Hugs!

Just stopped by to share this little piece of goodness.
We love our buddy, Micah Joe.
And the people he belongs to.
And his little brother too.

Happy Wednesday Evening!

Present with the Lord

This past weekend, we had the privilege of celebrating a dear friend's life and, as my Yaya would say, his "homegoing"... the glorious passage of existence from flesh on earth to the presence of God in Heaven. My friends, the memorial service was beautiful, lovely, exactly as it should have been. There were three elements that spoke deeply to my heart. The first part of the service was spent in worship... All of Jackie's friends and family just celebrating him by worshiping the Lord together, just exactly how Jackie would have wanted us to celebrate him. We sang a song, written by my dear friend, Jenny Ayers, called "Most High". One of the verses says, "I stand in awe and wonder in this place, for you are loveliness. I join with saints and angels, forever to proclaim in your presence..." (Ya'll, I have chillbumps as I type this)... As we sang that verse, I couldn't help but smile so broadly. I felt joy rush into my heart and overflow out of me as I thought about how Jackie was worshiping the Lord in Heaven and that, by worshiping Him here on earth, we were truly joining in with Jackie's song. This is so poignant because Jackie played with Trevor and so many of our dear friends on our worship team at church. How many times had they stood (or in Trevor's case, sat) on the stage together, unified, friends, worshiping Jesus in one accord? And I know that Trevor and my friends will miss being on stage with Jackie, pouring hearts out to the Lord... but, in that moment, it became so clear to me that any time we worship on earth, we will be joining our friend, as he spends eternity worshiping at the feet of Jesus. We are never closer then, to the ones who've passed before us, to the loved ones we miss so desperately, than when we worship our God.
What a marvelous mystery. What a precious reality.

The second part of the service that touched me deeply was Jackie's adult daughter's words about him. She used language of friendship, described evenings spent playing board games, watching baseball games, having talks... She described her mother and father as she and her husband's "favorite couple to hang out with" and said that her father was "one of her best friends". So beautiful. And doesn't that just speak to who Jackie was and who Wendy, his wife, is, that their grown children would want to spend so much time with them, that their grown children would describe them in such a way? And, of course, it made me think of my own daddy and mom, who we LOVE to be with, who we seek out, who we begged to come to Florida with us in September, just because we love spending time with them. What a treasure. What a gift. And it challenged me, friends. It challenged me to be the kind of parent who's adult children pursue. To be the kind of parent who is steadfast, committed (Jackie and Wendy's son, Taylor, played baseball all the way through college, year round, and Taylor testified that Jackie only missed one game. One game. In Taylor's entire career), FUN, wise, gracious... I'm inspired.

And, finally, Wendy's words about her husband. I won't share everything, in case it wasn't meant for all the internet to read but suffice it to say that these two were resolutely and solidly in love. They were truly companions, unified. I will say that, before Jackie died, I was so moved by how Wendy talked about Jackie's cancer. She called it "ours". When describing what was going on in Jackie's body, she said "us" and "we", as in, "we are experiencing pain in such and such place" because, as she said, "We are one. What is happening to Jackie is happening to me."

Have I mentioned that I'm inspired?
And grateful. So grateful for the friendship of this family, for the hope that we have because of Jesus and for the ways that Jackie continues to teach and influence me.

"To be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord" Hallelujah.

My New Office, AKA: THE LGC's Playroom

Well, my friends, a post about the playroom is long overdue but here it is. We completed it in time for Laila's second birthday and, boy, has it helped us brave this HOT Texas summer!! You, our dearest friends, are more than welcome to come play as well. Beat the heat with the Chapmans! That's our motto! It would be a pleasure to have you.

Besides helping us have a stellar indoor play space, the playroom has truly helped ease the pain of our house NOT selling. P.S. We have a beautiful house for sale!! (Hey, its my blog. I can throw in shameless plugs if I want to...) :)

Here it is, my friends:

And here are the stats:

The paint is Sherwin Williams Adventure Orange (because we love adventure, as you know.)

The tiles are from www.softtiles.com. May I just say that these are AWESOME. They are soft and squishy so they provide a nice landing for the slide (not pictured, off to the left) and provide great support for the feet and ankles during jumping and dance parties. Also, the company will send you free samples of whatever colors you want so that you can see how they will look in your space. We highly recommend them! Also, I use baby wipes to easily mop up any stains or smudges and it works like a charm!

The green table and chairs are from IKEA as are the shelves. The frames are also from IKEA. Those are the fruits of the spirit...










Oh yeah, the easel also came from IKEA. Cheap too!

The kitchen is kid kraft and, boy, do we LOVE that kitchen! (Thanks, Nonna and Papa Bear!)

And those awesome green bins are from Target. 

And now for the credits:

Truly, the credit goes to.... (drum roll, please!) my sweetest and darling husband, Trevor Chapman, who, selflessly and lovingly:

1). Gave up his formal dining room... which, ya'll, I would have NEVER expected.

2). Painted and re-painted and taped and painted. He also painted the ceiling. So much work involved in that.

3). Took down the chandelier and replaced it with a super fan and high-tech dimming light switch.

4). Assembled the shelves from IKEA and measured and re-measured to be sure they would fit as beautifully as they do.

5). Researched the soft tiles, purchased the soft tiles and did all the mathematics, cutting, etc. to ensure that we had perfectly installed wall-to-wall comfort.

6). Ya'll. You ain't never seen anything until you've seen my husband hang a gallery wall. I thought it was perfect. Then, he noticed a slightly wider gap between two of the rows than the third and he took them all down and started again. I provided the moral support in the form of love notes held up from my comfy spot on the floor.

 

So, that's that. And our offer to have you come and play is a standing one. So, come on over!