I wanna live like that...

Last night, Tim and I listened as a new friend told us that the future of their little family might possibly have just changed for generations to come because of some recent conversations she and her fiance have had with Tim.  She talked with tears in her eyes which, of course, caused tears to come to my eyes.  I love those moments when you know with everything in you that God is present...that he is right there with you at that Starbucks table...and that he is working in the hearts of people...and that for some reason which we will never know, he chooses to involve us in it.

My God, the one who redeems, has used Tim in these two hearts, and they are different and their future will be different.  This isn't so unusual, though...God is supposed to use us, right?  It shouldn't be a surprise when it happens.  The part some might find unusual (or dare I even say "sinful"??) is that the relationship Tim has with these two was born about a year and a half ago when my dear husband chose to go to a bar with this new friend of his (the guy in the relationship, not the girl...don't worry...this is not THAT scandalous!!).  He even stuck around while this new friend chose to drink more than his fair share so that he could help him get safely back.  There are some comical stories about their time together that night and subsequent nights.  This guy saw something different in Tim.  My hubby, the one my soul loves, is who he is no matter who he is with.  He is real.  He is honest.  He is wise, yet fun.  He loves Jesus with all of his heart.  He is not afraid to be a friend of sinners (and its a good thing, because if he was, he couldn't be a true friend of his own wife or his own self!!).  The man I love is not worried if someone sees him in a bar or with people drinking or even drinking an alcoholic beverage of his own because he knows who he is and he knows the One who has called him and he trusts his God to go before him, preparing the way for relationships that will be built and ministry that will take place.

I love this man...who is full of grace and wisdom and trusts his God to lead him.  He is not perfect.  In fact, last night when we got in the car, I said, with tears in my eyes, "I can't believe I get to be married to you!" and then quickly followed it up with "but some days I can NOT stand you!!".  So, no, he is not perfect, but he is REAL and he LOVES people.

I love this God...who redeems us, who chases us to where we are and uses his people to love us and pull us out of pits.  He IS perfect, but in his perfection, he still pours out grace and mercy into our lives, both for our own sake and so that we can then pour it into others' lives.

Fifteen Things...

1.  I accomplished Day 1 of Couch to 5k today.
2.  Even though I loathe exercising, I always always ALWAYS feel so good after I do it.
3.  I ate a brownie and a bowl of ice cream after supper.
4.  My boys are on their 7th episode of The Avengers because they are so excited about the movie tomorrow night.
5.  It is ok with me if they keep watching it until bedtime.
6.  My husband and I had a fight about money tonight.
7.  Actually, I fought, and he listened and responded patiently.
8.  I hate it when he does that.
9.  Tomorrow is Opening Day of baseball for our town.
10.  Baseball is my favorite sport to watch my boys play.
11.  There are only 8 more regular days of school.
12.  At this point, no school day is actually "regular".
13.  I'm wearing a pair of cut-off sweats that one of my college room mates was going to throw away 10 years ago but instead gave to me.
14.  Clearly, I need a shopping trip (see #6...haha!).
15.  I am thankful for my wise husband (see #7).

And, because no post is quite as exciting if it doesn't have a photo, I'll leave you with this...I got up on the roof of south school to take a picture of the whole school for next year's handbook.  They told me to photoshop myself in, but, sadly, they did not choose to use this version for the handbook.  I am still not sure what the problem is???