Just me and my thoughts

The title of this post alone should scare you all.  I am welcoming you into my thoughts?

Frightening.

Because the truth is, I can go from thinking of something super brilliant and kinda deep to thinking up alternate lyrics to popular songs in the same breath.  “So, Kelli.  What ARE your favorite made up alternate lyrics?” I’m so glad you asked!

Sung to the tune of Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson’s “Rock Your Body”

I’m gonna wash your body

Make it clean

Scrub with me

No lie, I sang this to the kids every time I bathed them and they ALL sing it now when they pick up a bar of soap.  It. is. awesome.

So yeah…that’s the kind of stuff that floats through my head.

Okaaaaay, then.  Let’s bring this crazy train on in to the station, shall we?

I’ve been thinking a lot about Christmas these last few weeks.  I’m wrestling through my desire to teach my kids to really, truly embrace the power of this Christmas season without completely turning away from the magic of gift giving and receiving.  There have been a lot of really wonderful blog posts written lately on the topic and I’m awed at how many people have given up gifts altogether on Christmas, choosing instead to focus on the true meaning behind why we celebrate this holiday.

I’ll be honest.  I’m not there and I’m okay with that.

Because I really love the moment my children walk around the corner and see the twinkling lights and the gifts and the excitement leading up to that magical moment.  And I think we can still enjoy that tradition without losing ourselves to the marketing mayhem that Christmas has become.

Truthfully, the last few years we have pulled back significantly on how much “stuff” we give our kids.  Because they don’t need all the stuff.  Last year we gave fewer gifts and tried to make them more meaningful and useful.  And we are pulling back even more drastically this year.

There are other things we plan to do with the kids this year to keep the focus of Christmas outward and not inward.  And I may or may not share what those things are.  I am trying to keep some things private as a way to preserve the traditions, memories and even acts themselves as sacred between us, our children and the God we serve.  It’s a balance.

I can tell you this, though.  As the kids and I discussed the way that Christmas would change a bit this year, I mentioned today that we would be spending less on one another and more on others.  I was immediately met with disappointed stares and protests and for a brief second, my heart sank.  Perhaps we had gone wrong all these years if my children were going to pitch a small fit over receiving fewer toys.  Then Tia spoke.

“But Mom,” she said, her eyes big and round.  “I really, really wanted to get you a special present this year!”

“Yeah, me too,” Sloan said.  “I had a plan for exactly what I wanted to get you.”

*tears*  *hugs*

Then I promised them a pony.

I thanked them for thinking of me and not themselves and told them I would be honored to receive gifts from them, but that I wanted them to spend more time, energy and money on gifts for people who are in need than on me.

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Our nativity scene usually includes Santa, Luke Skywalker, Moses, a Construction Worker and on occasion C-3PO likes to make an appearance.

I won’t tell my children they can’t buy me a gift.  (I think they’re going to buy me Peppermint Mocha Coffee Creamer – Mercy, I am loved).  I will, however, encourage them to think outside the box on how we can give to others.  I loved some of the ideas in this post – particularly the suggestion of giving children a sum of money and allowing them to use it however they want, as long as it’s for someone in need.

I am not opposed to giving gifts at Christmas, personally.  It’s not something that I feel we need to cut out entirely.  I am, however, finding myself more and more drawn to celebrating more simply, with the traditions surrounding the gifts and not the other way around.  I don’t have a problem with my kids believing in Santa because we don’t make him the reason for the season.  I don’t play the Santa card to encite good behavior (mortifying) and I read the story of the real Saint Nicholas every single year so that they know and understand the historical significance of who he was.  Santa gets a bit part in our the Christmas celebrations in our home.  And I don’t mind that.

These are things that I, personally, don’t sweat.  Because I don’t let them get out of hand. I am, however, pondering and thinking and praying over exactly how Christmas will look for us this year – how we will incorporate gift giving and receiving into our holiday in a way that is meaningful and precious.  Rest assured, though, that no matter what, Christmas will still be magical and filled with wonder.  How could it not be so?

The Lord is Come.

Magical, indeed.

How do you keep your focus during the holidays? Any plans to help your kids think outside the box this year? I’d love to hear what others are doing!

Lazy Monday

I think I’m still in a turkey coma.  Actually, it’s not so much the turkey as it is the stuffing, salad, pies and petit fors that have rendered me all but useless.  My brain has slowly shut down over the weekend.

It’s lovely.

This morning, as the alarm sang in my ear, begging me to leave the warm, plush covers of my bed (which I strongly believe has been sanctified by God Himself as a Holy Place), I found myself thinking over the blessings of this holiday weekend.  Good food combined with amazing family made this weekend my favorite since our move.  A visit from Lee’s parents was the icing on the cake.

Or the whip cream on the pie.

Or the sprinkles on the Petit Fors.

You get my drift.

We topped off a weekend of extreme laughter with a third visit to a church we really like where the message so moved me I found it difficult to breathe most of the day yesterday.  And for the first time, this place we’re in felt like home.  It felt as though we fit here.  As if, perhaps, this thing that we did – moving our family half way across the country – was…right.

Thanksgiving, indeed.  Or perhaps it’s better to say Giving Thanks.  Because this morning that is what I’m doing.

Though my eyelids are heavy and I feel more exhausted than I have in a long, long time, I find myself relishing the fatigue.  It’s only evidence of a weekend filled with laughter, food and love – five days of grace poured over my family.  I am, indeed, Humbly Grateful.

How was your Thanksgiving?

Humbly Grateful or Grumbly Hateful

Utter peace.

As a child sitting in the back seat of my parent’s Cutlass Supreme, I remember belting out the words to this song:

Are you Humbly Grateful or Grumbly Hateful?

What’s your attitude?

Do you grumble and groan,

Or let it be known

You’re grateful for all God’s done for you?

On days when the tasks of life seem overwhelming and my first, natural and selfish tendency is to moan, I still find myself singing this song softly.  And there is no greater time than the holidays to reflect on the attitude of my own heart.  Am I humbly grateful or am I grumbly hateful?

What’s my attitude?

As I walk across the tiles of our home, dirt crunching beneathe each step reminding me of the need for yet another sweep, vaccuum and mop, am I humbly grateful for a tile floor on which to walk?

As I make beds yet again, and strip soiled sheets off of beds just one more time adding to the never ending pile of laundry, am I humbly grateful for the simple luxury of extra bed sheets and a machine that washes the clothes for me?

As I search the refridgerator for food to prepare for dinner only to find that I need to run to the store yet again, am I humbly grateful for the convenience of a store just down the road and the money in the bank to buy more than enough food?

As the three little people gifted to me screech through the house, arguing over invisible pies and other insanity, am I humbly grateful for the gift of my children?  Am I grateful that I have been given not one but three blessings to care for, nourish and guide to adulthood?

Sometimes it is so much easier to be Grumbly Hateful.

Then I read a story like this one about Jonathon.  Alone.  Abandoned in the jungle.  No one to love him.  No hugs, no promise of a next meal.  No washing machine.  No one.  And yet, when presented with a small package of food and gifts his eyes light bright.  Humbly grateful.

This Thanksgiving, as I scrub floors and wash sinks, as I prepare food and make beds, I do so with full knowledge and understanding of just how blessed I am.  Life is easy, it is grand, it is full – not because of, but rather in spite of, all the “stuff.”  Yes, I’m grateful for beds and a roof and a yard and…everything.

But mostly, if I boil it down, I am grateful for Him and all He’s done for me.  Humbly Grateful.  I read this quote by Abraham Lincoln yesterday, taken from his Thanksgiving Proclamation in 1863 when he officially declared the last Thursday in the month of November to be a holiday of Thanks.

“The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God . . . . No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy”

This often forgotten and overlooked American holiday of Thanksgiving is so full of opportunity to remember, to praise, to thank.  For more information on the history of Thanksgiving, visit the website, Celebrating Holidays.

Thanksgiving is more than just remembering the Pilgrims landing on Earth first gathering and shared meal between the Pilgrims and Indians in 1621.  From our earliest history, Thanksgiving was about acknowledging with grateful hearts the One who has given us far above and beyond all that we could ever ask or imagine.

Today I am Humbly Grateful.

So I don’t have my Mom Blog card revoked

In order to fulfill my obligation as a mom blogger, I hereby present you with a few Halloween pictures.  Not many words today.  My computer crashed on me yesterday.  My phone crashes on me at least once a day right now as well.  Apparently I have somehow offended the technology gods.

They’s mad.

Instead of 1,000 words – I leave you with a few pictures, which are worth more than that, right?  So here are your 13,000 words.  Just click the picture to see it enlarged.  I know you want to.  How can you resist looking at those cherubs up close?

We celebrated the awesome that is Halloween with our new group of Russian friends.  This means there was trick or treating, lots and lots of food, some vodka (I mentioned we were with Russians, right?) and a whole lot of laughter and fun.  Today finds Tia with pink and purple hair still because she didn’t want to wash it out yet and Landon continues to bear the faint outlines of a mustache.

And I’m tired.

The End.

A Little Pre-Holiday Cheer from Shutterfly

Comments are now closed. Winners have been chosen and will be notified tomorrow when I can think clearly. Right now I must sleep. Thanks everyone!

So Christmas is around the corner.  I’m not sure if you were aware or not.  Maybe the Santa Clause standing next to the Grim Reaper tipped you off?

At any rate, this is the time of year when we all begin to prepare for the holidays.  Despite the fact that I keep up with most everyone I know online, one of my favorite traditions remains: Christmas Cards.

I love receiving them and I love sending them, despite the hassle of addressing labels.  So imagine my delight when Shutterfly contacted me and asked if I would promote their holiday line of Christmas cards.  In exchange, I will receive some free cards and I have the great opportunity to offer three of my readers 25 free cards!

I browsed through Shutterfly’s selection of cards and I was more than thrilled with the broad array they have to offer.  There are tons of beautiful selections where you can add anywhere from one to six photos plus a customized greeting.  In addition to the cards, you can also do a bit of Christmas shopping through Shutterfly.  They have some wonderful personalized gifts that would be perfect for the adoring grandparents in your lives!

So, here’s how to enter to win 25 Holiday Cards from Shutterfly:

– Visit the Shutterfly website and browse through their holiday collection. Then leave me a comment and tell me one of your favorite Christmas memories.  (Or you could just leave me a comment that says I wanna win! Either way is fine – but I’d love to hear Christmas memories…)

You can earn more entries by doing the following:

– Tweet about this contest and leave me a second comment telling me you tweeted.  It could say something like, I’m a Twit who Tweeted! or more simply you could just leave a comment that says Tweet!

– Link to this contest on Facebook and come back and tell me that you did so and earn a potential third entry.

– You can also send me an email saying you would like to be entered if you’re not the commenting type.  My email address is kellistuart00 (at) hotmail (dot) com.

I will choose the three winners via random.org on October 30.

Disclaimer: This is a promotion sponsored by Shutterfly.  In return I received free holiday cards of my choosing.  I was not paid for this post.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Give My Regards to Broadway

After some thought, I decided to take my earlier post down.  I was upset and hurt and processing, but decided that ultimately I didn’t need to have all of that out in the world wide web.  To those who commented, thank you and sorry I had to subject you to my crazy.  To those who missed it…lucky you.  And now, without further ado…I give you more of my life..

Riveting…

When I was a little girl, I had two goals in life: Grow up and become a gold medal winning gymnast and  become a famous movie star/singer.  Two things happened to squash those dreams – I wasn’t a very good gymnast due to my tall frame, inflexibility and terror of the high beam (do you know how narrow that things is?!).  I made it to level 7 where back handsprings on the beam were a requirement and thus ended my gymnastics career.  Well, that and a stress fracture in back.  I typically like to give people that as my excuse for quitting – it sounds cooler.

The famous actress thing died when I discovered that I stink at auditioning.  Seriously…stink at it.  Give me a room of 1,000 people and I will happily sing and ham it up all day.  Give me a room of two and I go mute.  Odd?  Yes, I would agree.  It took one semester in Baylor’s theater department for me to figure out that acting would eat me from the inside out.  So I waved goodbye to the dream and grew content with the occasional performance of the “for fun” variety.

In the last six months, however, I’ve had the opportunity to get a little stage time that I don’t usually get.  Singing in church doesn’t count.  I actually work really hard at NOT standing out on stage at church.  Because I naturally lean toward the, ahem, dramatic, I have to be very careful of my heart before I walk on stage to lead worship.  It’s not about me and it’s not about performing.

So when I got the opportunity to perform…well, let’s just say the little girl inside of me skipped a little.  And squealed and clapped her hands while jumping up and down.  Singing in this year’s VP Parade was a big slice of heaven for the little girl in me.  It was fun.  Lots and lots of fun.  I was backed by some of the greatest jazz and blues musicians in the business.  Men like Scott Alberici and “Red” Lehr, among others.

And I had fun.  It was sweltering and yes, my dress did look a bit like a muumuu, but I was on stage with a microphone in my hand singing Give My Regards to Broadway.

Fu-un.

I hope the rest of you had as magical of a 4th as I did!  I’m off to squeeze in as much St. Louis fun as I can before we have to leave.  It’s all happening very fast now… (click on the pictures to see them a little closer up)

 

Let Freedom Ring

IN CONGRESS, July 4 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States

(an excerpt)

…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government…

…We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States;

that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved;

and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

May your Independence Day be full of blessings, family, friends and hot dogs.  God Bless this great country.

To read the Declaration of Independence in its entirety, visit my friend Angie’s website, Celebrating Holidays.  On it you will be find a jackpot of information and history to share with your children on why we celebrate this holiday, where our national symbols originated and what they mean, and creative things you can do with your kids to celebrate.  Her website is a gold mine.

Dear Mom and Dad in England

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Hi.

So while you were off galavanting (something I’ve found you seem to be quite good at) about the English countryside this weekend, I was left to handle Easter on my own.  While you toured Shakespeare’s birthplace and hiked through the animal infested forests, I realized that not only did I need to create some kind of Easter feast for my family, but I also needed to fill up Easter baskets with goodies.  I realized this on Saturday.

I would like you to know that I managed to squeak by without you but I almost ruined Easter for good.  And Christmas too.  And I blame it almost entirely on you.

I dashed out Saturday afternoon for a last minute grocery run, in the rain.  Me and the entire senior citizen population of St. Louis County.  I bought a pork roast.  Not even a pre-packaged one from the refridgerated section, but an actual one from the meat guy.  He’s not a butcher is he?  Do I just call him the meat guy?  Whatever.  I bought it from him.  He wrapped it in white paper.  Fancy.

Score one for me.

I also purchased a round birthday cake with a picture of a bunny on it.  And ice cream.  I was rocking the Easter preparations.

I purchased 45 plastic eggs to put in their baskets.  Why so many?  Because I didn’t buy anything else.  You know, dear mother, how you always filled up our baskets with fun little trinkets and goodies as a kid?  Yeah…I didn’t do that.  I kind of forgot.  Thank God I had the DVD’s you purchsed for the kids before you left for England, right?

Minus one for me.  Holding steady at 0.  Plus six for you, though, for planning way in advance.

When I got home I tried to sneak by the kids with the plastic eggs.  You know, because how was I going to explain that the Easter Bunny used eggs we already owned.  I failed, though.  Eagle Eyes Tia saw the eggs and screeched with delight. 

“What are those for?” they all asked, pushing in on me like tiny little blonde vultures.

I thought quick on my feet, though.  You would’ve been proud.  “We’re going to put them in your Easter baskets and see if the Easter Bunny fills them up while you sleep.”

BOOM! Score three for Mommy.

They each got a movie, a chocolate bunny (of course) and 14 eggs, which the Easter Bunny did fill while they slept.  Except the Easter Bunny is stingy and paranoid about their teeth rotting out so the eggs only had one chocolate or a couple of jelly beans in them.  When it was all said and done they only had a snack bag amount of candy.

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Three measly jelly beans...

Three measly jelly beans...

“Is dis all dere is?!” Tia exclaimed after searching through her basket.  There were no stickers, no toys, no coloring books.  “Mom, where does the Easter Bunny come from exactly?” Sloan asked, a little disgruntled.  “Is he real?” 

I had to bite my lip from answering, “Look, the Easter Bunny moved to England, okay?!”  Minus four for Mommy.  I hereby stand at a negative 1.

“That’s what they say,” I answer, dodging the question.  “Well, is Santa real or is he just a guy in a costume?”  Six eyes stare at me intently.

“St. Nicholas was a real man who delivered gifts to boys and girls,” I answered, sweat beading on my hairline.  “Hey look!  Breakfast is ready – come eat quick!”

Plus 1 for dodging a bullet. 

I did remember to put the pork roast in the crock pot (God’s gift to half brained moms) the night before so Easter dinner was partially prepared early.  Which was good since I had to be at church at 7:30 and didn’t get home until 12:45, which means Lee was in charge of Easter lunch.  They ate without me.  Pork Roast, Stove Top stuffing from a box and sourdough bread.  No vegetables or special sides to make the meal memorable because I wasn’t there to fix.

I get plus 2 for preparing the meat early, but minus 1 for not preparing anything else.  I think this leaves me at a plus 1.

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The rest of Easter Sunday was quite lovely, actually.  While we desperately missed being with family, I must say it was nice to just be our little core unit of 5 for the day.  I reminded me, Mom and Dad, of all those years when we were growing up and didn’t have family close by.  My holiday memories are filled with leisurely afternoons with you all and Brett. 

We went to Applebees for dinner, which felt kind of lame, but it made the kids happy so I’m giving myself 1 point.  And when we came home, we cleaned up the house, put on our jammies, ate bunny cake and watched Yogi Bear as a family.  I’m awarding myself another point for going with the flow.

So that means my final tally came in at plus 3.  Not bad.  Easter wasn’t a total wash after all. 

But it still would have been better with you here.

Have fun for the remainder of your English adventure.  Tell Will and Kate I said hi…

Love, Your Daughter in St. Louis.

If only they looked alike...

If only they looked alike...

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I laughed until I cried when I saw this picture. Landon's head looks detached from his body.

I laughed until I cried when I saw this picture. Landon's head looks detached from his body.

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Studio Shot!

Studio Shot!

On Earaches and Mary

On Friday night Landon asked to go to bed.  This was after he asked to take a nap on Friday afternoon and he slept for two hours.

Not normal.

At 11:00 Friday Landon woke up crying.  He was at the tail end of a cold so a little medicine, a kiss and a cup of water and everyone settled once again.  Until…

One O’clock rolled around and we heard the desperate pleas of our little one.  And he never went back to sleep.

“My eeaaaw huwts,” he cried all night, clutching at his left ear.  We rocked and sang and he’d slowly drift to sleep only to jolt awake again with a cry.  Back and forth we went between his room and our own room, Lee and I alternating trying to sleep and holding our hurting boy.  We debated heading to the ER but knew it was an ear infection and decided to wait it out until morning.

At 5:30 we put in High School Musical and I dozed on the couch.  By 9:00 we were in the pediatrician’s office where it was declared he had a nasty inner ear infection with a painful looking bulge and by 10:30 we were home with a little boy who looked like this.

Pitiful Landon

Not only did he look exhausted, he also look abused due to an unfortunate run in with the corner of the iPad the night before that left him with a shiner.  He was pitiful and in pain most of Saturday but by Sunday morning had perked up considerably thanks to numbing drops, antibiotics and twleve hours of solid sleep.  We were on the mend, and we were happy.

When his ear began dripping blood on Sunday morning we began fast and furiously treating what we think may have been a slight perforation in his ear drum with both antibiotic ear drops and oral antibiotics as we are flying a week from tomorrow and we need his ear healed.  So far the pediatrician has cleared us to fly and is confident that he will be fine by the time we leave.  This is a good thing because if she said he wouldn’t be I was already planning the car trip.

Sunday afternoon I went to a practice for an Easter drama that a few of us are putting on on Easter Sunday.  It’s a beautiful piece of work and I found myself very emotional at one point when the character of Christ speaks the word, “Mother?” This happens during the crucifixion scene.

And my heart broke a little as I pictured Mary watching her baby suffer.  My heart crumbled just seeing Landon suffer through ear pain, but Mary watched her son beaten, bruised and hung.  She watched the blood drain from the very hands that she held as a small child.  She saw the flesh torn from the back of the boy she bathed as a boy.

She suffered.

As my children grow I’m realizing more and more that I will always and forever see the infant form of them.  Sloan is developing a man-child look about him and yet I still see the expressive toddler who marveled at the moon.  Tia’s face matures a little more each day and yet I still see the big-eyed infant who couldn’t wait to conquer the world.

Landon is right where I want him right now.  He is today who I will never forget.

Mary felt the same way.  I understand that more and more the longer I parent.  She saw the man who hung on the cross, but did her mind flash to him toddling into her arms?  It most surely did.  Did she remember sloppy kisses and delighted laughter?  I’m sure of it.  As she stared at his arms stretched wide across the beams, did her own arms ache with the memory of the weight of her infant?  Did she smell the stench of the stable and see the dark, round eyes of her firstborn nuzzled against her chest? 

What kind of memories flooded her mind’s eye? 

And as he suffered and died slowly, did she experience pain herself?  What was swirling through her heart?  It pains me to even think about it, as it pained me to watch my toddler clutch at his ear in pain.

When they hurt, we hurt.

And then, when she heard He was alive – what did she feel?  What kind if disbelief and shock and fear and joy coursed through her veins?  When she saw His resurrected body, did she still see the little boy she raised or was He different somehow?  Did He give her an extra long hug and a kiss on the cheek, a balm to the wound she had suffered three days before? 

I wonder about these things.

Mary was a mother.

I am a mother.

And so I ponder.

Sometimes He Calms the Storm

New Year’s Eve brought unseasonably warm temperatures around here.  St. Louis is the arm pit of the United States.  We get a conglomeration of everybody’s weather.  Which means it can be 60 degrees at 9:00 and 20 degrees by 2:00.  We get the snow and ice, the heat and humidity.  We live with weather whiplash.

LIVE WITH IT.

So the unseasonably warm temps were not all that unseasonable…or at least they weren’t unreasonable.  However, the warm weather mixed with the frigid temps immediately following made for some contemptuous weather.  And this set up quite a disaster.

Sloan’s terror of all things weather has been well documented over the years.  Remember this post?  So when the skies turned nasty Friday morning, he grew all aflutter with nervous energy.  Thankfully the kids were having friends over.  A brother and sister who are the same ages as Sloan and Tia.  It was the perfect distraction. 

Before the friends descended upon us, Sloan got more than worked up about the impending weather.  So he asked Lee to pray with him and pray they did.  Sloan pleaded with the Lord to stop the storms and keep the tornado away from our house. 

It turns out Sloan’s friend may have him beat in storm terror.  Around 11:00, the tornado sirens went off and so did the boys.  There were tears, there was quite a bit of jumping around and then the neighbor begged us to call his parents.  And the girls stood in the corner protesting loudly.

“We’re not scared.  We don’t want to go home.  We want to keep playing.  No!  There’s not gonna be a tornado!”

After the kids left, the sirens went off a second time.  Hmmm…we turned the TV on to see what was going on, but that sent Sloan into a freak out of massive proportions.  So off the TV went and we delved into distraction mode.

The sky turned ugly…green.  Rain pelted sideways.  And yet, there was not wind.  The trees weren’t bent.  No limbs fell.  And then – it was over.

The sun came out and Lee ran out to the store.  A friend called shortly after.  “Are you guys okay?” she asked.  And suddenly I panicked.  What had I forgotten?

“Yes…Why?”

“The tornado touched down in your back yard.”

“Really?!”

I flipped the TV on to see if there was any news on our area.  I called Lee and told him to drive by the nearby golf course where the tornado hit.  He came home shortly after with the news that the golf course had quite a bit of damage.  Huge trees uprooted and lying on their sides.

“Sloan and Tia come with me.  Let’s go see the tornado damage.”

So off they drove to survey the damage.  Driving down our street there wasn’t a limb down.  No debris.  And then they turned left off our street where branches lay scattered.  Driving past the next street, a large tree lay on it’s side.  Driving past the second street, several houses were missing shingles and more trees and limbs lay strewn about.

Lee turned down the third street down and was shocked at what he saw.  The tornado had come right through there.  Cars lay flattened by trees.  Houses were missing large sections of their roofs.  There was extensive damage.

But no wind blew past our house.

As the crow flies – or tornado blows – that neighborhood was 300 yards from our house.  And it appeared as if the wind stopped blowing right at the threshhold of our street.  As if some invisible source was holding it back…

Did God withhold the winds and tornado from our home because Sloan prayed?  I think that’s a tricky question to answer.  Because there very well could have been people who were affected who prayed for protection as well.  I don’t claim that God chose Sloan’s prayers over another.  I do think, however, that God revealed Himself in a mighty way to my seven year old.  I do think that God held even a whisper of wind at bay so He could show my son that He is, indeed, the One who controls the wind.

We were also able to show Sloan the grace of God’s protection as we pointed out the damaged homes and the people who were not harmed despite the tornado’s passing.  We were able to point out that God’s protection does not always extend to the material things we have on this earth.  But He protected His people that day.

Sadly, six people were killed (none in our area) by the storms that came through the Midwest on Friday.  Does this mean that God’s protection wasn’t extended to those who died?  No.  It does show that our days are numbered and life is never a guarantee.  We didn’t get into those truths with Sloan just yet.  We’re trying to dispel fear in his heart.  But we were able to confirm to him that God hears and answers prayer.  This is a lesson I want my kids to know and trust without wavering as they grow older.

Had the tornado come just 300 yards to the North, we would have been able to confirm in Sloan’s heart that God is a God of protection and grace.  Had our home been destroyed we would have been able to show Sloan that God is One who remains the same, even when our circumstances change. 

More than anything I’m grateful that my son’s tender heart was given a valuable lesson on New Year’s Eve.  I’m grateful we were spared.  I’m praying for our neighbors.  And I’m thankful that we have a God who says Let the little children come to me.

A few grainy cell phone images of the damage near our home:

tornado pic 1

tornado pic 2

tornado pic 3