It’s only Thursday , and I cannot believe the week we have had. On Saturday we officially opened the indoor shooting range, on Sunday we celebrated Adam turning 16 with 25 if his closest friends, hot dog cart and all! On Monday little lion boy had a slight melt down situation at school ( never put sprite in a camel back, it will explode), so he came home at 9. Then it was both kids to the orthodontist that afternoon. Every day this week has been riddled with homework mine fields, battles that can rage into what is supposed to be the quiet time of night. The kind of warfare that can leave a parent shell shocked , most often muttering, and stumbling around the house . Then there was hump day… Time to check on the ear, see how it is healing up from the 6th surgery, we head into the ENT, and I think to myself, I’m going to ask him about the bloody crusty nose that Isaiah has. Staph Infection!! It had spread from one nostril to the other …thank God we had that check up! Then another terrible homework night. That was hump day. This is the day after hump day, so far so good.

I don’t have a ton of childhood memories. I could only list a handful that include my dad. I wish that wasn’t the case , but it is. I am grateful that my children’s experience will not be the same. They have a magnificent daddy, he is extravagant in his love for them. It helps that he has an earthly father who was wonderful and a Heavenly Father who teaches him grace and love every day.
Over the course of our 21 years of parenting, I’ve studied my husband, along with other men that have been in our social circles, and I think I have a pretty good idea of what daddies do.
Daddies take care of mommies.
Daddies take children on adventures.
Daddies provide for their children financially.
Daddies give their children an identity.
Daddies protect their children from harm.
Daddies do the heavy lifting.
Daddies sing at bedtime, and pray out loud.
Daddies rarely complain.
Daddies eat wherever mommies want to, this teaches children that he honors their mommy.
Daddies tell children how awesome their mom is.
Daddies carry their children to bed as long as they physically can.
Daddies teach boys how special girls are, and how to treat them.
Daddies teach girls not to spend any time with boys who don’t treat them like their daddies do.
Daddies dance .
Daddies tell their children the truth.
Daddies get up in the middle if the night and check on the household.
Daddies are full grown men who put their families first.
Daddies are children’s first picture of God’s love, his kindness, his patience.
My children and I are blessed, Thomas has worked so many jobs that he did not love , just to provide. And all the while , still dreaming and moving forward. He follows through. I respect him as much as I love him. And my children know he would never let them down. And that causes me to fall deeper and deeper in love with the father of my children…. My husband.

   Seasoned with fire.

           Have you gone through the process of seasoning an iron skillet ? It cannot be done one time, it’s a time consuming process.  You oil the pan, and you heat that sucker up. You put meat in that pan, and the drippings stick to and coat the iron skillet in a way that makes any food you cook in there taste good. The more you season the skillet, the better. Most southern women that I know have an iron skillet in their kitchen that was seasoned by their grandmothers, so decades of seasoning past down.

 To season- having had salt, pepper, herbs, spices added.

 To season- the process by which a person becomes conditioned.

Season- having much experience or knowledge of a particular activity

                               I feel pretty salty. I remember specific times when it was so clear that the Lord was pouring the oil on me, making me salty with the encounters I was having with him, every time he touched me, spoke to me, sang over me….those drippings stuck to me, causing every thing that came out of me to taste like Him. The heating up, that’s a different story, those were times of pain, and sometimes suffering where I felt the furthest from my Lord. I didn’t realize…it was a process, two parts of a whole. And that all along….he was with me, seasoning me, so that I could parent better, and love better. Oiled and heated, oiled and heated.

                I want my children to recognize the benefit to this process, it is why we say wisdom comes with age. And so I will pass on what I know …that love conquers all, but is by no means easy. That growing hurts, but is worth it, and that freedom has nothing to do with not having rules, that’s a hard one for teenagers, and grown ups alike. Where the spirit of the Lord is, that’s where you will find freedom. Lessons, that I have learned , all the while being seasoned, and salted.

If you are reading this at Mauldin High School, on your phone, or some other screen…then I suspect you think it’s hilarious. I’m glad you are reading it, even though you may pretend to laugh and giggle at the stories I tell.  Truth is, Adam is great. I like to talk about him and TO him. He is funny, and handsome, and brilliant. As a matter of fact…I can’t wait to see him this afternoon ! So LOL if you must, WTH ?

My Aunt died today.  I am wrecked.  I have been thinking about our story, mine and hers.  One of my earliest memories was of her love. Her…tickling my back, for what seemed like hours, tirelessly, selflessly…loving on me. She always called me a priss pot, I took that as a compliment…never occurred to me that it wasn’t one. I spent a lot of my childhood at her house, I played there, spent the night there. It was my second home. I asked my mom to please, please let my aunt adopt me, she wasn’t offended. She wasn’t offended because she had grown up with very little love, and she could see the love that I shared with my aunt…it was worth something, it was valuable.

                   Every time I spent the night my aunt would put me to bed, after much stalling from me, and I would hold her and say- please sleep with me, and she would laugh, never waivering, and say- You are so silly,  I have to sleep with my husband ! I didn’t understand it then. I do now. They had a good marriage, he was her person, her knight in shining armor.

    My memories of her are sweet, they are wrapped up in fried chicken and cole slaw, harlequin romances, and laughter. My aunt and my mom were the best of friends, and they would laugh, sometimes staying up all night laughing. I never really knew or understood what was so funny, it didn’t really matter. My world was at peace, I would fall asleep to the sound of their laughter on more than one occasion. I hope that my kids are so lucky as that. As I grew up, and away I got busy being a mom,and all that comes with it…and for reasons that are all my own, I didn’t see her enough. I never stopped loving her, or remembering her. She made a huge impact in my life, and she will continue to do so. Until I see her again…