Moments

On Tuesday afternoon, we sold our scooter. I must admit, I was a little sad as I thought the scooter was so fun, especially on summer nights. I loved riding to downtown Franklin to walk around or riding to get some ice cream on a beautiful summer night. We enjoyed that little scooter for the time we had it :) However, we are working hard to pay off our debt right now, so we both agreed that selling the scooter would be a good step in that direction. However, my sadness quickly changed when Aaron asked me if I wanted to go out for date night that night. We decided to use a little bit of the money we just made to celebrate :) We went to our all time favorite Thai restaurant for dinner. I enjoyed some delicious pad thai and a good conversation with my sweet husband. It is always so refreshing to just sit down over some good food and catch up on life. It seems that the weeks get so busy, so I have learned to treasure these moments, these wonderful times in life to just slow down for a few minutes and enjoy each other. We have found it is foundational to our marriage to make time for moments like these. After dinner, we decided to check out this new restaurant/bar in Cool Springs, Drake's. It is one of my new favorite places! It has such a different vibe than anywhere in Franklin. Aaron and I both walked out of there and said it felt like we were in Chicago for the last hour. We will definitely be going back! I went to bed that night feeling so refreshed and so thankful for the moments :) Especially when those moments are spontaneous and come by surprise.  It was just a Tuesday night, nothing special, except for the fact that I got to spend the evening with my man and for a few hours not think about anything else going on in our crazy lives. Thankful for moments...

                                                                

                                         Having a little fun with the scooter before selling it :)
                                             (No, we didn't really take her for a ride. Haha)

The Help

So, I realize that my last post was over 2 months ago, and I said I was trying to get better at blogging. Haha! Maybe in the midst of the craziness of summer was not the best time to try and start that. Oh well, I am going to try again :) There has been so much on my heart and mind lately that I want to share, but I will start with this...

Last week, Aaron and I went to go see the movie, The Help. If you have not seen it, I highly recommend it! But, just a fair warning, bring a box of tissues! ;) It is an incredible movie, and I will not give the whole movie away here on the blog, but just wanted to write some of the things I have been thinking through since seeing that movie. It really challenged me to think about the way that I view and treat other people. The movie takes place in Mississippi right after the Civil War, but when families are still using African Americans as "the help" to raise their children, cook, clean, etc. I have never understood the color thing. Maybe it is because I grew up with African American "brothers" that my parents were always taking into our home, and they were like part of the family. I never saw anything different. Or maybe, it was because I have always loved other cultures and diversity. In watching the movie, I began to pride myself in the fact that I would never treat those with a different skin color than me any differently.  I just couldn't believe that people would actually do that! However, over the past week, God has quickly humbled me as He has revealed the pride in my own heart. Maybe I don't struggle with skin color, but who are the people around me that I, for some reason, judge or look down upon? I have been more aware of that this past week than ever. My heart is often too quick to judge. But, why? What is it in me that thinks I am better than anybody else? My own pride and self-righteousness. I have realized, once again, my desperate need for redemption. So this week, I am thankful for the awareness of my own struggles and for abundant grace to grow and mature through those struggles. I read this in Philippians tonight:

"Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves...have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, 

taking the form of a servant..." Phil. 2:3-7

With Jesus as our ultimate example, let us strive to be more like him everyday. I pray that I would be quick to love and slow to judge.