Evelyn's 17!

Goody bags for a 17 year olds birthday party? I had a better idea.

Instead of goody bags I sent all the cousins to the waterpark with a water bottle filled with treats. The kind of things I thought a bunch of teenage girls would appreciate during a day at the waterpark.

There are hairbands, apple sauce packets, pieces of gum, several Kool-Aid packets, fruit leather, and some sunscreen Chapstick. And there is the added bonus of each of them having a water bottle at the waterpark they can refill throughout the day. I hope they are having a blast! 

My Thoughts on Modesty May Surprise You

I have been thinking a lot about this and I've been meaning to put all those thoughts into words and then I read this. No need. He said it so well.

It's a TWO SIDDED issue, and as the mother to teen girls I am, frankly, sick and tired of having girls the only ones being addressed on this issue of modesty/lust. I also raised two teen boys and I don't recall them hearing nearly as many talks about keeping their thoughts pure and walking away if necessary. All public talks on modesty it seems, are aimed at the girls.

A person CAN NOT cause someone else to lust. Can they make it difficult for them to stay pure in their thoughts? Sure. But they cannot get inside a mans mind and order his thoughts. A man always has the option to turn and walk away.

But, yall. NOTHING makes my blood boil like hearing from my daughters that they've been told to cover up by a teenage boy (OR GROWN MAN!!) Pretty sure that's sexual harassment, actually.

I am aware of what my daughters wear. They have a dad, a mom, a sister and two older brothers looking out for them. That job's covered. Not to mention, I'm quite happy with the choices my daughters make as far as their dress standard and I also know their hearts. You go ahead and look out for your own thoughts and leave my daughters alone.

Aren't we doing our sons a disservice if we tell them it's okay to go up to a girl and tell her what she's wearing is inappropriate? That they have no recourse in this situation? That their only hope in staying away from impure thoughts is if girls 'dress appropriately'? Because, y'all. That makes them powerless! These church boys are going to grow up and go out into society and work with people who don't 'dress appropriately' and they will have no power to change that, and we will not have given them any tools to deal with it. Will they have to stay away from beaches their whole lives? Because when you're not at the beach with a youth group, there's a whole lot of skin showing.

My point is, God created us to be attracted to each other. We can't 'fix' that. We can only try to handle the attraction in a Godly manner. It's simple really. How about we let basic kindness and consideration rule the day? Girls, can ya not make it so hard on the guys? When you walk around in your itty-bitty string bikini it makes it hard. And also, do you think anyone's listening to your words? your heart? your mind when you wear that? Yeah, no.

And guys? As the article mentioned, man up. A little flesh does not make you into mindless idiots who cannot control the direction of your own thoughts. Take your thoughts captive and if it's too much, walk away.

Huh. Turns out I did have a few more thoughts on the subject.

Who Lets Babies Fly a Plane??

So, this is what my little boy did today. With his little boy friends. These three have been friends since the sandbox. Literally. Bryce and Aaron crawled around the nursery floor together. They've all three been friends since elementary school. Today these babies went UP IN AN AIRPLANE  ALONE WITH NO ADULTS AND NO PILOTS. ONE OF THOSE BABIES WAS THE PILOT!!!

And look, don’t try to tell me that they are the adults. Grown men; two of whom are in training to serve our country in the United States Air Force, and one in training to be a First Responder.

Because I’m the mom. And to the mom, they’re still babies. Who lets babies fly a plane!?

He even sent me photos of his time in the air. He took these photo of my house. FROM THE AIR ABOVE IT. Like WAY above it.

Have mercy.

I thought having toddlers was hard.

Your job as the mom is to keep the toddlers from doing dangerous and unsafe things. You know why? So they can grow up into men who do DANGEROUS AND UNSAFE THINGS!! And there is nothing you can do about it but pray.

I may have made him promise to text me the minute his feet were back on the ground or I would never cook for him again.

You’ll all be happy to know they are safely back on the ground. 

And I’m having wine for dinner.