Love

I remember before I got married I did not think that I could love my intended any more than I already did. But you know what? I love him even more today (next week is our 11th wedding anniversary) than I did yesterday. There is something about marriage that makes your heart expand.

Here is my incredible pirate spouse.


And when I look at these precious children that we have been incredibly blessed with, my heart expands even more.

#11 Thing to Do in Dallas with Kids

So, I made this crazy New Year's Resolution to blog weekly (did not happen) about 52 Things to do in Dallas WITH KIDS. Since it is almost May, I better get busy. Today, #11 Visit the Dallas Zoo. Seriously, it is way cooler than it used to be. Sometimes when you visit zoos you feel awful for the animals, but the new Giants of the Savanna area is AMAZING! I have never been that close to a giraffe and it was super cool to feed them lettuce. They have bumpy tongues! The zoo keepers were very talkative and friendly and even offered to take a picture of us feeding the giraffe.

There were 5 giraffes in the area and we saw one run and one bend way down to get a stick that two giraffes played with. In a different area we heard a male lion making lots of noise, maybe it was feeding time? He was prowling all over and he was just on the other side of the glass. It felt very open and like there was lots of room for the animals to move.


The children's area had a petting zoo area that I did not remember. It was filled with about 10 goats who were playing with tree limbs and eating the leaves. Everett kept trying to take away their big sticks and the goats did not like it. Everett did not much like the goats either... There were also donkeys in an area next to the petting zoo that were playing with each other.


We had a great time and can't wait to come back to see the new open air bird show, Soar a Festival of Flight.

Reconnecting

A few weeks ago I was meeting with an engaged couple for their premarital counseling. I was feeling like they were just like me. They met in college and they even attended Texas Tech. Hey, I said, I did too! I had taken summer school there in 1994 and 1995 while my sister got her Masters in Math. When I asked them when they had been there, they responded that they had graduated in 2008. They were way younger than I was. How did I get this old? 40 is closer than ever before!

While I was feeling all old and wondering where my life had gone, I had the great opportunity to reconnect with a longtime friend. My friend Pam has lived the last five years abroad, in Oman and Brisbane, and my other longtime friend Victoria and I had decided that we needed to see Pam as soon as she was stateside. So, this past weekend Victoria and I hopped on a plane to Houston Friday afternoon. I had such a great time laughing, catching up, telling stories, and reconnecting not only with longtime friends but with myself.

My family has this tradition that we try to do every night at dinner. We go around the dinner table and share the best part of our day. That practice really makes me think about where I had had joy in that day. It makes me reflect on where I saw God and the working of the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes I lose me in the busyness of life. Reconnecting with good friends this past weekend reminded me of the joy of life. The joy of friends. The joy of being me.

Sunday morning I was back in Dallas, teaching Sunday School for the youngest ones at our church. I was getting lots of practice at practicing patience and I was a wee bit frustrated. Patti Osborne, an amazing woman of God, helped me to reconnect. At the end of class she suggested that the children make a kindness circle. These 8 children from the ages of 3-5 went around the circle sharing kind words about each other.

"He is really good at picking up his toys."
"She is very pretty."
"He is so cute."
"He is nice."

Reconnecting with kindness, with joy. I found that my heart was turned in that moment, ready again to embrace love, embrace hope.

Thanks be to God.

a box

I love how kids can play with a box. This box has been a boat, a train, and now is the perfect place to sit while watching your morning TV show!

Dallas Rock-n-Roll Marathon

After my mom and I completed the Komen 3-Day for the Cure last November and walked 60 miles and raised over $5000 combined to fight breast cancer, we started getting information about the Komen marathon for the cure program. So, we signed up for the Dallas rock-n-roll marathon, raised $650 combined for the Komen foundation, and participated this past Sunday. We had a great time, though we were both concerned about walking the 13 miles in the 4 hour time limit. There were 14,000 people participating and it took 20 minutes for us to cross the starting line! At one point there were 4 people behind us and then the police cars signaling the end of the race, but we surged and after seeing Grace UMC worshiping outside and trying to get to the person who was wearing angel wings, we finished officially in 3 hours and 58 minutes, baby.

before the race


Grace UMC worshiping outside



one of the angels that helped us to surge

our fans! Lee with Everett on his shoulders, Don with Madeleine


the family, Madeleine loved all of the free food!

The world is your oyster?

Madeleine, my first grader, has been learning about the Presidents and money. We have had lots of questions about who is on what denomination or coin and why. And then Madeleine has been asking more thoughtful questions about why has there only been one black President and why has there never been a President who is a woman. I love that the world is her oyster and in her eyes it does not make sense that the leader of our nation does not have more variety than a white man. I wonder when the reality of life will begin to set in and she will realize that the world is not her oyster, that there is racial inequality, gender inequality, and socio-economic inequality?