Finally old enough....

Hi, I'm Rebecca Ashton and I'm finally old enough.....

-to wear socks with owls on them
-to slide across floors in said socks.  I mean all the TIME if I could
-to be thrilled with legos as a birthday gift for my 29th year
-to admit that I wanted to launch rockets when I was younger... I wanted to push buttons
-to stage lego massacres...... Cleopatra and that stupid snake did it
-Wombat Man
-to have a serious voice break in rehearsal a worship set and mostly laugh it off
-to admit that I have burned rice more than any other food I've cooked
-to tell that I can roast a chicken and bake a carrot cake....seriously, I can cook
-to crawl under a dining room table and color with awesome kiddos
-to eat popcorn for dinner
-to wear socks with foxes on them and admit that the foxes are wearing glasses, they're that cool
-to love going barefoot in the wet grass
-to wear glitter
-I'm an introvert all the way BUT love people and value them, it can be done!
-to admit that my most visited page on Pinterest is the GEEK page
-Doctor Who
-to sit on the floor and play foosball with a 6 year old and a dog
-to admit that if I had a day, I would spend it reading C.H. Spurgeon and John Muir
-I can start 5 sentences at one time...get none of them finished and then have to start all over again
-wear superhero socks...The Flash, since you asked.

-To start owning my personality.

I spent years trying to be the Golden Child (and not in a good way), to be what I wasn't supposed to.  I thought I needed to be serious and hide my quirkiness.  I thought that I wouldn't be taken seriously or wouldn't be thought responsible.  I believed no one would understand, they really wouldn't like the real me that does silly voices and takes long leaps off of moving sidewalks. (it didn't end well) Who would prefer to stick their head out the window during a car ride for the wind in my face, who longs for the mountains as well as the ocean sea.

Now though, it's okay, I'm getting there.

If I want others to be okay in their own skin, I'd better be okay in mine.  I'm better with my quirkiness, silliness and geeky-ness than I ever thought I could be.  I'm straining on towards that goal of Christ-likeness, holiness to the glory of God being my aim, but until then and because personality is a gift from God, I'll share. ( a part anyway, I mean cause really?  half the time I'm confused about what I mean)

For the beauty in the truth that EVERYONE is unique,  there's part of my list.  I'm finally 'old' enough to share some of my quirkiness with you and be okay with it.  Not fearful that you will reject me.

I'm sorry and you're welcome.

“When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.” --C.S. Lewis  

Feel free to share.....Do you have socks with foxes?

Please don't let the pups come....

There comes a moment when you realize that you just googled how you know if a momma dog is going to have puppies.  This isn't your dog, you've never done this before and you have no intention of remembering how or what  to do to help...but you just looked it up on the internet. On purpose.

 Reality hits and you see part of who you are.  Why are you googling that in the first place? You are hoping and praying that this temporary house-kid* (not really a kid, a HS student)-dog sitting thing doesn't turn into a puppy birthday.  You said: sure I'll watch your kid and house while your gone....wait when is the dog due?  Really?  The day after I leave?  What do I do if the puppies come early?  "Oh, the kid knows what to do"

You ask the kid and you get deer. in. the. headlights. She doesn't know.

So you're on google asking the internet for help and praying the pups don't come.

But really, you wouldn't have it any other way,  where's the adventure in a regular old house sitting weekend?  If it's not four HS girls or a pregnant dog or snow storms that mean shoveling a driveway or two stray dogs that find every hole in the fence and you chase them out of the yard for two weeks..... it wouldn't be an adventure.  You have a moment when you have a 'fake' daughter or four and you're so grateful.  They're wonderful young women that you get to spend time with, you get to fake being a mom for a weekend or three.  You get to be a part of their life.  Whether you're the 'cool' teacher to come and stay or not,  whether you're the first choice or not, you still try and make sure the homework is done and watch movies and eat ice cream, because it's about priorities people.

 And when it's over for the time being, you know you enjoyed getting to know them better, to know these awesome young women and see what they are in the process of becoming and that's exciting.  That's why you agreed.

Your prayer life increases exponentially, you ask the internet for help....

and you pray the pups, at least til you're gone, don't come.

When the Birthday hits....

I had to do the math to figure out how old I was on October 30th.  I really couldn't remember.  Years in Budapest I remember, the tournaments I remember, your birthday I usually remember.  My own?  Sure I remember the day, but how old?  Completely forgot.  Sure I knew I was and am in the last three years of my 20's right before the 30, but really, I pulled out my phone to do the math, just in case.

So thank you for the birthday wishes, the fun cards, the chocolate bars and the decorated office door, you helped me remember, you helped me mark the day.  Thank you for my 29th.