jh family beach retreat...

oh so much fun!

Every summer on Memorial Day weekend, the Jr High Families at Mayfair retreat off to the Gulf Shores of Alabama. It is one of my favorite things we do in the summer. 

Why is it such a favorite?

Well....

It is at the beach.

Our Jr High kids are so much fun.

This retreat is a lot more laid back.

It is a great time to not just get to know kids better, but to get to know their families as well.

And because the parents are there, they are the ones responsible for their kids, so we get to only focus on the spiritual and fun! 

How could it get any better than this?!

This year was no exception. We had such a great time, and the weather ended up being awesome. It rained the entire first night and first morning, but then all of a sudden, around 10:30 that morning, it all went away and we had clear skies and sunshine! (Definitely a God thing.)

So here are just a few pictures from our incredible retreat.

I hope all of you had a beautiful Memorial Day weekend!

oh ikea....

I really enjoyed visiting you.

Honestly, I wish I had had more time.

I felt so rushed.

So many decisions.

Which chair do I really want?

Black or white?

Are you worth the extra money?

We were in a hurry because we didn't want my sister to miss her flight to Africa. That was definitely more important. We did have SOME time to explore the rooms and rooms of furniture that your walls contain... I think I could spend days exploring those rooms and dreaming up a house of my own.... 

Some of your display rooms were bigger than my apartment. Can I just move in? I think that would be fun.

I got my desk. 

Once assembled, we realized that one leg is too long. It made kinda sad... I mean, you disappointed me a little. But that's okay. I won't let this one mistake ruin you in my eyes.

Do it again, and we'll have a problem.

Thank you for the warm welcome. 

I certainly enjoyed my visit!

Hope to see you again!

(pics of the new furniture will be posted when office is complete. anticipate before and after pictures. yay!)

so much to say....

... but so little time!

It is officially summertime at Mayfair.

Summer is always so exciting, but oh so busy. Especially this first week. So all these things I'd like to write about are just going to have to wait. And you know me, the longer I wait, the less likely it is that I will actually write about what I want to write about. 

Sigh....

Okay, that's enough of a break for now. Gotta go!

they always get you on the s&h....

So I have been making plans and arrangements to redecorate my office.

It is getting painted tomorrow. 

A new shelving unit is being made by the amazing Mr. Mark at church. 

I bought some cool antique chairs. 

The process will probably take a month or so, but I am not letting that discourage me. 

(When everything is finally finished, I will post before & after pictures.)

I still need to buy a couple of lamps, the wall shelving, artwork/pictures for the wall, and a desk.

Oh the desk.....

Let me just tell you about this desk. For a couple of weeks, I have been browsing the internet for the perfect white desk for my office. I want simple. I want clean lines. I want white. I want modern. I want IKEA. And I had found the perfect desk. 

So I thought.

This desk. This is a picture that I found online. The better picture is here. (click on the "function & style" tab, select the top right picture.)  And the price is right too! Just $130. Not too bad... I mean... comparatively speaking.

This morning I got the go-ahead to order the desk. I spent an hour trying to decide if it really was the desk that I wanted to order. I decided it was. I get on IKEA.com, put it in my cart, and then proceed to checkout. I fill in my billing & shipping information, make sure everything is correct, and then I click continue.

And then I see it. 

The shipping & handling cost.

Remember how I said the desk was $130?    Well, lets just say my total AFTER s&h was going to be $254.60. 

Yes. Almost DOUBLE the amount! $5.40 less than double, to be exact. 

WHAT THE HECK?!?! After all that work.... 

Back to the drawing board. This really might take all summer...

who knew...

...that going to a movie by myself really could be fun?!?!

(this is an example of the type person I pictured alone in movies... ha)

I mean, I've had a few of my friends tell me that they liked to do that every once in a while, but honestly, I always thought they were either 1) crazy or 2) extreme loners. And I never thought that I would find myself at a place where I could do it. Did I think I was too cool to go to a movie by myself? Absolutely not! Was I just scared? Definitely yes. Terrified? I wouldn't say terrified, but anxious to the point that I avoided it for 24 years...

Anyways, I officially overcame this fear tonight, and as you can tell, I'm a little excited about that! Especially because it was fun! And 17 Again was definitely a good movie choice. Like I said before, who knew?!?

I hope everyone else is having a delightful week!

from the pen of Susan Isaacs...

In my last post I said that I would come back and explain some of the thoughts that are on my heart after finishing this book by Susan Isaacs, Angry Conversations With God. However, I also warned you that I saw this as a very intimidating task, and honestly, I just haven't been able to wrap my mind around everything enough to put it in blog post form yet. I hope to write something for you soon, but I might not. I suppose sometimes my deepest thoughts aren't meant to be shared. Who knows. Regardless, I do want to leave you with something about this book, so I figure, why not let Mrs. Isaacs do the talking? Here is a small portion of her God story from chapter 16 of the book:

"If God wants to burn up everything useless in my life, amen to that. But I want to know whether or not this sorrow has an end. Do these longings in my heart for love and purpose mean anything? I say yes. Is my need for God just misplaced longing that has no place to be satisfied? I say no. The body thirsts because it needs water and water exists. The soul longs for purpose because it needs it, and because it exists. And I wouldn't long for God if he didn't exist. I am taking this personally because I am personal. And I don't think that an impersonal God could create humans to be personal. So I'm taking this personally from a personal God.

A sixteenth-century monk wrote a treatise called Dark Night of the Soul. When we first know God, he lavishes us with blessings and signs of his love, the way you do with your children when they're small. But God wants us to grow up. So he removes his blessings. The sense of his presence. And even signs of love. Because he wants us to trust when we can't see, to believe we're loved even if we can't feel it, to walk by faith and not by sight. And maybe he wants me to love him for himself, not for what I can get out of him.

Well, if that's where I am, then okay. I can be here. I'm in my own Dark Night of the Soul. And I'm just waiting for my sun to come up."

I don't really have much to add to that right now. I will say this, "maybe he wants me to love him for himself, not for what I can get out of him." Something to think about...

lilies and snarky memoirs...

You all may remember a certain blog post I wrote at the beginning of this month about me needing a break. I talked about how I had pretty much felt abandoned and disconnected from God. I also talked about some of the ways He revealed His truth to me. Really, I didn't go into that many details, but I think you all understood what I was saying. Let me just tell you, He didn't stop there. 

About a week ago, I found myself in Barnes & Nobles, just wandering around with a gift card in my pocket. I'd gotten the gift card for my birthday, but hadn't had a chance to spend it yet. (I had been too busy getting ready for the Girls Retreat.) Well on this particular morning, I had alloted myself plenty of time to wander about the bookstore in search for the perfect purchase. As usual, I ended up with quite a stack, but two particular books really seemed to stand out to me. These two:

At this very moment it is late, and I am tired, but I will be coming back to tell you about these books. I am not very far into the 2nd one yet, but I can tell it is going to be seemingly odd, yet complimentary companion to the 1st book that I did, in fact, finish about 15 minutes ago. I don't even want to attempt to express my thoughts at this hour because they are just too big and deep. 

I will be out of town for part of the weekend, but you can expect my next post by Monday. I'll go ahead and tell you, there is no way that I am going to be able to express everything that is going through my mind right now, and really, the thought of trying to is very intimidating. But I will try... because this stuff is just too good not to...