My So Called Life

My So Called Life Sundays are usually succinct.
A picture and a scripture.
But today is more.
This Sunday, I present to you the GREGG FOUR.
A piece of The Legacy.

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"This day I call Heaven and Earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." Deuteronomy 30:11-20

We are all fuctioning, law abiding, God fearing, family loving, ADULTS.
In March, my younger brother turned 31 and was weeks away from having his own baby.
My mom said to me, "It's weird...I mean, my little boy is a person."
"All my kids are like....REAL PEOPLE!"

3 out of the 4 of us live within walking distance of each other...
(within walking distance of Mom & Dad's empty nest)
We campaign daily for the 4th to give in to the enevitable!
We pay our own bills, cook and clean for ourselves...we even file taxes.
Um...yeah, Mom. We're REAL!

Her freak out made me laugh...
and then it made me freak out.

My Stream of Conciousness upon seeing this picture is:

"Myparentsaresaintsmysisterishauteiamshortmybrotherslookgoodscruffyiobviouslybuymyblondegetmetoatreadmill"

Read the first 18 letters again.
Parenting is hard people!
I can't even tell you the hours I have spent online, in books, THE BOOK, bending an elder's ear...
Mostly my mother's...occasionally my father's...it is her's I miss, and yet, I still hear.
Researching, learning, reading, praying.
For my children, my loves, for their hearts, my heart, whom they will love, who will love them!

I can't help but look at this picture and be stopped in my tracks.
My crazy busy, check the box, vaccuum the rooms, learn the rainbow, blog the bits, serge the seams, burp the babes, twirl the twill TRACKS.

Cause if you want to...you could get LOST in all of it.
And I'm sure sometimes they did.
But mostly (at least the moments I remember) they didn't.
And we all survived.
We all thrived.
We all were loved.

That's not to say there hasn't been bumps along the way.
or complete crashes and burns.
There has been jail, tattoos, the ER...
broken bones, broken hearts, broken curfews.

And that's not to say today is easy for the four of us.
Cause it's not.
But knowing, unconditionally, that they've got our backs,
no matter how many times we call...
or how old we get...
That is what makes this picture sweet.
That is what makes this picture PERFECT.

Thanks Don and Susan.
Dad and Mom.
For loving each other.
For loving Jesus Christ.
(it's NEVER been a question!)
For loving us.
(even when we've made it hard)
For putting us first.
(and letting us know that it made you happy to do so)

Our hearts,
Our souls,
Our spouses,
and our children are the better for it.

It is an honor to live the legacy that IS our family.
It is my prayer my kids feel the same.
You are the House That Built WE.

Miranda Lambert - The House That Built Me
I know they say you can’t go home again
I just had to come back one last time
Ma’am I know you don’t know me from Adam
But these handprints on the front steps are mine

Up those stairs in that little back bedroom
Is where I did my homework and I learned to play guitar
I bet you didn’t know under that live oak
My favorite dog is buried in the yard

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
This brokenness inside me might start healing
Out here it’s like I’m someone else
I thought that maybe I could find myself

If I could just come in I swear I’ll leave
Won’t take nothing but a memory
From the house that built me

Mama cut out pictures of houses for years
From Better Homes and Gardens magazine
Plans were drawn and concrete poured
Nail by nail and board by board
Daddy gave life to mama’s dream

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
This brokenness inside me might start healing
Out here it’s like I’m someone else
I thought that maybe I could find myself

If I could just come in I swear I’ll leave
Won’t take nothing but a memory
From the house that built me

You leave home and you move on and you do the best you can
I got lost in this old world and forgot who I am
I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
This brokenness inside me might start healing
Out here it’s like I’m someone else
I thought that maybe I could find myself

If I walk around I swear I’ll leave
Won’t take nothing but a memory
From the house that built me