Grace For Gayle

I love the community here at HSB!   So it was a tough decision to move to a new location.   I wavered and thought and stalled and wavered some more, but finally decided it was time leave my comfort zone and find some new digs.    I’ve made so many great friends here and I would hate to lose contact so please save my new address in your bloglines account so we don’t lose touch.  And I’ll still be around reading all my favorite HSB blogs. 

Gayle

FOLLOW THIS LINK!!!!!

***inspired by a conversation with nsremom***

For years I’ve wanted to take local community classes with Chris (hubz).   I thought it would be a way for us to have something to do TOGETHER; a common interest, a common goal.   He didn’t quite seem to get it when I brought it up, but sweet guy that he is, he agreed to take a class with me.   I knew it was a huge sacrifice on his part and he wasn’t too thrilled about it…but he did it.

So the first class I could talk him into was a conversational Spanish class.  We had two small children and I still worked one evening a week at a pediatric office.   We have a large Mexican community where we live and I thought it would be a terrific idea to actually be able to converse with our Mexican patients so I signed us up and off we went. 

The class was a little boring.  The most entertaining part was the 60 year old couple we sat next to who were constantly sharing their spicy intimate life with us.  Way more info than I wanted, but enough comic relief that we actually finished the class. 

So my heart was set on our next class…..ballroom dancing.   I’ve always been a dancer.  I competed and coached in high school and have always loved the graceful moves of the ballroom dancers.   But Chris would have none of that.  He was a football jock and this was just way to girly for him.   I accepted the fact that this just wasn’t meant to be and moved on.

Well, don’t tell me that God doesn’t care about the desires of my heart…no matter how little they are.   

On Sunday night we were invited to a birthday party and the hostess hired a ballroom dance teacher to give us all lessons.  We were to arrive in semi-formal attire and spend the night gracefully gliding over the floor.    Chris was NOT thrilled….but I was! 

We spent two hours learning the steps and practicing our moves and I have to say I haven’t laughed that hard in years.    My toes were sore, my shoes fell off multiple times during the evening and I laughed so hard I cried.  But it couldn’t have been a better night. 

But….It was HARD to let Chris lead.  

Being the experienced dancer and a strong willed woman to boot, I had a hard time letting him guide me around the dance floor.  When you’re ballroom dancing, the woman has to follow the cues of her partner.   You have to have eye contact and notice the little guided signals that he sends your way.   I could tell a dip was coming by his raised eyebrow.   I could tell a spin was coming by his slight lifting of my arm.   I could tell a change in direction was coming by his letting go of one of my hands.    He was the one I had to trust as I danced backwards across the floor.  As the leader, he had an eye on where we were going and guided me there.  All I had to do was let him.  When I interfered or didn’t pay attention, that’s when I got my toes stepped on, ran into another dancer, or made him lose his step. 

Do you see where I’m going with this?

Now please know that I don’t have a perfect marriage.  In fact, anyone who tells you they do is, well….lying.    We’ve had close calls, hopeless moments, big arguments, and times where I thought, “I don’t know if we are going to make it.”  And God has always been faithful to meet us there and do a work in both of us.

But a lot of the time I’ve stirred up the trouble by not following Chris’ lead.   Sometimes I don’t trust that He knows where he’s going.  Sometimes I don’t think he knows the right steps.  And sometimes I disagree with the dance he thinks we should do.   But you know what?  That just doesn’t even matter.   My God is bigger than what I might perceive as my husbands bad choices.  

Cuz, you know what?   It’s not about who’s got the right moves and who doesn’t.  It’s about knowing that we each have a part in the dance.   He needs to gently guide me in the direction he’s chosen and I need to step in harmony with him. 

The dance is so much better when I just follow his lead. 

I know there is a common misconception out there that stay at home mom’s have nothing to offer to the workforce by the end of their parenting years.  But the amount of organization it takes to set up a bevy of  babysitters, pack for 6 people going in separate directions and map out each kids destination  so that Mom and Dad can get away for a long weekend,  leaves no question in my mind that I could totally run a fortune 500 company without breaking a sweat. 

TOTALLY!

It’s taken four different babysitters, working in shifts, to do a portion of what I do by myself every day of the week.   And that not only makes me feel extremely underpaid, but very deserving of a break.    So….while I’m off discoing under a mirrored ball,  watching the sun set, and eating breakfast in bed (I’m completely fantasizing, it’s a church leadership retreat in the boonies) my blog will be blank. 

See ya on Monday!

Malachi, who’s 6, loves hand me downs.  What can you expect from a kid who thinks goodwill is the only place to get new clothes?  (Yes, brainwashing can be a good thing.)  So he is constantly asking us if we have “anything we don’t want anymore”.    His  brothers and sister give him old toys and clothes, I give him old craft supplies I’m not going to use and hubz has been known to give him his old trophies, office supplies and dead cell phones.

So today while foraging for used treasures, Daddy gave him an old tape recorder.  He was giddy with excitement and immediately began recording every thing he could think of. 

Let me just tell ya, that can really stop a mommy in her tracks knowing that all her scolding, phone conversations, and bathroom noises were going to be played back at a later time for whatever crowd happens to be available. 

But Malachi soon realized his own noises were more entertaining.  So all day I have had the pleasure of listening to recordings of burps, farts, screams, hysterical giggles, more burps and farts and a few nursery rhymes thrown in there for good measure.    

ALL AT DEAFENING VOLUMES!!!!

So much fun, girls, so much fun!

I can only imagine what kind of horrific dreams I will be having tonight!

Being a nominee for the homeschool blog awards has widened my bloggy horizons. (Nah, I didn’t win but I’m still going to wear my tiara.)  I’ve been introduced to all kinds of great blogs that I didn’t even know were out there.  So, I decided to share my favorite reads, homeschool and non-homeschool,  in the hopes that you’ll find something new and exciting cuz it’s always fun to meet new people, right?

TC over at Fish In My Hair is a total crack up!  If you want a good laugh go visit her but make sure you’ve already gone to the bathroom first!

Emily at The Learning Never Stops puts on no airs.  I just can’t stand those blogs that are all preachy and perfect.  C’mon, let’s have some reality here!  But, Emily is the most REAL person I know.  She’s honest about life and hits a huge range of topics that just make you think.  Plus, she’s pretty funny too!

Amy at Chitlins and Camembert is a southern girl married to a French man, living in the French countryside.   Ahh….I can only dream!  We have some different political and social views but I absolutely love reading her blog and learning what it’s like to transplant yourself into a different country.   She’s a witty writer and I love to check her blog daily.

Boomama is another addiction of mine!   She just cracks me up with all her southern charm.  She’s got a heart of gold and half the time she’s just talking about fried chicken, relatives and pre-schoolers but she does it in a totally entertaining way! 

So go read some good stuff and let me know what you think!