Confessions from sassy, half-hearted hearts

All of this happened a few weeks ago but things have been going too fast around here for me to get this posted.  And I promise this all took place in one lunch I shared with the children.

Rewind:  One of my sweet grandmothers has cancer...again.  This time being in her 90s she has declared that she does not want any sort of aggressive treatment.  I completely understand that and am thankful that she is prepared to step into eternity with her faith secure in Jesus.  This however has meant that our family start praying for God's mercy in her life during all of this.  The children knew she had been in the hospital with some other complications.  Neal and I felt that we needed to have an honest conversation with them about her health.  The first conversation was fast one evening at dinner with not much said other than she was really sick, she might die before Christmas and we needed to pray for her.

Well in typical fashion that lead to thinking which lead to questions...

Now here we are:  There were some concerns expressed by the children about her dying during lunch.  I told the children that she was going to die; that we all are at some point but we needed to be thankful that she would go to heaven.  Instant relief hit their faces but Anna Grace asked how I knew for sure.  I told them that Jesus lived in her heart and he was in charge of her life....la, la, la...Caleb asked some relevant  yet uneventful question; I answered it.  Anna Grace tried to interrupt I pressed on because I wanted to share the gospel with my children again.  Dean continued to enjoy his meal.  Anna Grace stopped me and said she already did that then finished the gospel in her own words.  I agreed; all was well.  At some point during the meal it was said, "You have to ask Jesus to come into your heart before you can go to heaven when you die."   Dean, who had said nothing up to this point continued to stare down at his plate and eat as if he was a homeless child, says at the first silent moment: "Oh!  Jesus come into my heart.  Amen.  Did that!"  And he took another bite never looking up.  I almost fell out of my seat!  I quickly told him I did not think it worked quite like that you had to really mean it in your heart.

For some crazy reason, I foolishly thought going back to Anna Grace and whatever she wanted to talk about when she was trying to interrupt me had to be something more normal and maybe it was for a family like ours.  "Mama, there is something I've got to ask you about it.  I've been wondering, if Jesus lives inside my heart then what's going on with my attitude?!?"  (I wish I could convey the amount of sassy attitude and frustration in her voice as well as her body language as she spoke.)    I could continue our lunch discussion with poise no more; I erupted in laughter.  Somewhere between our once somber and serious conversation turning into an at best half-hearted sinner's prayer followed by an enormously sassy attitude confession, laughter bubbled from my soul.  Anna Grace even laughed when she realized how crazy she sounded.  After a few minutes she told me that she did not know that she was supposed to be praying daily for the Holy Spirit to help her use self-control.  She was hoping for full sanctification this side of heaven.

Through it all I could not help but think think that God had to be laughing too and sadly their actions funny and somehow appropriate for their age are but a glimpse of our sinful adult hearts wanting only short-cuts, easy roads and a checklist.

Four Amazing Imaginations

I went to the grocery store today.  The children on the other hand went on a boat ride (the buggy) through a swamp (the floor was brownish) with killer rhinoceroses all around (the other buggies) and one roaming giant green crocodile (the large green dust mop that was moving about the store) that was looking for children to eat of course.

Out of our trip I got groceries...they experienced an adventure.

First Day of School...Again

  

Today we had our third first day of school since mid-August around here.  This time it was Caleb heading off to Mother's Day Out for the first time in his life.  He was so excited.  I'm sure I have said this before on here but Caleb lives his life not wishing he was a "big kid" but he really thinks he is a big boy, no different from his older siblings.  In Caleb's mind he is a 5 year old trapped in a 3 year old's body.  I cannot wait to see what this year holds for him at school and watch him soar on his own wings doing his own thing.  He is such a funny, excitable character.  He is 100% boy...very tough, a little bit sloppy, loud (oh wait that is not the boy in him but the Hatchett in him), and loves his mama.  He had not even the slightest hesitation about running in there and getting in the mix.  He has been asking me since last May when his first day of school would be; I am very thankful that Ms. Jennie and Ms. Mikelyn did not disappoint.

He was excited to see me pick him up, show me his room, his craft and tell me about his day.  He was also very excited to tell me about the boy in the blue shirt who did not obey today.  He told me that he was going back next time so he could go on the bear hunt with his class!  He also loved dominating the table conversation this evening sharing with us about his day which is something he has never been able to do.  He has always been the listener when it came to school  He beamed from ear to ear as he told us his experiences...he sat by a girl at lunch; he had to potty during lunch so he could not eat all of his food; he played at the playground two times but not outside because of the rain; he sang several songs - some new, some old; and most importantly he made his craft - a pair of bear ears - by himself!  He also told us that he tried to play by himself but kept getting interrupted by his new friends.

I told the children that we were having popsicle after dinner tonight to celebrate Caleb's great first day of school.  After Dean's popsicle he tried to thank me for dinner and his popsicle to which Caleb said, "No, Dean, thank me!"  We got a good laugh out of that.  I don't think his first day could have been any better!   

Here he is before we left this morning; absolutely ready...a fresh cut thanks to Ms. Danna, new shoes, new lunch box and a big grin:

 

  

New Shoes!

 

 

It was time for new shoes the other day and what an adventure we had.  Our feet are ready for whatever the fall/winter bring our way!  Everyone except Hudson picked out their pair of tennis shoes...I picked out the church shoes (Well Anna Grace was able to chose between several options but not ready to unleash her in Sikes especially after seeing her "loud" tennis shoe choice!)  I will say they picked things that I think testify to their personalities.  Anna Grace chose a collision of brightness; Dean went with grey and mustard (his favorite condiment); and Caleb chose chocolate and orange.

Thank you so much, Honey and Big Daddy!  In case you did not notice the past few days we are very proud of our new shoes.  Anna Grace talked the boys into hiding them around the house for Neal to find when he came home from work that night.  She said she wanted to have an Easter Egg Hunt but with shoes!