Missing out?

Fathers play a huge part in their daughters lives. They are the protectors, and the leaders. They are the ones who take care that everything is alright, making sure our bodies are never hurting and keeping our delicate minds protected.

They are the ones who discipline us when we're wrong, while always letting us know they love us. Fathers tell us we are beautiful even on our worst days. They are the spiritual leaders at home, guiding the family in prayer, reading the Bible and showing it put into practice.

They are the example of what to look for in a husband. Being there to help you when you think that you've found the right guy. Dads are so vital in a girls life.

Or so I've heard.

I don't even know for sure. I've never seen any of that in my life. Ever. It was like I've never even had a father. He never cared if I was alright, or if I was worrying about having enough food to eat. Instead of protecting my mind, he abused and even invaded it. He just about destroyed my innocence.

Discipline? He always put that on my mom. He almost never said the most important words "I love you". When he did, they were always hollow, and I knew they didn't mean anything. He was always silent even when I would come right out and ask him "Am I beautiful?"

He never prayed with us unless there was a major crisis, and his Bible would just collect dust. But he would always go to church and pretend he was close to God. Did he do it just to confuse me? As for a future husband, I always thought "All I have to do is find someone the opposite of dad and I'll be set."

I was always worried about what would happen after high school, when I would decide to start dating. I knew I couldn't trust his judgment. I always pictured a dad who would be there to threaten my date with a baseball bat. It hurt to know that would never exist. And what about my wedding day? The idea of him walking me down the aisle made me sick inside.

He never truly cared about what I was interested in. Even for a couple years when I first played softball, he would help coach. I always knew it was just for the recognition he got for it. You could tell by how he talked, and by looking at his eyes. He didn't really pay attention to me.

And music? I love to sing, so you'd think it would be natural for him, a college music major, to at least teach me the basics. But he never did, even when I would beg him to.

He hurt me with so many different kinds of abuse. I mean, what 10 year old feels guilty whenever her dad takes the family out to eat because she knew that the car might be repossessed, or that they were having to move again because they were going to get kicked out of their house!

Boy, does it feel like I grew up fast. As I see it, he basically stole my childhood. At a very young age, I learned that I didn't have a father.

And then I realized that I do have one. He is my heavenly Father, and He knows me better than anyone else ever could. He knows what I've been through and what I need. He knows what I'm interested in and who I'm going to marry. He knows My past, present, and future.

And now I know that He will always protect me and be there for me. He tells me in His word that I am "fearfully and wonderfully made", no matter what anyone else has to say. He loves me more than even a perfect earthly father could. He is all I need to survive. I am so thankful He showed me that I have a true father and that I learned it at a young age.

I also know that I would go through all the pain again just to discover that I am truly a Daughter of God. Now looking back, I guess that I didn't miss out on anything at all.

~Laurel

Campmeeting

Campmeeting. hmm. Those words probably don't mean a whole lot, if anything, to you. But to us (twins), wow, it's so much. It's so hard to explain in few enough words for someone to get it. My parents, their parents, their parents, and so on. All grew up in that church. What church you ask? The church that started this infamous meeting called camp.

It is (dun, dun, dun...dramatic pause) Apostolic Faith Church..."AF." A-F. Yes, we were AFers. Down below, you will see pictures of the "tabernacle" It is where they have their services for two weeks during campmeeting. The whole area is right across the street from the Portland "HQ" church. It's kind of like a camp ground with cabins and places to park your trailer. It also has a restaurant that has the best food ever! (made from recipes passed down from great-grandmothers)

As we said, our ancestors all went there. And we attended AF until we were 3 years old. When we were three, our parents made the switch to City Bible Church. But every year, we would always go to campmeeting at least once. Now, you must understand that most of my family has gone to campmeeting at one time or another. Many of them still do, so when we show up it's like being in the middle of one great big family reunion!

For them.

Not so much for us, because for the life of us, we can never figure out who half the people are when they ask "Are you Paige, or Laurel?" And we look at them and think, "OH MY STINKIN'WORD. HOW DO YOU KNOW ME?!" Because we are looking at them, staring at them even, and we honestly have not one single solitary clue on this whole planet who they are.

Seriously. So you just grin, bear it and give the appearance of remembrance and recognition. This happens about 2 dozen times during the night. That, not including the other 3 dozen people we do know!

Like so many of the kids our age we grew up with. Our moms were pregnant together and we would play in church nursery as babies. Even though we never saw them very often, we'd totally reconnect as soon as we saw them. It seemed like not a day had gone by since we were together.

This year was especially cool because we got to spend the night for the first time. Even though "technically", we weren't supposed to be there. But we got special permission since we are seriously, related to so many people. Some of them "conveniently" being pastors!

Yeah, we have good times at Campmeeting.


Paige and Laurel

The Passing

Well, The time has finally come. The time to leave behind what once was. Time for it to again become what now is. We have decided to pass the infamous baton to a younger generation so they can learn and experience all that these lessons have for them.




Yes, Laurel and I have decided it is time for us to pass down our pink plastic storage bin of "Adventures in Odyssey" to Olivia, Claire and Quentin.




~sigh~




This is actually a very big step in our lives. Ever since we were about 3 1/2 years old we have listened to at least 1 episode of AIO every single night before we went to bed. EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. That is over 2,600 nights of having the voices of Whit, Connie, Eugene, Tom, Bernard, and so many others speaking to us and teaching us lessons we might not have otherwise learned.


So, here is to our "second family". The one who existed only through our ears and imaginations. The one who taught us not to lie, cheat, steal, or ever buy anything from Bart Rathbone and expect it to work. May you speak to our little siblings the same way you spoke to us, with God right there in the middle of it.


Thank you, Adventures in Odyssey. Here's to you!



Paige.


BTW. Our family still usually listens to an episode while we are eating lunch!!

Dumb Ugly Mutt

Well... My dog looks like a humane society reject. You know, the one where you go on the website and it says "no picture available"? I shall explain. After Paige and I tried to give our dog a haircut we learned a few things.
1) Our dog is deathly afraid of the sound scissors make
2) She never stops moving
3) I don't know how to cut hair
4) So I guess what I'm saying is that I don't know how to cut a cowering dog whose eyes roll back in her head whenever she sees/hears scissors.

We are going to send her to a professional groomer. Except I'm kind of embarrassed to show my face at the groomers.I mean, what, "Hi, I ruined my dog so now she looks like an moron! Can you help me? "


Yeah. It's that bad

Laurel

P.S. Anyone know a good dog groomer that will keep my name confidential?