Throwing the flower girl's head piece...

Do you remember what you were doing ten years ago today??? I do! I was throwing my flower girl's head piece our florist had just delivered across Mrs. Shirley's dining room table. Not my proudest moment :) Normal wedding stress and a bit too much 'baby's breath' sent me over the edge into a "bridezilla" moment. Can you say spoiled brat? Absolutely! I'm so thankful that even then I had godly women in my life to keep my materialistic and sometimes shallow soul grounded :) After I finished pitching my little fit about the 'oh-so-important' ring of mostly baby's breath to adorn the flower girls head; my mom, Mrs. Shirley and my bridesmaids were there to join hands and pray me back to reality.

Looking back I see how silly I acted about something that really didn't matter at all. I'd like to think I've grown and matured over the past ten years but if I'm honest I really haven't. True, I probably wouldn't throw a head piece across the table today...that's just because God has improved my self-control and given me greater conviction. But in my heart I still pitch fits about life's little disappointments. Just yesterday I had to "check myself" over the Southern Belle shirts. When they arrived, the shade of yellow I was expecting wasn't quite the shade that was printed. But is that really important? Well, I actually let it upset me for a little while. Luckily, I have grown to a place where God can quickly get my attention and remind me above all HE is my priority. Yes, the yellow was a little off...and yes, Southern Belle even offered to re-print all of the shirts, but what is the eternal aspect of this situation? While I was very "nice" when talking with the SWEET lady about my concern over the t-shirts...what message does it send about my ministry if I ask her to reprint 250 shirts just because I wanted a lighter shade of yellow??? As soon as I got off the phone with her I regretted even bringing it up...still a brat at heart:) Maybe a more "mature brat" but a brat all the same.

See I've come to realize, while I really do detest baby's breath and I'm not a fan of the 'golden yellow,' that's not really what caused me to act like a two year old. The root cause was it didn't meet MY expectation...MY plan. I know there are circumstances in life where quality, details and personal taste are important, but never at the expense of how we represent Christ to the world...and more importantly how we represent ourselves to Christ. And I think you'll find, like me, most of our "fits" happen when OUR plans get disrupted. Total surrender is such an easy concept but so impossible to do. But how much sweeter would our lives be if we would just embrace the grace and love of Christ and give HIM control over every aspect of our life. Life's disappointments may not seem quite so bad if we keep our focus on Him who gave us this life. 

So yes, this does mean that ten years ago today we were preparing for the day that I would marry the man that my mother prayed God would bring into my life. For the man God specifically made for me. If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm not an easy gal to live with :) My emotions are crazy and my needs and wants change daily...but God created a man to ride the emotion roller-coaster with me and adapt to my ever changing wants and needs in Dustin. He is my perfect partner. He makes me a better wife, mother, friend and Christ-follower. Dustin, August 25th of 2001 was the best day of my life and I pray we will read this 50 years from now and laugh hysterically at the crazy times we've had, crazy children we have raised and the crazy life we have lived all for the glory of God! I love you :) Happy (early) Anniversary!

Look how young we look...and skinny!
We are definitely happier now :)

As I mentioned, the Southern Belle shirts have come in. If you have ordered one, I'll be getting with you soon about how to get them delivered. If you didn't pre-order but would like one let me know. We do have some extra's in each size! They are $20. Here are some pics of the final product (and despite my little freak out over the yellow...they turned out precious!)

Southern Belle's know no matter how motherhood
comes to you it is a gift from God!



My cutie pies modeling the "shirts to help us get our brothers"