Happy Birthday, Rebecca!


Today is Rebecca's 31st birthday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, REBECCA!!! I LOVE YOU!!!
(I think I have the best daughter-in-law in the whole world!)

I have had a very enjoyable week with my mother-in-law. We've been on the go nearly every day. Yesterday we spent the day with Rebecca and the boys. We went to lunch. We got ice cream. We went to Stein Mart. The boys were cooperative and sweet. I have never encountered a two-year-old who says thank you more often than my little Joshua. He even says "Thank You Grandma Shari" when I buckle him into his car seat. I just adore those little boys. I was born to be a grandma! (I'm sure lots of grandmas feel this way.)

I have really enjoyed all the comments lately. Thanks to those of you who have added your thoughts to my recent posts. And yes, Dee Dee, I will take you seriously even with that picture. : )

I am a born communicator and I thrive on discussion. Whether or not we agree, I value the opinions and view points of others. I want to be challenged. That's why I gravitate toward books that are deeply thought-provoking. More than ever before in my life, I want to know why I believe what I believe. I remember a time when I would ask questions like, "What do we believe about...?" Then I took an Honors History course in college and every time I freely expressed an opinion, my professor would ask me what I based that opinion/conclusion on. I had to know (and articulate) why I believed what I did about history. And I was stunned, at times, about how much of our American History I was completely ignorant of. It also made me aware of how much evil has been done in the name of God and Christianity. It's nothing new in our day.

I took a course at Lipscomb on Religion and American Culture. I remember our professor handing out a cartoon. It depicted the Native Americans standing on the shore, looking out at the ships of Christopher Columbus. The ships had a cross on the sails. And the Native Americans were saying to each other, "If they are Christians, we must not have anything to worry about!" The more you've been exposed to the atrocities committed against Native Americans in the name of God, the more you appreciate the irony of the cartoon.

It is usually conservative Christians who are the biggest proponents of war and the death penalty. Those of us who say we are called to love our enemies often seem more comfortable with killing them. Collateral damage doesn't seem to bother us a whole lot. I do not say this in judgment. I say it as someone who never used to give that much thought. And now I do. Do I believe in the way of Jesus or do I not? Do I believe he meant what he taught, or do I say "That would never work." I don't have all the answers, but I believe Jesus did.

I posted the last time about fear and trust. I have days when I believe my trust in the Lord is so strong that I feel no worry about what the future holds. Then something unexpected comes up and I am surprised to feel so much anxiety once again. That happened to me Wednesday. Last night I couldn't go to sleep until after midnight. I was worrying. I wasn't trusting. The only prayer I could say was, "God, help me to trust you in everything." I took something to ensure sleep once I finally went to bed. I tend to be hard on myself and I kept thinking about the posts I have written about trusting God in everything, knowing He is working all things for my good. I felt like a fraud. I so need God's strength and power because mine is so unreliable. : )

It means a lot to me that any of you take the time to read my blog and make comments. Thank you for your friendship and love. There is nothing in this life I value more than my relationships with family and close friends. Everyone whom I know reads this blog is someone very dear to me and someone God has placed in my life. When I have those moments of feeling afraid, whether it's something big or something small, it is always such a comfort to know that I am surrounded by so much unconditional love and support. I can be a quirky person. I have strong, passionate emotions and opinions. And I don't often hesitate to express either. I appreciate those of you who love and accept me with all my flaws, which are many. Thank you for overlooking my shortcomings and seeing my heart. I feel so appreciative of you this morning and so blessed to know you are there. Know that I love you so very much. And you have such tremendous value in my life.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Shari, I love this post. I love your heart. I love your flaws and I love it that you are not always a tower of strength. I love your humanity. I have a story to tell ya.

Around Christmas time Kellie got a new kitten, Paco. He's orange, fuzzy, cute and very spirited. He has sense grown to somewhere between a kitten and a cat, so, I'd say he's now a teenager in cat years. He's always been into everything, oh so curious and fisty. Kellie has had to have a LOT of patience with him. She has such a love for animals that I thought that patience would be unending.

a couple weeks ago we met for Sunday dinner and she announced to us that she put Paco up on Craigs List! She had threatened him to do it a hundred times but I thought she was only kidding.:-( She said she had just HAAAAD it with him.

Well, last week when we met up again for Sunday dinner, she told us that she had changed her mind about Paco. "He isn't so bad after all." She said looking back at the time she had listed him 'For Sale'on Craigs List, she was PMSing and didn't know it. So, this week, he's not so bad! LOL

I think we all have those times no matter how old we are. Life has it's cycles, our tolerance drops, we become impatient, fearful, we lose faith, then we feel better and we're strong and have the faith of Job. I think that means we're human? To me, there's something very endearing about fallible humans. I just LOVE them. It's OK to be human because when you are, that I can be too without too much guilt.

I'm glad you so enjoyed your precious Mom-In-Law. She is so dear and spunky, kind of like a matured Paco (fun, spunky, so loving she purrs, pretty, wam and fuzzy). Next time you see her. tell her I love her.
DeeDee said…
I didn't use spell check or proof read so you'd know how fallible I am - - -
DeeDee said…
BTW; Happy Birthday Rebecca! I also think you are the world's best daughter in law!
Janette said…
Happy birthday Rebecca!!!!

Mom, I love human people too! That's one of the things I love most about Pastor Dan is that he doesn't try to convince us he's this spiritual, un-touchable, infallible giant. Those people are approachable, which is one of the things I love most about Shari as well! :)