7 Quick Takes Friday

1. Today I had lunch with an old friend. She is a mennonite pastor and was chaplain at Grady when I was there. Between us we had 3 children under 3 at the table. And we didn't talk about poop. Not once. Susan is an old soul, wise and beautiful. We were interrupted 2,402 times by a precious babe and yet I still left feeling lighter, more peaceful, more joyous. Oh how thankful I am for this kind of friend.

2. This week I have been overwhelmed and humbled by generosity. While my pride didn't allow total comfort with accepting gifts from others, I am smart enough to smile, say thank you, and simply thank God for good people with whom to share life. The world can be a dark place at times, with greed and selfishness seeming to dominate (in my own life, as well as around me!) But this week reminded me there is a lot of light- in the form of friends giving so generously and so selflessly to make things a little easier for team Ninness.

3. I am in a familiar place of trying to discern what to commit to next year and where to pull back. With a baby coming in the fall, I know myself well enough to know that I can't go totally underground or I'll turn crazy. But I've never been good at knowing how much is just enough. I don't need or want an overflowing plate any more than I want to feel isolated. How do you know where to draw the line?

4. For Mother's Day, my precious husband has agreed to take the gremlin for an early hike, giving me a whole morning to myself. This makes me so excited but oh the pressure! How to best spend a few hours of no responsibility? What do I do where I don't feel the time was wasted but my heart was filled up? A book and pastry at Barnes and Noble? A fabulous church garage sale? A meal eaten out, alone, from the adult menu?  Loving this 1st world conundrum!

5. My cell phone has been on the outs for days. Amazon will remedy the problem in 3-5 days (cheapo here refused to pay for it to get here faster!) After 3 days of constant power outage and lack of communication, I really am wondering what we did before these little life suckers invaded our cars and homes and hands. As convicted as I am about my dependence on this stinking device, I am still walking around with a car charger, a wall charger, and a list of important numbers. A lot of talk, I am.

6. After my husband kindly disagreed with my argument for an increase in our monthly eating out budget (argument based on MK's request to lunch out regularly and her needing her own food now), I began making a concerted effort to eat out less.  Y'all, it's hard. I have lots of good points about sahm's and the need to get out of the house. But at the end of the day, our money needs to go elsewhere. I know that saying "no" to myself more is sanctifying but clearly I don't do that enough because it is definitely stretching my resolve.

7. I am so, so excited about this baby. He or she moves ten times more than MK ever did and every kick is like the first one. It just excites me. I am never going to be the girl going gaga over pregnancy, but every kick or roll seems to make the less fun parts worth it. It is so surreal to me that there is a life, a human, in there. I can't wrap my head around how great and how big God is that He created life like this. I am so stinking thankful for this baby and every day pray for precious friends who await their turn at this miracle.