Mary Did You Know?

Luke 2:19

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁹ But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.

I sometimes wonder what went through Mary's heart as she held her baby boy in her arms. What did she know? How much did she understand? She must've had some inkling. After all, it's not everyday you are visited by the angel Gabriel who then tells you that the power of the Most High will overshadow you, and you will conceive a baby who shall save the world. But then at the same time she must've looked down at her baby boy, Jesus, King of the World, and to her he was just her baby boy. Her beautiful, perfect child . . . the child that she wanted nothing more than to protect and love and shelter from the harsh world.

Can you even imagine? Angels are visiting you in person, your husband in dreams. Shepherds are rushing to the stable (fancy word for barn) where you just gave birth and kneeling before your newborn son. Kings take a journey of almost two years to present your child with extravagant gifts. You flee to Egypt because another king wants your child dead . . . Yes, I can believe that Mary did quite a lot of pondering. The confusion and fascination, the fear and awe Mary must have felt through all of this.

Mary did you know?

Did you know that you held the King of Kings and Lord of Lords in your arms? Did you know that you rocked true perfection, God, come to earth in human form to sleep each night? When you sang songs to your baby boy you sang praises to the Most High God?

Mary did you know? 

Christmas Time Again . . .

Once again, I'm posting this video in honor of our daughter who is somewhere in an orphanage. To say we are so ready to hold her in our arms is an understatement. To say it gets harder each year is a vast understatement. We pray for her daily, sometimes hourly. We pray God's protection and love over her, and we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God does hold her in His arms.

He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
Psalm 91:4

Key West . . . Our Last Day

This time last week we were in Key West. It was sunny. It was warm. It is neither sunny nor warm here. I'm starting to think it will never be warm again . . . sigh . . . dramatic much?

Anyway, on Saturday we walked . . . a lot. We walked the length of the island and back and then some.

The Disney Magic was docked and screaming children and grouchy parents were disembarking for their last day before their cruise ended. It was all very "magical".

We visited the Butterfly Sanctuary where we saw butterflies, flamingoes, turtles, and the tiniest, cutest quail in the world. Those suckers definitely wouldn't have made good eating. You'd have to eat about 10 of them to even make a small meal. That was an extremely politically incorrect statement I just made. Don't worry I didn't say it to the women at the butterfly sanctuary. They would've passed out.

We walked to the Atlantic side of the island, and saw the Southernmost point in the mainland United States. The tip of Texas is pretty far south but not quite as far south as the big cement buoy, and "not quite" doesn't count. Oh well, I guess Texas can't be the best at everything (just almost everything). Also, I have no clue who those people are. I didn't want to wait in line to take a picture so I snapped one from a distance in between other people's turns. I could've cropped them out, but that would've required effort which I'm just not willing to put forth on this Friday morning.

 

We also visited the Truman Whitehouse which was great, but there were signs saying no photography, and our little tour guide seemed like a stickler for rules . . . so sorry, no pictures.

 

Saturday night we ate Cuban food . . . ummm, yum . . . and key lime pie because you can't visit Key West without eating key lime pie. Again no pictures. I got kind of lazy on the picture taking near the end of our trip. After we ate, we did a little more shopping, and then headed to bed pretty early.

 

Sunday morning it all came to an end, and we returned to the coldest "not quite winter" that Texas has had in years.  Like I said before we had a blast, but I missed Andrew like crazy (don't worry I missed Patrick too). It's the longest I've been away from Andrew, and I was really glad to see him. He was glad to see me too. He told me so. His exact words were, "I'm glad you're home because my hamper is full, full, full, and Dad can't cook." Now if that's not love . . .

 

To see a recap of the first part of our trip click here.



Key West (Thursday Night and Friday)

This past Thursday morning, just as the Arctic air was blasting its way in Texas and only a few hours before flights into and out of DFW started getting cancelled, my mom, my sister, and I hopped on a plane and headed to Key West for a nice (warm) long weekend.

We had the best time. There is so much history, good food, beauty, and a little (or a lot of) craziness crammed into (or maybe I should say onto) that tiny island. And leaving behind below freezing temperatures for 82 degrees and sunny isn't anything to complain about.

 

 

 

 

 

This was our view at breakfast every morning. I saw a manatee swimming in here during breakfast our first morning. Yes, I jumped up and hollered. What else does a person do when you see a manatee during breakfast?

 

Darth Vader . . . doesn't everyone see him on their vacation?

The Ernest Hemingway House. I love history, and Key West is full of history. There is absolutely no way you can see it all in one trip.

Ernest Hemingway's bedroom

 

 

Just a few of the many six toed cats that have the run of the Hemingway House.

The above three photos are of Hemingway's writing area which was obviously the highlight of the tour. 

After the Hemingway House we had lunch at Sloppy Joe's, and yes, we did eat a sloppy joe. When in Rome . . .

 

Friday evening we went on a sunset sail on the schooner the Appledore II. The
Appledore II summers in Maine and winters in Key West. Aside from the fact that it is an absolutely beautiful vessel, the sail itself was one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced. I've never sailed at all, and I was so caught up in the whole thing (along with everyone else) that I completely missed the sunset. There were between 15-20 people onboard (on a full day there can be up to 50), and the captain decided to take us for quite a ride. We were moving so fast through the water and having so much fun, and suddenly, we looked up, and the sun was gone. No one seemed to care too much, and we stayed out for a long time just rocking through the water while the stars came out. Usually, I'm such a wimp about anything that goes over 10 mph, but I wasn't even a little bothered by this. It was quiet, and peaceful, and extremely relaxing. I'm pretty sure that I could've thrown out a sleeping bag and slept right there. Anyway, I'll stop raving about how much I enjoyed the whole experience, but if you ever get a chance to go on one of these ships, I highly recommend it.

 

(To be continued . . . )

Why We Don't Do Elf On The Shelf

Unless you're living in a cave somewhere in the wilds of Africa (are there caves in the wilds of Africa?), then you've seen the 6.5 million Elf on the Shelf pictures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram . . . Elves hanging out in various questionable positions, circumstances, and situations . . . Elves in toilets (gross!) . . . Elves on ceiling fans . . . Elves playing with barbies . . . Elves doing things that I can't mention on a PG Blog . . . Elves everywhere.

So why don't we do Elf on the Shelf? I mean we do believe in Santa! Hello, the big man is real. But we don't do the Elf for a couple reasons.

One . . . The Elf is freaky, and while, Santa is a big jolly guy with a long white beard, and a stomach that shakes like a bowl full of jelly, and all that jazz, these elves all look like something out of a bad horror movie. Given that we've finally . . . thank the Good Lord above . . . moved out of most of the "I'm scared . . . " stage at bedtime and beyond every. single. night. I really don't want to reintroduce that into our house. I cherish my sleep. I'm just sayin'.

Two . . . And this is even more of a reason . . . I don't want to move that stupid, stinkin' elf every night after Andrew goes to bed. It's too much responsibility and pressure y'all. I can't commit to something that big. It's just not happening.

Andrew has said something once or twice about his friends having elves while he does not . . . poor, pitiful child . . . he is so mistreated. But then my sister-in-law got an elf for his classroom at school. Score! Yes! I don't have to deal with it. Andrew gets an elf at a safe distance, and all is right with the world.

So that, my friends, is why we have no Elf on the Shelf. For all you mamas and daddies who do, more power to you. But good luck finding something interesting for him or her to do each night. You'll be sick of it by Christmas. Just you wait. :)

And please, for the love of my sanity, don't go putting your elf in, near, or even in the general vicinity of the toilet. Please . . .

Oh, and you can just go ahead and call me Scrooge or the Grinch. Take your pick. I'm okay with it.