Another Wednesday in Franklin...

I spent today in Franklin. I hung out with Joshua and Andrew while Rebecca taught math. Then we went to Pie in the Sky for lunch. I told Rebecca today's lunch would probably be mentioned on my blog. Ha!

We had a pizza that rivals Mellow Mushroom and (for you native Californians) even Petrillo's. We ordered a thin crust pizza with sausage, mushrooms, onions, peppers and fresh basil. It was actually a "Happy Family" with basil substituted for the pepperoni. I can't begin to tell you how good this pizza was. I called John and told him we have to go there some time when we are in Cool Springs. He loves thin crust pizza and he loves sausage. This wasn't just any Italian sausage, though. This place thinly slices their sausage and it's not at all greasy. I was impressed. The onions and peppers were a little overpowering (because there were a lot of them), even for me. But I had one slice that was mostly sausage, basil and mushroom and I thought it was the best. I would probably just leave the onions and peppers off next time because the flavors of the sausage, mushroom and basil were a perfect combination. I will be craving Pie in the Sky now.

After lunch I gave Joshua a haircut. I do a decent job cutting the boys' hair but I'm always shooting for perfection and I do try their patience greatly. Even the candy bribes stop working before I feel satisfied that their haircut is finished. It reminds me of when John and I were first married and I cut his hair once. He says it was his first two week haircut. I kept noticing a spot here and there that I needed to fix. He was so patient with me, but finally he said he wouldn't be letting me cut his hair anymore. He told me it wasn't because I didn't do a good job. It was because I had stopped looking him in the eye when he was talking to me. He said all I did was look at the sides of his head (comparing the left to the right for evenness). And in the middle of a conversation I would say, "Let me just fix this one spot while we're talking."

After the kids went down for their naps, Rebecca got out her notebook and began to grade papers. She opened to two pages of math problems and said, "How would you like to look at this every day?" I said, "I am so thankful I never have to look at math equations like that again!"

When Danny got home, he let me read one of the short stories he's been working on. This one was really personal. In fact, I don't think he would have written it if I hadn't said it would be okay with me to use a couple of personal conversations I had shared with him, including specific statements that were made to me. The stories are fiction, but the characters are based on real people and real events. Some characters represent one specific person and others are composites.

Reading this particular story was emotionally gripping for me. One of the characters in the story is a composite of myself and Danny. Another character is a composite of both of my parents. The story was very good. And it was so multi-layered. Of course, since I lived the events the fictional story is taken from, I saw all the layers. I also saw the many layers that could be added if he chose to explore the characters in more depth. But of the stories he has allowed me to read so far, this was definitely my personal favorite. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it.

Some of the stories have been hard for me to read. Even though they are fiction, I recognize the real people behind them. Some parts make me laugh. Other parts make me sad. But after reading each story, I am overwhelmed with thankfulness for God's mercy in my life. I'm a miracle.

So often I stop and think about my life today and all that God has done for me and I am filled with awe. I don't know why I have been so blessed. That's something I will never understand. But I am so thankful for God's deliverance and mercy.

I know this is kind of a rambling post. I didn't read today, so I don't have any book comments. And I don't have anything profound to share. But I will tell you this: I go to bed every night with a very thankful heart.

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