A Special Lord's Day

As some may or may not know, I haven't been to church in some time due to my work schedule. As I no longer work, I was actually able to wake up (myself and the kids) this morning. And not just wake up. I woke up in enough time to make breakfast (eggs, sausage, and toast), eat, clean up afterwards, have the kids brush their teeth then get dressed, then take my own shower and get dressed, load up, and get to the church before Sunday school started. Wow! Happy day from the start!

When we first got there, Vincent was super excited about going to Sunday school and started running up the steps and I had to call him down, since we had to go into the auditorium first. We went in and sang a song once Sunday school started, then the little ones were dismissed. At this, Vincent decided he wanted to stay with mommy, so mommy had to pick him up and explain to him that Karah would be going with him, that she was a good big sister and looked out for him, and he would be just fine. Well, something worked, because he finally said okay and they went to class. I went back with the adults, and I thoroughly enjoyed the lesson. It appeared to be a continuation from the prior week, but it was about Drawing Nigh to God. It was a very good lesson and something I needed to hear. The final question was "What do you expect from God?" Something to think about.

The children rejoined me for the morning service and they behaved pretty well. Vincent has come a long way than when he first started sitting in a church service. Must come with age ... haha. During the sermon, I would find the reference and point to it in the Bible and have Vincent follow my finger. He seemed rather interested which made me happy. The message was about what parents need to do in order to reach their children {for/to the Lord}. With the initial verse of Proverbs 22:6, the summary is Parents need to be consistent, dedicated, and spiritual. "How do we want our children to turn out?" Once again, something I really needed to hear. It's funny - in a good way - how the Lord has things turn out sometimes. I am so glad I made it to church today.

And then there was lunch. Didn't do much for lunch. Vincent had leftovers and Karah & I had ramen soup. After that we finished up their valentine's for their respective classes. The only thing left for them now is to put in some hugs & kisses (of the Hershey's variety). :-) The rest of the afternoon was just relaxing.

We left at 6 so we could stop by Books-A-Million. I wanted to find a Bible for me, but they were a little expensive for what I had on me at the time. I ended up getting one for Vincent so he could have his own and he loved it! He didn't let go of it the whole time except for right before we left and once in the middle of the service (he had fallen asleep and it fell out of his lap/arms at which point he woke up, picked it back up, cradled it, then fell back asleep). It was good fellowshipping with others after the service. When we finally left, I got to the truck and realized I had missed Brian's call. I was so upset I started crying right away, then tried to call the number back. It's not his phone, as his doesn't get service down there, and there wasn't any answer so I checked my voicemail since it said I had one. grrr. Technology nowadays. I got on and was going to listen to it and then it said the message was erased. ERASED?!?!?! I checked the phone to make sure no buttons had gotten accidentally pressed ... nope, all good. Well, whatever it had been was long gone now. Great, I didn't even get to hear his voice via voicemail. Talk about devastating. Well, I start driving but still ended up crying most of the way home. The kids didn't notice because they were engrossed in their DS games. (They had a choice at breakfast: they either got to play them at the house or in the truck, not both. They chose the truck.) I didn't want them to know I'd been crying so I stopped - crying that is. After we got home I ran to the answering machine thinking maybe he called the house phone and left a message. Nope. Rats. So I check the email. He had written saying he was going to call around 9:30/10. I replied saying I had missed his call and hoped he would call back. And in the middle of the email he called! YEA!!!!! It made me SOOOOOOO happy. Now I can go to sleep easier.

Well, since we didn't get home until almsot 10, the kids were kinda hungry - hadn't eaten since 2 except for a small snack around 5. So I heated up some pot pies and got them to eat, change, brush teeth, and be in bed by 10:30, which actually worked. So now they're tucked in and I'm writing this blog. Guess I'd better not stay up too much longer. I need to stay on this day schedule I seem to be on. It's nice being awake when everyone else is, too!