If Home Is Where Your Heart Is. . . .

What?  A recovering P31? Proverbs 31 describes the wife of noble character.  This wife gets up early and works hard all day long and isn't even tired when she finally retires from all of her work at night.  She is a servant to her husband and she makes him proud.  She is a fantastic mom and I'm sure, if there was Pinterest in the day, she would be the Pinterest-y-est of the moms.  She isn't afraid of hard work and she has the pantry stocked in the case of an emergency and she has her family ready for cold winters, famine and hard times.  She helps strangers and loved ones alike and she has her sights set beyond herself.  Her husband praises her and her children are grateful for her and call her blessed. Oh my gosh!  What a great lady!  I want to be like her!  So why am I a recovering P31 and why am I writing about it now when I'm not even a wife? (For starters, I think this kind of noble woman is a goal regardless of any woman's marital status, so let's take tha

Tiki.  He has been home nearly ten years and what a wild ride it has been. . . . so many times over the past ten years I have left sporting events or school events or church events heavy hearted and sad and discouraged because I felt like people saw Tiki as a burden or a hassle.  Don't get me wrong--everyone LOVES Tiki, they really do.  He has never met a stranger and he is the happiest kid on the planet.  Everyone loves him, but those first few years he was a lot to handle and it was obvious at events.  And I would leave those events heavy hearted because I just wanted him to be loved and appreciated for his heart and his spirit. . . .  But last night, I left his football game walking on clouds with a heart overflowing with pride and gratefulness and giddiness.  Tiki is living his best life right now.   During the game I was taking to a mom and not paying attention (I wasn't paying much attention because Tiki doesn't typically go in to the game until late in the third quar