Who would complain about such good things? Apparently me! The night before the party I lost my mind on everybody, even though I'd given them permission to do the things that took them away from time on the house and yard. I was overtired and certain we wouldn't be able to make things presentable before the "event".
The day before I was the one who had to be gone from home all day. I had to take Melody to her orthodontist appointment and we had to finish holiday shopping. I didn't buy any decoration that isn't "Made in America"! Later, I had my regular Tuesday night "session"/class ...actually, counseling.
Mike had asked me Monday if I'd be home to receive a package on Tuesday. When I finally dragged in at a quarter 'til 9, McKala said I had something on the chest of drawers in our bedroom. I found a plane ticket there and while I was rambling through my mind what that meant, Mike walked out of our bathroom. He'd been gone to Moore, Oklahoma for 5 weeks. I screamed like an Army wife would! I'd just told him last week that he'd been gone so long that I felt like I truly missed him and that we had a new place to start from. Call it what you will but it was the truth.
Here he sits beside me watching "American Pickers" as I recount what turned out to be our best party ever. Thursday morning everybody got up, even though Megan and Miranda had driven back from Oklahoma 18 hours arriving at midnight. Melody decorated with streamers and balloons, flowers and books; Michael pressure washed; McKala headed to work but had already taken on the clutter, floors, and baseboards with Macklynn and Madalynn; Miranda painted; Megan pressed almost 100 burgers (I bought beef every time I thought it was a good price, not knowing I'd stocked up well over 30 pounds) and I push mowed (which God knows I need the exercise from), while Mike took the kids intermittently for rides on the Harley he'd rented the day before.
He took me to Logan's for our 24th anniversary that was Monday! We got to witness for the first time TOGETHER as our waitress divulged the details of her life and listened intently as we told her the parts of our story that were similar to her and what God has done with them. He drove straight over to the dealership to rent himself a little piece of freedom and although I needed to be preparing for the party that night, I found myself on the back of that motorcycle.
It's completely awesome that he got to be home for the party since it all started years ago because the 4th of July is his favorite holiday. It'd been raining for days though and we weren't sure how it'd go, nor was anyone else. It got off to a slow start but within the hour, there was hardly anywhere else to put food or people. Kids were jumping into the pond. Our patriotic compilation was playing. "The Warrior Song" was on when I passed through the carport. I half heartedly apologized for the hard core nature of it, not realizing that we had a Marine among us ...who'd just been doing flips off the trampoline into the water :)There were pick-up games of basketball in the driveway and pick-up games of checkers on the front porch. The teens soon gathered around the water slide Michael put together before he grilled those dozens of burgers. Since there were upwards of 60 people, I asked Mike if he would pray with the "dry ones" in the carport so we could eat in shifts. It's still odd yet wonderful to hear him do that.
The brindle Pit Bull puppy Michael brought home Wednesday from the Vet's office and named Pippy Lou was a huge hit. I don't think she was put down for more than a few minutes. She even got to spend part of the evening hammocking with some of the kids. Our new piglet was a close second for attention.As the mounds of burgers, salads, treats, and fruit disappeared, the lighting of the bonfire began while children swam around the pond and others were swung on the swings. I was utterly surrounded by friends, not just any friends but the kind, new and old, who've shared with us in our times of need and our times of celebration, people who love God to their cores, people who've brought us food and clothes; mowed our grass; taught and lent their ears to us; opened their homes to and smiled upon us despite their own tiredness, loneliness, sickness, hardship, or busyness.
Thank God, we escaped injuries and arguments and storms. The display went off without a hitch after the kids played with sparklers, made s'mores, and settled down on blankets. It didn't start raining until the last 2 cars were about to leave. Michael offered to retrieve one to which she originally said "no", but laughingly passed her keys to him after he "insisted". And it's a good thing because he slid right down the yard to get to it. I had to pretreat his shirt down the front and the back! She snickered, "That could've been me!" ...love her humor, and the dedication of another: that although quite pregnant and adorably so, she had the sink full of suds to wash up even though almost everyone else was outside.
These are "my people". This is "my country" in more ways than one. All this has inspired lots of questions from the kids. I believe we'll be cracking a few of those books we decorated with before they make it back to the shelves. "Glory, glory, hallelujah" is taking new form! The fact that America was founded on all that is wholesome is being cemented into the hearts and minds of our family through times like this past Thursday night. Today, we were still wondering whose stuff is whose hanging on our line and we were eating leftover hamburgers ...and that's just fine.
