A Man of His Word

All of my children have big personalities for which I claim no blame. =) But Mia seems to have received an extra helping from the Lord. Someday I have to hook up my video camera in the van and record one of our conversations (read a Mia monologue) as I drive. She doesn't do this on the way to or from school, only if we're traveling a little farther and she's wide awake. Once she gets going, the most hilarious things come out of her mouth. These are just a few from our trip to Shawano yesterday.

Mia: Mommy, you know Mason makes me laugh a lot.
Me: That's a nice quality in a boy.
Mia: Ya know Mommy: Mason is seven, and I'm almost seven. He's the same height as me, and both of our names start with "M". That's kind of coincidencey! I think we were meant for each other.

Mia: I was sledding with Mason at school, and he let me ride on his sled (isn't he nice?)! I went over a jump and fell off the sled and landed flat on my face. So you know what I did to let my friends know that I was ok?
Me: What did you do?
Mia: This *raises her hand up in the peace sign*

Can't you just picture her facedown in the snow just raising her hand up shakily in the peace sign? LOL

Matt Nathanson's Come on Get Higher came on the radio and she asked me to turn it up saying it was one of her favorites. After the line "drown me in your love" she said, "Mommy, I think I know just what he means by drowning in love. I think it means that he's like the sun and he's so filled with love that it's like the poky things on the sun spilling out on everyone because he can't hold all of the love inside. Is that right?"

Mia: Mommy, I was late getting back to class from bathroom break today.
Me: Why?
Mia: Because I was surrounded by girls asking if they could come to my birthday party. They were all saying, "Can I come? Can I come? Can I come to your party?" I think that's the most popular sentence I heard all day! I think I went a little overboard inviting people to come. And Mom, overboard is just an expression. I'm not really overboard.

Mia: They aren't playing any Christmas music on the radio any more.
Me: Nope.
Mia: They should start playing birthday music for my birthday. I know! They should play my birthday song!
Me: What's your birthday song?
Mia: I don't know, I haven't written it yet...wait I know! *singing* Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Yep, she was singing the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah. She definitely has a healthy self-esteem!

Mia has the most amazing sense of humor as well. A couple of weeks ago, I scolded her about all of my water bottles that she has "borrowed" from me never to be seen again. She said that they were under her bed. I teased her that that's where Jimmy Hoffa ended up. He's drinking the water from the bottles under her bed and surviving just fine. She had no idea who Hoffa was, but turned the joke around on me saying that Amelia Earhart was under there as well! It's a running joke between us now as to which figure who mysteriously disappeared is hiding under her bed and what she's supplying them with. Today she informed me that General George Armstrong Custer is living under there as well!

I picked today's video because this song reminds me so much of Mia. She really does make me smile, and I hope that at least one of her stories today made you smile as well.

A Man of His Word by Kathleen Fuller is the first book in the Middlefield Series. Moriah Miller has spent much of her life waiting to marry her beau, Levi Miller. But soon after their wedding, the life she imagined for the two of them unravels. He abandons her and their unborn child, leaving her in a state of limbo within their Amish community that doesn't allow divorce. Gabriel, Levi's twin, has long been in love with Moriah but hid his feelings, but now he may be the only one to make things right. Fuller captures the day to day life of an Amish woman, along with her faith and love for family. Readers will see some plot twists coming easily, but the story is compelling and moving as Gabriel tries to do right by Levi and Moriah, as well as Moriah's ache over the loss of a dream and the fear of starting anew. Several other couples are introduced throughout the book who will certainly be featured in future volumes in the series. Gabriel and Moriah's romance is fraught with emotion and pain; I look forward to the story involving Moriah's brother and his new wife which promises to be more light-hearted.

Thank you to Thomas Nelson Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book for review.