Life According to Brandy

So tonight we were sitting at my parents & Grant looks at me and says "momma (which he has decided to now call me because he thinks mommy is too babyish), Cooper (my mom's Elf on a Shelf) must REALLY be an elf on the shelf because the only place he has hooded (plural for hide-lol) is on a shelf! Now Mason's new thing that cracks me up is he's decided if you kiss under the mistletoe you've been "mistletoed"! So he keeps asking me if I am going to "mistletoe" Jeff when he gets here. Haha!

So here is just the typical drive home... Tonight we were on the way home and saw two cars chasing each other and I said they better stop or they will get a ticket for reckless driving or kill someone. Hence the question was posed from the back seat "what happens when you get a ticket?" So I went onto explain how you have to pay a fine and get a point on your drivers license which effects the cost of your insurance. "Insurance, what's that?" they ask. So I continue explaining how insurance works. Mason then replied "well do you have your insurance with Geico? Because they want to save people hundreds on car insurance"!! I died laughing. Then he says "Wow mom, why is life so complicated? You weren't kidding when you said nothing is for free!" Ahh, to see life through the eyes of a child.

So I happen to think when God is trying to teach us something he places reoccurring themes of His message all throughout our life. As I have joked with my bible study class, I am apparently in the remedial class on a few lessons He's trying to teach because I seem to have to learn them over and over. Anyway, recently this concept of God's love for us has been popping up everywhere. Now I know we are taught from a very young age "Jesus Loves Me" but how often do we REALLY ponder that thought. I was watching the Passion of the Christ Sunday night and a thought occurred to me. Think of the kindest, most giving, humble person you know. Now think of watching that person being almost beaten to death and then tortured on a cross all because of you...because of something you had done. Or imagine your child being tortured for someone else's crimes. That's how much God loves us. Amazing. And even more than that, it amazes me how he turns our messes into something beauti...

So I have I often thought I would love to record the conversations in our car to and from school. Case in point, this morning. I had already dropped Mason off and we were sitting at a red light when Grant says "that looks like Osama Bin Laden". (He saw a tiny bit of a 911 special with me). I said "well it's not, Osama doesn't live in Dothan. He's over in the middle east". To which he immediately replies, "well he could've moved here to hide from the army guys". Me: "No I'm pretty sure that's not him. Grant: "Are you absolutely sure?" Me: "No not 100%" Grant: "I'm pretty sure it is"...and he continues on with a whole scenario of why Osama Bin Laden now resides in Dothan. So Homeland Security apparently you've been looking in the wrong place! Haha! Geez where does he get this stuff.

Everyday I read my friend Deborah's blog and I am reminded how precious life is and how to count my blessings. She spends everyday watching her precious baby girl grow and breathe. Since baby Tera was born at 26 weeks this is an amazing thing to watch. I can tell she's changed a lot since she made her entrance a few weeks ago. So this has me thinking about all of the amazing things God has blessed me with. I have two healthy, intelligent little boys who keep me laughing and very busy. I have two beautiful, intelligent soon-to-be step daughters who I can't wait to see all the time. I have a wonderful fiance' who is ALWAYS there for me and makes me laugh along the way. He is truly a great man. My parents have been married 40 years and have set such amazing examples of how to parent and what true love is all about. They taught me what was important in life and how to live my life with integrity. My brother spends a lot of his time volunteering for various organizations tr...

Right now my bible study group is doing a study on Jonah and we have been talking about what happens when prayers don't turn out the way we imagine. How do we handle that? Do we get angry and pout with God or do we see it as a blessing? I have to admit, I've done more pouting in my life than I should've. So it got me thinking about my life right now. Over two years ago I got down on my knees and prayed for God to send a wonderful, kind, honest, Godly man into mine and my children's lives. I seemed to have spent so much of my life praying for the man I was with to change to become all of those things and had never really realized it. SO I decided to try something new-someone who was all of those things from the get go. In October of 2009 my prayers were answered in the strangest way. I received a Friend Request from an old friend I grew up with in church and thus began the path that brought Jeff and I together. Now I have to admit, never in a million years did I imagine ...

I'm new to the blog thing so we will see how this goes. But I like to write so I thought-why not? Guess I can use it for my non-facebook using friends! :)