Crepe Myrtles and Crowns

  
     I worked for five and a half hours today in the front flowerbeds.  This is one of my most favorite things to do, even when the heat index is well above one hundred and ten degrees.  I have unknowingly passed this love on to Turner and Tate.  They used to "help" by handing me tools and picking up toys out of the yard.  Now my two stick of dynamite are old enough to really take on some of the work.  Turner has stolen mowing.  I haven't mowed once all summer.  Tate can use the electric weed eater like a champ.  This still leaves pulling weeds, pruning shrubs, planting and what not for me.  We make an absolutely unstoppable trio. 
     Today my TNT worked with me for a good three hours.  We've been gone for over two weeks and the yard was looking worse for wear.  As the temperature climbed I saw my babies starting to wilt.  We had had plenty of water breaks, but this is my passion not theirs.  Turner had started to become itchy, Tate had red cheeks, so I ordered them inside.  They put up a good argument but I told them I still love being outside and listening to my book, so I'd be inside in a little while.  I stayed outside soaking up the blessed sun, listening to a beautiful book, and tending the roses, hibiscus, and crepe myrtles that I love. 
    My children allow me the time I need to decompress.  They know how much I need to be outside, in the sun.  I'll never be thankful enough for receiving such a gift.  While I work out my stress I am all too aware that they watch my every move.  Tate is my little nurse.  She brought me water and paper towels to wipe my face every half hour or so.  Tate is my "new soul".  Where Turner is an old soul- calm, cautious, alert.  Tate is new- ready for adventure, wild, silly, and full of wonder.  Even with all Tate's energy she is very contemplative.
     After working and cleaning up I was driving her to her best friend's house for a sleepover and we talked about our day.  She asked if all the work was done, what else we needed to work on, and why I trimmed the Crepe Myrtles?  I told her what was left, what I wanted to work on tomorrow, and I slowed down to show her a yard with the kind of beautiful trees I wanted our little saplings to grow into.  We all know the house on the corner, it is easily the prettiest yard in our neighborhood.  Classically beautiful landscaping, well trimmed trees, and lush green grass.  I showed Tate how tall and beautiful the Crepe Myrtles in that yard were.  We talked about pruning, cutting away dead blooms, and why the trees can't just be left to grow on their own.  Just a few houses down we slowed to look are the same type of trees that hadn't been lovingly tended.  They still had beautiful blooms, they still provided some shade, but they just weren't as polished and beautiful as the trees in our favorite yard. 
     Stories make more sense to me than just plain facts and figures.  I always try to relate lessons to my kids in a story.  If they can learn to take lessons from their every day world, I think they will turn out as OK people.  So I told Tate that those Crepe Myrtles are just like people.  All trees have the potential to grow straight and tall, provide shade, and some can even have beautiful flowers for us to enjoy.  Likewise, all people can grow up to be good, God like, and better the people around them.  I asked her if she could tell what made the difference in how the trees grew?  How did one tree grow tall, elegant, and look like it was wearing a crown- while the same type of tree just a few blocks away grew bushy and gnarled?  My thoughtful sweet Tater said she knew it had something to do with pruning, but how do you prune a person?
    I asked if she had rules- yes. So the rules Papa and I give her take away things like sassy mouth- that is like cutting away a gnarled up branch. We talked about rules being like pruning.  How our rules take away the small undergrowth that keeps those trees from being tall and giving comforting shade.  She was connecting the analogy, so I stuck with it.  What is the fertilizer?  It's something all trees need to grow tall and strong.  God.  All people need God to continuing growing, loving, and blooming.  Tate gets it.  She said God is like our fertilizer, we grow when He is in our hearts.  Yes mam, we absolutely do. So with pruning to cut away the gnarled up unwanted branches, and fertilizer to grow a tree tall and strong- what else does a tree need? The sun.  So we talked about what The Son does for us? A tree can't live with out it's sun.  Nor can we live eternally without our Son. 
    I suppose Jesus could run and jump and be in anyone's heart without their parents helping put Him there, but I know that's why He is in mine.  My parents read Bible stories to me and my sister every night.  They lead Sunday school, they taught Vacation Bible school, they let me see their relationship with God and gave me a pattern to use for my own life.  I hope I am doing that with my TNT.  I love the t-shirt that says "I love Jesus, but I cuss a little".  It's what I am trying to impart to my kids.  No matter how hard we try, none of us will ever be perfect enough to get in to heaven on our own.  At some point in their lives my children  will have that feeling that they have messed up so fantastically that they can never be forgiven.  I need them to know that Our God is so powerful, He can forgive all of it.  If Jesus still brushes past me in my daily life, even though I cuss a little, sin a lot, and fail Him daily- then He can forgive anything my TNT may encounter. 
      From now on when we drive past the beautiful yard with its tall elegant crepe myrtles, I hope Tate thinks of today.  I hope she sees the rules we set for her as the pruning she will need.  I hope taking away her gnarled limbs and giving her the fertilizer needed sets her up to accept the Son who will give her eternal life.  I hope both my children grow tall, give shade and shelter to those who need a spot to rest, and they both wear a blossoming crown of beauty and the flowers of our Savior's love for all to see.  My fears get the best of me more often than not.  I fear failing as a mom, fear failing as a daughter, fear not being enough.  But on some days when my stories click in my children's minds- I know I'm not doing this alone.  The Son is shining to guide my way, my tangled branches were taken care of by parents who loved me enough to help cut away the bad that had plenty of potential to grow, and my God is always there to feed the seeds of good that were planted long ago. 
  

Skip Day

   My mornings with the kids are very routine.  Everything from the time they rise to the things I make for breakfast.  We all run quite smoothly on routine.  Our routine has developed over years and it grows and fluctuates as the kids get older.  I am very lucky, my sweet Tater and my Turner B. get themselves going with little prodding from me. 
     Part of our daily routine is our car ride prayer time.  Now, I'm not saying this is the most holy of motherly practices- its simply our routine.  Some mornings I don't feel like leading the prayer.  Some mornings actually pray "Dear Heavenly Father I pray for my kids to stop fighting so I don't have to tear their behinds up when the get home from school."  Not exactly my most shining moment, but motherhood is full of tarnish.  Thankfully most mornings all of our prayers aren't laced with threats, they are more based on guiding each of us through our day.  I am hoping that me talking to God out loud with my kids everyday will help them to always be comfortable doing the same.
     Last Friday our morning went off with out a hitch.  Kids were good, no fights erupted while they brushed their teeth.  We got in the Jeep on time, each said our morning prayer.  Just an all around good and average Friday morning for the TBC's.  We drop Tater off first.  She always hops up to kiss me and we say our I love you's.  Depending on the amount of sibling warfare that has taken place each morning my kids may or may not tell each other goodbye.  Some mornings they are still bickering as the door closes behind Tate.  Last Friday Turner mumbled an "I love you Tate" as she got out to bounce into school.  That simple little phrase mumbled under his breath made my heart swell. 
     Turner and I pulled out and headed to his school.  I mentioned to him that it was nice of him to tell Tater that he loved her.  He said "I just wanted to cheer her up, she's still sad about Saraphina".  Tate's  hamster had passed away the week before.  That tiny little act not only cheered up Tater, but it made it almost impossible for me to let Turner out of the car. 
      Turner and I had talked about maybe having a skip day, just he and I.  Last Friday seemed like the perfect day to spend time, just me and my Turner B.  Like bandits Turner and I pulled right past his school.  What did we do with this awesome day full of possible adventures?   I offered to go to the movies, go out to lunch, something fun.  Nope, he knew I had planned on cleaning out the garage.  So, the two of us spent a glorious day pulling everything out of the garage together,  we enjoyed the sunshine, we organized, and most importantly we talked.  Turner and a I have an ease that comes when its just the two of us.  We both enjoy working on things together, much the way I always enjoyed working on things with my Dad.  Busy hands make for easy conversations.  We worked all day.  We got filthy, laughed, rearranged, organized, and made the garage a big functional masterpiece. I pray that I always have this easy bond with my kids.  I pray that we always enjoy time spent working together and talking.  I have no idea if Turner will remember the day spent cleaning the garage out fondly.  I know that the day I spent working with my boy will go down as one of my all time favorite skip days. Letting him stay home with me may have been selfish- not for having his help - but for storing away a memory of he and I all day uninterrupted together.  I'll be selfish if that's the case.  I cant wait to steal Tater away. Maybe clean out closets, or wiping down baseboards would give me an entire day of conversations with the world's most beautiful girl.  I think we all need a skip day now and again, a break from our routines.  I love that I have such fun little people to steal away for the day, I can't wait for the next.