American Honey

This weekend DW and I went over to B'ham to hang out with friends and to play at the lake. On Friday night, we met up with Waid and his wife, Jenn, who had a precious little boy named Brayden in early June. It was Bray's first restaurant adventure when we met them at Jim N Nicks, so we weren't sure how it would go but he's such a great baby and it didn't phase him. When we were done eating, we went back and spent some time at their house, hanging out and catching up...and, of course, holding little Bray.

On Saturday, we got up early and spent some time with DW's Granny before heading over to the lake for the day. Mid afternoon our friends, Chris, Shanna, and their little girl, Liz, came over to join us and we spent hours and hours out on the water just floating, relaxing, kayaking, fishing, and playing with the dogs. When we were all starving, we headed back to their house and on the way picked up a pizza so we could just relax at home. Back at Chris and Shanna's, we sat around talking and had CMT playing in the background while I held Liam, their new addition to the family, and Liz ran around the living room, entertaining us as always.

Suddenly, Liz bolted and came back carrying a 3 year old-sized pink guitar. When she got in the room, she laid the guitar across her lap, held her face up toward the sky, her silky blond little curls cascading away from her face, and began to sing the words of Miranda Lambert's The House That Built Me that was playing on the TV. It may not sound like much, but being there, hearing the angelic voice of a three year old lifted up to the heavens as she pretended to strum a guitar gave me chill bumps. There was no pretense about it...

Right about that time, DW noticed that in the middle of the video Miranda Lambert's "child version" was sitting on the floor, playing guitar and singing exactly the way Liz was mimicking. It's a great reminder that kids see and mimick everything they see and you never know what's going to leave a mark on their heart in some way. When the song ended, Liz stood up, turned around, and took a deep and theatrical bow to the four of us...which of course made us all laugh at the "little entertainer". She asked Chris, "Daddy, will you play me some Lady Antebellum?" and Chris explained that he couldn't choose the songs on the TV. It was to her utter delight when only moments later, a Lady A song, did come on.

As I sat there, I thought about our time with Waid, Jenn, & Bray, listened to the sound of Chris and DW joke back and forth, and couldn't help but admire Shanna's quiet grace and humor and strength as I always do. In that moment, God reminded me that I am so uniquely blessed. Rich, even, in the things that matter. As I quietly held Liam and watched Liz sing and dance again, with the words of "American Honey" floating in the air, the lyrics struck me to the core...

She grew up on the side of the road
where the church bells ring
and strong love grows...

She grew up good,

She grew up slow,

like American Honey...

So innocent, pure, and sweet...

It's not about stuff or money or success...it's about things like having a weekend with friends where you can have as much fun eating delivered pizza and talking at home as you do on a night out. It's about protecting and raising up little ones in happy homes "where the church bells ring" and where they can throw their heads back, sing, and dance without a care in the world. It's about making sure we keep our values strong and ensure these little ones get a chance to "grow up good and grow up slow".

Because "there's nothing sweeter than summertime and American honey...