14 Things In 14 Years.

Sweet Martha my feet hurt.

The house is almost completely packed up and it is less than twelve hours before we pull out for good. And then another 12 hours before we arrive at my parents house. And then another 12 hours before we look at each and say, "Seriously, any enclosed space with my parents is never a good thing."

Since this week will be full of many things (things which I will not be blogging about for fear that my language may keep me from fulfilling that religion degree I'm still chasing) like a 26 foot U-Haul with no air, my car loaded down with boxes and a cat and two dogs and a Remi, and enough fast food to make my face break out just thinking about it, I may have to take a breather from the blogginess that is my life. But for only a week or so, bueno?

However, next Saturday we pack back up (because what fun is packing if you don't unload all of your items, wait four days, and pack them back up again?) and head to the beach with my family. So if you think living with my parents for a week and then going off to the beach with them for a week won't be worth all of your time and money, then you don't know us very well.

So today, before I close the door on this Ecclesiastes 3 moment I got going on here ("There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven...") I will share you with one last tidbit from my season in Tennessee.

This season has been a great one, a horrific one, an unforgettable one, a please-God-let-me-forget-it one, a kind one, a mean one, and an everything in between one.

In no particular order here are 14 things The Attorney General and I have learned in these 14 years.

~~~~~~~~~

1. The SEC is the best college football division. Handsdown.

2. In Texas there are rednecks. In Tennessee there are hillbillies. There is a difference. Just look at their front yard: In Texas they have washers and dryers and cars up on blocks, in Tennessee they have confederate flags and shotguns. Personally, both scare me.

3. Find out who you are. Search. Explore. Journal. Pray. Read. Study. Listen. But become sure of who you are. And then become confident in it. Be confident in the woman/man God made you to be. And as Dolly Parton said in her biography that I read three times, "Be an alligator girl, be whatever you want to be. Wear your cornflakes with pride. Just be sure that you give them a quarters worth of wonder." (It would make sense if you read the book, okay?) I know who I am, and it may not jell with who you are - that's okay, neither I nor the Lord apologize for it.

4. Walk into your favorite Tennessee bookstore, spend $10.99 on a book about day trips in Tennessee, and then go explore. You will find out three things: 1) There is beauty everywhere in this state. 2) There are really great cheeseburgers at some really dumpy places. 3) Your spouse will open up their heart to you on just about any subject while on a simple ride on a sunny day with a milkshake.

5. Not any thing, not any one, beats family.

6. The friends that you never ever wanted to stick around - usually do. And you are so much the better for them.

7. The friends that you really really wanted to stick around - usually don't. And you are so much the better for it.

8. Boundaries! Boundaries! Boundaries!

9. Four is so much sweeter than two.

10. Chances are the state flower of Tennessee is spelled "F-L-O-U-R." God bless 'em.

11. Sometimes the sweetest friends 14 years can give you are the kind that never need anything from you but your heart. They don't steal your time and they don't suck your energy. They just want to be friends. Those are the keepers!

12. I met an angel once, in Tennessee. I kid you not. She had red hair and spoke with a soft southern accent. She was a nurse in the Labor and Delivery Unit who was not scheduled to work that night and yet, strangely enough, she came in just for me. ("I heard about you Melissa, and I left my Christmas party just to be here with you. I was so happy to be here with you.") And that night, Christmas eve, 2005, she held my hand, wiped my brow and loved on me, The AG and our sweet Elisha. To this day I do not remember her name and though I've called the hospital to find her no one seems to know who I'm talking about or who I'm describing. Hebrews 13:1 says, "Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it." However, sometimes, I believe, they entertain us.

13. If you burn a bridge, take your tools and get to work re-building it. However, if someone else burns the bridge then let them do the work. You can work all day and all night, you can sweat and you can cry. But you cannot repair what someone else has damaged. It's not up to you, sister. Leave it alone.

14. God. Is. Faithful.

~~~~~~~~~

There you have it, 14 lessons in 14 years. Some learned the hard way. Others learned the hard way. That's usually how I do things.

Lord, may I find the maturity to walk in every lesson you've ever taught me. Thank you for working diligently with a knuckle head like me. This season has been everything you ever promised. And more.