Georgia Peeps

Mitch, Terri and Adrienne came to visit from Georgia this past week.  It was Adrienne's Spring Break, but my kids don't have Spring Break until next week.

It worked out great.  Mitch and Terri were nice enough to include Hannah when they went to explore and Rachel was able to visit with Adrienne in the evenings.  They took Hannah to see the Chesapeake Bay Bridge where they were excited to see dolphins swimming in the bay.

They also went to Williamsburg. 



Hannah and Adrienne were able to participate in a mock trial in Williamsburg.  Adrienne was the defendant and Hannah was on the jury.  They both thought it was tons of fun!  They also had fun playing on the wii.



PK and Mitch went on a shopping trip and Terri and I were able to get in a game of Nertz.

Holly was also happy to see all of them.



We got a date on the calendar for a cookout at their house while the kids and I are in Georgia this summer and we are looking forward to that!  It was such an enjoyable visit for all of us and I truly hope they will come visit us again!



Conversations in the Car

Hannah and I were in the carpool line waiting for Rachel and Hannah asked me which Bible story is my favorite.  I don't know if I have one favorite.  I told her that I love Abraham's story because he was willing to leave his home and follow God even though he wasn't sure what that was going to look like.  I also told her that I love the story of Noah because God asked him to do something that seemed crazy to everyone else, but he was willing to obey God.  One of my favorite New Testament stories is when men want to stone the woman they have accused of being a prostitute, but Jesus bends down and quietly, gently draws in the dirt.  We don't know what he wrote.  It could have been a list of the sins of the accusers or he could have just been doodling.  He tells the men that anyone who is without sin should cast the first stone.  One by one the men leave.  Of course, when I was telling Hannah this story I just said a woman had sinned and the men were angry.  She told me she really likes the story of King Solomon and the women who dispute over who is the mother of a baby. 

I sat there thinking how wonderful it is that she ponders the stories she has heard her entire life.  They are buried deep within her.  As she grows older, these stories will come to her time and time again and she will glean bits of wisdom, knowledge and even comfort from them. 

Rachel came to the car and the conversation turned to her day.  The traffic flow at her school is always a bit crazy as the school is just overcrowded and there is only one way out of the parking lot.  That problem is made worse by the fact there is a traffic light just beyond the school that does not have a turn lane or turn arrow.  One left hand turn backs up the traffic.  Add in the buses trying to exit the parking lot and teenage drivers and we have a recipe for crazy.  A male student walked right out in front of my car.  I had already stopped as I pay close attention to the students because I know they don't pay attention to the moving vehicles.  I sat there as he stood in the middle of the parking lot in front of my car talking to his friend who was still on the sidewalk.  I shook my head in disbelief and Rachel must have noticed.

Rachel: His girlfriend is pregnant.
Me:  Hmmm.
Rachel:  She's 16.
Me:  Hmmm.
Rachel:  She posted it on Facebook.  She is happy about it.

In my head I was trying to decide how I wanted to respond to this information.  Rachel was giving me the information in the same way she tells me about having a quiz in geometry.  It was very matter-of-fact.  It was as though it was an expected every day occurrence.  I wanted Rachel to understand what kind of change this sixteen year old girl is going to have to face.  I have no idea who the girl is or who her family is.  She may have a wonderful support system.  When I was a senior in high school another senior girl had a baby.  She came from a wealthy family and her parents decided to raise the baby as their own in order to allow the girl to follow her plan to go away to college.  Not everyone has that opportunity.  In a moment of God given wisdom akin to the wisdom of Solomon, I held my tongue.  Rachel already knows what she has been taught and we have to trust that the Lord will guide her in her decisions.

It was my turn to try to merge into the traffic already on the road and the conversation switched gears.  We picked up Aaron from school and stopped for an errand.  Rachel and Aaron ran into the store while Hannah and I waited in the car.  From the backseat out of nowhere

Hannah:  You know I don't believe in Santa Clause, right?
Me:  Who told you that?
Hannah:  No one.  I just figured it out.

She began to list her reasons for me.

Me:  What about the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and Leprechauns?
Hannah:  Don't you think if Leprechauns really existed, we would have caught one in our traps?

Who can argue with that logic?  At that point Aaron and Rachel were returning to the car, so I dropped the subject as I knew Hannah would be embarrassed discussing it in front of them.  After we were home and I had a chance to speak to Hannah in private, I told her she was right.  She was quite satisfied with herself.  As each child has found out the "truth" about Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, I have been concerned that their belief in God would also suffer so we have been purposeful in telling them that God is real.  Hannah's response to that, "Duh."