Five Things I'm Loving Right Now

It's December, y'all! My baby is eighteen months old. (That's halfway to two! Somebody please slow this down!) We are all up in the Christmas spirit, and here's what I'm into these days ...

1. O Christmas Tree! My amazingly sweet, wonderfully awesome, handsomely helpful, super great husband stood outside of Target in the Michigan cold on Thanksgiving night to get me my beautiful new, 6-foot, pre-lit with colorful lights Christmas tree. Can you tell that I love it?! Boo Boo thinks that a few of the ornaments are really great. His very favorite is the jingle bell candy cane. Lucky for us, we simply close the glass door to our extra room so John can looky, but no touchy. Score!

Shipping!!

2. @BetterLifeBeam. Yeah, that's kind of an inside joke between me & my friend Rebecca as we ship Better Life Bags well into the evening hours. I'm living the dream, y'all. Working for one of my best friends. Eating chocolate cookies together. Learning a lot about sewing {okay, really just about cutting fabric, but it's a start, right?}. I am so into having a super-part-time job. Thanks, Rebecca, for the opportunity! If you haven't gotten a Christmas gift for a sweet lady on your list yet, Better Life Bags might be the solution (order by Dec. 5)! A fully customize-able, handmade bag that gives back to my community. Read about our mission here and shop here. 

Black Friday 2012.

3. Daily emails from my hubby. My sweetheart is super busy right now starting a new trimester with his sophomores & seniors. A new trimester full of Physics, Biology & Biochemistry. He's never taught Biochem before, so it's a bit of a transition, but he's a super smart guy = He's gonna rock it! Hubby is also restructuring classroom discipline & implementing new procedures for students' notebooks. All of that = a lot of work = we don't see as much of each other as we'd like. However, because my sweet lives with me in SUCH an understanding manner (1 Peter 3:7), I receive an almost-daily email from him to communicate the things that he didn't have a chance to say before. I love him.

Photo Cred: Kayla Johnson Photography (Atlanta)

4. Reading 1 Thessalonians. I have been mighty challenged by Paul's love & devotion for the people this letter is addressed to. Wow. 1 Thess 2:7 blew me away, y'all. "But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children." (My emphasis added to make it LOUD & CLEAR how cray cray this statement is) Y'all, I am on month 18 of nursing my wee one. It is a full time job. When John wants to nurse, 9 times out of 10, I stop what I'm doing and I feed him. John wants to nurse OFTEN. John's needs are above my own every single day. I can't even really put into words how much nursing a child communicates love for that child, but it's also such an epic gospel picture to me. Giving of yourself constantly that another life might be sustained. Giving of yourself that a little one can find comfort. Giving of yourself when it's inconvenient and even painful.

Bahahahaha! Love you both!

Paul has never given birth. Paul has never nursed a baby. But Paul has given birth spiritually and nursed his spiritual babes with the truth. And then verse 8: "So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us." Let me be clear. There is no one on the planet dearer to me than my child. There are so many reasons for that, but the #1 reason is that he's MINE. I worked really hard to get him here. Since he's been here, I've worked even harder. He has full access to almost every area of my life. He is mine. Thus, I have been thinking. Who is mine in the spiritual sense? Not in a weird way, like "I am yo mama," but who am I taking ownership of spiritually? Who am I checking in on? Who am I inviting into my life? Even into the really messy parts? Who's needs am I putting above my own? Who am I affectionately desirous of? Who is becoming more & more dear to me? The answers to this question scared me a little because lots of times, I choose to stay home in my warm little house with my warm little boy watching Madagascar. The end.
But I am sensing that God wants me to stay in contact with those who I've viewed as mine in the past. God wants me to keep laboring in prayer over them (1 Thess 1:2). God wants me to keep doing things the hard way so that I can see them & talk to them (them be in either GA or NC, I be in MI ... So what? Who cares?). God wants them to remain dear to me. Yesterday, Josh let me spend the whole afternoon at Starbucks with Jesus (heavens open, angels sing, hallelujer). I spent a good portion of that time praying for them. For Jessica. For Mink. For Meghan. For Em-Dig. For Han. Look out, homies. I am believing God for big things in & through you, and I have never loved you more.

Happy Birthday, Mink!

5. Deals. Dudes, if you read through all that super-spiritual stuff, kudos. As a treat, here's a simple, straightforward, superficial fifth like. I've been getting some steals on my Christmas shopping. I can't ruin any surprises for the big people, but I'll suffice it to say that we bought a train table with tracks for $10 this past weekend for a little person. John P will be a happy camper come present day (Dec. 20).

Thanks for taking the time to read all this jibber-jabber. Y'all rule! Happy December to ya! Thanks to Julie for the opportunity to link up!