{mud caked moments}

since moving to florida i've seen a certain kinda freedom flourish in my husband.  i think it must be the combination of the salty air and the magic of moving.  there is something about moving far away from normal that gives a person the freedom to be different.  sometimes when you stay in one place for awhile you get used to everyone around you telling you who you are and as homey as home is, it can be a harsh environment for change.  it seems to me when everything is new it gives birth to even more newness--like a spring of the soul.  don't get me wrong...it's not all sunny.  there is lots of rain but it's a season of growth just the same.  it's a fresh start in your head and heart...if nothing else.

this move has been such an adventure for our family!  that spirit of adventure has taken hold of eric and i and we've made a habit of dropping everything and going to the beach and driving around looking for never-before-seen things.  it's like we have eyes for the everyday again and when everything is an adventure it turns thursday nights into muddy messes:)

today, thursday,  was jaeda's first day o summer and it was rainy...and has been all week.  ugh.  or as rhett would say, "that's boo." this afternoon, eric called me from work and said,

"hey, when i get home have the kiddos dressed in clothes they can get messy in...i've been staring out my window at this muddy field all day and i just kinda wanna go play in it.  if this rain keeps up we are going to find a muddy field to jump in!"

 i was super excited and a bit surprised...these wild ideas are usually mine!  i kinda love messes and was super excited for something fun to do on another boring rainy day, so as soon as eric got home from work we loaded our curious kids up and went on a search for a muddy field and pond size puddles.

:)  we haven't had this much fun together in a looooong time.  we parked at an empty park, turned the radio up and left the windows down and played in the warm summer rain.  we belly flopped and puddle stomped...we slid and skid and wrestled and rolled.  it. was. awesome.

at one point the girl turned to me giggling and said, "oh my gosh, you are a MESS!  you have mud all over your face...it kinda looks like poop!"

i laughed.

her comment was purely ridiculous...because that girl was covered in a lovely mixture of sand, dirt, grass and rainwater...

and then i heard that still small voice.  i knew it was that spirit voice that sneaks even into these silly seconds and (if you are listening) makes teachable moments out of mud caked memories.

somewhere inside i heard a whisper.  "and that is how insanely ridiculous it sounds to me when you look at another child of mine in judgement".

what? whoa.

i blinked and looked at my filthy daughter.  moments before she had literally been rolling in the mud...and then she got up and laughed at how dirty i was...

this is how the Father feels about my judgement of others.  this is how silly it sounds to Him when i, in my sin filthy state...have the audacity to turn to another dirty soul and say,

"oh, wow, now you're a mess!"

hmmmmmmm....

i went back to puddle jumping with the kiddos.  we splished and splashed until we'd all had enough.  we laid towels on the carseats, opened the windows and turned up the music and sang all the way home.  we all fought over the showers and made some dinner and as i tucked my clean kids in their beds on the first day of summer i was thankful.

thankful for summer rain, for an adventurous husband and for teachable mud caked moments with my Father.