Coffee Talk

So next month I am speaking for the ladies at our church's monthly meeting of Coffee Talk. It's a fun group of women gathering to hear a spiritual speaker and spend time growing together in Christ. I was so honored to have been asked in November and then disappointed when I had to cancel due to Bug's death. However, Lorraine called me to re-schedule! What a huge compliment....she thought I was worth re-scheduling!

I am used to speaking in front of MOPS, but strangers will be different. I will be baring my soul to people who don't know me! Just a little scary.

My "talk" is about finding the Unexpected (or hidden) blessings in life. I find it ironic that I actually wrote on this subject BEFORE V.T.'s death, BEFORE Bug's death, BEFORE the year 2007. However, when I go back to re-evaluate it, I still maintain that for each circumstance in life, God will reveal a blessing. He doesn't always do it right away, but eventually I find that He does show me that each occurring moment in my life has been a stepping stone for the next and how he fits each stone so perfectly into the path that is my life. I love "aha" moments when I finally put a piece of the puzzle together and see why God has allowed a circumstance to happen in my life. It just reaffirms that He has a good and perfect plan for my life. That He is paving my way and all I have to do is follow Him.

My "talk" is a lot of my story, my testimony. Looking back, the first half of my life was rough. But, if God asked me if I wanted a different childhood given what I know today, I would have to say "no". Because it is in looking back at the stepping stones of my younger years, that I begin to see that those stones have been arranged into a beautiful pathway. My pathway may get cracks in it sometimes, and it might at times be an uphill path, but it always has beautiful scenery along the way and the promise of a rainbow at the end.

I pray for God to use my story to help the ladies find some of the blessings they were looking for. I pray for Him to give me the perfect words to speak. I am so honored to be his vessel and I ask that you would all pray for me to make a difference and an impact for Jesus because after all, THAT would be one BIG blessing to add to my path!

Sports fan?

So, I have never been a sports fan. Really, in the early years of our marriage (when I was SO young and immature) I absolutely hated the fact that my husband would spend ALL day on Saturday watching college football and then Sunday watching NFL Football. He left me basically to fend for myself each and every weekend. Oh, then there was Monday Night Football too. I started to think I didn't stand a fighting chance when all of a sudden I found out that basketball season was next! UGH!

I can't tell you how many years I fought my sports fan for his time and for his attention. I must have spent the first 3 years of our marriage bucking all sporting events. It was actually beginning to tick me off that every weekend I would have to fight for my husbands attention because he watched sports. I went to school all day and all night 4 nights a week and the weekends he was supposed to dote on me. Isn't that the way it works? Yes, there were a few good fights over football.

When Jayson was between 1-3 we had the opportunity to have season tickets to the Carolina Panthers for 2 seasons. We all 3 went to every home game together as a family in a limo (yep, it was the life). I still didn't like football, but I liked the stadium, music and atmosphere. And I loved seeing Jayson dress up in his Carolina gear and get so excited about the games. I still maintain at that point, I was not a football fan, I just liked the social aspect of going to the games, tailgating, riding in the limo and of course,not being a "football widow". (Side note: Jayson is still a Carolina fan which really bothers Jay).

I guess that must have put football into Jayson's blood too, because when he turned 8 guess what sport he chose to play....yep, football! So, this anti-sports gal suddenly became the biggest fan of little league football you ever did see. When Jayson caught his first 2 point conversion (Mama had to learn what that was and what it meant), you would have thought he had just taken his first steps. I clapped so hard my hand was bruised and I screamed so hard, my throat was sore. And when he scored that touchdown and got hit so hard he couldn't get up, Mama was ready to kick some butt. I was fired up!

I think back over that time and how my father in law sat patiently by my side and told me what was happening, what it all meant and if it was a good thing or bad thing. My father in law LOVED watching Jayson play. It was the one of the things he specifically prayed for, that he would live to watch Jayson play football. He did for 3 years! He went in a wheelchair with his oxygen, but by golly, he went to the games! He even let me put a stripe in his snow white hair with purple hairspray! This year, I sure did miss him when Jayson played for Middle school. Jay just isn't quite as patient with me as his dad used to be. He tries, but still, it's not quite the same.

Isn't if funny that I fought sports for so long and now that I think about it, some of my most bonding moments with my father in law came during football games. No, not NFL games, but VT and I just happened to think we were watching games way better than the NFL could produce. After all, we were watching OUR boy.

Today, I try to bond with my son and my husband by watching the Cowboys or the Mountaineers, but I still can't figure out why I should become a fan just to have the sorrow of watching them lose. Why waste my precious time? Oh yeah, because in those few short hours my son may lay beside me or let me scratch his back. He may joke around with me and I can pretend like he isn't growing up too fast. Football, of all things, brings me close to the boys I love (and that isn't the Cowboys!).

Happy Birthday Jay

Tomorrow (Jan 4th) is Jay's birthday. It always sneaks up on me since it's so close to Christmas. We try to make it a special day for him, but it still doesn't seem to get the "hoopla" I think birthdays deserve. I do birthdays big in this house. After all, the birth of my husband and my children are MY most precious gifts.

Isn't it ironic that it's Jay's birthday and I am the one who gets the gift? I get the gift of Jay's love, respect, kindness, stability, never ending support......yes, I could go on and on but you get the picture. So, I was thinking that since it's proper etiquette to write a thank you note for a gift, I think I might just do that:

Dear God,
Thank you so much for the gift of my husband. As I celebrate the day of his birth, I praise you for the man you have given to me and our children. You knew before Jay was born that he would be the perfect husband for me and the perfect father to our children. I thank you so much for giving me a husband who loves not only us, but YOU first and foremost. I thank You for his heart, his spirit, his mind, and his health. I stand back and marvel at the plan You have laid out for my family and I sometimes can't grasp the favor you have shown me by giving me this man to walk my journey of life with.
With all my heart, thank you!
Kristy

Welcome 2008!

Is it 2008 already? Well, you won't hear from me that old saying "WOW! Time flies" or "Where did the time go?". Nope, you won't because I think my family was ready to be rid of 2007! Wow, that year won't go down in our family memory books as a favorite. So, bring on the New Year, it can only be better than last year. Right?

As we found the funk descending over our home after my Aunt and Grandmother left yesterday, we tried to come up with good things that happened in 2007. We tried to find some light in our dark year. We saw Katie go to Kindergarten (WAS that a good thing?), we saw Jayson score his first touchdown in football (THAT was a good thing), we had an awesome family vacation in Disney, Jay was blessed with a wonderful opportunity in a new job, and (most importantly) we were overwhelmed by the love and support of our church family and dearest of friends. Yes, there were glimpses of light in our 2007.

Still, we are ready to kiss it goodbye and move on to 2008. I am not one for resolutions, I would prefer to wait and see what God has in store for me. I have found that often, my plans are so very different from His and also, that His are so much better than I could have ever imagined. So, instead of resolving about anything, I think I will wait and see what God has in store.

So,as we go into 2008 (still in a bit of a funk) I will choose to wait for God's plans for me and my family and believe that when the darkness comes, God will send the light for us again. He doesn't promise us that this year will be easy, but he has worked on our hearts enough to let us know we will be okay. Because no matter what, He will bring the light.