The Good List 3-19-14

10. Yesterday I heard chickadees singing for the first time in quite a long time. It was a welcome sound. ;-)

9. Captain America 2. Next month. Yes.



8. When my pantry and refrigerator are full of fresh produce. This makes me a special kind of happy. :-)
7. Texting with Macy. Sometimes I'm still weirded out by how quickly she is growing up, but she makes me giggle when we chat, and it has been fun "staying in touch" this way when we aren't under the same roof. 
6. Gracie keeps every single one of her "lunchbox notes." This makes me smile.

5. The people of CB Northwest, who invited Jared to speak at their Pastors' Conference in Seaside, OR last week. They were such sweet and gracious hosts, and it was a joy to spend time with them.
4. Jeff and Keri Seavey. I told you a little bit about them here. But there is so much more to tell. And I can't possibly do it in one little point on a list. So for now I will just say that they are entirely fabulous and that I am eternally grateful that God saw fit to intertwine our lives--even as we continue to be separated by pretty much the ENTIRE United States of America. One day we will intersect again, my friends. Oh yes. We will. And it will be glorious. :-)
3. Coming home from Oregon the day after a huge snow storm to find our friend Jeff shoveling a path to our door. He must love these Wilson people. Which works out well, 'cause we sure do love our Miserocchis. 

2. Lunch with my Mom on Monday. Sadly, it was on my way to take her to the airport and send her back home :-(, but at least we got to sit still together for a little while. These times feel way too few and far between.
1. Yesterday right out of the blue, Grace said to me, "Mom, do you think some time soon we could spend some time together, just the two of us? It doesn't seem like we get to do that very often." Be still, my heart. Also: YES. We most definitely can. And I can't wait.

A Tale of Two Pastors' Wives

It all started a little over a year ago when Jared was scheduled to speak at a conference in Moses Lake, Washington. This dude named Jeff Seavey (or maybe Jeffrey. I'm not even really sure which he prefers, but I've been calling him Jeff, and he hasn't corrected me, so if he prefers Jeffrey, then he should learn to speak up.) But I digress. . .  Anyways. . .  Jared was speaking at a conference in Moses Lake. Jeff got wind of this via Twitter or something like that and messaged Jared to see if he would be interested in speaking at his church in Vancouver while he was "in the area." With very little pretty much zero research or follow-up of any kind, Jared agreed.

This led to a 5-6 hour drive across Washington after the conference with Jeff and his wife, Keri, neither of whom Jared had met prior to this encounter. In a white van with no windows. (OK, just kidding about the van.) But you get my point. ;-) This could have gotten shady pretty quickly. Also, there was apparently a gallon sized bag of gummy bears involved in this excursion, so that is certainly questionable at best. But. . .

. . . thankfully, they didn't have any shady plans in mind (other than consuming those nasty little globs of goo), and they did in fact deliver Jared all the way to Vancouver safely. ;-) In fact, by the time they had reached Vancouver, Jared had come to the conclusion that Keri and I would be BFFs if we could spend some time together. (Jeff's not too bad either, but we can talk about that some other time.)

Fast forward about a year. Jared was scheduled to speak at a conference in Seaside, OR, and that same dude named Jeff Seavey asked if Jared would like to speak at his church in Vancouver again. And guess who joined him this time. :-D And guess who finally met the utterly fabulous Keri in person. And guess who ADORES her! (It's me just in case any of you slow people were struggling with the guessing.)

In some ways, we are kind of polar opposites. She is in the Northwest. I am almost as far away as you can get within the continental U.S. in the Northeast. She is in the city. I'm about as rural as you can get. She is a pro, having ministered with her husband for several years. I still find myself feeling very inexperienced at this pastor's wife thing. And then there's the fact that we're kind of photo negatives of each other--me with my white hair and light eyes, she with her glossy dark mane and beautiful brown eyes. BUT. . .  I'm pretty sure our hearts are identical twins, and I love that.

What a gift to me is this precious woman! I'm always amazed (not really surprised anymore, but still amazed) by the way God knits hearts together so quickly and securely when the Gospel is the common ground. When you add to that common experience and similar struggles, it seems like the bond becomes even stronger more quickly. And let me just tell you, pastor's wives need each other. And that's about all I'll say about that for now. ;-)

Through Jared's stories and Facebook, I already felt like I was getting to know this entire wonderful Seavey family. But this week we shared stories, we shared meals, we shared laughs (SO MANY LAUGHS), and we even shared the Gospel with some unsuspecting associates at the Seaside Dairy Queen who were just trying to close down for the night. Bless their little hearts. :-) And we dug into the Word together via the CB Northwest Pastor's Conference under Jared's teaching. And every second of it was a blessing.

I'm so grateful for another sister with whom to lock arms as I continue to learn and grow into what this whole "Pastor's Wife" thing is supposed to look like. It's a challenging journey, but much less so when shared with loving, Godly, FUN ladies like Keri who help lighten the load and share JOY along the way. This week was such refreshment to me. It truly felt like a glimpse of heaven. Beautiful fellowship, all things in common, and staring into Christ's glory together. I wanna do it again SOON! So much AWESOME!

Love you, Jeff and Keri! (But mostly Keri. No offense, Jeff. It's not like you didn't already know. But if you'll get me a coupon for a $243 trip to Paris, I'll elevate your status immediately.)

The Good List 3-5-14

10. These. The beginning of happiness.

9. The scale at my doctor's office weighs me lighter than my scale at home. Hers has to be more accurate, right? ;-) (Work with me here, people. Sometimes it's the little things...)
8. Our friend Kathie brought this book to Jared on Sunday. Makin' me giggle.

7. This. It's old, but it still makes me giggle.



6. My Mom brought us boudin all the way from Houston, TX to Vermont. I haven't had that stuff in years. It was yummy!
5. Packing for a trip to the Pacific Northwest this weekend. I've only been in that area once. Looking forward to another visit.
4. Ohhhhh. Yes, please. I would very much like to see this.



3. Treats from EPCOT. Aka, what happens when Jared goes to Orlando without us. ;-)

2. This was one of our favorite parts of the Sing Off concert. (It was just a little bit different the night we were there, but even funnier I think.) So fun! 



1. This entire scenario:

Jeff calls and says something like, "I know this is a little crazy and a lot last minute, but if we can get enough tickets to the Sing Off concert in Schenectady tonight, do you want to bring the girls?"

Me (making a mental list of all the reasons a late concert 2 hours away on a school night is probably a terrible idea): "Oh, I think we just HAVE to! I mean, when will they get this opportunity again?!?"

Jeff: "Ok, we'll let you know as soon as Mark hears back from Tim.

Mark texts: "Call me."

I call.

Mark says something like, "We're leaving here in 5 minutes to come pick y'all up."

Five minutes for 3 girls to get ready? Not likely.

Five minutes for 3 girls to get ready for a Sing Off concert featuring Home Free AND the opportunity to meet those guys? We'll make it happen. 

I say, "Ok. We'll be ready."

And these are some of the things that happened next. Judge my terrible parenting if you must ;-) , but I don't regret a second of it. SO MUCH FUN!!!

To the left: The Filharmonic. Center stage (as they should be): Home Free. To the right: Voice Play.

Autographs after the concert:

And then as we were standing around talking to Tim after the concert, he saw the girls looking up at him with this exact look on their faces and said, "How about a picture?" (Or something like that. ;-))

Utterly starstruck.

Minds. Blown.

And THEN: Tim joined us for dinner after the show, (about which Grace later said, "I can't believe we shared a dinner table with a guy who has his own holiday.")

And while we were there, Austin came in to say hi too.

The final little cherry on top of an already perfect night.

And as I was tucking the girls in way past bedtime, Grace said, "Mom, that was probably the best night of my life. (brief pause) Well, maybe a tie with Disneyworld." :-) High marks indeed.

THANK YOU, MARK and JEFF, for inviting us into all this crazy fun! It's one of our favorite memories ever! Good times. Good times.