Thankful Thursday: Lessons from the RV... my parents

I literally can NOT tell you how many times this past weekend that I thought, "I am SO blessed to have the parents I have."

These two!!!!  They are AMAZING parents!!! They started this parenting journey when they were just babies themselves:

They weathered tough things and grew up together and NO MATTER WHAT have ALWAYS put their children's needs (and most of the time our WANTS too) before theirs.

Fourth of July weekend was the MOST relaxing time I have had in a LONG time. I spent a TON of time getting some MUCH needed exercise:  walking all over, biking here and there, crunching and pushupping and STRETCHING.  I sat at the pool and soaked up some rays. I read a book (practically cover to cover). I watched my babies having a blast. I sat by a campfire and breathed in the yummy aroma. I connected with my family and ate yummy stuff and laughed and laughed and laughed.... (can you say, "Rickshaw?")  All of this made possible by my AMAZING parents.

One day as we sat by the pool, I told my mom I couldn't remember the last time I felt this RELAXED.... she said, "That is just priceless to me."  And I realized.... this woman.... would give ANYTHING she could to make my life better, to make me happy, to see me fulfilled and successful.

This Thankful Thursday, I am thankful for parents who have stayed together through thick and thin.... who love me and my children and my husband to distraction.... who sacrifice everything they have for me. And I'm thankful to the God who made these two amazing humans my parents.

Lessons from the RV... God's opinion

Happy Monday y'all!  What a WONDERFUL, BLESSED, RELAXING holiday weekend I had!  My parents recently got an RV and have become seasonal campers at Westward Ho campground "up north" (not so far though) in Wisconsin.

This weekend we celebrated my dad's retirement and 4th of July up at the RV and it was AMAZING!  I spent A LOT of my time here:

soakin up rays.... reading a book... just RELAXING! During these quiet, relaxing moments I prayed a lot too.... And God spoke some reminders to my soul which should give me plenty of blog topics for a few days :)  So here's my first installment of Lessons from the RV....

God's Opinion 

Right now, I'm in the WORST shape EVER. Years of caring for the needs of others at the expense of my own needs have left me HEAVY, weak, inflexible and cardiovascularly SHAMEFUL. As I laid at the pool, it was hard not to feel sick over how I look and worry INCESSANTLY about "What people are thinking of me." I worry SO much what people are thinking of me at almost ALL times.  I worry about people thinking I'm fat. I worry about people thinking my house is a mess. I worry what people are thinking about my children, my husband, my marriage, and on and on and ON.

So this weekend as I was WORRYING about what people think again, and I felt God whispering to me, "You've forgotten about MY opinion."  See the ONLY opinion I should care about is God's.  Even the opinions of those I hold most dear:  my husband, my children, my mom, my sisters, my friends.... the importance of those opinions fades to NOTHING when held next to what I SHOULD be focusing on:  God's opinion.  I'm pretty sure that God doesn't care too much about the extra large size of my mumu-like fat-girl swimsuit.  I am quite confident that God isn't too worried about the cleanliness of my kitchen floor. He isn't sitting up there shaking His finger because my child had a melt-down or because my mini-van makes that WRETCHED noise.  He cares about MUCH deeper and more important issues:

*Like is my HEART in the right place when I'm cleaning up yet ANOTHER of Auntie Marge's poo-capades.
*Like how do I handled my child's melt-down... with patience and grace or like a maniac screaming and threatening.
*Like why am I wasting SO much time worrying about what others think of me when I could be PRAYING for others, or sowing His love through kind words and actions, or just CONVERSING with Him.

So I guess the first lesson I downloaded from this weekend was this:

re-focus on God's opinion, Jami, and let all the rest fade into the background....

I hope you and yours had a wonderful holiday weekend.  Stay tuned for more Lessons from the RV.