Powerful Sunday

Well, after my post last night, the wheels haven't stopped turning! However, a challenge was put to the Beauties this week to pray specifically for our fellow Beauties during worship this morning. I was very excited about his all week and couldn't wait to see what happened. Here is the email that I sent out to my fellow Beauties about what I experienced this morning:

WOW, that is all I can say about what I experienced at church this morning! I am a regular on Sunday mornings, have been since I was born, but today was very moving for me. There were 2 things that spoke to my heart today while I stood and prayed during our worship songs. .
1. God's Grace is sufficient
Last night I blogged about girls and women feeling unsure and insecure. We had been to the Taylor Swift concert the night before and her songs, though I had heard them all before, really made my heart hurt. It started me thinking about all of the heartbreak and confusion that is in store for my daughters, and all of the battles the Beauties still struggle with everyday. But this morning it was brought up that no matter what you are going through, God's Grace is sufficient. I started really thinking about what that means. God gives us every ounce of love, appreciation, and assurance that we need. He fills the cup to the brim everyday before we get up. Everything that we get from everyone else, our husbands, kids, co-workers, etc, is a bonus. Yet, we are continually looking to those around us for all of these things, and we are heartbroken when they don't produce. We have to put our focus on a Higher power for these things. Once we do I think we will all be in a better place.
2. He's not finish yet
This was a refreshing reminder! I think that we get so got up in the day to day that we start to think we are on our own and we should be able to handle it by now. I have been married 11 years, and have been a mom for 8 years, so that makes me feel like I should be an old pro! In addition, now that I have been in the Challenge for 17 weeks, I feel that I should be smooth sailing, yet I am stuck! I have reached a plateau and can't get past it. With those things in mind, it seems like we forget that God didn't just create us and kick us down to earth and say "have at it, you are finished". He is still working! He is still working on me learning to be the best wife I can be, and being the best mother, and becoming a healthier person. I have to remind myself that He is with me every step guiding me down the path He has created just for me. I am not supposed to have all of the answers, or be self sufficient! I am a work in progress!

I feel so blessed to have spent the time I did today opening my heart and listening to what God had to share with me! I was very moved by my experience this morning, and will admit that tears flowed the entire time I sang and prayed. It is always so refreshing and rejuvenating when you can experience the Lord in that manner.
Thanks Tanna for encouraging this! I definitely think we need to do this again!

Obviously God is a blog stalker too! He knew exactly how to get my attention this morning. What a great way to start the week, being reminded that He is all I need.
You know, Morgan is learning Bible verses each week at her Mother's Day Out. Her verse this week,
I will praise Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14a
Morgan walked around the house all week and said this verse, but it was just today that i "heard" it. The Lord was trying to reach me all week, with the simplicity of a 5 year olds words. She got it, why didn't I? Today I was reminded to pay attention and listen for God to speak to me. Can't wait for His message this week:)

Fearless

Last night Corey and I took the girls to the much anticipated Taylor Swift concert:) We had a blast! Glorianna and Kelly Pickler were the opening acts and they were great! I think that Kelly is so beautiful! Taylor puts on an awesome show! So many set and wardrobe changes, I don't know how she keeps up! Both of the girls sang and screamed and cheered all night. We all got shirts, well not Corey of course! It was so great to have a family night out, since Corey has been pulling so REALLY long hours lately.
The tour is titled "Fearless" and as you probably know, Taylor writes songs about her own life. Her happy times, her breakups, her friends. She talks about the struggles that young girls have with fitting in, having friends, and dating boys. It makes me reflect on those times in my own life, and dread those times for my girls! Let's face it being a teenage girl is hard. But it is one of those things, kind of like labor, that once it is over you forget how bad it was.
I dread the thought of someone telling my daughter that they "love" them only to break their heart. I dread them agonizing over which boys can be trusted and which ones to steer clear of. I hate to think that anyone would ever have ill will towards one of them, like so many of those "mean girls" in school do to their peers. I worry about those times when they think they have everything figured out at such a young age, only to be disappointed when they don't. With each one of these thoughts my heart breaks a little more. I sat there and fought tears through so many songs. However, I am so glad that my girls have these songs to listen to and to talk about. Makinley especially, who understands what is happening in the lyrics and feels the emotional connection too.
But I didn't just think of my girls as I sat there. I also thought of the Beauties. So many of us are struggling with weight issues, marriage issues, family drama, or whatever, and are stuck in that same mindset we had at age 15. There are many who are constantly trying to be something that they aren't for the sake of others. Or maybe they are still trying to figure out who they really are inside. Or maybe those men who they thought they could trust, didn't keep their word. Many of us worry about being the perfect wife, and mother of the year...I don't know, but what I do believe is that many of us are still struggling daily with lots of emotional things. So I wonder, is this just the life of a woman? Are we destined to feel insecure or unsure about who we are and what we do no matter how much "experience" we have? At what point do we become "Fearless"? This is something that I am going to have to pray hard about! For my girls, and my Beauties. My hope is that at some point we feel fearless, accomplished, powerful, and that we can stop worrying about what the world sees or expects. I will admit, I am a long way from being fearless, but now that I am thinking about it so much, maybe I can move in that direction.

Not a baby anymore

I have thrown in the towel for Mother if the Year, given that Morgan's birthday was September 8th, and I am just now blogging about it! Let's just say that September has been a whirlwind!

I can't believe my baby is not a baby anymore! She only missed Kindergarten by 8 days! I look at the kindergartners at my school and think, Morgan could be having to walk to class, carry a lunch tray, navigate around a huge building, etc, but THANK GOODNESS for 1 more year!

Morgan has developed a LOVE for swimming this year, so it only made sense to have a swim party. We rented the Natatorium for the afternoon and the kids had a blast swimming. There was a rock wall, inflatables to climb on, and of course the diving boards, which got lots of action from kids both big and small!

Lindsey was kind enough to make Morgan's cake:) and it was awesome! (If any of you blog stalkers ever need cakes, call me and I will hook you up with Lindsey! She does a great job!)

Morgan wanted a mermaid cake and it was so cute!

We are so lucky to have so many wonderful friends and family members to help us celebrate! Morgan was spoiled by all of the wonderful gifts she received. She got many new clothes, DS games, and other girly stuff! She was very excited to finally get a charm bracelet as well. I guess it is a rite of passage for 5 year olds?! Makinley got one when she was 5 and Morgan couldn't wait to be 5 so she could start one. Just another sign that there are no babies in the Eddlemon house anymore!

Morgan can sure throw a great party! There were even some tears shed as we all had to wrap up in towels and head out the door. Thanks to all of you who came and help us celebrate!

My Life as a Hamster

I know that it has been way too long since I last blogged! But to be honest, the only thing that is forcing me to blog tonight is Morgan's party on Sunday! I know that I will have to blog then too, and if I don't catch up tonight, I will end up skipping the first days of school, and we can't have that now can we?!

Today we completed our 2nd week back to school! It has not been easy getting back into a routine. People always talk about how lucky teachers are to have the summers off, and I AGREE totally. However, it is quite a shock when you go from being completely carefree to a strict schedule overnight. However, we did really good the first day. I was up at 4:30 and workout for an hour, got myself ready and then started on the kids at 6:30. I had to be at school by 7:30 so Corey got to take the girls on the 1st day.

Morgan is going to Miss Camille's house. Camille goes to church with us and she has a son Morgan's age. She is teaching Kindergarten to Morgan, Dylan, and Walker(another friend from church) at her house 3 days a week. On Tuesday, she will begin taking them to Mother's Day Out. I have to say Morgan LOVES Miss Camille's! She has homework and is learning to read so she is very excited!

Makinley is returning to her same school. She was so excited to find out that she got the teacher that she wanted, however the night before, she worried that none of her friends would be in her class. I didn't think I would ever get her to bed! She cried and worried and cried some more. We talked about it and finally I came up with a solution. I have a little cross that I keep in my purse called "A Cross in My Pocket". Corey's Meemaw gave it to me a long time ago. So I explained that to Makinley and told her that the cross was to remind her that God was always with her, and that even when He put challenges in her path, He would always be there to comfort her and give her strength. That night she tucked the cross under her pillow and slept all night! Yay for quick thinking! She has slept with that cross every night and put it in her backpack each day. She has been so happy and calm about going to school! It makes everyone have a better day when there are no tears at drop off!

Since day one it has been a roller coaster ride in the Eddlemon house! I really do feel like a hamster in a wheel that never stops. I get up, get ready, get the girls up and ready, we eat breakfast, Walker arrives for a ride to Miss Camille's, I drop off Morgan and Walker, Drop off Makinley, Go to my school and run all day, pick up Morgan, Pick up Makinley, do homework, cook dinner, eat, give bathes, workout, take a bath and then finally fall into bed! (Notice my workouts have moved to the end of the day rather than the 4:30 in the morning! That lasted for 2 days, but I couldn't function after that. I had to start taking vitamins and eating protein bars just to survive!)

So to sum it all up, Again, we are ready for our long weekend! Morgan's birthday party is this weekend and she can't wait! She also gets to start TLC on her birthday, which is Tuesday! Makinley is joining student council and has her first meeting this week. We have Meet the Teacher on 2 nights and things going on at the church other nights. Needless to say, next week isn't looking any slower so we are going to enjoy as much down time as possible in the next 3 days! No matter how busy we are, we continue to give thanks for a great start to a new year and can only hope that it continues to be this great!

I took several pictures, but most of them came out blury! But at least we got one that is decent!