Finally ... I did it!!

Finally I figured it out! With lots of thanks to Kristen who every time I said I cannot figure out how to do something on my blog would reply with "I did not think there was anything you could not do on your blog!" What a true friend! Even if she did not believe her words, the encouraged me to keep trying and now, VOILA I have a 3 column blog! Yeah!

And yes, I updated the kids aliases too! It did not feel personal enough to keep using initials, so now there is some personality involved with their titles! So welcome my little Star Wars brood - and my princess is a princess no matter what theme we are following, so there you have it!

We are enjoying a Sunday afternoon here in our neck of the woods, the kids are in front of the tv - watching the Prince of Egypt movie with a friend, Robert is helping another friend and I am trying to find a generator in the state of Texas! But I am thinking they are all out of reach. Robert's cousin and her family may be heading this way to get out of the heat, lack of electricity and no food situation they are in down in Conroe TX after Ike. Things are really bad down there! I knew it was bad, but when you start talking to families who have family there and have talked to them, it is really bad! Lots of people lost everything.
Last night I said to Robert, what would you take? Could you take enough if you had to leave? I was thinking "How would I get all my stuff out of here to "save" it?" "and you know I got the answer today from Bart. (He's our pastor) While at church he asked us, "How many of you make decisions based on how it will impact you?" And I thought -you mean like inviting family to come stay with us indefinitely - with 2 more little kids, and more adults, and more noise and more stuff.....and and and. I knew that I wanted to offer my house to Terri and her family without hesitation, but in the back of my mind I thought - what will that really look like. But Bart talked about how people lost everything, and I thought about what I would have taken.

Now I realize that I will leave here one day and I cannot take anything with me, so if I cannot leave my stuff for a hurricane, how can I really be ready to leave my stuff for my home - Heaven? And I need to fix that! I knew I wanted Terri to come with her family, honestly a little selfishly because we have not seen them in, what feels like, years! I love Terri and Matt and their 2 little kids. Their little girl loves our kids and vice versa, and I am thankful a hurricane will re-connect us. Of course I can say that because I did not lose anything, and Terri may not feel the same way having lost all their food in the fridge, freezer and power for who knows how long.
So enough about that.
Bottom line, I can leave it all - not my family of course, but I could start over, it would be tough, but wouldn't it be a little freeing too? No more clutter, no more junk, just what matters - me and Robert and our kids. Thankfully this was just a theoretical lesson, not one I actually had to experience, but I hope it changes my attitude a bit. Hug your kids a little tighter and be thankful for your power as the coast of Texas recovers from thise tough time! Blessings!