Whatever We Want...Part III

The Getting There...

We met at Kelly's house at 10:00 a.m. (that's Kelly time for 10:15-wink, wink). The trip would take us about an hour and half and we would be in two cars. Jenn brought her own car, because she planned on leaving early Sunday morning in order to help out during church.

Awwww, Jenn. Ain't she sweet? Thanks a lot "friend" for making the rest of us look like slugs.

We said, "fine by us Jenny....go right ahead and be a help-mate to your husband....we are staying right here to finish eating ourselves into a coma"

So. We left Kelly's house and headed to Panera for lunch around 11:00 a.m. After some rousing conversations involving our children, our church and American Idol, we realized that several hours had passed. Can you believe we sat right there in Panera for nearly 3 HOURS??? Therein lies the proof that all we needed was stimulating conversation and I believe at the end of those three hours we had stimulated many of the Panera customers as well :)

So we loaded up in our respective "rides" and headed to our getaway. Kelly, Dusty, and Karen in the sleek, and oh-so-classy and safe Volvo. Jenn, Lea Ann, and I in the oh-so-large and safe Crown Victoria. Talk about a smooth ride! More like a glide, I tell you. If that thing had a third row, this family would be taking a long hard look at the sedan as a replacement for the SUV.

This car really reminded me of another fantastic "boat on wheels" from back in the day. It had an uncanny similarity to the 1974 Ford LTD that I spent a great deal of my preschool years tootin' around in. It could be the smooth ride, the 132 square foot backseat, or the fact that it was a true grandmothermobile. Either way, I enjoyed the ride....immensely.

When we came to our little piece of heaven in Scottsville, Virginia it was immediately apparent that "giddy" would be the theme for the next several hours. Our accommodations were provided by Kelly's parents in their home which was built with guests in mind. The house has a simple beauty both in architecture and the serenity of it's location. Warm. Lovely. Homey. Spacious. There are an abundance of adjectives that could appropriately describe their cabin and we "ooohh & ahhhed" over all the different treasures. Funny enough, the super-duper basement/storage/closet thingy probably took first place right next to the really large laundry room. The momma in us is easily wooed.

Here's a few pic's that I took of their sweet abode:

The entire downstairs area was where we cohabited...like college roommates...with gray hair and stretch marks, telling childbirth stores

...So maybe more like nursing home roommates?

















They have given their home a fitting name...

















Our beautiful view

I came downstairs to claim my bunk in the "cave of joy", which was the bedroom with two sets of bunk beds, where the grandkids sleep. You may think there would be no joy found in sleeping in a bunk bed, but this room had no windows. NO WINDOWS!!! No light and no sound. It was bliss.

When I rounded the stairway corner, I found my desperate friends had just plopped down right outside the bedrooms, on the floor to chat. That is a sad state, when grown women don't even make an attempt to walk five more feet to the couches. Nope. The chattin' started and these weary ladies were coppin' a squat right where they were. It made me wonder if this is because we are used to sitting on the floor with their babies and so you just end up there...kinda like that sway that we do when we stand still too long, even though we aren't holding anybody....so it sort of looks like we are tipsy. Weird phenomenon.























Later that evening, chic Kelly made some fabulous chicken/bacon/cheese quesadillas and her mother had prepared taco soup. Here's the recipe for the soup:

Santa Fe Soup

2 lbs. ground beef or chicken
1 large onion, chopped
2 packages of dry ranch dressing
2 packages of taco seasoning mix
2 – 16 oz cans of black beans, undrained
1 – 16 oz can of kidney beans, undrained
1- 16 oz can of pinto beans, undrained
1- 16 oz can of tomatoes with green chiles (or Ro-Tel)
1- 16 oz can of diced tomatoes
2 – 16 oz cans of white corn, undrained
2 cups of water

Brown the meat and the onions. Once brown, dump into large pot. Add the taco and ranch seasonings. Add remaining ingredients, including water. Simmer for at least 2 hours. Garnish with cheddar cheese, sour cream, and/or green onion. Serve with tortilla chips or corn bread.

The quesadillas are pretty easy, but I think the key ingredient was the bacon and the onions that were saturated in olive oil. YUM! I had made this soup earlier in the week and it is delicious.

I would say that our major topic of discussion centered around purity. I had brought the book, and the Bride Wore White as a talking point. We basically all shared a bit of our individual testimonies but we really focused on what we want for our children. The idea that purity is a heart thing and not just a body thing seems like a given. Truth be told, most of us began parenting our kids with the hope that they would wait until marriage but never really understood what the means to achieve that would look like. You could have asked me at any stage when my girls were younger about how I would handle dating and boyfriends and I would shrug it off, secretly confused about how I could encourage relationships that jeopardized everything the bible taught about the intimacy between a man and a woman. A few years ago, I read about courtship, caught wind of Josh Harris' books, and talked openly with close friends about the "how's" and the "why's". Dating didn't make sense. I mean, sure it makes sense if you feel like you are ready for marriage, but teaching abstinence coupled with dating is a complete conflict of emotions and really a conflict of biblical teaching. Our culture has moved away from 12-13 year old girls getting married but we left the practice of dating in place where it truly has no place.

For the most part, I know that we are in the vast minority. That is okay.

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it." Matthew 7:13

Oh, how will our girls survive without the joys of dating? Won't they want boyfriends? Am I FORBIDDING my daughters and sons to date?

The truth is, there has already been training that I have tried to be faithful in teaching....from His Word. From that training, their hearts are naturally inclined to desire certain things. My kids don't walk around saying, "no thanks....I'll pass on the smokes....cause I'm not allowed". Rather, they just don't want to smoke. They know what it is. They know what it isn't. My prayer is that I won't have to forbid my children to date, but rather they will want to wait. Kookey, huh? I would have thought the same thing without the truth in God's word that revealed differently. It is remarkable and amazing what God can do in a changed heart.

We have begun the process of teaching Hannah about the gift of marriage and prayers for her future husband. It is about her heart. Her impressionable, vulnerable, precious heart. Exposing this topic among other women is encouraging and challenging but utterly necessary. I am grateful to have the women in my life who seek to honor God in their lives, their marriages, and in the parenting of their children!

In the next episode we will discuss where babies should sleep, what in the world is a "false wart", and what makes a grown woman spit ice cream in a public place.....

Stay tuned for Part IV of the "Whatever We Want" saga!!!