Why Our Marriage Needed Hockey

My husband loves sports.  I believe I've mentioned it a time or two (or a hundred) here over the years.  He's not obsessed with it in that he paints his whole body and does ridiculous things to get on tv.  No, he doesn't do that, but he did get tears in his eyes when the Cardinals didn't win the Super Bowl a couple of years ago.  (Sorry, Babe, but you know it's true.)

Well, I know that most of y'all aren't from 'round here and so you could really care less about our local teams, but let me just tell ya that when any of our teams go to the play-offs in any sport, it's kinda a big deal around here. 

Over the past weekend, one of Paco's vendors gave him hockey play-off tickets for the Phoenix Coyotes.  I think he was so excited he could hardly sleep the night before.

And any man knows it's going to be a good date when he gets to wear a hockey jersey.  Period.  We could have gotten into a fight, car accident or forgotten our wallets at home and he still would have thought it was aweome, all because of the hockey jersey.

So there we were.  When I married my wonderful, understanding, handsome sports-loving hubby, I joined his world.  Which means I quietly asked his ear what "icing" meant or why everyone was booing.  If you know hockey fanatics at play-off games, you do not ask those questions out loud, lest you get jumped on the way back to your car. 

But even he was impressed when he saw the ref warming up like this:

Think he was showing off a bit?  Um, yeah.  Or maybe he just really, really, really likes to do the splits.  On ice.  On ice skates.  With thousands of fans watching him.  Yes, that makes way more sense.

While the night itself was pretty stinkin' fun - topped off with the fact that the Coyotes won (although by the end of the game, I was so tired I didn't care who scored in overtime) - the best part was when he leaned over to me, looked me in the eyes and said, "Thank you.  I love sharing this with you."

Aw.  Well, I had to pay him back somehow for falling in love with Downton Abbey with me.

Or maybe the best part was going through the DQ parking lot and then going home and eating sundaes in bed at midnight while watching The Office.

It's just too close to call.

What do you do to get into your husband's world?  It's easy enough to do, if we remember to make the effort to do it.

Why I Love Parentheses

I'm the kind of person who just adores details.  I love knowing the background story of just about, well, everything.  That is why I deeply love parentheses.  Parentheses give you the "other" or deeper explanation of things.  I use them all the time; in blog posts, in letters (right, Kristen?) and sometimes I think I even use them when I speak. 

I also love studying the Bible.  But, alas!  The Bible is shockingly lacking in the parentheses department.  Have you noticed this?  When I'm studying, sometimes, I just want to shout out, "Details, God! Details!!"  My human heart craves to satisfy my inquiring mind.

What was Mary doing when Gabriel just appeared to her giving her absolutely unbelievable news?  How long were Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden before the Fall?  What did Bathsheba look like?  For that matter, what did JESUS look like?

I'm a woman.  I'm nosy.  I'm a nosy woman who loves details.  At times, it's been frustrating for me to try to understand what is not being said in the Scriptures.

But as I was reading in one of Beth Moore's books recently, guess what I found out?  She's a nosy woman who loves details, too!  And while there are so many details and truths that you can dig out by studying and becoming educated in culture, original language and meanings of words, there are some things that are still unclear.

Does this mean God is trying to confuse us and hide something from us?

No, dear friends, no!  That only means that the things that we might want to know are not important.

{GASP!}  How can a nosy woman who loves details say that horrible thing?

I know, I know.  But stay with me here.  I know that I can get way too caught up in the details and miss what is really happening.  I don't want to Scripture to become so muddied with mere human details that I miss what God is doing or saying.  This is all about Him, anyways.  Isn't it?

If my focus is on the insignificant things that merely satisfy my curiosity, I'm missing the true power of the simplicity of the Word of God.  I need to be looking, reading, devouring on what God is doing with the details secondary.

And while my womanly-nature struggles to accept that at times, He has shared everything that I need to live a life that glorifies and points others to Him.  With or without the details.

However, I can assure you with all certainty, I cannot wait to pin some of those people down when I get to heaven and pepper them with questions until my curiosity is fully satiated. 

That will take care of the first five thousand years.

A Letter To My Daughter

Dearest Maggie,

Eleven years.  Eleven years, eleven years, eleven years...  You're eleven years old today.  As I think back on the day you were born, I'm amazed at how far we've come, baby.

I remember holding you for the first time and then absolutely panicking.  I was someone's mama.  I was the boss and the diaper changer and and feeder and nurse and.and.and.... And I was in love. Deeply, unabashedly. With you.  I was scared out of my wits.

You've been so patient with me.  You've gotten the brunt of my mistakes and have been my "guinea pig".  You've been so gracious and forgiving. 

You have been with me the longest out of all five of you cheeky monkeys.  My love for you has grown and grown and grown as I see the young woman God is molding you to be.  It's His doing, very little of mine.

You have always been my sweet girl and I don't know how I could be any more proud of you.  Keep growing, my girl, learning, reaching, loving, experiencing life to it's fullest.  Always keep your God-seeking heart seeking after the treasures that won't rust, decay or get moth-eaten.  Remember to hold your head high while loving those around you well, for you are a child of the King.

I love you, Mag-Pie, Magsie, Geegs, Magdalena, Mug-Gee. 

(Have I thoroughly embarrassed you?  Yes?  Good.)

Love,
Mama

My Husband's Daughter - Repost

(This is a repost from April of 2011, sharing one of the most important days in my sweet girl's life.)

That might seem like a funny title, but there's a story behind that. And heaven knows I love a good story. Especially if it's one of mine.

Some of you know that I was a single mama when I met my amazing husband, Paco. (You can read part of our story here and here.) It's been a journey, learning about God's forgiveness and grace and how He treasures each and every one of us.

Since we got married seven and a half years ago, we both desired deeply for Paco to be able to adopt Maggie as his own. At the beginning of our marriage, it looked like it would never happen. Mags' biological father just wasn't alright with that. We waited and prayed, prayed and waited.

About a year ago, God's timing began to show itself. It became apparent rather quickly that we would have to go to court to work all of this out. Again, we waited and prayed, prayed and waited.

And I cried. I cried tears of frustration and exhaustion. I cried out of fear that if anything happened to me, she could be taken away from her daddy and siblings.

Yet, patiently, lovingly, God pulled my wee grasping fingers off of this situation, reminding me that I wasn't in control. It took a while. A loooonnngggg while.

But in HIS time (meaning not Jamie's), He brought it all to an end. 

And with our hearts overflowing with joy, Monday, April 18th two days before Maggie's tenth birthday, we celebrated. 

Because now, she's officially what she's always been.

My husband's daughter.

Not only are we sharing the joy of earthly adoption with her, she's now understanding a little more what it means to be adopted by our Heavenly Father.

And if that's what this past years heartaches has been for...

then I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. Because the joy outweighs it all.

This happened exactly one year ago today.  April 18th is Maggie's "G-day" (as in Gotcha!).  We have been so blessed to watch her grow and mature into a beautiful young lady over the past year.

Tuesday = Ice Cream

I don't know how it works at your house, but here in the ol' desert of Arizona, Tuesdays mean ice cream.

Okay, maybe not every Tuesday.  And maybe not everyone knows that, but there were many, many reasons ice cream was needed in our neck of the woods (or desert, I guess?).

Reason #1:  It was already almost 100 degrees today.  Yup, true story.

Reason #2:  Sometimes, I just really, really need to be the cool mama, 'cuz I'm usually not.  Yes, I was the one who suggested this coolness. 

Now the score is Daddy: 1,157,354 and Mama: 1  Woot! Woot!  I made it on the scoreboard!  Now they have to love me.

Reason #3:  It was high time that Jack learned the ecstasy that is the strawberry/banana milkshake.

Reason #4:  Jude needed yet another opportunity for a photo opp of his characteristic cuteness.

I can't get him to stop posing for anything.  Believe me, I've tried everything.  I promise.

Reason #5:  Just because these little faces needed some joy today.  Forget the budget for three minutes and embrace the fact that these guys are little just once and we need to enjoy them while we can.

Don't you think that God Almighty created simple things like ice cream just because we need joy on an otherwise non-eventful Tuesday?

I do.  I think He loves and delights Himself with us so much that doing little things like this is just an extension of who He is and why He created us.

Thank you, Lord, for ice cream on Tuesdays.

It's That Time Again...

Oh, yes it is!!! It's time for us to par-tay! Okay, okay, not in the actual, real-life kind of party, but in the blog sense, which can be just as good, right?

So, if you're here for the Ultimate Blog Party from 5 Minutes for Mom, hooray, you made it here and I'm so happy to see you!  (Wait, should I really use the word "see"?  Is that right? That can't be right.)

I'm Jamie and welcome to One Blessed Lady, my own little corner of the Internet.  You can learn about who I am right up there on my "About Me" page.  I know, I know, totally unoriginal title, but it was late and I was tired, so there it is, forever and ever.  Amen.

Now if you're curious as to what type of amazingly deep and thought-provoking posts you'll be reading around here, I love to blog about my family (I {heart} my hubby and five kids.  Yes, you read that right.  Five, Cinco.).  They are the ones that make my days crazy, fun and I'm raising them just slightly dysfunctional enough to make them hysterical.

As for some of my all-time faves, well, inquiring minds want to know, right?  Since you asked...

Joy Hunts - One of my favorite posts, written just the other day, all about finding joy each and every day.

Downton Abbey Love - or maybe I should say obsession?

The Year in Pinterest - This is my year long list of projects all found in Pinterest.

If Our Christmas Letter was Honest - If only I could get away with being that honest.

That's just a few, believe me!  I love to blog about crafting (don't worry, I'll only show you the ones that actually turn out), homeschooling (so passionate about it), marriage, life, funniness (absolutely, positively), but most of all, most importantly, I'll be blogging about my Jesus, because He is my everything, the very air I breathe.

I'm so glad you've stopped by and hope you stick around for a long time!  You can always follow me through Google or get my posts via email right up there at the very top.  See it?  Good.

Now, let's settle in for a long gab session getting know each other, yes?

PS  I almost forgot to mention.  You can check out some extremely scrumdiddlyumptious recipes at our cooking blog, Smoochin' in the Kitchen!  Check it out and start following, won't you?  Your family, friends, dogs, cats, whatever will thank you!

Joy Hunts

What if we hunted for joy every day like our kids hunt for Easter eggs once a year?

I am becoming more and more convinced that each day has it's own special joys... and challenges.  Yesterday's joys and challenges may be the same, somewhat similar, or not at all like those of today.  That's part of the adventure.  It will be the same way tomorrow.

As I've become more aware of this fact, I've been praying each morning for the grace and wisdom to navigate through the challenges and the thankfulness and excitement for the joys.  Some days I do really well at this, and others, well, not so much.  Can you relate?

But what if, what if, we actively sought out the joys like our children seek out the Easter eggs?  What if we were afraid to leave the day because we may have missed one of the joys tucked away, out of plain sight?

(image courest of Corbis images)

As I watched my sweet Littles last weekend, intent and focused on finding each and every egg with the joy in every one, I realized that I need to be doing the same thing daily.  Those kiddos would not be convinced to come inside until they were absolutely positive that each egg had been found and claimed.  What if I couldn't be convinced to lay down every night until I was absolutely positive convinced that I had found and claimed each joy that God had hidden for me during the day?  What if God watches me with pleasure and excitement like we watch our kids, giving clues and cheering when they triumphantly find the one that was especially difficult to spy with the naked eye? 

And then just as kids showed each of us adults their filled-to-the-brim baskets, what if in the same way, at the end of the day, we showed God our own filled-to-the-brim joyful hearts?  Which, of course, He would look at and recognize each of those joys because He had purposely hidden them just for us because He loves us and takes pleasure in us?

Oh, dear reader, this almost to much for my heart to take in and process!

Some days, the joys will be obvious and easy to find, like the eggs that were laid out for the littlest of the Littles.  Sometimes, though, as we get older, wiser, more mature we not only find those easy eggs, but we have to diligently search for the joys that aren't easy, like in sickness, lost jobs, hurting hearts or gas prices?

But, is is there.  You just have to hunt for it.  Maybe you'll need to pray and ask God to give clues, maybe it will be hidden in plain sight or completely out in the open.  Wherever that day's joys are, look, sweet friend, with all diligence and singleness of mind, for it is there.

Will you join me in today's joy hunt?

A Blessed Easter

I do love Easter, don't you?   I love the spring, the joy, the holiness.

I love teaching our children about the specialness of this holiday, the most important day of the year to us Christians.  Of course, we celebrate it with lots of fun things like dresses and eggs and candy and food (oh, lots and lots of food), but the real reason is never far from my mind.

Our Easter holiday was simply sweet.

We did the Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday at church this year, which was Judah's first.  Complete confusion was written all over his face until big sister, Gi-Gi, stepped in to "assist" him, she being too old to participate now.

(Jack was trying to share w/ his BFF.)

Let's think about the whole concept of an Easter Egg Hunt, shall we?  We try to teach our children to share, be givers and not greedy.  THEN, we run around with them, cheering them on trying to get as many eggs as possible.  Try not to knock the babies down, but get that last egg over in the bushes before anyone else sees it, for heaven's sake!!  And let's not forget about the candy that keeps the dentists in business.  I cannot even imagine how much booty my children walked away from this holiday with.

Thankfully, we ration it out and it should last a couple of months around here.

Saturday night was reserved for food prep and girlie bee-yoo-tee-fi-ca-shun.

Ya-Ya got her first egg rinse.  Please notice our model's joyful face as she experiences her first big-girl beautification process.  Not that anything could make this girl more beautiful in her mama's eyes.

Sunday morning dawned bright and early, but look!  What joy!  New Bibles (for two of the Littles), new cds and story books, candy (yes, more) and precious little treats that came all the way from South Carolina and a very sweet friend out there.  My. kids. were. stoked.

We made it to church on time (Wow!  An Easter miracle itself!), which was amazing considering Paco was singing and had to be there early.  Thank goodness for two cars and my right hand gal, Maggie.

Don't they look beautiful?  I'm so proud of all of them.  Everyone coordinated, hair turned out right and they were on their best behavior.

Of course, we had to rush home because a whole crew was heading over to our house.  Here are some of them:

We had (ahem):  ham, roast chicken, scalloped potatoes, strawberry salad, fruit salad, greenbean casserole, daffodillies, deviled eggs, fresh lemonade, made-from-scratch blackberry cobbler and carrot cake.  Recipes coming soon on Smoochin' in the Kitchen.

(thank goodness for yoga pants, my friends.  so not kidding.)

After dinner, we managed to roll ourselves out the back door to have a sweet little Easter egg hunt at our house with my little nephew.  When we were done, he just kept signing "More!  More!" in sign language.  He knows how to have a good time!

And then we all crashed.  Paco and I had worked hard and I was ready for those yoga pants and the couch.  So we all piled on the couch and watched The Ten Commandments with Charleton Heston.

It was a pretty glorious day!

How did you spend your Easter?  Do you have any fun or especially meaningful traditions in your family?

Christ is Risen!!

Blessed Easter, my friends! I pray your day is joyous and soul-fattening!

Holy Days

You all know how I love to goof off and, in general, have a jolly good time.  Whether it's my love of Downton Abbey or experiencing a musical revue in a sea of Q-tips, I love experiencing life and having a blast doing it.

That's only part of who I am, though.

Lately, I have been studying the Word of God, more deeply than ever before.  I love feeling my soul being satisfied, fat and happy.  The more I study, the more I want to feast on His Word and know with every fiber of my being who He is.

(Photo courtesy Corbis Images)

Because of this hunger being filled more than before, this week has a particular precious meaning to me.  Easter has always been a wonderful holiday, but now more than ever, I cherish it and want my family to, as well.

I've never really dwelt on the time between the Triumphant Entry and the Resurrection too much.  I've alway kind of sped through it, not really wanting to think on the horrible pain my Savior endured for one so unworthy as me.  In my mind, it was on to the celebration of the Resurrection, please, complete with the new dresses and cutely dyed eggs.  Of course, I was thankful and understanding of what happened and the significance, but I didn't think, truly, of the beauty of it all.

Yes, there is beauty in in.  How can there be in midst of the horror of the blood and torture?  In the human-perceived injustice and unfair sacrifice?

But it is there.  It's there in the way the people couldn't contain their praise and worship of the exalted King as they shouted out "Hosanna, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!"  Yes, we know that many of them would ultimately betray Him but they simply could not contain themselves.  If the people had managed to keep a lid on it, the rocks would have cried out.  While my children think that it would have been totally cool to hear the rocks singing, I would never want my own heart to be lacking in praise so much that the inantimate things around me take my job of exalting Jesus.

There is beauty in the way Christ cared so much for His mother, that He looked down as He was dying and entrusted her into the care of the one disciple who hadn't deserted Him, the one He loved, John.

There is beauty in the way the veil was torn between the sanctuary of the Temple and the Holy of Holies, signifying that there was now and forever no more boundary between me and my God.

There is beauty in the way Jesus instituted Communion, as a symbolic rememberance of what He accomplished on the Cross.  This I have the priveledge of taking part of corporately in the body of Christ and with my family in our home.

So you'll have to pardon me this week, if I seem distant and lost in my thoughts. 

I'm just all-consumed and in love with my Jesus and astounded, amazed and taken-aback by what He chose to do for me.

Downton Abbey: My Hubby's Confession

I've already confessed to you my deep and abiding love for Downton Abbey. Remember? {sigh}  Good times, good times.

But then there's my other half's story to share with you good people.  When I got the first DVD of Downton Abbey in the mail from Netflix, this was my precious hubby's reaction:

He knows my love of all things English and bears with them, bless his heart.  He indulges me shamefully.  Shamefully, I tell you!

Sometimes, though, he discovers that maybe, just maybe, he kinda likes them a little, too.

Hmmm, lookin' a little more interested:

By the end of the first episode, he was hooked, completely, utterly, and desperately.  See?

He was starting to come home from work to have tea with me and wanting to know why we couldn't host garden parties with butlers and maids.  When he wanted to wear a tuxedo every night to dinner, I had to gently, but firmly get him to stop.  The washing machine was wreaking havoc on his tux, for heaven's sake!

By the end of the first season, we were staying up way (and I mean way) past our bedtimes on school nights just to finish one DVD the same day we had received it.

Season two arrived and it just kept getting better and better, until...  GASP!  OH, NO!

Season three doesn't start until next January.

WHAT are we going to do?!

I know, my darling.  I know.

I suppose we'll actually be having to do chores, work out, and get to bed a decent hour until January.

Darn it!