Unplugged

The Mason family is officially unplugging for a week, starting Sunday! We have been blessed with a place to stay in Hilton Head and we're heading down there early Sunday morning for a week of rest and family time. This will be the first vacation that we've taken with just the three of us - we usually impose ourselves on one set of our parents. My goal is to completely unplug from the busy life in Durham (except for homework of course - that doesn't stop because I'm going out of town, unfortunately). I'm not sure what all we'll get into, but I know Christmas shopping at the outlets is on the agenda and there have been talks of getting me on a bicycle...we shall see.

Can't wait to fill you in when we get back! Take care until then!

Blow out

For 20 months now I've avoided it. We've had a couple of almost blow outs, but nothing I would classify as truly disgusting.

Until tonight.

We're in the Kroger check out line when Kendall says "I poop". No biggie - she says "I poop" all the time - when she pees, when she breaks wind, when she's trying to make me laugh. Then I smell her. Still no biggie - obviously she actually did poop this time, so we'll take care of it when we get home. We live 2 minutes from Kroger, so I finished checking out - buckled her in the car and went home. Got her out of the car and saw that she wasn't joking. The kid definitely pooped. Took her upstairs and proceeded to take her pants off and saw that said poop was not only in her diaper, it was in her pants, in her shirt, up her back, on her leg. She started screamed "ewwww" and crying, I'm gagging and telling her it's alright.

And then I did what any other mother would do. I took her clothes off and threw them in the trash - didn't even consider sending that vile smelling stuff through my washer.

I guess I should consider myself lucky that she's 20 months old and we've just had our first truly disgusting blow out. Ahh - the joys of motherhood. I wonder what James would have done??

Labor Day at the beach

This weekend, the Mason family set off for the beach to celebrate Labor Day. I must admit that as a child (a very young child) I thought that Labor Day was to commemorate the day that George Washington went into labor. And who said there was something wrong with the public school system??

I headed down Friday with my parents and KK and we met Megan down there. I haven't seen the Megster since school started back, so I was VERY excited to hug her neck and Kendall was thrilled to see her "Mimi". James joined us on Saturday and we truly had a great time just hanging out as a family.

I've been semi-boycotting the beach ever since there has been talk about my parents moving down there to plant a church. I know, I know - how selfish of me. Ronnie has been preaching down there for a few summers and I guess it should have dawned on me that the natural progression would be that they start a "full-time" church, but I was so comfortable in my routine of my precious parents being 20 minutes away that when they started talking about making the beach their permanent home, I sort of freaked. For those that don't know me too well, let me explain that I have a FABULOUS relationship with my parents. Like we're the type that will sort of make you sick because we get along so well. I'd rather be with them than pretty much anyone else on the planet. So, a few months ago when they came to me and told me that the Lord was doing a work in their hearts and leading them to be more permanent at the beach, I did what every other mature, Christian woman would do. I got into an argument with Ronnie, stopped reading my Bible for a while and decided that I'd never go to the beach again as long as I lived. Fabulous reaction, right? WRONG!

Listen - I know I was wrong, but I felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest when my mom called me, full of excitement, to tell me that the Lord had clearly spoken to her and that she just knew they were being called to build a year-round church down there. But then the Lord started opening my eyes to the ministry that they have been called to.

I've been going to the Atlantic Beach/Emerald Isle area almost every weekend in the summer since I was a sweet little infant laying in my mommy's arms. I know the island like the back of my hand. We've been in this particular spot in Indian Beach (about halfway between EI and AB) since I was 12. These people have witnessed the unmistakable power of Jesus Christ working in the life of my family. They've sought out my dad and asked him to be their pastor during the summer months. They've come to the deck of our modest trailer and sought counsel. Some of them have shunned my parents, some of them have loved my parents, but all of them have seen the Lord at work - whether they wanted to admit that it was the Lord or not. The group of people that have come to hear the Lord speak through Ronnie has continuously grown. There are some there that have a relationship with Jesus and some that dabble in the whole "religious" thing. And then there are those that are very much against the thought that God wants something from them...that God wants them to come to Him. Since my parents have started pouring their lives into these people, change has taken place. Whether that be in the rich man that realized his need for a Savior or the proud man that only recently allowed my dad the opportunity to even share the gospel, there has been change. We've seen (yes, I say "we" even though I'm certainly not worthy of being a part of something like this) the numbers of those coming out on Sunday morning increase, we've started a Kid's Church to start building into the lives of the little ones around the area, we've given back to the community with food and service - we've been the church. And I have peace. Peace came a few weeks ago, actually. But it was confirmed this Sunday when I heard my daddy preach. I've heard him bring messages for a while now, but this Sunday was different because the Lord spoke to MY heart. See - this Sunday I wasn't looking at Ronnie as my dad - I was looking to him as my pastor and I saw, maybe for the first time, how Jesus wants to use him. I was supposed to help mom in Kid's Church and I just woke up knowing that I needed to go to church. I've never gone to the waterfront service at the beach before EXPECTING to hear a word from Jesus. But, boy, I was broken by the word the Lord spoke through my dad Sunday. And not only did that word lead me to contemplate matters about my own relationship with my Savior, but it also slapped me in the face with the fact that this is what my family is supposed to be doing. We're supposed to be ministering to the people down on the coast. We're supposed to be reminding them that not too many years ago we, as a family, were a TRAIN WRECK. We're supposed to be showing them that the amazing grace of Jesus Christ is sufficient. We're supposed to love them enough to sacrifice the comfort of my mom keeping Kendall for me or my dad being a short drive away when I need some advice. We're supposed to love Jesus enough to follow Him wherever it is that He leads.

And that's what my mom, the woman I'd love to become, and my (step)dad, the man that didn't have to father me but has done a HECK of a job doing it, have chosen to do. Theirs is a labor of love on this Labor Day. They may not see the fruits of that labor in this lifetime. But they are allowing the God of the universe to use them for HIS kingdom, uncertainty and all. And my heart is nearly about to explode for love for the Father for choosing them and love for them for responding.

God is good. All the time.

And I am a blessed woman.

Chatty McChatterbox

I remember reading about "word explosions" when Kendall was first born. I wondered to myself if I would know when she was having one of those...um, I can definitely say that yes - she's having one now. It seems like everyday she surprises me with a new word...one that we haven't even been trying to teach her. Like today's word - socks. I had no clue that she knew that word. She just randomly saw a sock and said "socks". I love it! Parenting has gotten more fun and a little easier since she has been able to ask for juice or an apple. She's such a joy...truly, she is.

Surgery went well...

Thank you so much for your prayers. James' dad came through his procedure just fine and is resting at home this week. The recovery period is a few weeks and he'll be back to normal. The way God shows up in medical stuff just flat out amazes me.

While I was away at the conference (which was beyond fabulous, by the way), James took Kendall shopping and bought her some new shoes. Let me tell you, that girl is proud of her shoes. Whenever she wears them - she is constantly looking down at them and saying "SHOES!!" in her excited voice. It's precious. Poor child is obviously gonna take after her mommy in that regard. Just picked me up a new pair at Target about an hour ago, as a matter of fact...

Life moves pretty fast...

I can hardly believe that it's the end of July. Summer is flying by, as time tends to do. Things are going really well for the Mason family. We're gearing up for our October vacation and I, for one, CAN'T WAIT!! This will be our first family vacation with just the 3 of us. We are usually crashing either my parent's vacation or his parent's vacation, so this year we're having our own! Because of an unexpected surgery that his dad has to have (more on that in a sec), his parents won't be able to use their timeshare in Hilton Head in October and they have graciously extended the offer for us to use it instead....like that took any thought whatsoever since Hilton Head is our favorite place on earth!

Unfortunately, James' dad is going to have to have a defibrillator implanted this coming Monday morning after suffering from an irregular heartbeat. He has a history of heart problems, including a triple bypass in 2000, so his cardiologist feels this is a good move for him to make. Of course, I'm nervous as all get out since I am somewhat of a spaz about...well, everything. But James' dad is very upbeat about the surgery and is glad that his doctors are being proactive.

I'm headed to a Beth Moore conference this weekend with my mom and lots of other ladies from Cross Culture. I'm very excited about going...these events are usually wonderful. Kendall will be staying overnight at James' parents for the first time. She has her own room over there, all decked out in purple paint and flowers and butterflies, so she'll be good to go.

Please pray for James' dad as he goes for his surgery...I really appreciate it!

Busy Saturday

Today was a craaaazy busy Saturday. We woke up early to get Kendall all dressed and ready for her first flower girl appearance. She was in my sister Lexie's wedding (dad and stepmom's oldest daughter). She looked absolutely precious and we were 30 seconds from walking out the door when she climbed up in a chair while I was pouring her some juice for the ride and dumped an entire cup of Mommy's Diet Pepsi down the front of her baby pink dress. I completely FREAKED out. I'm talking semi panic attack. Luckily, the wedding wasn't until 11, so we had time to wash and (mostly) dry the dress before Kendall's debut. Whew. Crises averted.

She did a really, really good job. She walked down the aisle like a champ. Unfortunately she decided that she liked prancing in front of everyone so much that she kept running across the church and I had to chase after her. Good thing I had on my running heels...

After the wedding, which was truly lovely, we came home and had a nap and then headed to a birthday party for a sweet LifeGroup kiddo. Let me just say that I'm going to have to step my birthday party game up if I'm going to "compete" with these LifeGroup mommies. They are like the queens of parties, for real. So far, we've had a pool party, a movie night under the stars (complete with popcorn), a lake cookout and today a treasure hunt. Good grannies!