be the experience.  I know the physician a little bit and what a nice man. It starts tomorrow morning and I can't wait to hear all about it!!

How can I post about June without mentioning 'The Storm'? First of all, we were barely affected and all safe, not even loosing our power. I had to fight off feelings of guilt that we had power while others were suffering in 100 degree heat. I was in Wal-Mart while the storm raged and this was the first sign of damage I saw when I came out- a collapsed tent. Hannah was driving to a friend's house in Milton and made it safely as it began storming and Becca was at church camp in Cowen, WV. They moved all the kids and adults (over 300) into a dining hall until it passed and there were no injuries and minimal damage. 

The next morning, I pulled into Camp Cowen. It's special place to me for a lot of reasons- some day I'll elaborate- but one of them is that it's where I met my husband when we were in high school. (And celebrating 21 years of marriage this week)  I picked my baby girl up from Junior High Camp. I swear she aged during a week away! It was odd to have her gone- Garrett and Hannah are independent and able to drive, so many times, Louie and I just looked at each other- it was quiet. So I didn't complain (too much) while I drove the church van home and 9 middle schoolers sitting behind me talked (and sang) loudly, non-stop for 3 hours all the way home. 

One other thing I've spent a lot of hours doing this month is transferring our old VHS movies to DVD, beginning when Lou and I were newlyweds. We've got 10 years done so far. I've also been sorting items to go in a School Box I've been keeping for each kids since Preschool. It's just a big plastic tub but it's sorted in folders by year and has examples of art, spelling tests, notes from teachers, funny things they wrote and a few snapshots. I may be kidding myself, but my hope is that one day they'll appreciate having that tub of keepsakes from school. 

Dealing in a tangible way with all this 'past' has been a bit odd. We've all watched some videos, and looked at stuff and laughed out loud and remembered things we've forgotten. But I have to admit, there have also been things that have made me mad or want to cry. But then, we finished the video and put it alongside all the other DVDs that represent our family past. There's good, bad and everything in between. And it all needs to be remembered- and learned from. I was reminded of that today at church.

Philippians 3:13-14   "Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."