Monday thoughts and a little bit of our weekend

I love Christmas in our town.  Friday night was our  annual Christmas parade, and this year's did not disappoint.  Though, I will say, things were different.  For one thing, my poor husband got so sick during the parade, that he had to leave and go home.  He had started feeling better when I finally got home, but I was sad for him.  We determined it was just sinuses again, because we've had rain lately, and from one day to the next, we sometimes see a difference of about twenty degrees.  

Welcome to the mid-south.  

Another weird thing: my younger boys only saw one of their friends, and he had to leave early.  I was heartbroken for them, and have been a LOT lately.  

Yet another weird thing: my older boys did see some of their friends, but some of the relationships with their group of friends right now are weird.  My middlest boy and the girl he dated for a year and a half broke up a few weeks ago, and that has affected relationships with some of their other friends.  I hate it for all parties who are involved.  I'm glad they broke up, because Drew needs to focus on other things and have fun and be with friends, and I think her parents would say the same.  I hate all the seriousness that relationships bring.  That's one thing I regretted from my teenage years: focusing too much on boys and not enough on my relationship with God and my friends.  

There's been loads and loads of drama in all of their lives, and I hate drama.  It's funny, though, how I can never really truly seem to escape it.  I know that the good Lord has a lesson somewhere in all of this for me.  

I'm trying to be patient in this waiting phase that we all seem to be in, and I am just praying and trusting God that He is working it all out somehow.  I know He is and that I can rest in Him, and for that, I am so very thankful.  I'm also thankful that in this weird friendship phase that all of the boys are in right now, that they are really close to each other.  I'm thankful for the kind of relationship they each have with my husband, too.  I think I've said this on here before, but a friend of mine suggested that maybe their struggle with friends is so they could have that in Todd.  

Now, we are not the kind of parents who try to be their friends.  For us, though, in our parenting style, the likability and the friendships they have with us have been an added bonus.  We made it known from when they were very young, that we were their parents, NOT their friends.  Our parents were that way with us, and now, we have genuine friendships with them.  It just came naturally.  I'm praying that will be true of my boys as they grow up and move into adulthood and marriage and raising a family.  

I also pray that (and have prayed forever) that when they leave home, they will all be friends.  I've always said to them that friends come and go, but the relationships they have with each other will last their entire lives.  I've also said to them that their friends must love all of them, because they're kind of a package deal.  Graham lost a close friend in elementary school because the boy was so mean to Drew.  I won't have that for the others, and rightly so.

Well, I'll move on to the rest of our weekend now that I've rambled for long enough.  

On Saturday morning, I had to go run a few errands, and Graham and Drew did the same.  When we all got back home, we left at two forty-five to go to a Christmas dinner and concert in Dyer, Tennessee.  It was an hour and forty-five minutes away, and I drove, because Todd and the boys were all watching the Alabama/Florida game on my mom-in-love's tablet.  

The dinner and music were both fabulous.  

And so was the company.  This is my cute mom-in-love.  We had fun sitting next to each other singing (sometimes boohooing) and catching up with old friends.  

On Sunday we were at church most of the day.  Todd was there all day.  We didn't have a Christmas program or production this year, but instead, we had a night of worship.  I loved it, even though my teenagers did not.  It was a little old fashioned for their taste, but sometimes it's good for them to be exposed to things they don't necessarily love.  I wish for them that they would pay more attention to the words of what we sang, and not so much the music, but I understand and remember being the same way as a teenager.  

I had fun singing, though.  It's a joy to be able to help lead worship, and it's something that I try to not take advantage of.  I love to worship my Savior, and I have to always be asking Him for a right heart and for humility.  I don't want to boast in anything or anyone but HIM.  

After the service last night, Missy and I went to McAllister's for dinner.  It's always fun with her around, and we had lots to catch up on.  

So that was our weekend and a bit of my heart and how things have been lately for my family.  We have lots on our brains, and would really appreciate any prayers we can get.  Also always on my mind is the fact that Graham is graduating in May and that we need to be finding grant and scholarship money.  I have the debilitating thoughts at least once a week, that I've royally messed my kids up by homeschooling.  I know that's not true, but it's a way that the enemy likes to mess with me, and I'm ashamed to say that I swim in those thoughts sometimes.  I've been known to lose sleep over all of this, but then I remember to pray about it all and to trust the Lord with their futures.  

This parenting gig is really hard sometimes, but i know it's just a phase we're in.  I am thankful that I have Jesus in my life.  Without Him and the hope that He brings to my world, I would be a hot mess.  I mean, I kinda am that all the time, but it'd be even more so without Him in my life.  I praise Him for drawing me to Him years ago, and for making me love Him and His word.  I want that for all of my family and friends and pray that way for them almost every day.  

Well, I need to get started on this day.  Thanks for reading my blog!  Love to all.