Someone is Always Watching

We are wrapping up another weekend. It was a good one with a little strep throat sprinkled on top. :( Emma started running a fever Saturday and by the time 8pm arrived she was having a very bad, no good, horrible day. Running 101.6, crying, clingy and looked awful. We managed to get her in the bed and about 3am she woke up crying and coughing like a seal, if you are a momma you know the kind of cough I am talking about. It is a barky cough (if barky is a word.) I opened up the freezer and we stood there for awhile until she could get under control, her fever at this point was 102. A little tylenol, a little freezer time and two hours later she was back in the bed. Took her to the doctor this afternoon and she has strep. Which is actually a relief because I thought she either had croup or flu and you can't treat those with antibiotics like you can strep. So needless to say the weekend did not end up as well as it started. But let me just tell you how it started...

Friday night our family met up with 3 other families at a local pizza place. The Parkinson(moving down the street from us) family, The Trotter(sweet friends who are great prayer warriors)family, The Bridges(Avery is our builder) family and us. We had a great time hanging out and spending time together but there was a bigger meaning behind our fellowship. We left the pizza place and headed to our new street. The first stop was the Parkinson's new home which they will be moving into in about a month. We took a tour and then spent about 30-45 minutes praying over their new home. Praying for patience, joy, encouragement and safety. We then loaded up all the kids in our mini-van and drove a block down and stopped at our lot. All the kids (all 8 of them) sat in our van and watched a movie while the adults got out and prayed over our lot. We prayed for Avery Bridges, we prayed for laughter in the walls of our home, for hospitality and understanding and for people to see a difference in the families that will inhabit that street. Then a few of the adults went over and prayed over the Crenshaw(our old friends and neighbors who are building across the street from us, they could not join us but will next time) lot. While we were praying several people stopped, some we knew and we spent some time talking to them and telling them what we were doing. Some we had no idea who they were but they were watching. I have no idea what they were thinking but I hope they saw glimpses of light as we prayed over that street and over them. It was an amazing time and makes me really want to be back in the hood.

Saturday morning and afternoon we spent time on the football field. PDS had their annual jamboree and Preston played a mini game and then Bennett had his first flag football game of the season. His team did not win but you should have seen him. He was grinning from ear to ear and when they did score their one touch down at the end of the game you would have thought they had just won the national championship. They all jumped on top of the kid that scored and cheered and laughed. After the game we talked about what a great attitude Bennett had even though they lost. We told him that people watch you all the time and watch your reactions and that we were proud of him for being such a good sport.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF8ZoevMJQc

I just finished reading an article on Serena Williams and how she threatened a line judge at the US Open semi finals last night. The youtube video is above. After watching the display of her actions it looked to me like an almost two year old I know throwing a tantrum when she doesn't get her way. (Exhibit A)

Now I also would like to point out that to me it does not look like a "foot fault" it looks like her foot is behind the line when she serves but that is not really the point. The point is someone is always watching. Regardless if you are famous like Serena, Tiger Woods or Paris Hilton or if you are a group of friends praying over a street laden with drugs, poverty and crime or if you are a 6 year old who just lost his first flag football game 24-6, someone is watching. And whether or not it is fair they are making judgments on your character, maturity and beliefs.

I hope that my kids did a lot of watching themselves this weekend. I hope they saw what it means to be a family and to be intentional where you live and to live out what God calls your family to do. My prayer for this week is that my actions will shout to the people around me that I am a Christ follower and that my life is not about me but all about Him.