3 Legged Race

Summer is right around the corner.  Kids are ready.  Teachers are ready.   My youngest daughter last week told me she could just feel summer.  I asked her what it felt like and she said “Sleeping late and then coming to get in bed with you.” I cherished her simplicity and gave her a big high five!

I honestly feel a bit anxious about summer though.  Just like when the school year begins, it takes us some time around here to adjust.   We whine when we are forced to live under the rule of a strict schedule, but when summer first hits and there is no schedule, we moan and groan too until we figure it out. Nothing happens naturally or effortless with my family. 

To prepare for our summer fun, we have had a crash course in obedience.  Nobody signed up and asked to attend the various sessions.  Attendance has been mandatory and there is an objective.

Since my kids have been big enough to buckle up, my Suburban has been on the move and typically operating at maximum capacity.   I like it!  I am accustomed to being the only adult, and even if most of my passengers at this point are bigger than me, I am still the adult and the one in charge.

Reality hit me last week that we were all about to be home together, and that I better make sure everyone still understood I was in charge.  I cannot and will not take my crew anywhere to do anything unless they are willing to obey me.   I expect them to stay in line 99% of the time and to follow my instructions, or we will just stay home and do nothing. 

About the time I finished one of my speeches and dished out a consequence to a rowdy Monico, I felt like the LORD said to me “Back to you, Sister, we have something in common. I want you to obey.  You want them to obey.”

 The LORD shares my desire for obedient children.    He wants HIS children to obey Him too. 

Jesus Christ wants obedience because He has places to take his children and things to do with them.  If we are obedient, we are able to join Him working for the Kingdom.  The way I feel must be the way He feels!  What an amazing truth. 

I cannot do much with an unruly kid.  Well, God cannot do much with an unruly kid! He still loves us when we are disobedient.  I still love my own children when they are disobedient, but there are consequences.

Obviously, obedience does matter.  How is it possible in this day and age though?   If we stay connected to Jesus Christ daily, we can be obedient!  I mean the joined at the hip kind of connected, like in a three legged race. 

When you sign up for that race, you stand side by side with someone and your inside legs are tied together.  You share a leg and still have one of your own, thus the three legged race.  You no longer move and operate as individuals, but as one. How great would life be if we joined together with Jesus like that?

If one participant runs, the other one has to run too. If one falls, the other one falls.  It is impossible in a three legged race to finish unless you finish together.  Likewise, it is difficult to finish the race called “life” unless you connect yourself to Jesus and do life with Him.   

Luke 11:28 says “Blessed are those who hear God’s word and obey it.”  The questions is:  Will we hear it and will we obey it?  Start today, start now!

Mother

Mother’s Day has been a good, but different!  I have not worn a stitch of make-up, and I am 100% convinced I would make a “Do and Do Not” fashion list.  I would appear on the DO NOT list.  I have on tights that I usually run in.  They hit me right below the knee.  I have paired them with my Ariat boots, no accessories, and a fitted top.

I chose my attire because the kids granted my Mother’s Day wish, and we picked berries.  Jeans seemed unnecessary for our excursion; therefore, the tights won.  Boots were necessary for snake protection. 

To sum it all up, I look pitiful, and I love it!  The focus today was more on berries and cobbler than it was me.

Prayer has been my focus too. I have lifted up Mothers. Many have recently lost their own Mothers.  One friend in particular moved away, but I remember the summer she lost her Mother.  It was so hard on her to manage her Mother’s care while she fought cancer and also her three small children.  She left her kids with her hubby to go be with her Mom.  My heart broke for her then, and I prayed for her today.

A young Mom here in town is expecting her second child and just said good-bye to her Mom until they meet again in heaven.  She was on my mind today.  I prayed for her. 

None of my prayers were formal, sit down, and bow the head kind of prayers.  I talked to the Lord on the back of a four wheeler.  I visited with Him while I squatting down on a fence row to grab another berry. 

I so often consume my mind with junk that does not matter, but today I got it right. I dedicated my day to the idea Paul presents in 1 Thessalonians 5: 16 – 18.  He wrote “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” I prayed without ceasing and I rejoiced!

I prayed for a Mother I do not even know.  I observed her last week at Children’s Hospital in Dallas when I was visiting a precious student.  This particular Mom became a hero to me without even knowing I existed or that I was listening to her.  She was sitting in a toddler size chair next to her son.  He was about four and looked healthy.  I assumed his cancer treatment had just begun. 

He pretended to prepare her lunch.  She smiled, laughed, and thanked him for her burger.  It was plastic, but she acted like it was real.  She asked for mustard.  He pretended to give her some. 

I thought… Only a Mother can sit in a chair made for a five year old inside of a cancer wing playroom and ask for mustard!  Only a Mother can have enthusiasm and play in circumstances that are so daunting!  She amazed me.

In a few minutes, her other son walked in with her husband. He was the one with cancer.  He was bald.  She asked if he wanted to join them for lunch.  He wheeled over his IV stand and sat down next to the inedible, make-believe food. 

I do not know her name.  There are many others like her though that exhibit unexplainable strength. It is the strength of a Mother and just astonishing!

It was the best Mother’s Day ever for me because I was not focused on me. I talked with my Heavenly Father about others.   

Prayer is our greatest form of communication and connects us to other people.  Who do you need to connect to this week…a Mom, a Dad, a friend, a child? 

Prayer is the way.   

 

Just a nod

Late Friday afternoon when the rain stopped, I made a round with my oldest son to check hog traps.  He hopped on his four-wheeler and assumed I was going to ride with him.  Well, I did not.  I got on his brother’s four wheeler and drove myself. 

It was so peaceful and nice to head out with him to the “backside” as we call it.  The rain had calmed down any dust that would have been a nuisance, so I followed right behind him.

Brazos rides the most around here. I trusted he knew where he was going and what was safe or unsafe for us to travel through.  I cautiously crossed a dugout after him. If it had been too steep for me, he would have stopped me.  He parked on the other side of the creek and turned back to look at me. He  nodded for me to come on over.  He did not say a word, but just gave me a nod with his chin going up as if to say “Come on, Mom.”

Come to think of it, we did not talk the whole time.  When Brazos wanted me to go this way or that way, he would just nod his head in the direction we were going. I trusted him, and I followed him.    The fact I could understand him with only nonverbal clues made me realize that even though he is an adolescent boy and I am his mom, we are pretty close.

When he gave me a nod towards the end of our trip, I asked myself a question.  I asked “Self, do you understand nods from the LORD and trust His guidance responding with obedience just like you do Brazos?”

Oh, what a question that is and what a desire of my heart that is!  Not to oversimplify, but what I want most of all in life is to know what the Lord wants me to do and to do it!  How I yearn to understand and obey God when he gives me just the littlest of little nods.  (You know, he does start off with a gentle gesture and then His promptings progress all the way to whatever it takes to get our attention.)

I heard a powerful, yet simple message this morning in church about my relationship with Jesus Christ.  It was based on Mark 4: 35-41.  It reminded me that Jesus is with me all of the time.  I just have to keep my eyes on Him and trust Him. 

This passage is when Jesus calms the storm.  The disciples woke him up in a panic because they were so afraid of the storm they were facing. He told the wind and waves “Quiet!  Be still.”  Then, he asked the disciples “Why are you so afraid?  Do you still have no faith?” I feel like Jesus is still speaking those words to us today, to those of us who are willing to listen and invite Him into their boat. 

He says to our storms…Be still.  Get this though:  He allows the storms so that He can calm them for us and cultivate a trusting relationship.

Then, after all is better, He must look on us shaking his head and thinking “Do you still have no faith?”  I can just hear Him saying to me “COME ON KIDDO, don’t you get it?  I am in the boat with you.”

Dear friend, Is Jesus in the boat with you?   If so, when the next storm comes your way, remember that the one who can calm the storm is by your side! 

If not, ask Jesus to be your Savior today and to join you in life.  Life’s storms are honestly unbearable without Him. 

 

Strep

This weekend was one big déjà vu.  It all began on Friday when I was helping prepare for the 8^th grade dance.  It was my second go at the event, so I considered myself an expert.  I was going up and down the ladder like a pro, but I felt woozy.  It was nothing that a Snickers did not fix.  The sugar and protein perked me up.  I needed a BC powder by nightfall to make it to our ball game and a shot of NyQuil by bedtime to rest.  Something was just not right. When I woke up Saturday morning, the something not quite right felt like strep throat.

The last time I had it was 15 years ago, but I remembered the feeling.  A quick trip to the urgent care in Mexia confirmed that I needed antibiotics, rest, and a new toothbrush.   Being ill with strep is not a big deal, but I have been so healthy that it threw me for a loop. 

My last round of amoxicillin was in 2008 when I was recovering from radiation and had an ongoing bought of bronchitis that would not go away!  It took me a few weeks of intentional rest and vitamins to regain my health.  I did, thank the LORD, and I have not looked back or really slowed down since.

Something this weekend reminded me of when I had cancer. I had a dull ache that would not go away. I was emotional. My muscles felt fatigued.  My legs were heavy like I had to pick them up and make them walk.  I was reminded how wonderful it is to feel good, because I did not.

I lost my spunk.  I drove to Mexia and back without the radio on.  It seemed like the longest drive of my life. I had no mental to do list running in my head.  I had no prayer time going on for people in need.  Nothing interested me.  I just drove. 

After I got back home and took my medicine, I went to bed.  That was the next part of my déjà vu.  I woke up from my nap and wanted to go right back to sleep.   It was a familiar feeling from years ago and still unwelcoming.   

Being sick is like being a spectator in life, but not a participant or contributor.  For two days now, I have been in onlooker mode.  I would consider myself wake, aware, but not really enthusiastic enough to jump in. 

I am better now and tomorrow I am jumping in.  This small illness, compared to what many are facing at the moment, was nothing!  However, it woke me up and reminded me to live life to the fullest!  My health is a blessing.  Waking up and feeling good is a blessing that I have taken for granted.

Psalm 118:24 tells me “This is the day the LORD has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.”  My coffee pot will be ready for me in the morning, and I am rejoicing in the day I have been given. 

I will not live in spectator mode this week.  I will contribute and enjoy the life I have been given.

Maybe you cannot run and play, but if you can walk and play, then do it.  Maybe you cannot afford a trip out of town, but if you can get to the park, then go!  Maybe you cannot go and see your friend, but if you can call them, then call. 

Life is not a spectator sport.  Jump in this week, participate, and enjoy it.  Bless someone and love because Jesus first loved you. 

 

rainy days

I am about to sound like such a whine bag, but I miss the sunshine already.  It has been partly cloudy for two days and I feel BLAH.  I also know I am getting older because I talk about the weather.  I remember when I was a kid thinking how old people sure did talk about the weather and who was kin to who a lot. 

Well, I am old now.  I do both.  I also drink black coffee in the afternoon and think that the radio is too loud in the car.  It rattles me, and I turn it down constantly. 

The rain today and being stuck inside tested me already. I was aggravated and agitated.  I felt restless.  The bad thing is that I was not the only one who was in a mood.  My kids were too. 

I will honestly be glad when we all go to bed tonight and start over again tomorrow.  I currently hear an argument brewing over how many yogurts have been consumed since our trip to the grocery store.  Yes, someone is counting. 

I think I was tested on the lesson I taught today in Sunday school.   We talked about not just being hearers of the Word, but doers.  James shoots it straight. He says in James 1:22 “Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.” 

I gave the girls one example of how I put the Word into practice.  I give thanks often.  It sounded so sweet at the time! 

I shared with them that I believe giving thanks is a lifestyle and a daily practice that has changed my life.  Again, it sounded so sweet and even easy at the time. 

I did manage to give some thanks today.  I looked up and saw the kids out back swinging with their lambs. It was precious.  I gave thanks, but was thinking in my head that this instance was the first one in a while with them all smiling together!

My husband rigged up the fishing poles and repaired last summer’s damage.  My son, Bosque, could not wait to fish and went down to the pier tonight.  He was elated.  When I ran by them at the lake fishing together, I thought it was the cutest thing ever.  I gave thanks, but I kept on running to increase my serotonin levels. 

My daughter made a red velvet cake.  It was amazing. I gave thanks, but thought with every delicious bite I did not need the sugar!

By the end of the night, I remembered the first part of our lesson that I read out loud from James in class.  It says “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for a man’s anger does not bring about a righteous life that God desires.”  I would not say I was angry, but I was on the way. 

I realized in hindsight too I should have just listened more and talked less. That is the best plan sometimes.  Nothing I said was very positive.  The words in James came back to me.   

I played games with giving thanks all day and the LORD knew it. He knows all.  He sees all.  He loves me when I am up.  He loves me when I am down!  So, I will go to bed tonight and try again tomorrow because Hebrews 13:8 says “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” 

got to go!

Last night and at the last minute, which is how “I ROLL”, my daughter and I checked ourselves into a hotel room in Ft. Worth.  After a fun-filled day of softball, we decided to stay the night instead of making the trek back home.  The sad thing was we did it to save time so she could work on a paper due tomorrow in English.  However, by the time I found a place that was safe with a price I approved of, we could have been in our own beds in Fairfield. 

Oh well!  The Holiday Inn Express in downtown Ft. Worth turned out to be just perfect.  She did not care by that point where we stayed!  She just wanted out of the car with me. I had reached my delirious stage where I tend to laugh at everything. 

Our room was pleasant, the bed was comfortable, the breakfast was yummy. We even had a room with a view of downtown Ft. Worth.  I rate the accommodations a 10.

The only problem with the hotel was that we had to leave!  We loved it.  We were too tired last night to do much exploring, and she had a 9:40 game today.  I sat in my bed as long as I could with my coffee.  We wheeled our bags to the elevator, and I said for the tenth time that I was not quite ready to leave.  (Yes, I talk in elevators and usually make friends by the time we reach our floor.)

This is a time of year that “I don’t want to leave, but I got to go” is a popular saying and thought.  It is graduation season.  Pre-K kids are leaving the security of their daycare setting and looking forward to big school.  We have elementary kids moving over the intermediate and Jr. High students venturing across the street to the high school. 

It is time to go for our F.H.S. seniors.  They will be moving onto college or the real world to work!  College graduates are also embarking on new and exciting, big things.  Let’s be real…The new opportunities are thrilling, but also scary at times for everyone involved (parents especially).  Leaving the comfort of what you know and stepping into the unknown is tough anyway you look at it.  Nevertheless, we all experience seasons in life where we know we want to stay, but it is time to go!  What do we take?  What can we carry?

Although I resisted leaving my hotel room this morning, I took something with me from it.  (No, I did not steal anything.)

My daughter chose a verse from Galatians for the back of her letterman’s jacket.  I read Galatians out loud sitting on the corner of our big bed.  The encouragement I received from the Word of God stayed with me all day.  God’s promises went with me to the ballfields, stayed on my mind at lunch, and journeyed with me all of the way back home today. 

It is pretty cool when that happens.  Reading the Word out loud in the morning will transform your day and your life.  If you are at a transition point or a crossroads in life, get in the Word.  It will help you make the move!  It will give you the strength you need when the time comes to wave goodbye to the known and say hello to the unknown. 

Psalms 143:8 says “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you.” Spend time in the Word this week and know that Jesus Christ is with you and will be with you no matter where you go!  The question is:  Will you put your trust in Him?

 

trash

This is officially the time of year I go completely bonkers!  There are so many good things going on.  From awards days to field days, everything in May is fun.  The issues is that there are so many end of the year celebrations going on at one time that I get loopy.  However, I still live by my “One day at a time” motto.  I refuse to plan too far in advance.  It overwhelms me. I simply do what needs to be done until bedtime rolls around.  I sleep and then start over again the next day.  I also intentionally pause to take it all in and make myself remember how blessed I really am. 

In the middle of the hustle and bustle, I have made some random observations.

First of all, to save time this morning, I did not have the boys take the trash off or even set it on the back of our old Dodge.  I just plopped it right outside of the door.  I thought it was too early in the morning for my dogs to mess with it.  I thought wrong!  I switched out my third load of laundry and buzzed outside to look for something in my car to discover my dogs were in canine heaven digging in my trash full of weekend leftovers.  I fussed at them and picked up the mess thinking…that trash was just too close for them to resist.  Let me repeat that…the trash was just too close for them to resist. 

Oh, how I wish I could say that only dogs fall when tempted.  Sadly, we all do!  We can get ourselves so close to the trash, the trouble, or the temptation that we cannot resist!  My Dallas Pastor, Brother Mark, said a number of times from the pulpit “If you are on a diet, do not go into a donut store.”  The divine aroma of donuts is just too much for a calorie counter to usually resist.  Likewise, we all have things in life that will lure us in if we get too close to them.  Rick Warren says “Don’t just walk away.  Run.  You don’t fight it, you flee it.”

Another thought of mine this morning made me laugh out loud at myself.  My house is a wreck! I mean a wreck.  I was gone most of the weekend.  My hubby worked outside and got our food ready for the week like he always does, but my house has been neglected for a few weeks now. 

It needs a deep cleaning after a serious tidy up job.  I looked around the kitchen earlier and wondered where I should start.  The dishes seemed like a logical place to begin.  Instead of diving into them with Dawn and hot water, I picked up the phone to call my husband because something captured my attention that was HIS. HIS baggie of old beef jerky that we saved for fish food was annoying me. I needed to know what he wanted me to do with it.  It was in my way. (HA-HA)

He did not answer, and I am glad.  Why on earth I was worried about the beef jerky when I had so much to do?  I chose to focus on one thing that was not “mine” when I desperately needed to concentrate on the numerous tasks that were “mine.”  (a real knee slapper if you think about it)

Luke 6:42 in the Message Bible says “Do you have the nerve to say ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt?  Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.”

I will save my cute conclusion for next time.  Just read that verse again and get real this week with yourself and Jesus! 

Rubik's cube problems

Thanks to my son who begged me to buy him a Rubik’s cube, our family added a new hobby just in time for summer.  We typically swim in the lake and play basketball.  We firmly said NO to a Wii when the kids were younger and it was the hottest thing on the market.  We have continued to say NO over the years.  A big video game “set-up” seemed overwhelming to me.  I could not help but wonder if we would have as many controllers in front of the t.v. as we do shoes by the door. 

I was thrilled when Bosque asked for a Rubik’s cube though.  My husband and I both had them when were kids and never managed to solve our cubes, or at least honestly.  I took off the stickers and put them back on to finish it one day when my frustration reached an all-time high.  My hubby admitted to disassembling the whole thing and then putting it back together again.  Yes, we cheated. 

Excitement was in the air when I walked in with the Fred’s sack and dumped not one, but two packages on the couch.  The cubes were immediately unpacked and it was game on.  I was surprised when after only a few minutes, the playing turned to frustration.   The kids were actually surprised, disappointed, and mad that they could not crack the cube with just a few tries. DUH!

I scolded both of them and delivered my “Kids these days are just pitiful and think everything in life is supposed to be instant” speech.  Solving a Rubik’s cube is anything but instant.  It is a long process.  It takes perseverance and patience.

Since then, extensive research has taken place in our home on how to solve the cube.  They call it looking for hints or clues, but I call it cheating!    Bosque has taken more notes than he probably took the whole year in school.  He has studied his notes from intense internet cube hackers and tried to apply everything step by step, click by click.   

My son’s approach to his new toy has reminded me of the approach I should have to my problems and puzzles in life.   First of all, life is a process.  It requires patience, just like solving the Rubik’s cube.  Patience, like it is used in the Bible, means long suffering.  If our problems in life were instantly resolved, we would not have to seek the LORD, study His instruction book, and learn to trust Him and His perfect timing. 

Waiting can be frustrating though.  We first get aggravated and then just plain mad!  When we reach the point of being irate, we have two choices. We can give up, throw a fit, and sin.  In the case of the cube, we can throw it and hope it breaks! 

The other option is to dig deeper and look for help.  Bosque did that I guess when he began looking on the internet for clues.  We can do that in life when we begin looking in the Bible for clues on how to deal with the issue and honestly seeking wisdom from the Lord.

Psalm 40 gives me hope for the difficulties I have in life that just seem to linger, and linger, and linger.  David wrote “I waited patiently for the LORD; He turned to me and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” 

If your problems are getting you down, wait patiently for the LORD.  Seek him, spend time with Him, know that he will lift you out of whatever you are IN, and even give you a firm place to stand!