Chinatown

Today we ventured onto the subway and into Chinatown. It was an experience to say the least. When we got off the subway and started walking down the street a girl asked us if we were interested in purses. Sherri told her yes and we started walking....we stopped where a couple of other girls were and they handed us laminated cards with pictures of purses (think Coach, Prada, etc...). They kept asking us what we liked and when we didn't seem interested, they asked us if we wanted to see the store. We said yes. Well, we followed the first girl a couple of blocks down where she handed us off to another girl who took us down a street that was getting a little creepy looking. We finally got to this dark little store and went inside (all seven of us, not just Sherri and me). After we went in she opened the "wall" and led us to the back room where there were rows of "name brand" purses and wallets.....I'm not kidding.....we ended up buying two "Coach" purses and a "Coach" wallet. I have two Coach purses that I bought at the Coach store....I can't tell the difference.....only instead of hundreds of dollars, these were $30.....lest you think we spent all of our time in the "dark", there were shops in broad daylight which we bought items from :o) However, people running one of the stores where we declined to purchase sunglasses told us to "get lost"..LOL....they really did....we are still laughing about it. Anyway, we have been to Chinatown and survived.....

Our First Day in NY

We had a fun first day in NYC! It started off a little slow with a short delay because of fog, but that quickly cleared and we were on our way. We walked up to Times Square and ate dinner at Hard Rock Cafe. Then we took Zach to Toy R Us where he bought a lego airplane. Yes, I know he could buy that in TN, but the Toys R Us in TN is DEFINITELY not like the one here!! Actually, I don't think that there is anything in TN like here :o) A lot of people is an understatement and I couldn't imagine ever driving here......this is a fun ecperience, though, and I realize how blessed we are to get this opportunity! Stayed tuned for more fun from the Big Apple!!!

What is up with that?

Today when we were on our way to a ball game Zach starts lecturing me on how his dad and I should learn how to get along and not fight and that God tells us to love each other. I told him (at least a dozen times since our divorce) that his dad and me are not married anymore and he said, "but you still love each other". I finally just agreed that yes, God expects us to love each other and that we should get along. This had gone on  for about 5 minutes. What makes this really surprising is that I hardly talk to Dan in front of the boys (actually, I hardly talk to him at all). I guess he just remembers that we used to fight.

I'm not sure what prompted Zach's thoughts today, but today was not the best day (for me) for him to bring that up. Two nights in  a row I have dreamed that Dan and me were still married and today has been one of those days where the whole 17 years that we spent together (mostly bad, but some really good times) played all through my head. Of course this leads to other thoughts about whether or not I should have stayed married and a replay of everything that I did wrong (yes, I admit it wasn't all Dan's fault) during our marriage.

I realize that all of this is probably compounded because of my tired, over scheduled and usually hormonally out-of-balanced life. I'm not sure why I wrote this, I guess I just wanted to talk about it. Don't worry friends and family who aren't fans of Dan, I'm not running out to get back together with him.....it's just been a weird few days.

The Strong Willed Child

If there ever was a strong willed child, his name is Zachary. I don't mean that he is a bad child, but he is just the one that is going to test every boundary and definitely try to do things his way. Somedays it is all I can do to have enough energy to keep him somewhat obedient. But I love him with all my heart. I wouldn't trade the chaos and craziness for anything else. Even though I know he is hard to deal with at times, it makes me sad that others night not like him or think bad about him. Because I know who he really is.

Don't you think that's how our Father sees us? He knows that most of the time we are out of control and set on doing things our way, but He loves us anyway.  He sees the REAL us. The person that He knows we are and no matter what we think about ourselves or anyone else thinks about us, we are His! He is jealous for us. He wants our time, talents, hearts. Not just so he can control us or extort His authority but so that He can make us the best person we can be. Just like with Zach, I don't keep him reigned in because I want to control him, but because I know he must learn certain things to become a compasionate, responsible and hopefully godly man.

Obedience, or lack of, can bring many good things even if being obedient makes us uncomfortable. Romans 19:1 says "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous". So the question is, do we want to be like Adam and not set the example for others, or do we want to be like Christ and bring light into this world?

Obedience is very hard for me. This is probably where Zach gets it from. But I know that obeying God has far more benefits that out weigh the discomfort of surrendering my will to His. Plus, it is just the RIGHT thing to do. I taught Zach Ephesians 6:1 in a moment of battle between us about learning scripture when he said, "I don't want that verse, I want another one". So I said ok, here is your verse, "children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right". Doesn't that apply to us to? Children (you and me (and Zach)) obey your parent (God) in the Lord (His ways, according to His word) because this is the right thing to do.

Be obedient today (pointing fingers at myself) ao that you can "eat the good of the land" (Isaiah 1:19)