michellesingleton.com // Confessions of the Preacher’s Wife

A proud mother I am!  Last week Nathan graduated from Elementary School.  (And I might add that he was ranked #1 in his class.)

As the headmaster, Dr. Siragusa, addressed the fifth grade graduates, he read from the Bible:  

“Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters.  Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude.  Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it.”    1 Peter 3:8–9 (NLT)

(Nathan with his 5^th Grade Teacher ~ Mrs. Monforton)

Dr. Siragusa told the students to strive for the ideal that God sets in these verses.  Although, he continued, we must accept that we can not live up to God’s standard on our on.  That leaves a gap.  A gap between what we are capable of on our own and God’s ideal.  He advised the students to fill the gap with prayer.  “Depend on prayer,” he urged, “to connect you with the love, grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.” 

Great advice for all of us!  And that gives us a doubly good reason to celebrate… Jesus made a way for us — He bridged the gap  — and we are moving on to Middle School! 

I imagine most parents spend an extra amount of time in prayer (filling in the gap) during the journey through middle school. 

With Jesus by my side, I for one, am poised for adventure.  Middle School?  Bring it on!

Last week-end, as we celebrated Memorial Day with friends, I couldn’t help but think of the men and women who have sacrificed in so many ways to make our country what it is today.  As our country continues to wade through turbulent times, I find myself praying more and more. 

My children are so precious to me and I am concerned that America as we know it today, may not be the America our future grandchildren will know.  So I am very motivated to pray for our kids and even for their future children.  That from them, God will raise up godly men and women who will carry forward the gospel of Jesus Christ.  That is the only true hope for our country.  Our kids are it ~ they must carry the truth of Jesus to the generations to come! 

That does place a tremendous responsibility on us parents.  We must hold steadfast to God’s love, His grace, and to His principles for godly living that He has laid out for us in His Word.  Our children need us to model the love and life of Christ.

It is not easy to do this in a world that seems to be turning further away from God.  But we are not always asked to do what is easy.  We are simply asked to obey His Word.  No matter what is going on in the world around us.

The Bible tells us that Jesus loves little children ~ including yours and mine.  Because I know God’s love is perfect and that He hears my prayers, I can trust that He will give my children everthing they need to take His gospel to a hurting and lost world.

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”- John 3:17  (NIV)

Lately, Juliana has been into writing notes…  Last night, I had been taking a continuing ed. test online for hours.  Juliana slipped a handwritten note to me on my desk:

Dear Mommy,

God has blessed me with the best Mom a little girl could ever have.  You know you rock?  And I enjoy every moment we have together.  You’re awesome and boy do you work hard just to keep us living!  I love you so much.  You can dance better than any mom.  You’re a gift straight from God to me!

Love,

Juliana

I love my girl!  She is a precious gift to me — straight from God!

Once again, I am losing another one of my very best friends.  Kate is moving to the Lonestar State.  Her husband has a new job in Texas and just announced they would leave in 3 weeks.  I’ve cried every day since then!

Kate and her family came for dinner last night.  She brought gifts.  Very thoughtful gifts.  As Kate is packing, she is choosing things that she must take with her to her new home, and things she can not.  One of her friends likes to bake, so Kate is giving her the pantry items.  Another friend likes to clean, so she gets Kate’s cleaning supplies.

For me, Kate saved a really special Christmas bowl and a terrific pitcher that she and her mother found in an antique shop.  Kate told me that each Christmas when I used the bowl, and each summer when I served homemade lemonade, she hoped I would think of her and the wonderful memories we have made.  I cried some more.

She attached the nicest poem that she found:

I Will Never Forget You (by Melissa Chaffin)

The laughter we shared in happy times and the tears in sad ones

will all be tucked away in my heart

behind a door marked “Memories of You.”

On quiet days of remembrance, I will remove these thought one by one,

and I will think of you with a happy sadness in my soul.

Though miles and months may come between us,

you will still be my friend and I will be yours —

always eager to hear from you and share your life again.

I love you!  Kate

Of course, I cried some more.  But I am sure that we will be Forever Friends.  No matter the distance.  No matter the time that passes between visits.  No matter… Forever Friends…

I thank God for Forever Friends.

Last week I let you in on Rob’s favorite pet ever ~ Bear ~ the wonderful chocolate lab.  Well this week I changed my mind.  He is not nearly as wonderful… He is not even on my good list anymore.  In fact, I am not happy with Bear at all.  He has become an annoying Flower-Eater!

I love flowers!  Although I am not big on yard work, I don’t mind watering easy-to-care-for potted flowers.  I select only the heartiest of plants to compensate for my lack of green thumb! 

Every spring, I plant a container garden in my courtyard in front of our house.  I love to eat outside, read or even have my quiet time in our courtyard 

surrounded by beautiful flowering plants.

This year was no exception.  Our flowers were looking especially pretty… until last week.  I entered our courtyard and found one of my containers tipped over — dead flowers and dirt everywhere!  The container itself was smashed to pieces.  I suspected the dogs.  Rob blamed the kids and made them clean up the mess.

The next day same thing.  Only two pots were destroyed and all the flowers missing.  Rob cleaned up this time, convinced that Juliana’s dog was the Flower-Eating Culprit!

That night, I found my beautiful Boston Fern was shredded…. I was mad and threatened to kennel the puppies until they were 2.  That didn’t go over well.

Friday, I got an urgent call while I was at my office.  My receptionist said Rob was holding and it was a bit of an emergency.  I took the call, “Is everything OK?”

Rob announced that he caught our Courtyard Menace.  “After I found 3 more of your prettiest flower containers ruined, I kept watch and eventually caught Bear in the act!”

“Well good!  What did you do with him?”  I was secretly hoping Bear had been exiled — far, far away. 

“I scolded him and you should have seen his face, Michelle.  Bear hung his head.  He was so sad hearing my angry voice.  Bear just doesn’t understand that he did anything wrong!”

I couldn’t believe my ears!  Our kids never get away with weak excuses and they’ve produced some pretty forlorn, pitiful faces.  But Rob was caving in to a dog?!

I’m sure if my family took a vote, they’d all choose the dog over my flowers…. Do you think they’d send me to sleep in the dog house?  What is a girl to do? 

I just checked online and ordered several gallons of Dog Repellant.  If that doesn’t work… well, let’s hope for the best and not go there! 

I’ve never been much of a Star Trek fan.  But Rob really wanted to see the movie.  So after dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, we ended up at Regal Cinemas screen #10 with a house full of Trekies! 

You would have thought we were Trekie Core.  We loved it!  We stopped by Starbucks on the way home for a mocha to cap off the evening and talk about the movie, comparing the characters from the TV series with those in the flick.  We were really in to it!

I would not have chosen Star Trek on my own, but it was so much fun sharing the movie with Rob.  We had a blast ~ we always do when we are together.  

It’s a good idea to let your spouse get their way, at least every once in a while.  You just might end up with an unexpected, extraordinary, terrific date night!

We finished our Friday Night Family Croquet Tournament in the rain.  I came in dead last.  As usual, my family ganged up on me and knocked my ball clear to South Carolina right after I cleared the first wicket.  I spent most of the night working my way back to our frontyard.  I’ve been known to come back with vengeance but not this Friday.  It was all I could do to get my ball back on the grass.  Oh, and everyone demonstrated good sportsmanship ~ including me!  

The rain messed up our original Friday night plans.  But Nathan came through with a terrific idea.  His teacher had given him the movie, Radio, as an honor gift for earning the pretigious title of “Student of the Week.”  We grilled hamburgers and settled in for the movie.  (We run all our movies through Clear Play.)

Radio is based on the true life story of Robert “Radio” Kennedy, a man no one understood.  Head Coach Harold Jones was a man no one could live without.  Together, the two men inspired a football team to become champions and a town to open their hearts proving that the world’s greatest victories happen in real life.  

It was more than just a feel good movie.  We laughed, cheered and even cried (yes, all 4 of us cried).  And we saw the importance of courage played out when it is necessary to stand up for what you believe.  No matter what! 

It was a simple plan, but we all voted last Friday one of our top family nights!

I just spent the morning with a friend whose Mother died 3 weeks ago.  Her dad died a couple years back.  Maria and her mother were very close.  They talked every day by phone and Maria went to visit her mother in Gastonia a couple times each month.  This past Sunday, Mother’s Day, was especially hard for her.  Maria told me she feels like an orphan even though she is happily married and has a son getting ready for college.

With tears in her eyes, Maria admitted crying herself to sleep each night.  She doesn’t feel like being “up” right now but she knows that someday she will again.  Maria also confessed that sitting by her mother’s side and watching her die has made her strong.  But it hasn’t eased her pain or the reality of her loss.  Maria’s comfort comes in her wonderful family memories and knowing that her parents are in heaven with Jesus.

As I was leaving, she said, “Michelle, tell your mother you love her and tell her how grateful you are for her.  Tell her all the time.”

I think I’ll give mom a call now…

Did you ever have a great idea about a terrific family time activity?  Family fun with lots of laughter and harmony?  Well, that was what I had in mind for our afternoon croquet game.  We love croquet and we usually have a blast playing together.  But not yesterday. 

I’m still not sure how it happened, but the game fell apart quickly.  My kids accused each other of cheating.  Then they turned on Rob when he took the lead.  One negative comment led to another.  There was much more discouragement than encouragement.  Lots of drama.  Even had a few tears!  No one had a good attitude.  It was downright ugly.  I stood back watching, thinking how grateful I was that we didn’t have neighbors nearby.  I was ashamed of our behavior.

We sent the kids inside and I left Rob to pick up by himself.  I wanted to turn the night around but I didn’t know how.  The only Bible verse that came to mind was Proverbs 15:1 (NKJV):

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

I got many nice gifts for Mother’s Day.  Among my favorites was a gift from Juliana. 

Juliana disappeared in her room for 2 hours.  During that time, I heard lots of bumps and thumps as she played her Miley Cyrus cd.  When she emerged, she presented a trio of dances which she had carefully choreographed with me in mind.

It was beautiful!  Watching Juliana smile as she danced for me completely melted my heart.  Juliana’s deep expression of love came from the very core of who she truly is. 

I love that girl, and being her mom is one of my life’s greatest pleasures. 

May God grant you time today to enjoy one of your great pleasures.

Blessings,

Michelle