Too Much of a Good Thing...

Oh that I could be a more narrow-minded person! 

I'll bet you weren't expecting me to say that...but let me clarify!

An image of walking behind my daughter Sienna comes to mind.  We were out for a walk in the neighborhood this summer and she insisted on pushing the stroller.  Again and again she veered off of the sidewalk into the grass.
"Look, a bunny!"
"What are those kids doing over there?"
"Look at that pretty flower!"

She could not keep her mind focused on the task at hand, of successfully pushing the stroller down the center of the sidewalk.  She kept getting distracted by all of the sights and sounds along the way. 

She was taking her eyes off her destination and placing her focus on other, less important things - (all at the expense of baby Eva's comfort and safety too!)

After so many "infractions" of almost crashing Eva into several mailboxes and running her stroller into the bumpy grass, I finally took control again.

This reminded me too of another story.  One day last month the girls and I, along with some friends, visited a famous shave ice stand in Pittsburgh.  I offered to get each of them a small ice and their faces lit up when they saw all the flavors to choose from.  All four of them, without hesitation, asked for EVERY flavor.  And do you know what???  Not a single one of them fully finished their ice.  It turned out that every flavor was just too much.  The sensory overload of ten different flavored syrups was not at all pleasing to the tongue, and was much too strong to enjoy.

Is such a dazzling array of choices really always a good thing - or is it better if I am more singularly focused?  Am I keeping in mind, steadfastly, my destination?  Am I easily distracted...taking  my eyes off the road to look right and left...then finding myself in trouble?  Am I narrowing in my concentration on the ONE thing that truly matters and the ONE Who will satisfy me beyond all measure?

Deuteronomy 6:5-9 

5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your 

soul and with all your strength. 

6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.

 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home 

and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 

8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 

9 Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates."

Telling Time...

"But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, 

that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, 

and a thousand years as one day."

2 Peter 3:8 ESV

As her birthday approached, I asked Sienna what she wanted most on her wishlist.  Repeatedly, one item she mentioned was a new watch.  She's seen the older kids wearing them, and in spite of not really understanding how to tell time yet, she really wanted to have one of her own.

She was thrilled when she received the watch she'd been asking for.  Sitting at the table the other night, a smile lit up her face as she stared into the face of the little digital watch.

"It's Four, Thirty Six!"
"Wow, that's great, Sienna."
"Mama, now it's Four Thirty Seven!"

This exchange went on throughout the rest of the day.  Her excitement over the passing of mere minutes was endearing.

As bedtime approached, Lawson looked up at the clock hanging in our kitchen, and with a most serious look on his face, told me, "Mama, it's 30 minutes."
"Oh dear, we had better go up to bed now then, Lawson!"

I think back on these exchanges with my sweet kiddos...of their interest in time and how their little minds still can't quite grasp its full meaning.  I wonder...how my own grasp of time and its significance compares to theirs?  I wonder, am I making the most of the time I have here on earth?  Do I appreciate the minutes, revel in each new moment I live and breathe, thank God for each day He gives me?  Minutes, Hours, Days...even years pass by...all too quickly without me thinking about the passage of time and how I use it.

Thank you God, for reminding me through my children how very precious each day is.  Thank you for every minute You have given me today, to live and experience so much of Your beauty on this earth.  I look around and do not fully understand all that I see...the passage of time is a mystery and You are not bound by it.  Help me to remember this God.  Help me to remember that You are always working in my life, even if I don't see anything happening today.  Teach me to number my days God, and to trust in Your timing and purpose for me.  

I Have Everything I Need....

 Three eager assistants crowded up to the kitchen counter this weekend to help me make pizza and soft pretzels.  Ingredient by ingredient (with a few spills along the way), the soft, sticky dough took shape.  When the dough had risen, little fingers went to work rolling and shaping the yummy pretzels.  The rolling pin came out and after much hard work, three pizzas took shape and were topped with sauce and cheese and pepperoni. 

As much as the kids "helped" me, they could never have assembled the ingredients into anything edible by themselves.  As much as they thought they had done all the work on their own, in spite of having all they needed right at their fingertips, they still needed help and guidance all along the way.




Today as I was thinking about our fun little baking session, I realized it was so very similar to my own life.  There are times, far too many I'm afraid, that I assess the situation before me and feel capable of proceeding alone. 

I've got all that I need to do this...I don't need any help!

Ah, but how wrong that assumption often is!  How often I find myself in a place of great unrest, discouragement, pain...all by my own doing and all because I've forged ahead without first consulting my Heavenly Father and asking Him for help.

Have I put my trust, fully, in the Master?  Do I ask Him to provide for my needs, to guide me each day, and do I trust  and believe that He will actually do this?  Are my prayers sincere and spoken with confidence, or am I already formulating a backup plan in my mind as I'm uttering them?

James 1:5-8 The Message (MSG)

5-8 If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father.
He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.

Ready?

 "Is this one ready?  Is this one ready, Mama?"  I look up from picking tomatoes in the garden to see Lawson holding up a half-ripe tomato 2 inches from my face.  "Well, it's close Lawson, but try to pick the red ones."

Ten seconds pass and then again, "Is this one ready?"  Another pale red tomato is held up in my direction.  "It's not quite ready, Lawson. It has to be dark red." 

This is the ongoing conversation as we walk through the garden for our daily vegetable harvest.  I have to chuckle to myself because it never occurs to Lawson to ask me if the tomatoes are ready before he picks them.  Day after day this scenario is repeated...will he never learn to be patient?  Will he never learn to wait...to ask before he picks?

The anticipating of picking those tomatoes is too much to bear for my sweet Lawson.  He and the other kids love to take the many tomatoes and puree them so we can make soup and sauce from them. 

Am I patient, in waiting for God's timing?  Do I wait for His plans to come to full fruition or am I always trying to rush things, to push my own agenda?  Am I spending my days preparing my heart for what He has in store for me?  Or am I constantly rushing ahead, operating on my own timeline...asking God if He's "ready?" after I've already acted. 

Once again, through the comical lesson of a three-year-old, I am humbled...I'm reminded that God works according to His schedule, not mine.  I'm reminded to patiently accept His timing, and wait.  There will be a harvest...

 James 5:7  Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

Stretched...

For the past four months now, I've been literally grounded in terms of my ability to exercise and do the activities I love.  One fateful 5-mile run back in April led to plantar fasciitis and the pain from this has been plaguing me ever since.  As I waited it out all summer long, I tried to limit my activities to spur on healing, iced my foot daily and have been doing a LOT of stretches throughout the day every day to try an loosen up the tissues in the foot. 

Stretching hurts...the pain of it is intense and uncomfortable. I have a love-hate relationship with stretching.  The thing that is supposed to help me, hurts.


Romans 5:3-5  Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

I recognized a parallel today, as I stretched my foot.  I realized the importance of stretching in my Spiritual life...what would my faith look like if I was never stretched beyond my comfort zone?  How would I grow, mature, experience healing from my sinful ways of living and grow deeper with God if I was satisfied with the status quo?

Please God, give me the strength to press on through the stretching moments I experience.  Don't allow me to freeze up, or to turn back when I feel that first twinge of pain, but to press on.  Give me the courage to see You and persevere through my painful trials.  Give me hope, God, even in my darkest hour...and in that hour might praises spring forth from my lips as I lose sight of the trial and gaze into your glorious presence.

He Bends Down to Listen

"Mama.....mama" ...an almost inaudible whisper comes from upstairs as I'm trying to catch a few quiet moments to myself before the craziness of a new day begins. 

I hear him again, "Mama, can you feed me?  I'm hungry."

Lawson is laying on his stomach on the landing, peeking through the railing.  I slowly walk up the steps to fetch him before he wakes the other kids. 

"I'm hungry.  Can I have breakfast?" 

"Yes, Lawson," I tell him softly.  "What would you like to eat?"

As a parent, my ears are always tuned in to my children...ready to help them with whatever they need throughout the day, or night.  Of course, I'm not always completely gracious when many requests are sent my way, when my quiet morning is interrupted, when my sleep is interrupted...

It struck me today, how similar this scenario is to my own interactions with God.  I call out to Him..."God, I am hungry.  Feed me, please.  Give me this...help me with that, give me strength to overcome this trial.  I'm so hungry God, but there is nothing on this earth that will fill my need.  I need you.  Please come and help me." 

And the truly amazing part of this is, God listens.  He hears me...in the midst of the entire universe, He bends down to listen to my simple, childlike requests and prayers!  A love like this I can hardly fathom.  He is never too busy.  He never rolls His eyes, sighs in frustration, begrudges me His full attention.  He is eager to hear even my shortest prayers...He bends to listen, intent on catching every word.  Did you catch that...He bends down...leans forward, presses in close...to listen...to ME!  How great a love is this, and all the more reason that I should pray, often and forevermore.

An Unlikely Canvas...

I try not to let messes bother me.  I know they are a natural part of childhood discovery, and kids using their creativity.  But there are sometimes I just want to say, "Enough!" 

As I watched four of the kids decorating the driveway with chalk and paint tonight, I had to bite my tongue and allow them to make complete messes of themselves.  Lawson was so enamored with a piece of black chalk and so excited to use it for the first time.  "Look Mama, black chalk!!"  His enthusiasm quickly waned though when he realized that black chalk on a black driveway is not much to look at...so he instead used it to color his face!

 A filthy, black driveway...such an unlikely canvas...and the perfect place for kids to park themselves for hours to play!  At the end of summer, many clothes will be thrown in the garbage from the hours of abuse playing on the driveway.  They try to make the driveway look beautiful with their "artwork"...over and over again.






My own life is so much like that black "canvas"...it's messy, not too pretty to look at...but God doesn't shy away from that.  He doesn't give up on me. He doesn't look me over and say, "Oh she's just too much work."   He's fully prepared to get His hands dirty.  He's fully capable of taking something that is not beautiful, and pouring life and beauty in. I am like clay in the hands of the potter.  I am the work of His hands...a work in progress to be sure!  More unlikely canvases I can not imagine, and yet, here God is, in the midst of the messes, working every day to make us over into a new creation. 

Isaiah 64:8  Yet you, LORD, are our Father. 

We are the clay, you are the potter; 

we are all the work of your hand.