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500 Hats

May2

Bartholomew Cubbins has nothing on me.

You remember the story:  a poor boy was accused of not taking off his hat as the king went by. Highly offended, the king demanded that Bartholomew remove his hat. Thing was, Bartholomew thought he had. He reached up to his head, and lo and behold, there was a hat there. Bemused, he took the hat off again, and bowed to the king. What’s this? His hat was still on his head! Taken away to the castle to be disciplined for his insolence, Bartholomew kept taking off hats only to find more hats appearing each one the same as the next.

Nobody could figure out what was going on, least of all Bartholomew. But those hats saved him from having his head chopped off, because the executioner could not, by rule, cut off any head with a hat still atop.  Finally it was decided that he would be taken to the highest tower, and pushed to his death by the spoiled Grand Duke, son of the king. But when he stepped through the stairwell onto the roof, this is what happened:

“But when Bartholomew stepped up on the wall, they gasped in amazement. He was wearing the most beautiful hat that had ever been seen in the Kingdom of Didd. It had a ruby larger than any the King himself had ever owned. It had ostrich plumes, and cockatoo plumes, and mockingbird plumes, and paradise plumes. Beside such a hat even the King’s Crown seemed like nothing.” (The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, by Dr. Seuss.)

Sometimes I feel like young Barty. I’m ready to take off the hat I’m wearing–mom, wife, teacher, copy editor–only to find that I’ve got another one waiting underneath it: friend, sister, daughter-in-law, employee. The list is endless, just like Barty’s hats.

Those hats often leave me exhausted, feeling like I’m facing the executioner, not meaning to be trying to do things on my own, but somehow ending up that way.

But on my way to being pushed off the parapet by life itself, I reach back for one more hat; the most glorious one, the one that will save my life: Daughter of the King. Ah. Rest for my soul.

Isn’t it a beautiful thing?

Thankful today for:

243. my position in Christ

244. convenient grocery stores

245. the Starbucks gift cards I still have left from my birthday

246. sunshine

247. my husband being home

248. haircut day

The Truth is in the Fiction

Apr28

I just finished reading Jan Karon’s Home to Holly Springs, the first in the Father Tim series of novels. My husband first got me interested in these special books, of which this is a kind of “prequel,” which take place in a Blowing Rock-esque town in western North Carolina. He grew up around there, and I can hear his kin in the language of the people Karon paints.

I had a friend on Goodreads call the books “comfortable.” I agree. They are a place of calm in a busy world.

Anyway, this conversation between Father Tim and his new friend, T, at Tim’s childhood home in Mississippi struck me.  I don’t want to give anything away in case anyone wants to read the book, so I’ll just say that Tim is facing something very difficult, and T questions him about it.

“How does knowin’ God help you out in a case like this?”

“I believe He has a purpose for everything. I believe He’ll bring good out of this, maybe even a way I won’t like very much. It’s His call, not mine.”

“Seems like any God a’tall would want you down here bustin a gut, not leavin’ it all up to Him.”

“Seems like. But it doesn’t work that way. We’ve got to let Him do the heavy lifting. We’ve got to grunt, that’s for sure, but we’ve got to let Him lift. The challenge is to trust Him. Right now, I’m trusting Him. Running a little scared, but trusting Him.”

Amen.

Thankful today for:

234. air conditioning

235. Sunday morning

236. only two more nights alone

“Mirror, Mirror”

Apr21

I saw “Mirror, Mirror” (a different telling of the Snow White story) with Morgan last night. I enjoyed it. I’ve always liked Julia Roberts, and I think she did a great job in the role of wicked stepmother. But the take-away I got was this: “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised” (Proverbs 31:30). I’m going to keep drilling that into my daughter, beautiful though she is on the outside. That won’t last, baby; cultivate the inside. It’s so much more important.

Thankful today for:

213. time with my daughter

214. my boys enjoying a guys retreat with the youth–doing guy things

215. a new recipe to try


Five Lessons From Hermit Crabs

Apr16

Having recently added hermit crabs to our household menagerie, I’ve learned a few things about life from them. Here they are:

1. Just because I burrow under and keep to myself for a season, it doesn’t mean I’m depressed or sad or anything of the sort. It just means I need some time to myself.

2. Molting requires a feeling of safety. If I’m not comfortable with you, I will not be shedding my “skin” (it’s actually an exoskeleton in a crab). That takes way too much vulnerability.

3. You can’t judge me by my name. Hermits have a reputation of wanting to be left alone, but hermit crabs actually like the company of  other crabs. Just because I call myself a Californian, or a mom, or a wife, or a writer, or a Christian, you can’t let your preconceived notions color who you think I am. Get to know me, why don’t you?

4. Sometimes I make a mess of things, but that’s just the way I am. I don’t mean any harm.

5. If you see me hanging on for dear life, don’t just stand there, have the trampoline ready! But don’t try to rescue me; sometimes I get in tight spots just to see what will happen. That’s a faith adventure!

Thankful today for:

194. sleeping in my own bed

195. a no-homework week

196. hand lotion

197. caffeine free diet Dr. Pepper

198. talented photographers

199. creative friends

200. my back porch

201. text messaging

202. ministry partners

203. time

What’s So Good About It?

Apr6

Today is called Good Friday. When you think that it’s in commemoration of the day Someone died a violent, torturous death, you might wonder what’s so good about it. Here’s what I think:

The veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom giving us free access, through Jesus, to God the Father. No more priests, no more animal sacrifices. When we want to talk to Him, we simply say the words.

My chains are gone; I’ve been set free. My God, My Savior has ransomed me. Amazing. (1 Thess. 1:10 “rescued us from wrath”)

I am no longer a slave to sin and death. Romans 8:1-4: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

I am so, so, so loved “For God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

‘Nuff said.

Hallelujah.

Thankful today for:

169. what will be a great gathering of friends at our house on Easter

170. freedom

171. new growth on rose bushes