The Things He Says

It was just a typical Saturday morning, where we eat breakfast late and watch the morning news. There was a particular story about that guy who got killed somewhere, Trayvon Williams. I think, I am not typically into a lot of news, etc.  

“Yeah,” Mckenna pushes her bagel into the toaster and leans against the counter. “Did you hear what Obama said about it?”

I’m sitting at the kitchen table, only half interested in the news and feeling almost entirely clueless about the whole thing. I shake my head, “No. What?”

“He said, ‘If I had a son, he would look just like Trayvon.’ They‘re making it a race issue, but really? I mean, WHY would a Hispanic man shoot down a black kid because he‘s racist? Stupid.”

“Yeah! Well you know what I think?” Joshy drops his cereal bowl in the sink and shoves his hands into the pocket of his worn jeans. We smile, something inspirational is about to come out of this child’s mouth we know. “I think Obama said that just because he might be Afron-American. I think he is!”

“Uh huh, I’m thinking you’re probably right!” Mckenna said, working over her smile. We exchanged grins, repeating him under hushed tones as he ran outside to play in the Rain.

My, how I love that child.

Adventures Of A Big Kid Sitter

“Miss Brittany, I really don’t need a baby sitter anymore. I’m pretty much a man.” FT says, leaning against the counter and flexing his pea-pod muscles. I’m washing dishes and telling him babysitter’s are kind of like Mommies and Daddies, they are in charge. Typically, this isn’t a problem.  

“Oh? Well you have grown up quite a lot. You’re almost as big as Daddy.” I smile down at him, and picture his six foot something dad. He’s the spitting image of my boss, only much MUCH smaller and far more energetic. It’s crazy. If you ask what he wants to be when he‘s all grown up, he‘ll tell you he‘d probably like to be a firefighter or something … just as long as he‘s just like dad. “How about I be a Big Kid Sitter?”

His eyes light up, he nods emphatically. “Oh yes, Miss Brittany. That’s perfect.”

So it’s settled, I am officially his Big Kid Sitter and we’re all happy with that arrangement. Even if it IS only words.

Half an hour later, after the girls and I finished making Pita Pizzas in the kitchen and I’ve wiped their faces clean of the sauce and cheese they’ve been sneaking, we go outside to play on the Swing set.

All is fine and dandy, IT is giggling in baby-ish delight as I give her tiny pushes. She kicks her legs, and suddenly she’s hanging upside down giving me the goofiest little smile. “Wook me, Binny!” Because she can’t say my name, and I’m content with that.

“I am! I see, baby girl.” I say, moving in between the swings to push all three of them. They laugh and scream into the sky as their feet almost touch it’s airy blue surface. They are loving Life and I’m on a small cloud of Heaven on Earth.

“Pittney. Sittney. Dittney. Whitney.” FT is shouting variations of my name through the air in a chant. Who would’ve thought my name could be so much … fun? So I nod my head, “ahmm” just letting him enjoy the silliness and be a kid, that’s ever so healthy you know.

“Shintey!”

Now, what came out of his mouth was most definitely not Shintey but it was ever so close. But for all intensive purposes, it shall be Shintey. And did it knock the girl off her feet? Without a doubt, and I was coughing something terrible because that sudden intake of Fresh Country Air went down the wrong way.

You know that ridiculous feeling you get when you realize you’re smiling and horrified all at the same time. Smiling over something that shouldn’t be funny, but it’s so unexpected you can’t really wrap your mind around it? That was me for a solid five minutes.

“FT!” Pulling myself together, I attempted to look ever so serious. “Don’t call me that.”

He threw his head back and laughed, “But whyyyyyy, Miss Shintey?!”

Finally, when the girl had reached the end of her rope, she decided she would ignore the grinning child until he got his little man act together. It didn’t last too long, lucky for Miss Brittany too! And then I scooted them off into the house to take baths and get all cleaned up for Mommy & Daddy.

As the girls were splashing around the tub, FT comes in and leans against the door. “Miss Shintey, that name is really really long like your other name. I think I’m gonna have to call you something else, ok?”

“Yes!” I said, smiling up at him from where I knelt on the floor. My shirt was splattered with bits of water and my hair was falling over one eye. “I think that’s an awesome idea, FT.”

I should’ve known by the glimmer in his eye. I really should have …

“I’m just gonna call you Shint, okay?” While his look was one of almost innocence and absolute seriousness, the babysitter just about fell into the tub.

“FT!!!!!!” Ah, the joys of little people and all those crazy adventures they give me. I wouldn’t trade it for the whole world, though. I wouldn’t.

John Toms Make Me Happy.

Today in the midst of my work day, I sat down at the computer, and then I . . .

BOUGHTED ME SOME SHOES!

~ squeal. ~

I share: because I suddenly realized you might not have any idea I am so in love with Toms that its almost unforgiveable. But I've waited for ages and ages ... okay, honestly it's only been like five months which isn't ridiculously long but finally, FINALLY! My shoes is in the mail and I'm doing this little happy dance, smilin' like my face is gonna fall off or something.

I don't know. But. I'm. just. happy!

And of course, I thank my Mother.

I thank my Father. And my insanely sweet sister:

It was one of the absolute BEST Birthday presents I've ever had because I will live in them and take them with me every place imaginable. And I have the funniest feeling I'll be watching the mail for the next five days in unimaginable excitement and anticipation. I'll remind my family of the years when I was young and dancing around the Christmas tree all 25 days of December.

Ah, I should probably stop my gushing now. Yeah, probably.

But Johnna and Jay have no idea what I was talking about so finally, I showed them a picture and Jay said, "Oh! I've actually never heard of them before. Are they THE THING now days?"

We girls, well we coughed. "Uh yeah! Everybody's wearing them, but the big thing is that they're super comfy."

"Super comfy?" Don't worry, he's slowly coming around to my odd choice of words and everything. He's beginning to expect it, I think. Occasionally though, I trip him up. "Comfy huh?"

And tonight, we're sitting there Joshy and I. Suddenly I remember my shoes, and tell Kenna that I finally got the chance to order them. Josh sits up, "Shoes? What shoes? ... oh! Those Johns."

"Johns? No boy, Toms." I laugh and kiss his forehead. He shakes his head and tells me no, they're definitely Johns. Not Toms. He makes me laugh.

 So yes, my shoes -- "John Toms" -- are coming and the girl is happy.

The end.

* Happy Sigh *

Dear God ...

Just Because ...

Here I am. Wondering what to say. Wondering where to start . . .

Typically, words flow from my brain in such abundance. The world typically wonders if this girl ever stops, takes a breather. Of course, she's human.

My body is craving sleep, I've been deprived of this precious commodity for the past week or so. Just now, sleep is in high demand. I almost forget what the back of my eye-lids look like. hah!

To be honest, I wondered if I would survive this week. I'm just a teensy little bit out of practice of the whole working 40 some hours thing. Do you know what it is to close your eyes, feeling the world spin beneath you and hear the squealing sound of a dental drill racing through your brain? Ah, such a bothersome little thing but somehow, sleep came and rolled into another day where I got up, threw on another pair of Scrubs and did it all over again. I was working in my sleep, I tell you! But alas, here I is and no worse for the wear.

• Okay, that's sort of a lie. I'm completely exhausted and all those survival thoughts really just turned into wondering how much sleep you had to miss before your body just shuts down and dies. Rather drastic, don't you think? Children, listen! Your momma was right, sleep is IMPORTANT. This is no lie, so drink it up before you hit the real world where things like duty and responsibility demand more hours and sleep is a thing of the past.

• But God is amazing, and really helped me. He even gave me a handful of opportunities to share the gospel with a few of my patients -- I mean, they're sitting in the chair and can't really go anywhere! but these people were open and curious. It was such a blessing to be able to share my own testimony and what God has done for me!

• Went on a 12 mile bike ride yesterday under the beautiful Summer-ish Blue Sky. The thought-provoking conversation with my cousin was a big encouragement. We talked about our thought life and how we have to leave things in God's hands. And as always, he kind of really just inspires me. I love that about spending time with him, he's a Godly guy who has such an overwhelming desire to serve the Lord. Crazy how all the little conversations we have on the weekends turn into mini-devotions. * smiles *

• Then came Sunday. There is one thing about my little Sunday School class of 6 & 7 year olds, and that would be that our class goes in whatever direction their minds and attitudes are. I'm never sure just what to expect but always enjoy the lessons we learn from each other. Today, I had a lesson prepared as we gear up for Easter in just a few weeks.

We opened up with a handful of praises {because I believe that its important to really focus on what God does for them while they are young. And as they grow older, focusing on their blessings will come so much more naturally for them!} and a few prayer requests. We began to discuss Heaven as we opened up our lesson and two of my little ones with sparkling eyes began to grow excited as we began talking about different aspects of Heaven; no tears, no heartache, no sickness, no scary things, no bad stuff. * winks *

On top of that, they began talking about how they could be a better witness to their unsaved family even when they got frustrated with them. Wow. I needed that so bad! I haven't been the witness I should be.

• Forgiveness can make a person feel so much lighter inside, even if getting things right is sometimes hard. I can tell you one thing, I feel a whole lot better. Because after all, you don't read my ramblings just to get a facade of what I want to be. You guys deserve a heavy dose of honesty, so there you have it.

• The Lord's supper is one of the sweetest things I will ever experience. It fills my heart with conviction | brokenness | overwhelming peace and realization anew of what an amazing thing God did for me when he died! Mmm ... there are no words to describe the feeling in my heart right now.

• I have to stop asking why. It's one of those things where I just have to let Go and let GOD! Easier said than done, but Paul was such a human because he said that we have to recommit ourselves every day because its a choice. Thank you, Lord, for putting so many practical people in the Bible for me!

• And those times when my heart is hurting, God is the best bandaid. I don't mean that in a blasphemous way, I just mean that to a simple {imperfect sinner} girl like me, God is just the very best. There is no other that can do the wonderful things my Heavenly Father does for me!

Now, that's a whole lot to process I'm sure, but I had a lot on my heart and mind and the above is just a jumbled up peek into my life at the moment. It's such a crazy hectic, fantastic life God has given me and he's just chipping away all those rotten pieces that aren't very Heavenly. * smiles *