Category — Friends

Jared has officially entered his last year of school here, and that means change will be coming soon to the Lee household.  I can’t believe we only have 9 more months until graduation.  As of now, we have no clue where we will end up.  But, I am already making a mental list of the things I want to part with for good.  Our dining room table and chairs, along with our couch and love seat are definitely not going with us.  These are things I have wanted to part with for quite some time and we both agree this move is when we will say our glad goodbyes.

As I’ve compiled this list in my head, I’ve also been reminded of the things I will keep.

All three of these paintings were done by my Aunt Lynda (my Mom’s sister).  I am so honored to have them hanging on my walls!

My little sis, Emily sketched this!  I have some talented people in my family, for sure.

Gage (my 8 year old) painted this when he was 4.  I love it!

Another one by Gage.  He painted this on a long piece of cardboard, and it’s one of my favorites.

Also by Gage

I love Gage’s artwork.

These candlesticks were given to us for our wedding by my friend, Abbey.  Abbey has been dear to my heart for many years and she knows just what I like.  I LOVE these candlesticks!

We bought this print of Rainbow Row in Charleston, on our honeymoon.  It hangs above our bed and it is a neat reminder of the first few days of our marriage.

I love moving because it gives me a good reason to get rid of stuff.  The less we have to move, the easier it will be.  The hard part for me about moving is having to make new friends.  I’m already sad about having to leave our friends here.  I have friends here that I feel the freedom to share everything on my mind.  I can just be, without feeling like I have to meet any expectations.  Feeling freedom in my friendships here has been a great thing for me.  I hope to carry what I’ve learned here about friendships to wherever we go, and give others the freedom to just be.

Girl’s Night at the Winery to celebrate Em’s b-day (Me, Becky, Nicki, and April)

So, if I can take the art on my walls and the freedom to “just be”, I’ll be a happy woman.  Oh, and I think I’ll take my husband and kids, too!  Too bad I can’t take my friends.

My Crazy Friends, Christine and Emily.  These girls crack me up.

Lately, I’ve felt frustrated because I live in a bubble here on seminary campus.  All of us are pretty much on the same page, and I guess that gets old for me after a while.  I like to live among a variety of people with varying belief systems, and that just hasn’t been the case for me these past couple of years.

Don’t get me wrong, I cherish fellowship with close friends who hold to the same beliefs and are living crazy lives right along with us.  But, I also find a depth and a richness to life when I am surrounded by a variety of people.

Back in ‘99, after being at YWAM for 6 months, I began itching to get back into the real world.  I suppose after 2 years of living on a seminary campus, it would be normal for me to start feeling the itch again.

Sometimes I feel like I live in a bubble when it comes to the blogosphere, too.  Most of my readers are fellow seminary friends, and most of the blogs I read belong to people in the same phase of life as myself.

This past week, I was really encouraged by discovering someone I have never met, who is in a totally different phase of life than my own, came across my blog post entitled “August 27th” and found a little slice of hope.  I was so excited to see that my blog could be relevant to someone outside of this little bubble I live in. Go check out Liz’s blog.  I’ll be following her little piece of the blogosphere, and you should, too!

That’s what came out of my mouth last night as I tried to pick friends up from the airport.  (and, by the way, I was by myself, kids not present!) I am telling you, I am horrified at the filth that rolled off of my tongue.  You see, I am very familiar with STL airport because we frequently pick up our friend Mandy.  There is a 5 minute pick up area, with parallel slots alloted for those doing a quick pick-up.  I waited my turn, passing by a few cars who were already sitting in their spots.  I pulled into a parking space and began scouring the crowd, looking for Matt and Emily.  Within seconds, I heard banging on my driver’s side window, inches from my head.  As I turned around, there was a witch employee waving her hand, telling me I had to move on.  I rolled my window down and said, “Excuse me?”  She continued to motion with her hand, very dramatically, telling me to move on.  I looked behind me and saw that ALL of the cars I had just passed sitting, waiting their 5 minutes, were STILL sitting there.  What the heck?!  So, I responded, “Why don’t I get my 5 minutes?  These other cars are getting their turn. “  She continued to say, very rudely, I might add, “Ma’am go around.  You have to keep moving.”  My voice raised an octave and I said, again, “I don’t understand!  Why don’t I get the same 5 minutes these people behind me are getting?”  At that point, she lifted her walkie-talkie up to her mouth and said, “I need PD down here to 5 minute pick-up.”  What?!  She’s calling the police on me?!  By that point, I was boiling point mad.  I continued to sit there, looking over my shoulder through the rear windows of my van to see if I could spot Matt and Emily.  Still, no sign of them.  The witch then informed me (as if I didn’t hear her call them) that the Police were on their way.  I’m telling you, the hatred welling up inside of me toward this woman was so intense I could have spit in her face.  I managed to tame my words and spit out, very hatefully, “You people are jerks!”, as I rolled my window up and proceeded on to circle around.

I picked up the cell phone and called Jared, asking him to check on the flight status.  By this time, 30 minutes had passed since they had landed and I figured they were waiting for me somewhere other than 5 minute pick-up.  Now, I say that I asked Jared to check their flight status, but that was only after I informed him of the witch I had just dealt with.  And, my informing was more like yelling and cussing every other word.  I think I can safely say that Jared has never heard such filth come out of my mouth.  Yes, he’s heard filth come out of this mouth, but it is highly unlikely he has ever heard that much filth at once from me.  I think I should have been a hard-core marine or something.

Am I proud of the way I acted?  No way.  I’m actually pretty horrified.  It scares me that I can actually feel hatred like I felt last night toward anyone.  But, it’s also a really great reminder for me.  I am reminded of the fact that I really do need a Savior and that I’d be a wreck without Him.  I am so thankful that I don’t have to curl up in a ball and beat myself up over this.  It’s not about trying to fix it and make myself do better.  Do I repent?  Of course.  But, I can know that this has already been taken care of.  It happened on the cross and it’s not about what I do, it’s about what is already done for me.

Through the absolute filth that came out of my mouth (and heart, I might add) last night, I am reminded that I have a Savior who paid my penalty.  I am looking forward to the day when I can meet Him face to face and somehow express my gratitude.

1.  A good cup of coffee

2.  Cardio-Pilates at the Y

3.  A clean house

4.  Thai dinner with Mandy

5.  Listening to Ben Harper in the car (thanks, Beth for telling me about him!)

6.  Full moon and clear skies

7.  Blue Bunny Lite personals ice-cream

8.  A glass of red wine

9.  Enjoying that glass of red wine with my husband under a bright and beautiful full moon.

Yesterday was a good day.

On today’s agenda:

A very excited 8 year old boy is going to a waterpark with his Dad.  You wanna know what makes me proud?  Jared was asked to take part in a conference call with some big-time internet people he has met through networking.  He was asked to do it today and he told them he couldn’t because he was taking his son to a waterpark.  He’s a good man and we love him!

Matt and Emily surprised us this weekend by having their baby while we were gone.  I was so disappointed to miss the birth of Andrew James and we both could not wait to get home to meet the little guy.  It was killing me being so far away during this huge event.    We are so excited and can’t wait for them to be able to be at home with their little boy. It won’t be long!

 This kid has got the best hair!  He is so precious.  Absolutely perfect.  And, the feeding tube is coming out soon!  Good job, Andrew!

 We are so proud of you, Matt and Emily!  You have both persevered through a tough few days and it is so apparent that the Lord is strengthening and guiding you both, as well as Andrew.  We love all three of you very much!

No, not our house. We don’t own one. Our friends, Radez and Elizabeth are selling their house in Greenville, NC. So, if you’re looking for a home in Greenville, you should check this one out! Go here and see for yourself!

We stopped off in Greenville (this is where we both went to college and spent the first 2 years of our marriage) for a very brief visit.  We stayed at Elizabeth and Radez’ house and got to meet their new baby boy, Logan.  It was so great to catch up with them.  They’re the kind of friends you just pick back up with where you left off.  The next day was Sunday, so we went to church with them and were able to see all of our old friends.  Some of them even went out to eat lunch with us after church.  We were the only ones out of our friends who had kids when we moved, and now everyone has at least one child!  It was so neat to see them all as parents now.  I wish I had a picture of everyone, but I wasn’t good about breaking my camera out.  I was too busy talking!

                      With the Radez’

Awww….aren’t they cute?!

Next, we stopped off in Rocky Mount to visit Jared’s best friend, Alex and his family.  When we moved to IL in 2004, Alex was single.  Now, he is married with two kids!  And, we are so happy for him!  He and Kelly could not be more perfect for one another.

Alex has made it a tradition to treat us to Chuckee Cheese when we are in town. Because we went the last time we visited, Gage just assumed that this was a normal event for them.  He said, “Mom, Alex must be rich!”

Here are some highlights of our trip to NC over Christmas break.

Our first stop, Beaufort, to see Jared’s Dad and sister……

Having fun with Aunt Tammy

We left snow and 20ish degree temps back in St. Louis. The next day, we enjoyed lunch OUTSIDE, by the waterfront in Beaufort!

We even got to visit with my friend, Abbey, and her daughter, Haleigha, who live close to Jared’s Dad. (Gage took the picture…..not bad!) Abbey and I have been great friends since 4th grade, and I am so thankful for her friendship. We always pick up right where we left off.

I think I’ll end this post here and post the rest of our trip over the next few days.  It’s too much for one posting!

I know I’ve kept all of you blog stalkers just waiting in suspense for my next entry.  I do apologize to my large fan base!  We spent 3 weeks in NC and are very glad to be home.  The trip was good, but probably a little too long.  And, I think I can say that I have never experienced a trip back home which brought me through such a wide range of emotions.  It’s all way too much to write about here, but I am physically and emotionally exhausted.  We were able to spend some good time with family and even catch up with some friends we had not seen in a long while.  It was so good to pick up with friends right where we left off 3 years ago.  At the tail end of our trip, I ended up spending time with a close friend who is going through one of the absolute hardest times of her life.  Jared dropped me off to stay with her and I am so thankful I had that time with her.  We kept commenting on how crazy it was that it just so happened I was coming through NC at this time in her life.  It was such a gift for me to truly help her bear such a heavy burden.  I know that I have never suffered with a friend like I did this past week.  We clung to Christ and cried out to Him together in desperation.  And, we both knew He was there in a big way.  My faith was strengthened by watching her cling to her Savior.  After all of that, Jared and I (well, really just Jared) drove through the night and we arrived home on Wednesday morning.  This weekend, we took a class here at seminary entitled “Gospel-Centered Marriage”.  It’s given us a lot to process.  Most of it is stuff that I’ve tried processing before, but somewhere along the line life got in the way and I forgot.  So, tonight, we’re going to rest and spend some needed time together.  We are really looking forward to getting back into the swing of things, and especially looking forward to seeing our church family tomorrow.  We’ve missed being home.

Our church had a Fall Festival last night and the boys loved it.  I’ll have to write more in another post about how hard this past week has been and how it all fell apart even more today as Shea experienced his first bout with diarrhea.  I’m just too tired for all of that right now.  So, look at the pictures and imagine that life is beautiful for the Lee family!  It sure looks that way, as you can see…………..

Gage is so sweet with his brother.

Not sure what Gage is.  I don’t think he knows, either.  He just wanted to be able to show off the staff he’s been working on for the past week!

 

Notice the wrapper.  Fine with me!

Yes, I know I have more pictures of Shea.  It’s simply because he’s easier to keep up with!