I HATE IT! I hurt for the children that have parents that would give up so easily. I hurt for the families that will be torn apart by two selfish human beings.
There is already enough hurt in the world, why do we have to make it worse by taking something so amazing and full of love, and turning it into something that people despise. Why has marriage become something we can check in and out of with no second thought.
Marriage is hard. It wasn't intended to be easy. When two people stand up and say their vows, they should be doing just that. Making vows. Those vows state "for better, or for worse". I know it's a little cliche, but it means something to me. It means more than just something. It means I'm ALL in. I'm NEVER going to give up. Forever, for always, and no matter what!
I know I'm venting out of anger, but these things, they hurt me. They hurt me a lot. I feel very strongly about them. Why? I don't know. Maybe b/c I have parents who loved each other enough to fight through the hard times. I know what a great marriage looks like and it is a terrible thing when two people give up too early. I've never experienced divorce and I don't know where my passion comes from, but I have it. Now, I just need to figure out how God is going to use it through me.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Stories from foster care!
I don't really remember a ton about foster care, but the few things I do remember are funny, sad, and comforting!
I remember I had my own bedroom with lots of toys and it was decorated in precious moments. I will never forget precious moments. Anytime I see them to this day it reminds me of the warm love I felt in foster care. My foster dad used to read to me at night before bed and a lot of times he would read out of these two precious moments books. I still have them. Precious moments bedtime stories & stories from the bible.
I remember how the pages smelled and I just love the stories in them. I still have the books and I've noticed after my sister has spent the night a couple of times, the books laying next to her bed :) We still find comfort in them.
Also, my room was ALWAYS clean. I started early as a neat freak. I have a picture of myself right after I cleaned my room and I was sitting at my little table coloring. It was my reward for cleaning. I rewarded myself back then just like I do now!
Another thing I "remember" is that I threw some pretty terrible tantrums. And when I say tantrums I mean, kicking, screaming, breaking toes, call the police kind of tantrums. WHAT!? Brittany?? YES. I broke my foster mom's toe once b/c I kicked it. Another time the neighbors called the police b/c they thought I must have been being abused. (I assure you, I wasn't. I was just a confused, screwed up 5 year old).
My favorite thing about foster care though was how much I was loved. In all the chaos, I had some sort of stability. I had two people that loved the HELL out of me! I know I didn't realize it then, but I realize it now and that is why it is my favorite memory.
Hopefully I will remember more things about foster care and can add them later, but for now this is what I got.
I remember I had my own bedroom with lots of toys and it was decorated in precious moments. I will never forget precious moments. Anytime I see them to this day it reminds me of the warm love I felt in foster care. My foster dad used to read to me at night before bed and a lot of times he would read out of these two precious moments books. I still have them. Precious moments bedtime stories & stories from the bible.
I remember how the pages smelled and I just love the stories in them. I still have the books and I've noticed after my sister has spent the night a couple of times, the books laying next to her bed :) We still find comfort in them.
Also, my room was ALWAYS clean. I started early as a neat freak. I have a picture of myself right after I cleaned my room and I was sitting at my little table coloring. It was my reward for cleaning. I rewarded myself back then just like I do now!
Another thing I "remember" is that I threw some pretty terrible tantrums. And when I say tantrums I mean, kicking, screaming, breaking toes, call the police kind of tantrums. WHAT!? Brittany?? YES. I broke my foster mom's toe once b/c I kicked it. Another time the neighbors called the police b/c they thought I must have been being abused. (I assure you, I wasn't. I was just a confused, screwed up 5 year old).
My favorite thing about foster care though was how much I was loved. In all the chaos, I had some sort of stability. I had two people that loved the HELL out of me! I know I didn't realize it then, but I realize it now and that is why it is my favorite memory.
Hopefully I will remember more things about foster care and can add them later, but for now this is what I got.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Sleepover follow up!
On May 22, 2009, I invited 5 girls over to spend the night. Girls who are in 5th & 6th grade. No, I don't have my own daughter and it wasn't a birthday party. Yes, it was a brave move, but one I am very glad I took.
I have been teaching these girls every Sunday for the past year or so. I've been building a relationship with them over time. Some of the best relationships I've ever had. These girls have shown me that pre-teens who have their hearts turned to God are AMAZING!!!
We ate LOTS of junk food, played a game, played with Sadie, watched a movie and fell asleep EARLY! Okay 11:00 pm is early for a bunch of preteen girls. I wanted to go to bed at 9:00 when we were playing the game. LOL.
These girls were so good at including everyone. There was one girl who didn't want to listen to "scary" stories so she was going to sit in the other room. One of the other beauties went in there and told her she should just come listen to one b/c they aren't that scary and if she didn't like it she could leave. What a perfect example of the heart of Jesus! Reaching out to those who feel left out! This is just one example of trying to include this particular girl. 5 is an odd number and it's hard to include everyone, but they were GREAT!
When I was a preteen girl, most of my friends (not me of course) would have made fun of her for being scared or something. I am so impressed by the hearts that my girls have. They are truly beautiful young ladies and I LOVE THEM!
I can't wait till our pool party!
I have been teaching these girls every Sunday for the past year or so. I've been building a relationship with them over time. Some of the best relationships I've ever had. These girls have shown me that pre-teens who have their hearts turned to God are AMAZING!!!
We ate LOTS of junk food, played a game, played with Sadie, watched a movie and fell asleep EARLY! Okay 11:00 pm is early for a bunch of preteen girls. I wanted to go to bed at 9:00 when we were playing the game. LOL.
These girls were so good at including everyone. There was one girl who didn't want to listen to "scary" stories so she was going to sit in the other room. One of the other beauties went in there and told her she should just come listen to one b/c they aren't that scary and if she didn't like it she could leave. What a perfect example of the heart of Jesus! Reaching out to those who feel left out! This is just one example of trying to include this particular girl. 5 is an odd number and it's hard to include everyone, but they were GREAT!
When I was a preteen girl, most of my friends (not me of course) would have made fun of her for being scared or something. I am so impressed by the hearts that my girls have. They are truly beautiful young ladies and I LOVE THEM!
I can't wait till our pool party!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Funny Story
my mom...oh my mom...she told me this funny story about herself. Yes, I did get permission to post it!
Friday, my mom was on her way home from work early to get ready for her 2nd night of anniversary celebration. 28 years! That morning she noticed that she had 14 miles til empty. She has one of those cool cars that tell you exactly how far you can go! Well she decided she could get to work, but she would have to stop on her way home.
Ha! My mom...she forgets a lot. Well Friday was no different. She was driving down I-30 and around Motley drive her car just turned off. :-) She still had pretty good speed and she could see a gas station at the next exit. She decided to try and coast. Well she did...most of the way. She pulled into the gas station and it had an ever so slight incline and her car stopped about 5-6 feet too short.
This is where my mom's brilliance comes in. "I'll just put the car in neutral and push it forward a little" she thought. I bet you can guess where this is going. Well she put it in neutral and started pushing. She drives a Ford Edge. It's heavy. The truck starts rolling back and she tries to run and jump into the drivers seat. What a sight to see.
That didn't work so great for her. The car knocked her on the ground and nearly ran over her. The tire grazed her thigh. She's lucky it didn't run over her leg.
Well that's not the end. Her car is still rolling and runs into this old little pickup truck, with an old man sitting inside. It obviously startled him. He gets out with a terrified look on his face and then my mom realizes he can't talk. He just had a tracheotomy. He had to write everything.
He hadn't seen anything prior to this, so my mom told him the story. His faced changed from being terrified to being horrifically concerned. He then pulled his car forward, since my mom's was out of gas, so they could survey the damage. Nothing really wrong with his car, but my mom had a dent so they decided to part their ways, but before doing so he wrote my mom a little note. "Remember, don't leave the car in neutral". HAHA!
But wait, there's more! Then a man pulls up in a little sports car to ask my mom is she is okay. She said she was and asked if he'd seen what happened. He said he was driving down the highway and saw the whole thing. He got off the next exit and turned around to make sure she was okay. This story just kept getting better and better as she told it! A man from the highway saw the whole thing and turned around :-). Can you imagine!
My mom was so embarrassed, she couldn't even tell my dad. She finally told him Saturday morning and then told me that afternoon! It made my weekend.
Friday, my mom was on her way home from work early to get ready for her 2nd night of anniversary celebration. 28 years! That morning she noticed that she had 14 miles til empty. She has one of those cool cars that tell you exactly how far you can go! Well she decided she could get to work, but she would have to stop on her way home.
Ha! My mom...she forgets a lot. Well Friday was no different. She was driving down I-30 and around Motley drive her car just turned off. :-) She still had pretty good speed and she could see a gas station at the next exit. She decided to try and coast. Well she did...most of the way. She pulled into the gas station and it had an ever so slight incline and her car stopped about 5-6 feet too short.
This is where my mom's brilliance comes in. "I'll just put the car in neutral and push it forward a little" she thought. I bet you can guess where this is going. Well she put it in neutral and started pushing. She drives a Ford Edge. It's heavy. The truck starts rolling back and she tries to run and jump into the drivers seat. What a sight to see.
That didn't work so great for her. The car knocked her on the ground and nearly ran over her. The tire grazed her thigh. She's lucky it didn't run over her leg.
Well that's not the end. Her car is still rolling and runs into this old little pickup truck, with an old man sitting inside. It obviously startled him. He gets out with a terrified look on his face and then my mom realizes he can't talk. He just had a tracheotomy. He had to write everything.
He hadn't seen anything prior to this, so my mom told him the story. His faced changed from being terrified to being horrifically concerned. He then pulled his car forward, since my mom's was out of gas, so they could survey the damage. Nothing really wrong with his car, but my mom had a dent so they decided to part their ways, but before doing so he wrote my mom a little note. "Remember, don't leave the car in neutral". HAHA!
But wait, there's more! Then a man pulls up in a little sports car to ask my mom is she is okay. She said she was and asked if he'd seen what happened. He said he was driving down the highway and saw the whole thing. He got off the next exit and turned around to make sure she was okay. This story just kept getting better and better as she told it! A man from the highway saw the whole thing and turned around :-). Can you imagine!
My mom was so embarrassed, she couldn't even tell my dad. She finally told him Saturday morning and then told me that afternoon! It made my weekend.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Sleepovers
This Friday, May 22, I will be having a sleepover, at my house, with 4-6 5th & 6th grade girls. I'll let you know how it goes.
I don't remember the last time I had a sleepover. Junk food, healthy food?, doing nails, bible study, movies, girly talk! This could be interesting!
I don't remember the last time I had a sleepover. Junk food, healthy food?, doing nails, bible study, movies, girly talk! This could be interesting!
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Babysitting
Wow. I haven't babysat for a couple years.
Saturday I babysat two little, adorable boys. Part of it made me not want to have kids, but then the other part made me realize how mother's get past the first part.
These boys were hilarious. My family and I could not stop laughing! I barely held my composure that night.
So the evening started at my parents house. We were going to dinner, but while we were waiting the boys played games on the xbox 360 while we waited for my dad to be done on the computer. The boys said a word that my mom describes as "weebles", but it sounded kind of like "weebos" to me. My mom asked what it meant and the 5 yr old said "it's the private parts of SOME boys have". My sister realized they were saying "Huevos" which in spanish evidently refers to male private parts. :-)
On the way to dinner the boys thought it would be great to play with some toothpicks. I soon realized this would end up in someone getting hurt. Little did I know that someone would be me. I told them to give me the toothpicks and they did. Only one of them ended up stuck in my hand. I pulled it out and quickly began to bleed. The 5 yr. old told me it would eventually stop bleeding. He had no sympathy. The 8 yr. old said "You should just stab him back. But, that would be venting." Then the 5 yr. old said "Yea. That would be venting your anger". LOL.
We went to Cristina's for dinner, but the 5 yr. old didn't agree to go there. He wanted to go to Pei Wei. He said he wanted egg soup. I discovered something new about my mother tonight. She is a big marshmallow. My mom decided it would be a good idea to go to Pei Wei and get him the soup he wanted and bring it back to Cristina's. Ha. He did say "thank you" and give her a hug, but it was soon followed by "you didn't get chopsticks?". He wanted to eat his soup with chopsticks :-).
I had the great idea to let him use two straws as chopsticks. Ha. It was hilarious. He eventually just started sucking it down.
We got through dinner all in one piece although the chips were all in pieces on the floor. On the way back from dinner someone let one loose. I thought it was one of the boys, but they blamed it on my dad. That's when I realized the true culprit...my mom. When I said it out loud, the boys both said "No, it was your dad. Mom's don't fart." I asked what mom's do if they don't fart and they said "they smack his butt". hahahahaha.
We got back to my parents house and the boys were playing xbox again. They were playing football and the 5 yr. old said "guess what? The indian redskins are winning. I mean the African redskins! OMG. I could not stop laughing. Where does he get this stuff!
We left when the 5 yr. old said "Can you get me some dessert". I knew it was time for bed. He was getting demanding.
Oh what a night!
Saturday I babysat two little, adorable boys. Part of it made me not want to have kids, but then the other part made me realize how mother's get past the first part.
These boys were hilarious. My family and I could not stop laughing! I barely held my composure that night.
So the evening started at my parents house. We were going to dinner, but while we were waiting the boys played games on the xbox 360 while we waited for my dad to be done on the computer. The boys said a word that my mom describes as "weebles", but it sounded kind of like "weebos" to me. My mom asked what it meant and the 5 yr old said "it's the private parts of SOME boys have". My sister realized they were saying "Huevos" which in spanish evidently refers to male private parts. :-)
On the way to dinner the boys thought it would be great to play with some toothpicks. I soon realized this would end up in someone getting hurt. Little did I know that someone would be me. I told them to give me the toothpicks and they did. Only one of them ended up stuck in my hand. I pulled it out and quickly began to bleed. The 5 yr. old told me it would eventually stop bleeding. He had no sympathy. The 8 yr. old said "You should just stab him back. But, that would be venting." Then the 5 yr. old said "Yea. That would be venting your anger". LOL.
We went to Cristina's for dinner, but the 5 yr. old didn't agree to go there. He wanted to go to Pei Wei. He said he wanted egg soup. I discovered something new about my mother tonight. She is a big marshmallow. My mom decided it would be a good idea to go to Pei Wei and get him the soup he wanted and bring it back to Cristina's. Ha. He did say "thank you" and give her a hug, but it was soon followed by "you didn't get chopsticks?". He wanted to eat his soup with chopsticks :-).
I had the great idea to let him use two straws as chopsticks. Ha. It was hilarious. He eventually just started sucking it down.
We got through dinner all in one piece although the chips were all in pieces on the floor. On the way back from dinner someone let one loose. I thought it was one of the boys, but they blamed it on my dad. That's when I realized the true culprit...my mom. When I said it out loud, the boys both said "No, it was your dad. Mom's don't fart." I asked what mom's do if they don't fart and they said "they smack his butt". hahahahaha.
We got back to my parents house and the boys were playing xbox again. They were playing football and the 5 yr. old said "guess what? The indian redskins are winning. I mean the African redskins! OMG. I could not stop laughing. Where does he get this stuff!
We left when the 5 yr. old said "Can you get me some dessert". I knew it was time for bed. He was getting demanding.
Oh what a night!
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