Goodness and Trust

During the 8 days that we were gone on our beach adventure, I read 3 books. While I love to read, I don't have much opportunity to do it at home as other things pull at my time. The first two books I read were Mary Higgins Clark books - my all time favorite suspense author. The last book was one I read purely by coincidence, or so I thought.

Emily had given me The Shack and everyone that I talked to about it gave it average ratings at best. The impression I got was that it was just a little different. Kind of hard to wrap your brain around.

After I read my first two books, I decided to give it a try and see if it grabbed me. And grab me, it did!!

(If you're planning on reading this book, you should probably stop reading here as I'm going to explain the basic plot.)

The story is written from a father's point of view (Mack) about a tragedy that he and his family had experienced. While on a camping trip with 3 of his children, his youngest daughter was abducted and there was evidence that she was brutally murdered in a shack in a remote part of Oregon. About 3 or 4 years into the grieving process, Mack is still buried in what he calls "The Great Sadness" and cannot seem to move on. He receives a letter in his mailbox from "Papa" that asks him to meet him at the shack that weekend. Against his better judgement, he goes and, strangely enough, meets with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, all in human form. You can imagine his surprise and unbelief at how the weekend unfolds as he, with their help, comes to terms with his daughter's death and his own faith. The different part of the book that I think gives some people pause is that 2 of the 3 are represented by women and various races/cultures are presented. It took me a bit to get used to that concept, but I just kept thinking - can you imagine what it would be like for God to cook your dinner?? Or to work out in the shop with Jesus?? Or to tend the garden with the Holy Spirit?? How completely incredible and unbelievable!! Mack makes a lot of progress in his weekend with the Trinity and it is interesting how he is able to make the transition back into the real world.

The point of the post --

I have been struggling for a while with some trust issues and a conversation that occurred in this book pretty much hit me right between the eyes.

Mack was asking God (Papa) why He wouldn't just intervene when He knew that someone was in pain or that someone was being wronged. And this was His answer -

"Mackenzie. You really don't understand yet. You try to make sense of the world in which you live based on a very small and incomplete picture of reality. It is like looking at a parade through the tiny knothole of hurt, pain, self-centeredness, and power, and believing you are on your own and insignificant....

The real underlying flaw in your life, Mackenzie, is that you don't think that I am good. If you knew I was good and that everything - the means, the ends, and all the processes of individual lives - is all covered by my goodness, then while you might not always understand what I am doing, you would trust me. But you don't."

"I don't?" asked Mack, but it was not really a question. It was a statement of fact and he knew it.

"Mackenzie, you cannot produce trust just like you cannot 'do' humility. It either is or is not. Trust is the fruit of a relationship in which you know you are loved. Because you do not know that I love you, you cannot trust me."

"...For now I just want you to be with me and discover that our relationship is not about performance or you having to please me. I'm not a bully, not some self-centered demanding little deity insisting on my own way. I am good, and I desire only what is best for you. You cannot find that through guilt or condemnation or coercion, only through a relationship of love. And I do love you."

I think sometimes it is a crazy thought to think that the God of the universe truly LOVES me and wants to have a relationship with me. And it's even crazier to think that a lot of the time, I'm dumb enough NOT to trust that He loves me and has my best interest in mind. My trusting in Him is not going to just happen. I pray that He will constantly remind me of His love for me and my need of Him!

Galveston 2008

To sum up this year's trip to the beach, I'd have to just say "awesome"!!! We had loads o' fun, tried some new things, and did some old favorites. After this year, we can add "weathered a hurricane" to the list of adventures!!

Well, not really a hurricane, but a little rain anyway!!

I'll try to condense the 154 pictures into a manageable post!!

Here's our fun house. It held my family, my mom and dad, and Ryan, Shannon, Meagan, and Lexie. Grandma and BigPa were in town some but stayed at the Holiday Inn. I can't imagine why they would want to do that??!! Somehow, they didn't make it into the pictures! How that happened, I'm not sure!! Sorry, BigPa and Grandma!! Even though I don't have a picture of you, we were SO glad yall came!!

And here's what my car looked like as we made our way to and from the beach. Just think Chevy Chase!! This was on the way back and had one less bike than on the way down!!

The first couple of days were hit and miss with the rain. We would head to the beach and get set up, then the rain would start. By the time we threw everything back into the truck and headed home, the rain would have stopped. If we decided to stick it out and hope that it was only a little cloud, it would stay and rain for an hour!!

The upside was that it was cool!! There's always a breeze and the rain, when it would fall, was freezing!! Here are the kids eating a snack under the bridge to escape the rain! They were also hiding from the seagulls that wanted to share their snacks!!

This is what we did on the cooler days!! Good times, indeed!!

And here are Meagan and Alex acting as though we were in a real hurricane! Good acting, guys!!

My mom and dad brought a casting net and it provided hours of entertainment for the kids. Alex or Meagan would take it out a little ways into the water and "cast" it, let it sink a little, and pull it in. If they were lucky, there would be a little fish or two. They would then run back to the beach where Parker and his crew (Luke and Lexie) had dug a hole and filled it with water so the fish would have a place to stay. This first picture is of my mom and Parker getting the net all cleaned out at the end of the week. Somehow, I didn't manage to get any pictures of the kids casting the net, but this is what it looks like.

Another new adventure we did was we rode a ferry to the Bolivar peninsula and ate at a cool little restaurant. Now, the kids had NO concept of a ferry boat so it was very cool and interesting to explain this to them and watch them try to figure it out. It seems like there are fewer and fewer things that kids haven't experienced or at least have some knowledge of. So, riding your car onto a boat with lots of other cars and going onto the water to some land about 15 minutes away and not sinking was just a lot to figure out!! Then Shannon threw out some comment about the tooth fairy and that just confused them even more!! (All of this confusion was happening on the way to ride the ferry on the trip over.) Luke, especially, just couldn't get it figured out in his mind. He wanted to know if the ferry was invisible because the tooth fairy is! Could the boat fly because the tooth fairy does?? Driving your car onto a boat just made no sense at all.

So, finally, we made it to the ferry and drove our car onto the big boat. Just for a little more fun, we were chosen to have our car inspected, just in case we were terrorists! It didn't take the guys long to figure out that we had way too many kids to be trying to do anything harmful! We were all packed into the Suburban with my mom in the way way back so when the officers opened the back doors, there sat my mom!! It made for a nice surprise!! Finally, we drove onto the boat and after a couple of minutes, an Ashley Furniture 18-wheeler pulled up right beside us. When I say it pulled up right beside us, it was literally almost touching our car. Alex and I had our windows open and we could reach out and put our hands totally flat on the truck without even bending our elbows!! It was crazy close to our car!

Things started making a little more sense once we could experience the ferry. Or so I thought!! Luke walks over to me after we were riding for a little while and very seriously asks, "So, is the tooth fairy driving this boat??!!?" After I totally cracked up, I tried to explain one more time that the tooth fairy really didn't have anything to do with this ferry!!

This was taken at the restaurant after we had eaten! Cool sunset!!

On Thursday, as the last of the rain headed out, Ryan and Scott took the three older kids to Nasa. Here's the proof!! Another highlight of the trip was that our good friends, the Rulands, were down at the beach while we were. So, Scott and Alex got to go deep sea fishing on Todd's boat on Saturday. While I would like to say that Alex had a great time, the pictures show otherwise!! He was happy to do his part to feed the fish though!!

Scott, on the other hand, had a great time!! Nice red snapper!!

Actually, Alex started having a great time about the time Todd said it was time to head home!! Look how he perked up!! Maybe he loves fishing after all!! Not really!! He said he would try again when he was a little older!! Here's he is, posing with what Alec caught!!

Check out Harry finding a crab in the belly of his red snapper!! Eeewwwww!!

Later that night, we met at Todd and Debbie's house for some hamburgers and hot dogs. Harry and Barbie were staying with them, so there were lots of kids and lots of fun to be had!!

Even later that night, we got to go ride the boat as Todd took it from the dock to the trailer. This was some sweet boat and the little boys had such a great time riding it!! Here they are holding onto dear life with Meagan and Kendall.

Riding Titanic style--

Alex "helping" Todd as he drives the boat. (Is that how you say it?? Drive the boat??)

Taking advantage of yet another photo-op!

These are some of the highlights from a great trip. But what really makes these trips special is the time spent with those you love!! Doing the not-so-extraordinary things like working puzzles together,
hanging with grandparents,

and swinging with brothers,

until you are plumb exhausted!!

That's what makes a great vacation!!

At least that's what these guys think!!

Off to the beach!!

We are headed south today to visit the beach that is the closest possible distance from our house - Galveston!! I'm sure the sand will be perfect as it is in this picture and I'm equally sure we will find many, many star fish like that one. If not, I guess we can just buy them!!

Enjoy your week!!

Dear Tooth Fairy

Parker has had a loose tooth for a while now, but he is the kind of kid who does NOT wiggle his teeth for any reason. They must be forced out, usually while he is eating and totally against his will. This might have something to do with the fact that, at the ripe old age of 9, all of his friends have full sets of adult teeth and friends much younger than he have lost a lot more teeth.

This tooth got pretty loose a few days ago and actually bled a bit. That's always a sign to me that it's close and I really encourage him to wiggle it so it will come out. Instead of messing with it, he went on a hunger strike and wouldn't eat much of anything unless it had the consistency of pudding!!

So, imagine my surprise tonight when he ran in with his tooth in his hand and a mouthful of bloody Captain Crunch!! (sorry Deneise!!) He was pumped!! He totally surprised himself and seemed pleased that he has a new hole in his mouth.

He quickly put it in a baggie and put it on the counter to wait until bedtime. I promptly came by a few minutes later and noticed an empty baggie on the counter and put it in the trash - totally not realizing his tooth was in it!!

Much drama ensued at bedtime as we looked for the missing baggie. Yes, I had seen it on the counter so why it didn't register that I shouldn't throw it away, I'm not sure! Sometimes I wonder about me and why God trusted me with four little charges!!!

I finally thought to look in the trash where I had obviously put it. No one else in the family is bothered by random baggies on the counter so I'm sure it was me.

Too many words to get to the point, but anyway ...

Parker gets all settled in bed, tucks his baggie under his pillow, says good night, and I turn out the light.

A couple of minutes later, he calls me back in.

"Mom??" in a voice that really wants to cry.

"Yes??"

"I just don't know if I'm ready to give up my tooth yet."

"Huh??"

"Well, do you know how much work I put into this thing?? I mean, I wiggled it 24/7 and I just don't know if I want to trade it for a quarter after so much work!!"

(just for the record, the Tooth Fairy always bring more than a quarter!!)

"Well, sure, I mean if you don't want to 'trade it', you totally don't have to. You can hold onto it for a few days and see if you're ready to let it go!!"

"I think I'd better write the Tooth Fairy a letter so she doesn't take it."

I went and got a pen and paper and dictated this letter -

Dear Tooth Fairy,
I lost a tooth tonight but I really want to keep it because it took a lot of work and I've never gotten to keep a tooth before.
From Parker

When Parker feels something, he feels it very strongly.

I just don't think he's ready to let go of his little teeth yet!!

Yooouuuu'rrrrrre OUT!!

We started packing for our trip to the beach next week (woo-hoo!!) and I'm packing Luke and Landry's stuff in a duffel bag that Scott used a few weeks back when he was doing some umpiring. When Luke got up yesterday morning, I noticed he was gone for an unusually long period of time. I went to check on him and his door was closed. This usually means he's getting ready for a big "reveal" !!

I cracked open his door and was not disappointed!!

Here's the future umpire --

This is him posing for the camera --

Here he is without his face mask --

Here he is in "ready position" --

Here's his favorite part --

This was the end of a very elaborate third strike/you're outta here call!!

Such a happy little umpire!!

Pool Party with the Fam

Last Sunday, my aunt and uncle, Joy and Darrell, invited the extended Williams clan out to their house for a little pool party. While we see most of these people regularly at church, we usually don't all get together as a family except for Christmas.

The Williams family packs a whole lotta punch, seeing as MawMaw and PawPaw had 4 kids, who produced 12 grandkids, who produced almost 30 great-grandkids (according to my calculations). Of course, they weren't all there, but any time anybody from that side of the family gets together, it's a big group.

On to the point, here are the pictures!!

Madison, Ally, Lexie, Cadee, Landry, Luke

Brianna, Alex, Amren, Justin, Parker

Rachel, Robert, and Ryan, discussing the deep issues of life

Landry, Ryan, and Meagan

Brooklyn, daughter of my cousin, Adrean

Meagan, Landry, and Cadee

Alex, doing what boys like to do

Overall, it was a very fun afternoon. The kids had a blast, the food was great, and time with family is always well spent!!