lets get together... yeah.. yeah.. yeah..

If you've never seen old school Parent Trap the subject line will not make a lick of sense. About twice a year this subject comes to a head amongst the friends I made in middle and high school. Thus becomes the chore of getting a time and date everyone's schedule can conform to. This is no easy task. Lisa is a nurse, so her schedule is crazy, CD helps run the family business so her schedule is packed, I do a bazillion things in the school year (but in the summer am pretty flexible), Marie works 3 different jobs, where as Megan and Becky are the only true ones that say we'll come whenever.. we'll work out something. SO... then comes the long thread in facebook (thank you Jesus for Facebook) with brainstorming of places to meet and times. I think this year it came down to maybe 40 different messages back and forth. Well this past Saturday was the assigned date for meeting and this past Saturday was yet again a conformation that some friendships never die.

It's crazy to look around at our group. We're so diverse, we're so different, we have many different outlooks on things, yet we are united. I think this bond is one that is deeper than the surface, it is a spiritual bond the Lord has blessed us with. We can go weeks, months even, without a word to each other, yet when we get together it seems we're back in high school at the lunch table finishing the conversation we started the day before. So imagine six girls at a table and at max three different conversations going on, or one conversation, or two conversations, or just random jaw, but all words are spoken with purpose, all words have value, all words have merit. There is no judgement at the table, there is no condemnation at the table, there is only honesty, patience, understanding, wisdom, and guidance that only friends can give because they know you the best.

As the years have progressed the conversations have changed. It's gone from dating boys to wedding pictures, buying houses and having babies (YIKES). I'm still at the dating boys part... But, I can imagine the future when we're sitting around talking about the stupid stuff our kids are doing and I'll just pipe in with the stupid stuff my students are doing! Granted each year our conversations change, our lives change, our predicaments change, but our bond stays the same. Part of me thinks we're better friends now than we were in high school. Which seems crazy, but is true.

God has blessed and continues to bless me with each one of these girls. Looking back I can see how He orchestrated in each of our lives to bind us together. He knew the gifts we each had and the gifts that would develop over the years and how these unique gifts would bind us in a way that only comes from him. He knew how one of our strengths was another's weakness and how becoming friends we somehow put a balance in each other's lives. God is Great and Good. He is both. He proves it time and time again. Even in simple friendships.

I know.. I know.. this blog seems to be the longest ever.. but the last thing. Before we left Lisa made the comment, "Look at us. I am proud of us. We have made it through college. We are making something with our lives. We are doing well." Yes, sitting at that McAlister's Table in Durham/Chapel Hill was a group of girls that fit those characteristics, but all of that wasn't of our doing. We hadn't done any of it. God directed our lives, controlled our paths, and guided us. We did nothing. He did everything and continues to do everything. Praise God! Praise Him for His Power. Praise Him for His might. Praise Him for this crazy group of girls!

Father's Day

Yesterday was the big day to celebrate daddy's. The day that it set aside, just like the one for mommas, to reflect on your father, who he is and what he means. So, for those who don't know, my daddy is crazy! I love it though. He doesn't know he's crazy which is kind of scary because I feel as though one of these days I'm going to be crazy and not know it as well. It has to be a thing from Maw Maw's side of the family. But my daddy is the best! He is the one who can fix anything. I know... I know.. everybody makes that statement about their fathers, but mine truly can. I have the utmost confidence on anything that breaks, he can fix. Several times I have been with some friends when an item broke and I was so quick to say, "I'll call my Daddy, he'll know how to fix it." He is the one who will help anybody and who will drop everything to help. He also will stand back (I'm sure in frustration) and watch me or my brother attempt to do something, knowing good and well he could do the task better and faster. And when we fail miserably and ask for his help he's there to fix it, and not mention he would have done it right the first time, or that if we followed his advice we would have had success. He is the one who works hard not matter how tired he is or how much he hates the task at hand. Sometimes I wonder what goes through his mind when he hears people talk about their work hours in an office, because they don't compare to the true work hours of dairy farming. He is also the one who watches over me. Protects me. Really wants to make me happy. He'd never truly say that out loud but I know. One time in college he drove all the way to Wilma when the cable in my gear shift broke just to see if he could fix it, and make sure I took it to a place that it could be fixed. I remember my momma saying, "He was all in a sputter. Thinking the whole way. He wouldn't be able to settle down until he checked it out." What a daddy. OH and this past winter while I was stuck in my apartment with the snow, I mentioned how I wish I had my sled. Of course I heard my daddy in the background say, "I'll take it to her." Now he may have been picking, and of course I said, "no thanks daddy. That's crazy. I can do without," BUT the fact is, he would have done it. I know he would have. I think he just wants to make sure I'm happy. My daddy has the hands of a man. Ones that are calloused, scared, and usually bruised from piddling (for you city people.. piddlin' means messing around on something down at the barn). He is an inventor. Super smart dude. He made a leaf sucker (aka turbo vac) with the engine of an old John Deere lawn mower, a silage fan, and plywood. That doesn't even compare to the toolbox he made that had key less entry, push button cab entry, lights that came on when the lid started to raise and some kind of hydraulics to make the lid come up slow. So that's my daddy. I could honestly go on for a while longer but I'll stop.

So my daddy has been one of the best examples of my heavenly father. My God loves me, protects me, created me, watches my every move (good and bad), lets me learn, is always there to help me, holds me and loves me more than anybody else can. For so long I never saw God as my daddy. But he is. He is my Daddy. Just like the daddy I have, but better. He's the ultimate father. You might think it's crazy but when I think about me and God I see myself sitting in God's lap (granted I don't know what he looks like but I'm in a lap), He has his arm around me and at that moment I am safe, I am protected. When I'm resting in his lap and sitting WITH him, I can almost hear him say, "Heather I'm here, tell me your problems. Let me fix them." He wants to fix them. He's my father. He stands back and watches me try to do things on my own and when I fail he's there to fix it. What a wonder father! So to all you out there... Happy Father's Day!!! Remember who your true father is! Know how he sees and loves you!

Be particular!

PaytoN RaE

Here she is! My Niece.

She's so small!

unplanned

I've been told the best things in life happen when you least expect them... happen when you don't plan them... or happen completely out of your control. I have to say this concept rings true. These words of wisdom have been validated in my life. It's the random, crazy, out of my control, it just happens, out of the blue situations and experiences that are amazing!