Longest Post. Ever.

What a crazy, busy long weekend that was!! And that is just what this post is going to be..L-O-N-G! So grab a sweet tea and get comfy! ;)

Let me just start off by saying I love the 4th of July.  I love that it is a celebration of nation I love and am so proud to be a citizen of.  I love that it honors our military by remembering their sacrifice.  And I love all the festivities- parades, cookouts, friends, family, and FIREWORKS!  I just love it.  The only thing I don't love about the 4th is that it normally serves as a reminder that summer is half over.  That in just a short time I will need to gear back up for school mode and prepare to leave my babies to go to work.  BUT NOT THIS YEAR! As much as I am going to miss the classroom, my colleagues, and the kiddos, I am so relieved to not have to begin to switch out of summer gear.  Because yes, it did take me that full month and a half to go from summer Bekah to school Bekah.

Ok- now where was I?  Wednesday wasn't really anything too exciting for me but it was a BIG night for Hudson.  Wednesday night was Hudson's first Big Boy sleepover at my parents' house.  Now, Hudson has spent the night at my parents before.  Sometimes by himself; sometimes with Beau.  But Wednesday was different.  Wednesday was Hudson's first sleepover there with his cousin, Graham, too.  (Graham if you recall from this post is my nephew who is just 4 months younger than Hud).

To say that I was a little nervous would be fair.  I mean, my parents are great.  They raised my brothers and I in such a wonderful, loving atmosphere and are a TON of fun.  (Which is why in less than a week we will all be vacationing together. More on that later.) But, my parents are no spring chickens. And two, two-year olds with an extreme amount of energy was going to be a lot to handle.  On my best days those two leave my exhausted.  Nevertheless, I packed Hudson's overnight bag and Beau and I dropped him off at my parents.

When we were pulling out of the driveway, I may or may not have said a quick prayer of strength and patience for my parents.  Yet, as the night went on, any little nervous feeling I had faded.  I received some texts from my mom letting me know the status of the  night. Let me tell you- I WAS JEALOUS! Those stinkers were having so much fun! And so were Hudson and Graham!  My sweet mama- the queen of Pinterest- had planned so many fun activities to keep those boys busy! And my dad was right in on the action!

Pizza on the porch

Sidewalk paint

He's got skill 

The beginning of the end... :)

I just love that my boys (and nephews) get to experience such wonderful memories with my parents.

Totally describes my parents' feelings

After picking up Hudson on the 4th, my little family headed over to our sweet friends' home for some summer fun! This family is so special to Andrew and I.  We began babysitting for them when I was in college.  Their youngest wasn't even born when we started sitting for them.  This past Sunday he turned seven.  We have done a LOT of life with them.  And Tom and Kelly, the parents of this sweet crew, have taught Andrew and I so much about how to parent intentionally, lovingly, and the way God calls us to parent.  We are so blessed to have them in our lives! We also got to spend some time with my brother, SIL, Graham and Emmett James! Such a fun time!

Hudson getting to play with the big boys

On Friday, I forged ahead on the packing front while Andrew headed back to Pittsfield; this time with my dad in tow.  My dad was going over with Andrew to meet our home inspector, a wonderful man and close family friend.  I new the minute we made an offer that Steve would be the one to do our inspection.  He is so thorough and knowledgeable.  I knew that he would make sure he went over EVERYTHING! And that is exactly what he did. I am so happy to announce that the home, built in 1905, had no major issues! PTL!

Like I said before, the previous owners had done major work on updating some of the structural aspects of the house (which made it such a sound buy for us. Thank you, previous owners!) However, cosmetically, it still needs some TLC.  If you know me at all, I am a very type A personality. I like to get things done and in a timely fashion.  To say that I don't want to go in and do a major overhaul on about every room would be a lie.  I have a vision for each space to make it exactly into our dream home.  But there is one minor issue

Good Bones + Major Overhaul = Dream Home (aka BIG BUDGET)

I mean, we are young over here at the Bruce's.  Young with two small babies. And so, I mean even though we have some money, dream house status is just not in the budget.  Liveable, get it move in ready is more our style at the moment. So as Andrew and I discussed our next steps to get a plan together I was a complete brat not real thrilled.  I stewed about it for a lot of the weekend.  I basically was having a little pity party.  My line of thinking was something like this: "if Andrew gets his dream job, and I am moving away from all my family and friends can't I get something I WANT?" (really bratty, right?)

And yet, I can write all this because my attitude changed.  On Sunday our family went to church.  I love going to church.  I love being surrounded with other people loving and praising our God.  I have especially loved our church's sermon series the past couple of months on Genesis.  If you think Genesis is only a book full of Sunday school stories and genealogies, you are mistaken, my friend.  There is some present day, hit you in the face with accountability, life lessons in there.

Anyway, this Sunday was about how we can outline blessings for future generations for years to come by the way we pray.  (Let that sink in because I mean that is huge!) And as our pastor was preaching and talking about the greatest role he can have is not necessarily on his church, which is important, but in the lives of his children and how they connect with Christ, it dawned on me.

My job as a parent is not to bless my kids with a nice, comfortable lifestyle. My greatest responsibility is to guide them towards a relationship with their Heavenly Father.  One that is completely theirs.  One that stands the test of time. Furthermore, to be an example of how to live that life.

Our church handed out a book to everyone as they left service.   In the book, "Praying Circles Around Your Children" by Mark Batterson, he states “Pray about what to pray about. …The purpose of prayer is not to outline our agenda for God; the purpose is to get into the presence of God and get God’s agenda for us.”  

Talk about a divine word from God to your heart.

Needless to say, I left church with a major attitude adjustment as well as a major burden to be better, do better, and pray harder (with a purpose) for my boys.  That is a lot in a Sunday morning; an hour no less!

With that major attitude adjustment freshly applied, our family made the most of our afternoon.  We went to Mexican (YUM!) and put the boys down for a nap.  After they woke up, we had an all out water fight! Hudson's mischievous grin and Beau's sweet giggle as he watched from the sidelines reiterated the lesson of the morning.  It was a great end to a great weekend.

If you would like to hear more about how you can impact your family's future through your prayers please visit http://www.firstdecatur.org/442121.ihtml and click on the sermon entitled, Blessing.