Pretty-Happy-Funny-Real: Three Great Kids and a Foot Wash

Linking up with Auntie Leila again this week for Pretty-Happy-Funny-Real.

Pretty

It's been a busy, banner week here.  We had the annual All Lake Novice Swim Meet.  Buddy swam in the 7-8 boys division, because he had taken gold the previous two years and you must move up after winning gold.  He did an amazing job and placed silver, coming in just half a second after the gold winner, who is also almost three years older than him.  Cowgirl swam an excellent race despite having a pounding headache.  She came in fifth, but swimmers in third through sixth place came in within the same mere 3/4 of a second.  So, all in all it was a great race. Then on Saturday, Cowgirl  had a horse show.  She won eight ribbons, including a third place--her first ever!!  These kids are amazing!

Happy

It's a very happy birthday, today for Little Man.  One year old, already!!!  It has been such a happy year, but too quick.  Here is his birthday outfit, all ready to go for a special trip to Picture People and a stop at the local bakery for a sweet treat.  How I love this little guy!  I will update later with a picture of him in said outfit.

Funny

I always accost greet my children on their birthdays by taking a picture of them the moment that they wake up.  I tried today with Little Man, he was more interested in snuggling and being busy.  Then he grabbed my phone and took his first "selfie."  I guess that counts, right?  

Kind of reminisent of our first pictures of him in utero.


Real

I think my husband has been reading the blog, specifically my post on all the sand in this house.  This weekend, he surprised me with a foot wash on our deck.  I was pretty impressed.  He had to run to the hardware store for something and saw this neat little spray attachment.  The kids have been enjoying using it, and my floors have been so much cleaner!  Except, guess who forgot to use it yesterday and traipsed sand through the whole house? That's right, me!   

Sand, Sand, Sand...and what it has taught me about God!

We are right, smack in the middle of swim season, which should be more aptly named sand season.  As I have mentioned before, we are blessed to live on a beautiful lake with a lovely beach.  My children take swim lessons five to six days a week, but more important than the lessons is the fun and friendships they have at the beach.  However, the sand!!!

I have tried everything over the past nine years of living here.  I shower them as we exit the beach, we take our shoes off on the deck, I brush off their feet, we hang towels outside, they go directly to the shower when the enter the house, I even once kept a bucket on the deck to rewash feet.  No matter what I do, the house gets full of sand.  I have been known to chide my children that if they want a beach to go back to they must leave some of the sand behind.  Alas, it is sand season...

However, the other day as I was yet again sweeping up mounds of sand and beginning to grumble about it, I had a thought, a God thought.  We ty hard to leave the sand at the beach, sure we like that nice "healthy glow" at summer's end and all the fantasic memories.  We enjoy recounting the swimming and fishing tales and make it well known that we are blessed to live a mile from the beach, but we don't want sand to leave the beach.  When it creeps into our cars and our homes, we gumble and fuss, we bemoan and belittle the beach that we love so much.  Why can't it just stay where it belongs?  Yes, we belong to the beach but it doesn't have to follow us around.  And besides, does the whole world need to know that we live on a beach by the stray sand we seem to lug everywhere we go?

That is when I realized, how often do I do that to God?  He is everywhere and we are proud to comment about our relationship with God and the church we attend, but do we really want Him everywhere?  Do we try to keep Him in one place or another, on one day or another, in our prayer time and our Bibles, but not in our cleaning and entertainment.  I realized how much I wanted God everywhere, I want Him to stick to me and follow me and be very difficult to get rid of.  BUT, that means I need to live every moment as if I am on God's beach if you will.  I need to accept that things aren't always perfect and pretty, but that is God working and the fact that much is being expected of me is a sign of how much He trusts and loves me.  I also need to take Him with me and not try to shluff Him off or contain His presence.  Every moment, every room, every task should be at the feet of God, because whether we like it or not, He is there and watching.  So this is my challenge for the next month, as I prepare to say so long to summer and sand, to find God in every spot and to let Him be in every breath and motion.  I want God to stick to me like sand and me stick to Him the same way.  Perhaps heaven isn't a garden nor a cloud, maybe it's actually a beach!

How do you bring God with you throughout your day and travels?