My Son the Man

I know, I know

This is something I should have known

But

I didn’t realize it til this week

My baby boy

The first born

The blessed only son

Is no longer my baby boy

He is a man

I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks one way

When reality says something totally different

Am I?

I mean

To me, I will be forever 27

Doesn’t matter that I am now twice that age

When I think of myself

Which really isn’t all that often

I think of myself as 27

Not a teenager

But not old

So it stands to reason that in my mind

My son will always be my baby boy

The baby who was never any trouble

Who excelled at sitting up by the age of 5 months

Who was walking by 9 months

Who didn’t cut his first tooth until he was 10 months

Who lit up our lives just with a smile

Always a thinker

I used to walk into his room and find him laying on his bed

What are doing, Son
I would ask

Thinking
he replied

Always thinking

About how things worked

Why they didn’t

What can I invent

And will I be famous

He was married by age 19

A father by age 21

Teaching his daughters the way they should go

Loving them

Encouraging them

Supporting them

So why did it take me so long to see that my baby boy was now a man?

I don’t know

Mother’s love?

Mother’s blindness?

Hoping beyond hope that nothing had changed even tho every thing has?

But I saw my son

My baby boy

In a new light this week

The boy has become a man

A man in whom I am well pleased

A good man

A good husband and father

No longer a child

And that

Is

Ok

Halo or Crown?

What are you working for?

A halo or a crown?

We all at one time or another have had a halo polishing party

Walking around thinking how wonderful we are

How good we are

Doesn’t do a lick of good!

Halos are not what we are after!

We are working for a CROWN!

Halos point out how wonderful we think we are

Crowns are the wonderful gifts we get to lay at the feet of our KING!

Good works don’t get you into Heaven

Only believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth that Jesus Christ
Died and rose again will do that

But I want a crown so full of jewels that I’m gonna need help carrying it!

I want to work at expanding the Kingdom

Showing people Jesus with every thing I do

Loving people

Worshiping God

Laying that crown at His feet

Feeding the Fed

Feeding the Fed.

via Feeding the Fed.

Who Are You Hanging With?

I’ve been thinking lately

About Jesus and His crew

You know

The people He was closest to

His peeps

That motley group of men

That gave up everything

To follow Him

Jesus hung with these guys

Day in and day out

Ate with them

Ministered with them

Traveled with them

But

He didn’t just hang with them

He ate with the sinners

He drank at the well with the sinners

He walked and talked among the sinners

He took Himself to the sinners

Isn’t that what we are supposed to do?

Take Jesus with us every where we go?

To the highways and the byways

To the soccer fields

To WalMart

To our favorite restaurants

To our neighbors

We might even need to hang out in a few places

Gasp!

I thought about all of this because I want to invite people to church

And invite people to get to know my Jesus

And I realized

99% of the people I hang with

Already know Him!

So you may see me hanging out in some places

And you may wonder what I’m doing

And I’ll just tell you

I’m taking Him out of the building

And I’m taking Jesus to the streets!

Put Your Behind In Your Past

I’ve heard it said

Normal is only a setting on the dryer

Maybe it is

Maybe it isn’t

My normal may not be your normal

As yours will not be mine

But even dryers are all different

Their normal is their own

And my normal is

Well, mine

And right now my normal is different

Changes are taking place

Things have moved

I keep bumping into furniture

Doors and walls

I’m not sure where I’m going

The plan is to move forward

But it sometimes feels like spinning wheels

My husband wrote about something I told our granddaughter this morning

Watch where you’re going
Not where you’ve been

If we are always looking behind us

We can’t see what’s in front

The past is Behind

We have to look to where we are going in order to see pitfalls and glories

The one we will fall into

The other we will miss

In the Quiet

In the quiet of the early morning

When life should be less intense

I find myself sitting here

Waiting

Wanting to hear Your voice

Believing that I have

Wondering why the sorrow is overwhelming

It is then I realize

The pain is not from You

It comes from misplaced trust

Trust that was placed in mere mortal man

It is You dear God

Who always works life out for our good

It is You who has the perfect plan

You know the end from the very beginning

We seek Your face

We trust Your judgement

We lean on You

You direct our paths

Men may try to call the shots

But You oh Lord

Have the final say

Time Keeps on Slippin’ Into the Future

A new year is upon us

A clean slate

Another beginning

Many take this opportunity to reflect

Upon the year behind

What did we accomplish?

Where did we fail?

What should we have done differently?

Or not at all

And the year ahead

Where shall we go?

How will we do it?

When does it start?

Who will we see?

What will we be?

We had  some changes in our lives in 2012

We became Empty Nesters

We are learningto enjoy our new found freedom

I lost some weight

I gained some back

I retired from my position at our church

Mark finally got a new car

We added another grandbaby to our clan

And another son-in-love

My hairdresser came back to work

We had some dear family and friends

Go home to Jesus

Yes, the year 2012 brought about much change

And it seems nothing is the same

Nothing is normal

Our boat has been rocked

Our plans have shifted

Some things we saw coming

Others blind-sided us

Change is good

Loss is inevitable

Hope springs eternal

An even keel will come again

A new normal will emerge

Until it does

We can rest in the knowledge

That God is in control

He sees the end from the very beginning

He has plans to prosper us and not to harm us

To give us a FUTURE and a HOPE

A man’s heart plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps.

A New Christmas Morning

A different Christmas morning

All is quiet

No phone calls or walky talkies requesting permission to rush out of bed

First stop:
Nativity

Must see if baby Jesus came!

Second stop:
Tree

Must see if Santa came!

It’s ok

It really is

This quiet that I hear

The children are grown

Some with babes of their own

Wonderful adults

Who now think of others before they think of themselves

How many Christmas mornings did I worry and fret?

Will they love all their gifts?

Will they love all the love?

Do they know how I’ve worried?

Did we get the right game?

Was it what they wanted?

Do they know how much we love them?

When they were children

We tried to be equal in gifts

What pressure!

Now as adults

They are grateful for the thought and love that went into the purchase

Not whether one received 3 but another got 4!

We’ve passed down traditions

No Bing before Thanksgiving dinner
No Jesus in the manger until Christmas morning
The reading of the Christmas story before the gifts are opened
And a grateful heart

Makes mama happy and proud!

To My Children

Thank you for loving me

Faults and all

Thank you for turning into awesome people

In spite of our best intentions

Thank you for surviving our early parenting skills

Thank you for enriching our lives

Thank you for not scaring us to death

Thank you for making us laugh

Thank you for making us cry
with joy

Thank you for the stretch marks
The ones that are visible
And the ones on our heart

Thank you for many many happy times

Thank you for many many more

It matters not if you were birthed, grafted or married into our family

We Love You

Merry Christmas!

Mark & Marijo Napier