Weekend Happenings

Good Friday morning!

RANDOMNESS #1 - You'll be pleased to know, this blog post is brought to you by the folks who invented VOLLEYBALL!

We won our first game against Briarwood. We were pumped. We were excited. We were intense.

We played two out of three games (which is customary for JV).

We were awesome during the second game...

But to no avail. We lost.

The third game was incredibly close.

But we eventually lost that game, too.

The good news... The girls played very well together, and I can see many, many wins in our future.

I was PROUD of all of them!

RANDOMNESS #2 - The second part of this blog post is brought to you by Krispy Kreme!

I prepared a special Pinterest meal for dinner last night. (More about that Monday!) The JV team stays at the school while the Varsity team plays their game, so I had plenty of time to have everything ready when Mike and Roxie walked in around 8:00.

It was going to be our last dinner as the Faulkner Five before Austin left for his Senior year at JSU.

And I had a major dessert surprise.

That's right, Baby! It was 9:00 p.m., Roxie was exhausted and The Brothers had TV plans for the evening, but Mike told everyone to get into The Big Gold Van... and they did!

It's a sweet tradition... in more ways than one!

And when all is said and done, it's not a tradition we're ready to give up... yet.

Nope. This tradition looks like it's going to hang around for a while!

CONTEST! CONTEST! CONTEST! - This is my 995th post for A Simple Life. The countdown continues!

The Contest will be simple. The rules are as follows:

Beginning today, leave your NAME followed by the word "CONTEST" in the Comment Section of A Simple Life, e-mail me (mfaulkner1306@charter.net) or go to my Facebook page.

You can enter the Contest ONCE A DAY (each and every day including Saturdays AND Sundays) until Thursday, August 30 at midnight. (Your name could be put into the drawing bowl a total of 7 times between now and Thursday, August 30!)

I will write my 1,000th post Friday morning, August 31.

I will draw from a HUGE BOWL of names, and a winner will be announced the morning of Friday, August 31.

The winner will receive a $15 Gift Certificate to one of the following restaurants:

1. Another Broken Egg
2. Original Pancake House
3. Olexa's
4. Lucia's Italian Restaurant in Helena

It will be Winner's Choice!

If you win and you live somewhere other than Alabama, you will win a $15 VISA Gift Card!

"May the odds be ever in your favor!"

(I'm going to be saying that for the next 5 POSTS!)

NEW THING! NEW THING! NEW THING! - I'm going to post one of my favorite posts each day from the past four years until August 31.

EMBARRASSMENT - Originally Posted October, 2008

Although Austin was only three at the time the following happened, I know and accept that I have become a HUGE embarrassment to my two teenagers and almost teenage daughter in recent years. Sometimes, just stopping and looking at underwear for a minute as you pass by that department in a store, or even laughing too loudly at the "wrong" part in a movie can cause a teenager's skin to become scarlet, their eyes to roll into the back of their heads, and the inevitable hiss that will follow... "Motherrrr!" (Sometimes I do it on purpose... sometimes I'm a little perplexed at what caused the above reaction. But I do know it's a natural part of growing up... for a child and a Christian!)

When my son, Austin, was a little older than three, our family took an annual seminar trip to the beach. It was our sixth year at the seminar seeing the same mothers and children. While our husbands were in meetings, we relaxed around the baby pool and talked about how big the children had grown over the past year.

It was a morning like any other at the baby pool when Austin suddenly slipped and went under water. I jumped up from the lounge chair that was less than two feet from the edge of the pool, and in true Olympic form, took a step to dive in and rescue my precious baby. To my disbelief, my feet flew out from under me at the edge of the pool. There was no time to stop or soften the fall and consequently, I landed squarely on my posterior. I can't even begin to describe the horrific sound of tightly stretched spandex hitting wet concrete... or the unbelievable pain that soon followed!

I quickly hobbled to Austin and brought my slightly sputtering three year-old to the surface where he gasped for air. His first words to me were, "Mommy, you embarrassed me!"

My mind went numb. (I wish I could have said the same for my tailbone.) I embarrassed him?!? I was incredulous. This was the same kid who five months earlier had knocked over a Salvation Army representative outside of K-Mart, who in turn knocked over her metal Salvation Army sign and kicked her iron Salvation Army bucket into the street. This was the same kid who then climbed UNDER and UP my skirt while I contemplated whether we could make it to the car and out of the parking lot without anyone getting my tag number.

This was the kid who in his first Christmas pageant EVER picked his nose like it had never been picked before without missing a beat.

This was the kid who sucked two pieces of Big Red chewing gum up his left nostril two days after I came home from the hospital with Joshua, and I had to remove the giant wad of gum with eyebrow tweezers.

And where the heck did my three year-old learn how to use the word "embarrassed" (and use it correctly)?

The truth of the matter is, no matter how embarrassed we become either by ourselves or with a little help from family or friends (or three year-olds), I can't imagine how much more we must embarrass our Heavenly Father with our thoughts, comments and deeds throughout a single day. How many times has God listened to me and wanted to shake His head because I knew better than to say or do those things which were displeasing?

The Bible gives us very specific instructions that, if followed, would alleviate many situations in which we embarrass our Lord and ourselves as Christians. Paul wrote a letter to the Church at Thessalonica and in 1 Thessalonians 5 he had these words of wisdom to share. "Encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all men," (v. 14). The unselfish acts of encouraging, helping and being patient help take our eyes off ourselves and focus on others. No time to sin there!

"Rejoice always," (v. 16). I don't know about you, but when I'm rejoicing about something, that usually means I'm in a pretty good mood; thus, my "sinful nature" is a little easier to control.

"Pray without ceasing," (v. 17). It's pretty difficult to say, think or do the wrong thing if we're praying all the time and seeking God's perfect will for lives.

I know when my kids have embarrassed me to the point I don't want to crawl out from under the restaurant table, at some time in the future, the embarrassment will fade, but my love for them will not diminish. Thankfully, I also know God's love for me is unconditional and steadfast. There will never be anything I do that could lessen His love for me. And because of His love, I will try harder each and every day NOT to embarrass my Savior. (I just wish my kids would make the same commitment about embarrassing their Mother!)

Weekend Happenings

The Boy and I are headed to JSU today. He will be moving into his dorm as a Senior.

There will be no tears today, but my heart is still heavy.

Austin is excited and looking forward to his last year at JSU. He is ready to reunite with old friends. He is ready for football season, and even though he is no longer a Marching Southerner, his internship with the Sports Department this Fall is all-consuming in his thoughts.

And I'm excited for him.

Roxie has her first Volleyball Tournament of the year all day tomorrow. Mike and I will be there.

And Josh... Well, after his first week of college, Josh will once again be cutting lawns... making money... enjoying the fresh, clean air!

On Sunday, I will celebrate my 51st birthday at my Mom's house. We'll have Sunday lunch and cake. (I will ponder aloud all of the events of my 50th year of life Monday morning.)

I have a lot of pondering to do this weekend.

That's our weekend. Busy and full.

I hope your weekend is WONDERFUL! I'll be back Monday with Mindless Monday, pictures, pondering, etc.

Take care, and I'll talk to you next week.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda