Happiness, Weeds, and a child named "Average"

I know, an odd title. Stay with me, though. . .
We're home from yet another trip. This time I DID get to see my sister. She and her hubby picked us up from the airport so we could spend some time with them. It made me very happy!!! It seems like they are doing well. I could easily make going to see them a habit. You don't really realize how much you miss someone until you see them again. We went out for "Steak and Shake" and enjoyed a few hours of each other's company. They both look great and seem to still enjoy being married. . .to each other. I just love watching the Lord work things out for us. I wasn't thinking I'd get to see my family on this trip, but He had other plans for us. He knows how to encourage us with just the right things. Family is one of those things for me. Happiness.

Weeds. Today, we're home for the day. The weather is gorgeous, so being inside wasn't very desirable. We kind of lounged around the house this morning and then decided to enjoy the day, outside. We donned our play clothes and began by pulling all the weeds in the yard. It was a good day for that, and now our yard looks so happy. It's amazing how they can so easily overtake your yard before you even realize it! Kind of like our souls. I know it's a pretty common analogy, but its still a good one. We can get so busy, and before we know it, the "weeds" of the world are overtaking our safe spot. . .where the Holy One dwells. The place that we are responsible for keeping in pristine condition is all of a sudden overgrown and kinda muddy. It might not look THAT bad, at first. But, a closer look quickly reveals that it's just plain ugly. Time spent in the Word and in conversation with our Father makes our insides look so happy! Much better. I'm glad we got the weeds in the yard taken care of, even if I DID get mud under my fingernails. We walked around the neighborhood, checked the mail (and got a wedding gift!) and walked back toward the house. We lingered outside as long as possible, enjoying a "picnic" lunch on the tailgate of the truck.

Probably the most amazing thing (and maybe one of the saddest things) that happened on our last trip was finding out that one of our passengers had named her son "Average." Literally. That's what she named him!!! I didn't know this until my husband made me aware of it. How sad. That's definitely setting your child up to be. . .well, average. Can you believe that? My husband thinks that's just setting your child up to be trouble. God has called us to be SO MUCH MORE than "average." He calls us to GREATNESS, to completeness in Him, to be His image-bearers. I know my name's not "Average" (thanks, Dad and Mom!) but I don't want to have that nickname, either. As far as our children are concerned, we have a LOT of unique names that we hope to name our children someday, and you can be certain that not one of them will be. . .Average.

Later tators!