Musings from Graceland

MY MOTHER'S DAY RECAP

My, my, my...what a day my family and Lord blessed me with. Here's the recap:

Saturday evening we went to IHOP, or International House of Pancakes as it more formally known, for supper. Did you know that kids eat free with each adult entree purchase? This was HUGE news for our HUGE family! It made the pancakes and strawberry lemonades even sweeter!

After that, we headed to my-least-favorite-place-to-shop-but-the-only-place-open-after-nine-besides-gas-stations-and-Kroger's...yes, Wally World. The kids and hubby needed to buy my gifts so I was willing to put aside my distaste for the benefit I'd receive come Mother's Day. It was a big sacrifice but this mama just had to do it.

Sunday morning we ate our regular before-church sausage biscuits but with the added yumminess of Little Debbie Swiss Rolls. OH MY! Can I just tell you that I am in love with those babies and all their chocolaty, creamy goodness??? It had probably been 5 or so years since I'd had one since they don't exactly fit in the all-natural, whole foods category, but still! They were as scrumptious as I had remembered which was exactly why I had requested them in the first place. But, to make sure I wouldn't get the insane idea that they were going to become a dietary staple, I forced myself to read the ingredients and nutritional information on the box. Sugar and corn syrup. Very first two ingredients. Oh yeah...and then there was the partially hydrogenated stuff, etc., etc. Oh, well. I look forward to having them again in another five years or so. They surely were good while they lasted.

After breakfast and we were all dressed for church, the family gave me their gifts: adorable, handmade cards from the two youngest girls; eye shadows, dark chocolate m&m's, and a black-and-white scarf from others. All in all, they did a great job of blessing me with great presents.

Then it was on to church. I taught the preschool class and helped my two youngest, along with the rest of the class, make jiggly, teddy bear cards. My pastor's wife was a sweetheart and provided all the supplies for me...even cutting out all the bears and hearts and flowers. Then at the end of the service, all the children and moms were brought into the sanctuary and we were given a pretty, blue, tote bag with a daily devotion book tucked inside. The families then gathered around their moms and grandmoms and prayed for them. It was very sweet.

After church, it was back to the RVs for lunch. We kept it simple. A sweet friend had brought us a ham, mashed potatoes, and green beans a couple of days before so we enjoyed that for lunch. We ate it up and then blessed ourselves with naps. God ordained, day-of-rest naps are so awesome. So we napped an hour or so then got ourselves up and out the door to head into inner-city Jackson for ministry time at WE WILL GO.

We had a powerful time there as Amy Lancaster shared from the book of James and we had special times of prayer for mothers, especially those who were hurting either physically, spiritually, or emotionally.

When the service was over, I had the chance to talk to two different women who both have great love for Africa. As you can imagine, this just blessed my heart and I look forward to getting to know them better as we take this path that God has set before us, the path of loving the least and lost in Jackson as well as across the ocean in Africa.

That evening was our weekly pizza and movie night. We enjoyed our Domino's (YES! We love the new recipe!) while watching the latest WALLACE AND GROMIT film then put the babies to bed before watching an episode of BEAR GRYLLS set in Romania.

And that was my day in all its awesomeness. I felt very, very loved and my heart was full of gratitude for the life and family that God has given me.

Speaking of my family and before that, Romania, my 2nd daughter B leaves in 5 weeks for that nation! She is understandably excited and I'm excited to see what God is going to do in her life and through her team during that month. After the wonderful time that Daughter A had with Adventures in Missions in Swaziland last summer, I'm expecting amazing things from B's time.

Better go for now. I'm at a library using their PC and need to get on home to my beloved munchkins.

Hope you all are doing well. Stay in touch. I'd love to hear everyone's news, too.

Love,
Elysa