Moving Stories & the Absurdity of Grace.

Hello, Friends! 

So, remember a few weeks ago, we left Houston bound for our Florida home once again?

Well, we made it. 

We closed on a townhouse in a town we had only ever been to a handful of times, 

starting about 6 weeks ago. Seriously.

We were sold on this cutesy little coastal town and these sunsets:

I mean.

Talk about 'fire in the sky'. 

We are absolutely loving our new town. It is small (population of about 35k), 

and the Main Street ends at the marina. It definitely suits us. 

The Lord is so good to us in the most ridiculous ways. Listen. We have made near 'bout every financial, marital, and life mistake you can think of and the God who painted that sunset let us move here and be salt and light in a place with this SALT AND LIGHT! 

It's the absurdity of grace. 

Moving to this dream-like little community comes with some real 

first world problems and stories.

Actually, it's me.

I come to this little community with first world problems and stories. 

Bless these people. I hope they are ready for this crew.

We bought this place with the intention of getting some updates taken care of as soon as possible. 

It's definitely "outdated" by all home-fashion-decor-whatever-standards. This is so foreign to me. 

I mean, I go in beautifully decorated homes and I love it. I appreciate the work it takes to do it.

I admire it and I'm proud of the owners for making a house a home. 

But, I don't want to do it. I want it done. I just don't want to do it, 

nor do I want to spend what it takes to do the extra things. 

Makes sense, right? *I'm shaking my head at myself*

So, first things to be done are popcorn ceiling removal and painting every single square inch of this place. And I mean every square inch. I don't care to have popcorn ceilings removed, but they had to be painted anyway, so down with the popcorn! We decided to "rough it" on air mattresses until we got this part done. We knew it would be much easier with out the furniture. 

Blessing #EleventyFive is that Spouse's relocation package includes up to 

sixty days of storage for our belongings. 

This is amazing. 

Not too bad, right?

Well, in true Melissa fashion, there was a mishap. The second night of sleeping on the air mattress, somewhere around the midnight hour, Spouse turned over to hear and FEEL "SSSSSSHHHHH" right in the face. I'm guessing I over-inflated our bed? Anyway, the air blowing out of the hole was causing the pup to lose his furry freakin' mind. He was going bazooka bat crazy and 

Spouse and I were cracking up. 

The bed was deflating under us and our tortilla-flat pillows and 

we were cackling uncontrollably. I even snorted. 

Also, girls with ample birthing hips are not made for sleeping on hard floors, kids. 

That mattress was promptly replaced.

Spouse spent last weekend prepping walls and doing as much as he could possibly get done in the house before painters showed up on Tuesday. He also was working as fast as he could, since he had to leave town last week. Awesome. 

So, on Tuesday, when the popcorn was being removed and 

our house looked like this, he never saw it:

Our house looked like a scene from Dexter. Think less blood and more paint and drywall. Also, it smelled like an ashtray. The previous owners smoked, and although the house had been thoroughly rid of the smoke smell, scraping that ceiling down just aggravated it. Yuckafornia.

In the midst of all this crazy, my girls had their first day of homeschool classes.

They handled the chaos like pros. Only Jesus.

Let me explain this. I had to be out of the house each day, all day last week while this work was being done. And, I had to take my dog. It's boiling hot out. There's only so much I can do all day. A friend let me come hang out at her house and do my laundry one day (another blessing from the Lord!). 

I picked the girls up from school that first day and we walked in to this mess:

This was nutty. My kids were talking to me but I couldn't hear them.
All I was hearing was the voice in my head:
My Spouse is in Denver and going to sleep in a comfy bed and we are supposed to sleep in this house!? We can't even breath deeply in here! There is no freakin' way. I'm not wanting to spend a lot of money. Well,  get over it. Get out of here. Just go.

Plus, Spouse was feeling guilty so he insisted on it. *Grin*
We took ourselves down to the awesome hotel at the marina 2 miles
down from my house that has pet-friendly rooms and this right here:

Boom. Two nights right here, kids.

I can't believe I get to live here and I'm not even 65! 

So freakin' cool!

Oh. Check this out. Read this story and stay with me. 

I couldn't get my key to work in my mailbox. My cool neighbor came to help me and he couldn't get it to work, either. The girls and I drove to the post office (which my Spouse thinks should be disband all together) to see if they could help me. 

While waiting in the long line, I heard patrons call the employees by their first names. 

"So good to see you, Frank! Thanks, Jim!" Seriously. 

I'm all giddy cause the town-folk are on a first-name basis with their postal crew!? What!? 

(Our mail person at our other house is less than desirable.) 

Anyway, I watched Frank help two people at a time to keep one guy from having to wait in line unnecessarily. So efficient! Not at all typical of any post office I've ever been in. 

Sorry. No offense, y'all. 

So, this lady came out and said, "Does anybody need help with forwarding or pick up 

or anything that is NOT mailing a package?" Hey! Yes! That's me! I walked up, 

tell her I just moved and showed her my key to my box I can't get in. 

She asked for my address and said she'd be right back. 

When she emerged from the back, she said, "Can you go home?"

I'm confused.

"Yes. I can go home. But, then what?"

Are y'all ready for this?

"I'll meet you over there."

"What?! You're gonna go to my house?"

"Yah, I'll meet you over there in a few minutes. I'll go straight there."

Oh. My.

Do you know what this means!?

People who live at the beach are happy people! 

These are happy, helpful people and I LOVE THEM ALL!

She came to my house in 99° heat with her spray lubricant and some tools and dern if she didn't get my mailbox working properly and retrieved the Big Sister's Apologia Science book! 

Yay for the Coastal Postal Service!

Such absurd grace, I tell you!

Amazing, right?!

Now this. This right here is stressing my junk out.

I want my kitchen to look nice and I want it to be inexpensive. 

Not cheap. Just inexpensive. 

And I don't want it to take too long, either. 

I don't have the attention span to drag this jazz out too long.

And, there's the issue of my not caring enough about it.

My struggle is that I'm trying to be forward-thinking and consider re-sale value and 

long-term cost effectiveness. While being a good steward, I also want to be eternally 

minded and guard against the excess trap, ya know?

So difficult.

So, there's a few scenes from our grace-filled past two weeks.

Popcorn is removed. Rooms are painted. Remodeling bids are in progress.

My Spouse has painted so much since flying back in to town late Friday night. This dude works.

I'm watching him roll walls this very second while parked in a camping chair writing these words. 

He is grace.

I've scheduled the movers to deliver on Tuesday, bless their souls.

You know what y'all should do?! Follow us on Instagram @Spouseisms for more goodness.

You know what else you should do? Tell me your stories of absurd grace?! I know you have some!

Love!
Melissa

How Houston Changed Us.

Well. That’s it. We’ve packed it up. The moving company is en route with my crock pot and we are on the road headed East. We are pumped to be bonafide, Salt-Life wearing, Life Is Good sportin’, paddleboarding Floridians again. I’m looking forward palm trees, key lime pie, & Publix. Oh, sweet Publix.

We have been in Houston for just over two years. If you’ve been here since the beginning, you know it was only supposed to be three months. But, we loved it. When it was nearing time to leave, we knew there was unfinished business there. We didn’t know what it was, we just knew there was something more in Houston for us and something more in us for Houston. I do hope we impacted the city a little, because Houston sure impacted us.

We are changed because of our time here. How could we not be? We left a town of 35k people to a city of about 5 million. There is a lot to love about our little country hometown of Plant City, Florida. I like to tell people it’s the “Southern-most point of the Bible-Belt”. (I made that up, PC. You heard it here first.)

Then, the Bayou City happened to us. Yes, I know Houston didn’t “happen to us”. The Lord used our time in Houston to change us. And, as hard as some of it was, I’m grateful.

We know what it’s like to be the visitors at church. When the pastor says “Greet the people around you”, we see it differently now.

We have become Tex-Mex snobs. We loved fajitas before and were looking forward to the amazing fajitas we would get when we got here. And, for the love of tortillas, we have gotten snobby about them.  What’s your favorite Tex-Mex dish? Where do you get it?

We have become the city mice. We lived fairly rurally in Florida and went straight to downtown Houston. We eventually made it to the burbs, but I’ve not been more than 3 miles from a Target or a Chick-Fil-A in over two years. There's that.

We learned what it’s like to have to pay for water usage. Ugh. For the first time in my entire life, I didn’t have well water. We got our first water bill. Welcome to the city.  We love it, right?!

We learned what it’s like to have to plug in to groups. We had to be so intentional about meeting people and finding our places to serve.  And, then sometimes it didn’t work out. Which brings me to…

We were reminded that sometimes, you just aren’t gonna be everybody’s cup of tea. This was fun. Except not at all. But, there were times when I just had to come to grips with the fact that some people just didn’t care for me. That is all I have to say about that.

We know why Texas pride is different. It’s contagious. Like the good kind. The traditions, like those homecoming mums, are crazy awesome. No one really knows where it came from, but it is so over-the-top Texas that you can’t help but love it. I am equally perplexed and amazed by it. You have the Aggie traditions and Go Texan Day, a bunch of stuff. Anyway, I have long since loved my palm tree stuff, so I’m gonna have to step that up a notch or seven in order to adequately represent.

We are officially a Blue Bell people. We knew of Blue Bell Ice Cream before, and I had heard people go on about it. But, once I visited the creamery in Brenham the first of SIX times (!!), I was sold. And, it really is better.
Also, I’m sorry, Texas Fam, I am a one of a kind, and so is Dr. Pepper, I just don’t love it. I went to the museum, had a float and it was so cute.
I’m not drinking the DP juice.

We view grief differently. One of our pastors at Bayou City Fellowship, Vernon, speaks of pain and suffering like no body’s business. Learning to let people grieve for as long as it takes is counter-cultural. Even counter-church cultural, in some  ways. I was definitely a “get it together, press on!” kind of Christian. Even in my self-talk. So, when I would experience a season of depression or blues or doubt, I would beat myself up over it, rather than allowing for sadness and lament to the Lord. No more. Dude. “Sadness is not a sin” is so very liberating to the Christian who has been told to “Find the Joy!” all the dern time. Which brings me to…

We have been a part of a church plant. Our church was a baby church of six months when we got to Houston. It was a breath of fresh air we didn’t even know we needed! Totally different from anything we had ever been a part of : simple, bare-bones approach to worship services and gatherings; taking the same approach to programs, our calendars have not been filled with “church” activities to do more things “at church” than in the community. I don’t even know how to fully explain it, but it’s been a great experience for us.
We are so sad to leave it. 

We are changed because Jesus didn't waste one minute of time we spent in Texas. Not one. He grew us in ways too deep for a blog.

Mostly, we are changed because we have been loved. These Texans (both born in and brought in) have loved on us in the sweetest ways. 

Houston, We love you back.

13 Promises for the 13 Year-Old

Nicknames: Ellie Mae, Megalicious, Meghan-heimer-snickel-fritz, McGillicutty

The Big Sister turns thirteen today. I'm so excited for her. I'm not the mom that cried at kindergarten or cries at these milestones, I'm genuinely excited for her.

Why won't they still let me dress them?

I do, however, get a sense of urgency.
I am keenly aware that, while I hope to always be a sounding board, my truly influential days are numbered. I'll never not be their momma, but ya know. There are so many things I want my girls to leave the nest with: good flossing habits, a healthy body image, a solid foundation of the Word, and knowing that their parents are flawed people in pursuit of Jesus. I want them to know how to cook some basic meals and keep a house and make it a  home. I want them to know how to speak up for themselves, to call "Bull" when necessary, to know their worth, and to write notes. I want them to live well and love well, to value people over things.
So many things. So little time.

I have a general rule about making promises to my kids, I like to keep us all flexible, but for such an occasion, I thought I'd list thirteen promises I can be sure of today, tomorrow, and most days...
Grinning.

1. The more you know Truth, the more you'll recognize lies.
Plaster your memory with the Word.

2. The issue that you have the hardest time with today will be the very thing that will bring forth your victory in Jesus.
Your weakness is His strength. It's His specialty.

3. You will never regret being classy.

4. You will not immediately understand every decision I make over these next few years.

5. Most of your regrets will be the things you didn't do, rather than the things you did.

6. Jesus in you will always shine brighter than the lipstick on you.

7. It is possible to love your body and want to improve it.
Be strong, healthy, and ready to GO when the Lord calls you!

8. Encouraging others (especially girls) doesn't mean that you are less than,
it means you are strong enough to lift them up.
Be a cheerleader for your people. 

9. The "second mile" is the best mile.
Go the distance.

10. Your heart will lie to you.
Your gut is usually right. The Word is always right.

11. Confidence is not the same as arrogance.
Confidence is an attractive quality, wear it well.

12. When in doubt, overdress.

Cause, ya know, mud.

13. You can never out love me nor out sin me. 
This is not a challenge. Please don't try.

Happy birthday, Sister. I love you more than strawberries.

New Community!

I've recently joined the moms over at Houston Moms Blog as a contributor. I'm excited to be a part of this diverse group of women: work-outside-of-the-home moms, stay-at-home moms, work-at-home moms, moms of multiples, step-moms, adoptive moms, and everything in between! I know very well I did not cover all the mom flavors out there, but you get the idea.

So, today is my first post! Eeek!

I hope you'll click on over there and see where I'll be spending some time!

Happy Friday!

Dear Writer.

Five Minute Friday! 

It's a Lisa Jo Baker link-up thing, and it's a good one.

Here are the rules.

If you have a blog--you should so do it. It's so good when you feel uninspired or crunched for time. Anyone? Anyone?
Also, it's fun.

It's Five Minutes of pure blog adrenaline.

Five minutes of writing on a one word prompt. Period. No editing. No nothing. No pressure. No stress.

This week's prompt is Write.

Ready? Set.

Go.

Dear Writer,

That is what you are. A writer. So be who you are- all of who you are- in your writing. Let the tough out. Write through the tears and the hilarity and the perceived mundane. It all counts.

When it bleeds, bleed through your fingers. 
When it's loud, let it resonate through the tapping keys.
When it's tough, type hard and fast.
When it's risky, write courageously.
When it shines, let it shine on the screen. 
When it's snarky and funny, smile at your words.
When it's imperfect, it still means something.

All the words matter. Even the ones never shared. Write them.

~Write hard and clear about what hurts.
Ernest Hemingway~

Love,
Me.

BIG BELIEFS, Little Beliefs.

Big Beliefs, Little Beliefs came from Tara over at A Brew of Blessings. It's not a link up, really, but it should be. So, T, get on that! :)) Lists like this are random, but connect us when something resonates. It's mostly for fun, nothing too deep. Enjoy & add your own!

I believe...

~Hot chocolate is a solid comfort drink. 
Not solid as in matter, solid as in dependable.

~Loving your neighbor may mean walking her dogs.

~A new outfit can alter the events of your day.

~So can your shoes.

~Just because you are intentional about including people, 
doesn't mean others are.

~You'll never regret shaving your legs.
Girls. I. Am. Just. Sayin.

~People think about you a lot less than you think they do.
I don't know who said this, but a friend said it this week. So true.

~The first songs of the day set the tone for the rest of your day. 

Choose wisely.

~Assumptions are the worst.

~This world is not my home. 

I don't want to get too comfortable anywhere.

~Finicky eaters ("I don't like ___, ____, or ____...") used to stress me out.
It's difficult to accommodate a super-picky person. 
Now, "Just bring what you want."

~Writing is a blessing and a curse.

Blessing: It is an effective outlet.

Curse: If you don't write, you don't feel "let out". 

~Being the new girl is just plain hard. 
No matter how old you are, no matter how super-sanguine you are. It's just hard.

~A visit with a friend is therapeutic.

~"We don't work best when we are dragging around our past." - Curtis Jones. 

Context can be found by listening to the Bayou City Fellowship podcast from October 27, 2013. 

~Being a "mean mom" is often a reason to high-five yourself.

~Walking in faith and walking in crazy sometimes look similar.
Our decisions shouldn't always be practical or make sense 
to the world...or even other Christians.

~The early morning decision of brushing teeth first or going to the 
bathroom first is sometimes enough to overwhelm me before daylight.

~People trump everything else.
People over things. People over money. 
People over schedule. People over programs.
People over comfort. People over sleep.
When in doubt, choose people. 

~The voice in your head is often a familiar one. 
That voice might be a little liar.

~Sometimes you know in the first five minutes, "Yep, you are my people."

~Key clicking on your phone is not awesome in a waiting room. 
Or any room where other people are present.

~Pinterest is not necessary for genuine hospitality.
Sandwiches on paper plates served from a sincere place of service is gold. 

~Fall brings a welcomed breeze, even for a Summer Girl.

Let's hear em! 

What do you believe?

Five Minute Friday: Ordinary

It's time for another Five Minute Friday! 

It's a Gypsy-Mama thing, and it's a good one. I've missed it the past couple of months.

Here are the rules.

If you have a blog--you should so do it. If you don't have a blog, you should do it anyway. Just sayin'.

It's Five Minutes of pure blog adrenaline.

Five minutes of writing on one word. Period. No editing. No nothing. No pressure. No stress.

This week's prompt is Ordinary.

Ready? Set.

Go.

_______________________________________________

Dear Ordinary,
I don't love you. You and your BFFs, Mundane and Common, are comforting to many introverts, but to the extroverted sanguines like me, we tend to shudder at the sound of your name.
Ordinary.
I'm sorry. I just don't love you or the crew with which you run.
We just don't jive together.
And, let me tell you, it's definitely not me.
It's you. You are just so...average.
I'm just not cut out for the status quo.
So, I'm leaving you.
I want Awesome.

Sincerely,
Me.


Stop.

Ok. That was so fun. I've really missed it.

What would you say to Ordinary?

Flip-Flops of Blogging

Hey! Check me out! Sitting at the computer and blogging and whatnot like a big girl. I've been avoiding looking at my blog because I knew it had been a while then, yesterday the Big Sister said, "Mom, you need to do some blogging." Six weeks. It's been six weeks.

I've mentioned before how I've got this commitment allergy, but I'm wondering if it really isn't more of a Label Allergy. I'm loving the labels of the the world less & less. And, that's because I'm so non-committal! I'm flip-floppy (schizophrenic) about stuff-- scheduled homeschool, relaxed homeschool, oh my word, where is the closest school?!?; carbs, no carbs;  herbivore, carnivore, omnivore; aspartame will kill us, embrace the aspartame (I don't need the sugar!!); Baptist, Pentecostal (I prefer Bapticostal, or better yet, just Christian!) gym every day, meh (1 Timothy 4:8). Depends on the day or week.

So, see here? Labels don't work with me. They don't stick.

It just hit me. I'm a GIRL! Doesn't that mean I reserve the right to change my mind?!
Shania Twain, anybody?

My ceramic flip-flops I painted. I like flip-flops.

Blogging has flip-flops, too. There's two sides.

~~You have a blog! Yay! It's nice to have a space on the interwebs to connect with people, engage the culture, and have the occasional rant. Blogging can be such an encouragement to the writer and the reader. Blogging is a community all on its own, even smaller when you factor in the niche bloggers. It is a also nice outlet to get out your allotted word count for the day.
Flip-flop.
You have a blog. So, ideally, one would post to the blog. It's kind of like that gym membership. You have the card to get you in, you should go, right? Also, like the gym, the more you do it, the more you want to. If you're like me, when you don't post or go to the gym, you feel like a failure because you know you should. (Extreme, much?) I currently have eleven drafts waiting to be completed, edited, or deleted.
Depending upon your goal, being a consistent blogger may matter.

~~For personal or family blogs, you can share what is going on in your life. Blogging is an effective way to have a digital scrapbook. So fun! You may share what the Lord is doing in your life or personal convictions or goals.
Flip-flop.
Now you've shared. Brilliant. As a chronic over-sharer, I can't count how many times in my baby time of blogging that I've said, "I so wish I wouldn't have told anybody!" That's not to say we shouldn't keep it real. The world is seeking authentic Christians. Be real. Because I believe in this authenticity and I'm committed (really, not flip-floppy on this one) to being real, I will most assuredly say again, "I so wish I wouldn't have told anybody!"

~~People read what you write. This is so amazing to me. I am still blown away that people read my shenanigans. There have a been a few posts that I really believed in and hoped would get shared, but few. Mostly, it's shenanigans. And people read it! Gah! Jokes on you!
Flip-flop.
People read what you write. There have been conversations or interactions that have inspired me to write, but I have to wait a while to post it because it would be obvious to my friend who reads my blog that I'm piggy backing on our conversation. I don't really want to capitalize on my friends like that. Now, I'm not talking about the ones who tell me, "You need to blog about this!" I get that on occasion. :)
I've also had a few stories that I couldn't share because the situation involved a possible reader. When you know your readers, you can't very well go using their parenting fail that you witnessed with your own eyes in your blog, now can you? I'll have to stick to my own parenting fails, there are plenty.

~~Blogging helps kill some perfectionist tendencies. I still have issues publishing a post before it is "perfect", but I'm working through it. I'm getting better. There is no perfect. No perfect content. No perfect grammar. Too many commas. Sentence fragments. All that jazz. I'm letting some of that go because of the conversational style of this blog. I never want it to sound fake, but like my voice. One of the biggest thrills is for someone to tell me, "I hear your voice when I read your blog!" Love.
I also read on another blog somewhere (I can't remember) that it's better for 10 people to read an imperfect post that may inspire them than for no one to read it.
Flip-flop.
Blogging kills some perfectionist tendencies. I still can't stand it when I find a mistake in a published post. Gag.

There you have it. First post in six weeks. What are some things you are flip-floppy about?