Mighty to Save

The folders come home from school with my girls every Monday. If I'm being real, I kinda dread them a little. I can expect to park myself in a chair for about 45 minutes every Monday and read, and read, and read; and then pray, and pray, and pray that I will not forget all the information I am supposed to know after all the reading. These folders always come bursting with artwork as well; and from time to time a masterpiece emerges from the monotony, and this overwhelmed heart of mine stops and smiles. It happened this week with Caroline's art...
Did you know your Daddy is mighty to save too? He is the author of your salvation, He wrote the story. He knows the beginning, the middle, and the end of our lives. He knows all the ways we mess up and fall short, and He knows how desperately we need a mighty savior. We tend to think we are only worth saving when we are like my Caroline, young and innocent and drawing pictures about how her daddy is her hero and saves her. And then we grow up and start thinking that God sees us differently. We start believing that He sees us like we see ourselves: shameful, guilty, less innocent adults that have wandered from our daddy's side. We start believing that He is mighty to save all the others more deserving of His strength. We forget what He has done for the prodigal son...or in my case, the prodigal daughter.

If a girl's life can have a theme song, then this song is mine. I need to know that I do not have the one mountain that my God cannot move. I need to be reminded that He rose and conquered the grave, not for a few elite, but for those like me, and for you. For "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing" Zephaniah 3:17. Oh how He adores you sweet friends...

Lucky at Lucketts

I knew my weekend was going to be great when I woke up to a grande pumpkin spice cup of heaven. Did you know you could experience a glimpse of heaven here on this earth for only $5? You can. And it comes topped with whip cream and cinnamon...of course it comes topped with whip cream and cinnamon. It wouldn't be heaven without it. My friend marched her sweet self into Starbucks in pajamas, no bra, and slippers just because she knew I would love it...because that's just what friends do. I'll get to the loveliness of Lucketts in a minute, but I just can't help but make this post more about being lucky with friends than being lucky at Lucketts. I know a thing or two about not having friends. If I'm being honest, I've lived the majority of my years on this earth without friends. Oh how I know the hurt of mean girls! Do you? I know what it feels like to be alone. I know what it feels like to be talked about. I know what if feels like to be pushed around and afraid to go to school. And the sad thing is, adult girls can sometimes look a whole lot like the young girls from our past. Oh their ways of hurting are disguised differently, but it creates the same wound. I mention all these things for only one purpose, to tell you that the found treasures of the weekend weren't at all the stuff I saw, but rather the girls I got to see it all with. I think because I spent some much time without girlfriends that would love me despite myself, I cherish that much more my girls today. They are the kind of girls that know all about your junk, and love you anyway. The kind of girls that are the hands and feet of Christ to you. I have such a great group of girlfriends, and though I only had a few of them with me this weekend, I couldn't help but love all of them even more after being away with a few of them for a couple of days.

And now for the stuff. All I'm gonna say about Lucketts is if you ever have a chance to go, go! It's dreamy. The store is strategically positioned by God in the exact place where He most certainly calls home on this planet, it is without a doubt where God gets His mail. The drive reminded me of driving through the countryside in Paris...yes, it was really that lovely. And the fall colors of autumn certainly helped with the view.

Here is a sampling of what we saw:

I am ashamed to admit it, but we left our trip without one piece of furniture. I think it was the cheapness in each of us that prevented us from pulling the trigger on a purchase, it certainly wasn't the absence of deliciousness. It just seemed wrong to buy something that was already lovely, we are more the type that picks it up off the side of the road and then makes it lovely. You think I'm kidding? I spotted these 4 pretties on the side of the road while driving 70 mph. Did we stop? Yes. Is there possibly a litter of kittens somewhere inside these chairs? Absolutely. Did we pay $20 for all four? Yes. Did one of us not think they would all fit in the car? Yes. Did they all 4 fit in the car? Barely. Are they going to look phenomenal painted white and recovered in linen? You bet they are.

I love these girls.

Lucketts anyone?

I'm Lucketts bound. I am finally going! I have wanted to make the trip north for about a year. I swoon over their stuff all too often, and the weekend is finally upon me. A few of my girls and I are jumping in the SUV with a Uhaul hooked to the back, and we are off! I mentioned wanting to go to Lucketts awhile back and I had several emails from people telling me that they would like to go too. So if you are local to the DC area and are up for a trip, let me know. I will be there this Friday. If you are a murderer, please do not come and find me. I would not be fun to murder because I would scream loud and pull out your hair. And if you want to kidnap me or my friends for ransom, you really should know in advance that my husband has seen the Mel Gibson movie Ransom, and he says that if he was ever in that situation that he would play hardball just like Mel Gibson's character, and he would never pay a dime. But if you just want to come and hangout with cool girls and buy great stuff, then send me an email...we will meet up! Here is some of the stuff that I intend on buying...

I'm just kidding honey, I'm not really buying all of that stuff...at least that is not my plan.