Delays - Bad or Good?

Imagine if you will...

Early in the morning hours while a husband gets ready for his work day, he discovers schools will have a two hour delay. He proceeds to lovingly turn off all the alarms in the house so his wife and children can sleep in. "Oh, if only I could too" he says to himself.

This husband decides not to send a text or wake his wife to inform her, fearing she may be unable to fall back asleep. "She'll check the news when she wakes" he says and softly kisses his sleeping wife goodbye.

Minutes tick off the clock. The darkness and the rain have kept the sleeping wife and children tucked snugged in their beds a little longer than on a normal school day. The house is quiet and peaceful until the wife wakes to find twenty-seven minutes left on the clock before she would need to get the children to school. Panic dashes through the house only because nobody is aware of the delay. The children blame mischievous alarm clocks for never...alarming.

"What the heck?", grumbles the boy who is notorious for waking before any alarm.

"This is the second time my alarm didn't turn on!", explains the girl with a tone of annoyance.

"I'm so sorry! I just woke up too. Let's just get our things done quickly.", directs the wife.

Thankfully, the wife's social media addiction draws her to her phone as she sees a notification from her church "How has the 2 hour delay affected your day?"

"Delay?" she says.  Only seconds later does she discover the school has indeed delayed the start time by two hours because of freezing rain. Relief floods in immediately but as with any flood, there is also debris.

Exhausted from the night before the wife begins to speculate her husband had turned off the alarms and remarks, "I woke the children for nothing? And I could've been sleeping too? At least he could've left me a note, a text, anything!"

The love and gentleness her husband had shown by turning off the nuisance of a morning alarm became cloudy and muddy with the debris of negative emotions and words. She was unable to see his good intentions and instead found fault. As he called to say good morning, she rebukes him "What have you done!"

"I didn't want to wake you. I thought for sure you would have checked the news first thing." he replies apologetically.

"And panic is better? Thanks but no thanks.", she retorts.

And so the morning began. While their children laughed and played with the slow down of the morning, the wife reflected on her husband's actions. "If only I could have slept in" she says as she drifts back off to sleep.

True Story.

...

Yes, it's not a pretty one but it is mine. Actually the only part that isn't true is when I rebuked my husband by saying "What have you done!". We had a normal conversation and ended it with our I love you's. But that is not the point...nor the lesson of this story.

Even though we were civil towards each other, I am confident to say my husband probably felt rebuked and disrespected for his decision. From his perspective, he acted on information he received and made a loving gesture only for it to be received without a thank you. Regardless of whether he should have sent a text or even left a note, the fact remains that words can bring life...or bring someone down.

It might have been more challenging to say "Thank you honey for turning off those alarms. It was a big help and I do appreciate it. Maybe next time you could also leave me a note in the bathroom?".

Wouldn't I have rather received those words instead of what I did say or didn't say?


That is our daily challenge, isn't it? Words we say or don't say. Think on it. Is there someone you've been meaning to thank? Give them a call or send them a text. Or really blow their minds and send them a handwritten note.

A small gesture of kindness, no matter how difficult or trivial, can breathe life into a person.
Don't delay.

Dinner with Captain America

Tomorrow is my wedding anniversary.

My husband and I had planned a date night tonight. We were dropping off the kids at a "Parents Night Out" event at the nZone . We knew we had time to go to a local Kabob house (my favorite) and see a movie. Both of us were very excited and had planned to do something together as a family on our actual anniversary.

A celebration if you will.

Unfortunately, as life would have it, our son became very ill with a croupy cough and high fever. I knew it was serious when he refused to eat breakfast and told me how miserable he was. I mean, really? This boy of ours never misses a meal or snack time AND he's always up and ready to face the day. So I kept him home and skipped my physical therapy appointment...and cancelled our evening plans. Am I disappointed?  Of course I am but we'll plan again and it will be nice to be out with my hubby to celebrate us.

But for now in place of dinner out with my husband, we had pizza and wings outside while he was smoking meat on the grill/smoker. In place of a grown up movie with my man, I'm watching Captain America with our boy who is just as obsessed with Marvel comics as his mom.

I couldn't be happier.

Tonight is a reminder of what has transpired since Mark and I exchanged vows eleven years ago. I married my best friend and we now have a little family. I am so fortunate and we are extremely blessed. I can't think of a better way to celebrate an anniversary than to be reminded. There is no better gift for me.

Tomorrow Mark and I will enjoy dinner and a movie together but for now...

 Captain America waits! 

I'm a bunny. You're a bunny too.

What I love so much about my walks to school with the boy and girl is that there is always an opportunity to learn about the amazing wonder of nature that surrounds us. We also use that time to pray and worship, being reminded to give thanks for the numerous things we have.

This morning on our walk we saw a large rabbit chasing a little bunny which ultimately ran across the street to get away.  I knew what was happening and my immediate reaction was to make light of it by giving them voices in order to explain to our children the process in nature when babies are weaned.

Momma rabbit - "You're done. Get out!"

baby bunny - "okayyyyyyyy!"


Harsh, I know...and very real. If the baby rabbits are not pushed out and away from their nest, the adult male may kill them.  The little ones have to find their new feeding areas away from the claimed territories and hope to survive the ready predators.

But look at what my girl did.

"Mommy, I don't think you're right. I don't think that is what she is doing at all."

"Really? What then?"


"I think she wants her baby bunny to explore this whole great big world. She knows it will be scary but she is still telling the baby to go. She is excited for him but still loves him. That's why she went all the way to the edge of the sidewalk. She wanted to make sure her baby was ok to cross the street."

Now isn't that something?  That is the perspective of a child who is confident in the knowledge that someone cares and loves her very much.  So why is it that I immediately made a negative spin on the very same incident the three of us observed?  It is plainly clear that the end result was the same -- mommy rabbit was sending off baby bunny.

Aren't I also a person who claims to know that I'm cared for and loved very much? Was I somehow projecting how I think God may feel about me? Maybe. Maybe not. One thing I know for sure is that Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Mt 18:17)

Perhaps our problem as adults is not that we believe God doesn't love us, it's that we believe God doesn't want us. We turn our backs and refuse to enter into a relationship where all He wants is the best for us -- no matter what that might look like to the rest of the world looking on.  Sometimes He is simply going to the edge of the sidewalk and telling us we will be ok...we just have to step out in faith and cross that street.

Encourage some"bunny" today. You never know your words may be exactly what they need to hear.

Blessings for your day,

Flat Stanley's Letter

Dear Matthew,

In April you sent me to California to meet up with your cousin Rachel.  I couldn’t tell you when you put me in the mail, but I had a mission that was SO secret I didn’t have permission to let you know who was picking me up at the Post Office.  I received a lot of training when I arrived – SUPER secret agent training!

At first I was put in a scanner to learn how to travel through email.  It was AMAZING!

Then I received special training to discover fun places and to make sure people knew how to enjoy themselves.  Probably the most important training I received was how to wear a disguise.  I needed to keep myself secret sometimes. It was part of the job!

After a long three weeks of exercise, eating good food, studying, and tests, I was ready to meet up with Rachel before she scanned and sent me to my next location.

We went to the beach…and it looked like a great place for fun.

We checked out the signs and made sure people could find the fun.

We visited a Fire Department to make sure they were ready for any emergencies.

Next we went to a Farmer’s Market to taste some good food.  I loved the blue skies, the warm weather, the people and the tall Palm trees!

YUMMY! My training told me these were good and my belly agreed!

    

It was a good trip to California and then I was off to North Carolina to see their beach! I was placed in an email and off I went!  The only difference when I first arrived was that Carolina Beach was getting ready for the tourists to arrive for Memorial Day weekend.  I was told I had to keep secret because the Mayor said the people would get too excited if they knew a secret agent was taking pictures. 


I understood. 


So I put on my Captain America disguise…

…and saw lots of fun places!

YAY!

My training didn’t prepare me for how delicious these donuts would be. It was really difficult to wait in line but they were so good!

Once I checked that all the signs and life guard stands were ready for all the people coming to the beach for fun, my job was done.

Can you see my shadow? Shhhhhh…..

Once I arrived in the Washington, DC area I went to a National’s baseball game!

The GEICO Gecko was also at the game. I went to shake his hand and he tried to eat me. That’s when I realized this was not the GEICO Gecko I see on TV.  I used my special training to plan my escape.  It was risky but I got away!

It’s a good thing I was able to get out of that gecko’s mouth unharmed because I still had quite a bit of fun checking to do!  The very next day I arrived here:

…to go sailing!

You’ll be happy to know that YES it was so much FUN!

All this checking for fun around water reminded me I should also probably check swimmers were getting ready. I went to a swim class and was happy to see they had done a great job! We even took a picture together.

That night, I remembered my training taught me how important a good night’s rest is to keep doing all sorts of fun things. So I went to bed and got some good sleep. The next day I met up with a friend I that I made while training in California.

We went to a Hockey game! I was taking pictures and making sure everyone was having a good time. I know I was and so was my friend!

After celebrating a win at the Hockey game, I knew I wanted to visit with a friend who was also happy about something she had just finished winning. Since I wanted to do something nice with her, I got a dog walking job for a day to earn a little extra money.

Since the dog I had to walk loved carrying something in her mouth, I hid in a newspaper bag and talked to her the whole way. She was very gentle.

 With the money I made, I went to Starbuck’s to meet up with my friend.

She had been very sick but she just came back from the doctor and was so happy that she was healthy again.  We were celebrating the good news and she let me try on one of her wigs.

She said I could keep it to add to my collection of super secret agent disguises since she wouldn’t need it anymore.  I thought it was too big but I said thank you and gave her a big hug because I was so happy!

That is the end of my trip visiting fun places and fun people by myself. While you were at school, I went into your strawberry patch to pick some berries and am keeping an eye on the milkweed plants for more Monarch caterpillars.

The wasps are proving to be a little scary but I’m ok.  I have my secret agent friends with me. Did you know when you get into a scanner, you can multiply yourself? 

Thank you for sending me to California. It was a great adventure in learning about scanners, emails, text messages, and time travel.  I had a lot of fun making sure people had things to do in so many different places on the West Coast and East Coast but I can’t wait to spend the rest of my time with you.  You are a pretty awesome scooter rider and really good friend!

Sincerely,

Flat Stanley


....






Blessings for your day, 

Happiness revealed...

A while ago my husband told me "you are the happiest person I know".  The reason he quickly quipped those words as he was on his way to work was because I was unusually sad over some recent criticism I had received.  Ironically, the criticism was over the way I view the world around me.

I play like a child.

I skip with children, even if they are not in the mood and I'm a total embarrassment.

I sing, even if I can't carry a tune.

I'm fascinated by a bug on the ground, even if we're late to a dinner party.

I'll stop dead in my tracks to watch a bird, even if I'm in the middle of a power walk.

I'll stare at the night sky, even if I just pulled in to the driveway, exhausted and ready for bed.

I'll pull out watercolor and teach the children how to paint, even when I really want to use acrylics.

I volunteer in a math class and am their teacher's biggest fan.

I took my rock collection into the school for the science class.

I took the children out of school two days in one week to watch the arrival of Discovery. I also gave each of them a camera so they could capture their own images.


Future CNN reporters:

The girl's snapshot:

The boy's snapshot:

I am fascinated by the world around me...every lit bit of it. I am amazed by dirt and rocks and grass and plants just as I am amused by the night skies and the millions and billions of stars. I am intrigued by everything on this planet and beyond and everything in between.

I also love to talk to people yet I enjoy my own quiet time to read a book and recharge.  I love hearing the respectful opinion of others and debating politics with hard core liberals or conservatives and religion with atheists.

I love to write poetry and paint and also budget our money and crunch numbers.

Yes, I am all over the place and yet the criticism of all these things left me feeling sad and useless and some sort of loser because I have no goal, vocation, or paid job.

So when my husband reminded me that I am the happiest person he knows, I brushed off the sadness and stood up tall and decided I was not going to feel bad ever again for what breathes life to my soul.  Of course recently, I've been a little bit of a shut in because of my injury BUT I am healing and yesterday I got to take some pictures in our front yard.

I felt like the flowers were so happy to see me and were cheering me on saying "ME! ME! ME! TAKE A PICTURE OF ME!"  These are just a few of the things that make me happy.

What's up buttercup?  I surely missed you...

Go out and experience the world around you. Slow down to truly see. It is such a gift.

Blessings for your day,

Sitting is SO overrated

I never thought I would miss this blog so much, but I do. Just when I had gotten myself into a regular pattern of reading, writing in my journal, and a commitment to post...WHAM!

Oops.

I fell down...and broke my tailbone.

Just this morning as I was lamenting not being able to sit and write out a new blog post, the light turned on. Literally.

Matthew - "Mommy! I have no more short sleeve shirts for tomorrow!"

Nevermind that he was already wearing a shirt and there were shirts that needed to be folded.  I simply smiled, kissed him saying "thank you" and told him I would wash more for him today. I figured he was only trying to help me plan my day.

My limited-in-which-tasks-I-can-do day. Another day in where I am completely at the mercy of my pain level and range of motion.  Add to the mix that I must have done something without thinking the other day and my tailbone really hurts again. I mean really hurts.

[grunt]

BUT this is not a pity party. Even if it were...I'm not attending.

Back to the purpose of this post, even if it is just for me.  As I lay in bed feeling sorry for myself and what I cannot do, our son's quick burst into my room and announcement was actually more of a reminder of what has actually been happening in our home. Somehow, instead of feeling worse...I smiled.  I smiled because I recognized that our son knew he had been a HUGE help in our home for the past several weeks.  He was (without saying), letting me know that he needed clean clothes to fold and that he would be willing to get the clothes out of the drying after school.

Why?

Because that has been our routine.

I can't really bend over and if something falls on the floor, I can't pick it up.  I don't have the back support strength to lift grocery shopping bags, sweep, vacuum, carry the laundry basket, clean the bathrooms, empty the dryer or dishwasher...etc.  BUT, I can do things at level while standing like dusting, baking, going through mail, looking out the window, walk short distances...slowly. AND all these things I CAN DO have been done with the children. I've been available to be with them.

This injury has limited me in so many ways that my busyness has dropped down to just above ZERO. My inability to do many tasks has given way to purpose and greater responsibility on our children. Now this isn't to say they didn't have chores before nor that our house is spotless.  It simply means that I have been FORCED to allow the children to go through the learning process of completing a task fully with hidden lessons for myself.

No, I can't simply load the dishwasher because I don't want to wait for the kids to come home. I can't bend over that low and I need to learn patience.

No, I can't just fold all the laundry myself because it would be faster. My back pain won't let me and I need to remember that pride can disguise itself in "just trying to be efficient".

No, I can't vacuum myself because I'll do a better job. I don't have the back strength and I need to teach proper technique with encouragement in order to not break their spirits.

And much, much, much more.

The quality level for these chores had been set low enough that the children are reaching them and they find great joy in accomplishing those tasks. So much so that they are beginning to aim higher and do better work.  It really has become a pleasure to watch and another lesson for myself to learn.

I had a choice. Either let the house go completely or allow a job to be completed with best effort, no matter the final appearance.  After all, isn't that exactly what God asks of me?  He wants my best effort. He doesn't want me to give up just because the things I want to accomplish aren't getting done the way I think they should be.

I have a choice. I can lay around all day and feel sorry for myself OR I can set a goal so low that I will reach it and feel I have accomplished something. Yes, I do have to lay for most of the day. I have to heal. It's not going to happen with me moving around and doing things. I may not be physically able do many things BUT, I can certainly disarm negative thought.

So for now, and because sitting is SO overrated, I'm going to set a small goal for myself. Every day I will find something, anything, that is worth remembering or being grateful for and post here as often as once a day. It may have words or it may just be a picture.  All I know is that I won't have to sit long to accomplish that goal.

This post took me THREE sitting sessions to complete.

Three.

Sitting is SO overrated!

Blessings for your day,

Preparing for Christmas

For those of us who are parents, most can remember the moments we first saw our children whether they were our own or adopted. We were filled with indescribable emotion.

For those who have adopted, from what I understand, the emotion is usually a combination of nervousness, joy, protection, apprehension, and an overwhelming sense of..."finally the wait is over".  Next comes the paperwork, and until those documents are signed there is always a chance the hopeful adoptive parents and child would have to part ways.

All of my life, I've been surrounded by adoptions and have five in our family circle.  I have friends who have adopted and have counted down the days with them.  All you can do is wait...and pray.

For those of us who have given birth to our own children, we all have similar emotions while waiting but we also wonder who the baby will look like. Some of us secretly hope that the child will look like "our side of the family".  But all of us hope for a healthy baby and we count all fingers and toes when the baby finally makes his or her appearance.

I used to stare at our babies.  I would study their faces and imagine what they would look like when grown up.  I would dream of conversations I would have in raising a little lady.  I would also think of all the ways I would teach our son to be a gentleman.

Imagine Mary and Joseph.

They had both waited for the coming of the Messiah.  They had heard the prophecies. They had heard the songs and the poems. They expected so much of the promised King.

Now they were told the Messiah would come, but arrive as an infant.

Imagine Mary and Joseph.

Imagine their anticipation as to who the Child would look like. Would he look like any other infant?

The baby boy is born, Son of God.  The waiting for the Messiah was over.  Mary and Joseph counted fingers and toes.  But what now?  How long before this Child is no longer theirs?  Joseph is now the adoptive father. Do you think they knew the boy Mary delivered would be the One who delivers them both?

Can you imagine waiting as parents..."until further notice"?

I certainly couldn't.

From the book Why the Nativity? by David Jeremiah


Question #13

"Why did Jesus come as a baby?"

He writes:

"In that regard, we have seen that the Virgin Birth is the sign of his [Jesus] divinity. He comes to the earth from outside, pure and clean, and is in no way a product of this world. Now we see that, in the same way, the infancy of the Child is the sign of his humanity.  He is one of us in every way. He arrives from heaven with perfection and godliness of which no man or woman is capable -- yet he takes the full human journey, which even God in heaven had not taken. How could we follow his footsteps as a man if we hadn't seen him crawl as a child? How could we believe he had undergone all the temptation we have faced if he had bypassed the most difficult years in which we struggle to earn our adulthood?

To make the full sacrifice on our behalf, Jesus had to make the full commitment."

Wow.

Get the book Why the Nativity? to read the rest of David Jeremiah's words.


Next:  Why the shepherds?





   Here is the link from Amazon.











Blessings for your day,

My heart

Today has been a terrible day.

So I decided to sit down for a moment and catch my breath while looking at some recent photographs I've taken.  I breath in what I see and it pulses through my veins because I remember those moments captured.

I know God uses it.

I see this snapshot and I feel my heart beating outside of my body. I see them, our children, and I smile.  There is an enormity of love I feel for these two and I find great joy in watching them explore the world around them...even if it appears scary to them at times. I know they will be fine.

I smile again.

As I get myself ready to go to bed and reflect on the day, I will imagine that God has scrolled through the snapshots of me going about my day today...and smiled. It's the kind of smile that comes from a love that only a parent can have for their child.

It's so good to feel that kind of love.

Blessings for your day,



Children holding hands photo by Lisa Arnold taken with Canon PowerShot SX120 IS - Digital camera - compact - 10.0 Mpix - optical zoom: 10 x - supported memory: MMC, SD, SDHC, MMCplus - black