Today He Came Home…

Today He Came Home…

My husband was in a car accident today and had to be transported to the hospital by ambulance. When I got the phone call, I flashed back to the time I was told my best friend, Carri, was in a car accident and she didn’t make it. Yes, it was Bryan on the phone and when I heard his voice I knew he was okay…it wasn’t the same thing. But why was my stomach hurting? My voice caught in my throat? Why couldn’t I seem to catch my breath? As he continued to reassure me that he was fine, just a little banged up, my mind was trying to catch up and my emotions were whirling around in my head. I felt fear, thankfulness, terror, and relief all at the same time. I had to keep telling myself, “Bryan is fine. He is coming home. Bryan is okay. This is not Carri. You are not going to his funeral. He is coming home.”

Immediately, I had to start praying, “God, thank you for protecting him. But right now I am struggling. I know in my head that he is alive but I can’t seem to get this hundred pound elephant off my chest. It is getting heavier with each memory of burying my best friend 20 years ago.”

Kimberley, do you trust me?

Yes, God but I kind of want to remind you that this is the love of my life, the father of my children, and I can’t imagine not being together.

Kimberley, your trust can not be conditional. Your joy does not change with your circumstances. Trust that I have a plan for Bryan’s life. Trust that I love him desperately because I created him. Trust in my promise that even in your darkest hours I will never leave or abandon you. “Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.” Romans 8:38. I am your rock and your refuge find comfort in me.

I took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, trying to release my extreme anxiety over anything happening to my husband. I Today, he came home and I am truly grateful because I personally know the outcome could have been tragically different. I will hug him tighter, hold on to him longer, and make sure he never has a doubt how much I love him!! Sideways 8 Bryan! 

“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.” 1 Peter 1:6-8

Baseball for Valentine's Day

I am really not a baseball fan. I like sports that are a little faster pace and have more of a success rate (a good batting average is way below 50% and I struggle with this because as a teacher that is an F). But if you know my husband, he is a HUGE baseball fan. He loves to play it, coach it, watch it, and talk about it. FYI...One of our first dates was a Diamondback game that went into a 16 inning overtime, which by the 7th inning stretch I was already trying to devise a way to jump off a cliff. 

So today is Valentine's Day and usually it is about woman. But I wanted to figure out a way to turn the table and make this day special for my husband. He definitely is not going to want flowers, candy, a card, or anything else that looks like a lace doily. A romantic dinner is hard with three kids, a tight schedule, and every place being crazy crowded. What can I do to show him how much I love him? How do I let him know that he LOVES me well and that I appreciate all the things he does for me and the kids, like bringing me ice tea every morning or unclogging the toilets because it grosses me out or playing catch with our son for the 100th million time even when he is exhausted. A card can't tell him that I am the woman I am today partly because of his patience, love, friendship, and consistency over the last 18 years with me. That his steadfast commitment to following Jesus and trusting Him with everything has helped me not worry about tomorrow or stress about yesterday. 

For this Valentine's Day I bought my husband tickets to go see a baseball game. I will get dressed up in my U Of A shirt, get cash for the food concessions, and invite his friends to come along. I will sit there cheering on the home team and will (try really, really hard) not to complain about how boring this is or how I will poke my eyeballs out with a fork if it goes into overtime. I will do this because he is my best friend, the love of my life, and it can be about him for today!

"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Dating at 13?

Conversation with 13 year old daughter about dating:

"Mom, I am the only one at my lunch table without a boyfriend!"

Breathe...Breathe..don't blow this conversation off or be flippant , Kimberley. These are the teachable moments with your daughter. "Lord, help me be wise. Give me the words to say to her."

"I can see how frustrating that can be. Do you want to know why dad and I have made this decision?"

"Because you think it’s dumb? Because you see no point. And you are just stricter?"

Lakin, we don't want you to date at 13 not because you are the daughter of a pastor. Not because we want you to feel left out and not because we think its "dumb". This decision was not made just to have a rule for you to follow or to stick it to you. We do not think it is wise for you to focus on boys in that context right now. We know you are going to have crushes and talk about boys a lot with your friends for the next few years. And that's okay. But we want your self-worth to come from the ONE who created you not from an immature teenage boy. We want you to have time to figure out what being a teenager looks like without worry about kissing and holding hands added to the mix. Those things will come and they are fun, but we want you to have a little more foundation of who you are before you have a boyfriend speak into your life."

When your heart gets broken, and it will, we want you to know without a shadow of a doubt that YOU are the daughter of a mighty, mighty King. Your self-worth is not found in a guy, it is not found in a relationship, it is not found among your friends at the lunch table. You are worthy because of the cross!

I ask that you trust me and give it a little more time. Take this season to guard your heart and figure out how you want to be treated. It's not about a perfect age for dating it’s about not rushing through life ahead of what you can handle. You are amazing and I love you!

"Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you." Philippians 4:8-9