History has shown that I LOVE to commit to things and at the last minute... DITCH. I am overly excited by ideas and love planning but in the end, be it inconvenience... insecurity whatever, I DITCH. I'm pretty sure I did a blog entry on this very topic.
As of Thursday night- just 36 hours before I was set to leave Pittsburgh for this baby shower... I still had NOONE to cover my Saturday shift at Starbucks from 2-10:30. I had done all I could but there wasn't much room for wiggling.
And the feeling began- I should just stay here. I should just work, I won't have to make the trip, I can send my presents via Fed Ex... they'll get there at the same time as the shower... I won't have to drive for hours, I won't have to worry about seeing people that I haven't seen and feeling like I have to explain why I've gained weight... etc. All the same stuff.
BUT- I knew better. I knew part of it was habit and part of it was the enemy trying to knock me down. Trying to deprive not only my friend of having me a part of her baby shower but depriving me of experiences over the weekend that would draw me closer to friends and ultimately to God.
My boss ended Thursday night with, "See you tomorrow night... oh and plan on traveling on Saturday, we'll get by without you." WOW!!! (Being a man down for an 8 hour shift at Starbucks is inconvenient to say the least...)
And so on Saturday, after only 2 hours of sleep... I got up. I packed up the car. And I went to Monroeville to pick up a friend that drove in from Michigan to travel to this shower with me. And the two of us trekked out to Reading.
Here's the thing... if ALL I got out of this weekend was the time I spent with Tina in the car... it would have all been WELL WORTH IT!!! As SAHM's (generally... of course) we RARELY get time alone much less with another SAHM who has time alone. (Husbands can rarely coordinate their schedules to accommodate TWO moms uniting) But Tina and I had 12 hours in a car together to catch up, relax, share, discuss family, friends and also... God. It was fun, sweet, enlightening, encouraging, relaxing, informative, and well... NECESSARY. I don't know if she was nearly as blessed as I was but I am so grateful for the opportunity to Road Trip with her for a SECOND time!!! (The first time we road tripped was in 94 to see the men we both ended up marrying... who knew?)
NOW!!!! for the baby shower. Let me fill you in on a secret- I took Tina to this shower and NOONE knew she was coming. Tina roomed with Tara at college and many of their other friends were attending this shower so I knew it would be great to have Tina there. What's better... I knew it would be great to bring her without anyone knowing. So when we entered, and everyone saw Tina... hearts were happier. :)
Tara looked amazing. All a glow. Really. Beaming because her baby will be here within weeks. Tara's sister Pam, who hosted this shin-dig, was AMAZING. (Sidenote- Pam- we have got to keep in touch... what an honor it was to have some time with just you and your mom. I'm sad I didn't know you better before this weekend.) Dana was BEAUTIFUL which always amazes me as she is nearly 34 weeks into carrying this baby. And not just any baby... BABY CHARLIE. She looks so good and more importantly, she is doing well. She is happy and healthy and full of God. Another friend, Jennifer, who was the first and only person I ever knew to go to Messiah before me and ultimately was the cause for my choosing Messiah, had baby Ryan 7 weeks ago and came to the shower. I haven't seen her in years (no different than all the other girls at the shower that I haven't seen in years) And of course, she was beautiful and amazing. And baby Ryan... Sooooo Cute.
I was so captivated by everyone at this shower, at the happiness and joy in the room, that I didn't take enough pictures. I have a few that I can include but they can't do justice to what actually took place at this shower.
And that's just the shower... that's not even the post shower party at Tara's house. A few people went back to Tara's house to play pool and have Pizza... it was a flashback to college. No kids, no responsibilities, no curfews. Just playing, sitting, talking... fun times.
I am so grateful to have been a part of this. Look at all that I would have missed were I to have been too tired, too inconvenienced, or too insecure to attend. And I know that the more you choose well, the easier those choices become.
Thank you Tara for including me in your baby shower. I hope you like Baby Charlie's book- I will be sure to complete it once he arrives. Thank you Dana for our time together... catching up on old times, softball, kids, Ling, Messiah... I have completely missed you. Thank you Jennifer for sharing your son with me despite the fact that I didn't wash my hands before picking him up. Thank you Tina for trekking out there with me. It really made me appreciate the phrase, "It's not about the destination... it's about the journey." I loved our road trip. And Thank you Pam for hosting such an amazing event for your sister and well, really, for all of us. AND, thank you for the down time between the baby shower and pizza at Tara's to just sit still and catch up. For an "unsaved" person (who stores her Bible in the laundry room and doesn't know the difference between NIV/the Message in said Bible) you're pretty cool. And I hope we can stay in touch.
As of Thursday night- just 36 hours before I was set to leave Pittsburgh for this baby shower... I still had NOONE to cover my Saturday shift at Starbucks from 2-10:30. I had done all I could but there wasn't much room for wiggling.
And the feeling began- I should just stay here. I should just work, I won't have to make the trip, I can send my presents via Fed Ex... they'll get there at the same time as the shower... I won't have to drive for hours, I won't have to worry about seeing people that I haven't seen and feeling like I have to explain why I've gained weight... etc. All the same stuff.
BUT- I knew better. I knew part of it was habit and part of it was the enemy trying to knock me down. Trying to deprive not only my friend of having me a part of her baby shower but depriving me of experiences over the weekend that would draw me closer to friends and ultimately to God.
My boss ended Thursday night with, "See you tomorrow night... oh and plan on traveling on Saturday, we'll get by without you." WOW!!! (Being a man down for an 8 hour shift at Starbucks is inconvenient to say the least...)
And so on Saturday, after only 2 hours of sleep... I got up. I packed up the car. And I went to Monroeville to pick up a friend that drove in from Michigan to travel to this shower with me. And the two of us trekked out to Reading.
Here's the thing... if ALL I got out of this weekend was the time I spent with Tina in the car... it would have all been WELL WORTH IT!!! As SAHM's (generally... of course) we RARELY get time alone much less with another SAHM who has time alone. (Husbands can rarely coordinate their schedules to accommodate TWO moms uniting) But Tina and I had 12 hours in a car together to catch up, relax, share, discuss family, friends and also... God. It was fun, sweet, enlightening, encouraging, relaxing, informative, and well... NECESSARY. I don't know if she was nearly as blessed as I was but I am so grateful for the opportunity to Road Trip with her for a SECOND time!!! (The first time we road tripped was in 94 to see the men we both ended up marrying... who knew?)
NOW!!!! for the baby shower. Let me fill you in on a secret- I took Tina to this shower and NOONE knew she was coming. Tina roomed with Tara at college and many of their other friends were attending this shower so I knew it would be great to have Tina there. What's better... I knew it would be great to bring her without anyone knowing. So when we entered, and everyone saw Tina... hearts were happier. :)
Tara looked amazing. All a glow. Really. Beaming because her baby will be here within weeks. Tara's sister Pam, who hosted this shin-dig, was AMAZING. (Sidenote- Pam- we have got to keep in touch... what an honor it was to have some time with just you and your mom. I'm sad I didn't know you better before this weekend.) Dana was BEAUTIFUL which always amazes me as she is nearly 34 weeks into carrying this baby. And not just any baby... BABY CHARLIE. She looks so good and more importantly, she is doing well. She is happy and healthy and full of God. Another friend, Jennifer, who was the first and only person I ever knew to go to Messiah before me and ultimately was the cause for my choosing Messiah, had baby Ryan 7 weeks ago and came to the shower. I haven't seen her in years (no different than all the other girls at the shower that I haven't seen in years) And of course, she was beautiful and amazing. And baby Ryan... Sooooo Cute.
I was so captivated by everyone at this shower, at the happiness and joy in the room, that I didn't take enough pictures. I have a few that I can include but they can't do justice to what actually took place at this shower.
And that's just the shower... that's not even the post shower party at Tara's house. A few people went back to Tara's house to play pool and have Pizza... it was a flashback to college. No kids, no responsibilities, no curfews. Just playing, sitting, talking... fun times.
I am so grateful to have been a part of this. Look at all that I would have missed were I to have been too tired, too inconvenienced, or too insecure to attend. And I know that the more you choose well, the easier those choices become.
Thank you Tara for including me in your baby shower. I hope you like Baby Charlie's book- I will be sure to complete it once he arrives. Thank you Dana for our time together... catching up on old times, softball, kids, Ling, Messiah... I have completely missed you. Thank you Jennifer for sharing your son with me despite the fact that I didn't wash my hands before picking him up. Thank you Tina for trekking out there with me. It really made me appreciate the phrase, "It's not about the destination... it's about the journey." I loved our road trip. And Thank you Pam for hosting such an amazing event for your sister and well, really, for all of us. AND, thank you for the down time between the baby shower and pizza at Tara's to just sit still and catch up. For an "unsaved" person (who stores her Bible in the laundry room and doesn't know the difference between NIV/the Message in said Bible) you're pretty cool. And I hope we can stay in touch.
1 comment:
I am SO glad you came, Chelle'. It was wonderful to see you and I think you are amazing--and you know you don't have to explain a darn thing to any of us. Thank you for the great Teeny-Tina surprise, too. :) I'm working on my blog post about the shower..am having some picture trouble, though, so it's taking a while! I Love you!!!
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