Facing Election Season

Nov1

vote-for-me-noteI always liked to go to my mailbox every day when I was younger to see what treasures the mail carrier would bring. The novelty has worn off a bit as bills and junk mail dominate now. Lately, I’m completely tired of the political ads that show up every single day leading up to an election. In Florida, we’re facing a gubernatorial election next weekend. Who will lead our state? We’ll know in a week. What concerns me more, where all politics are concerned is this: Who is telling the truth?

I don’t know these people; I don’t live with them day in and day out. I don’t see the little decisions they make. I only see what is shown to the public and what is reported by the press. And Lord knows I can’t trust the media.

So, short of traveling to the home of every candidate, what can we do to position ourselves to vote for the most qualified person, since all most people get is the inundation of political ads?

1. Pray

2. Pray some more

3. Do your own research. Which organizations support this person? By whom are they endorsed? What bills have they supported? Go to rallies or town hall meetings. If the candidate has a get together, go. We recently had a school board election in Orange County and a man we didn’t know who works with our organization was running against the incumbent whom we had worked with on several different occasions. Instead of just trusting that the man known by many of our friends would be the better candidate, we invited him to our home to speak with a group we included that evening to hear what he had to say.

It takes effort to be involved, but when I look around and see all the horrible choices some of the leaders in our country have made, I see the necessity. Political correctness is running amuck, common sense is anything but common, corruption is rampant. Change is necessary, but only if it’s in the right direction.

4. Believe that God is in control. Romans 13 says that all authority has been established by God and there is no authority that God did not establish. He is ultimately in charge and He’s got this.

Now get out there and vote!

 

image from: http://www.littlestuff.co.uk

Disqualified

Oct19

dq'dThere is nothing more heart sinking than to go to my son’s Academy application portal and read these words: “Medically disqualified.”

When he was 6 months old, my son had an allergic reaction to a milk-based formula. He ended up in the emergency room, swelled up with hives but thankfully breathing clearly. Ever since then, he has steered clear of dairy products. On those occasions when he does encounter dairy in something he eats, he knows it right away, usually experiencing an itching sensation in his mouth which can be stopped by drinking water. He has had a few instances when he eats something that has a greater presence of dairy, and that produces a very uncomfortable heartburn sensation. That is controlled with a dose of an antihistamine like Benadryl. And there are those times when small amounts of dairy don’t bother him. We don’t know why.

He’s also allergic to peanuts.

And—this is new within the last year—seafood.

Apparently, the DODMERB doesn’t think that’s an acceptable quality in a candidate.

We’re told it’s not over yet. If the Academy deems him a strong enough candidate, they will apply for a waiver for him. For now, we’re in a wait-and-see stage.

Meanwhile, he has his Congressional nominating committee interviews in the next couple of weeks, and he still has to do his fitness assessment. So he’s plugging ahead, albeit with the feeling that he’s not going to get in.

So what do you tell a young man who has wanted to be a military pilot for the greater part of his life? He has lived ROTC for the past 3+ years. God knew when He made him that he would have these allergies. He also knew this would be a disqualifying attribute. We don’t yet know if it will keep him out of the military.

I asked my son the other day what he wanted to do. He said he didn’t know. It makes my heart sad.

I know that God’s plans are for our good and His glory. But that doesn’t make the process of finding that good any less hard.

God is in control. My son will keep up the application because he definitely won’t get in if he doesn’t apply. And he’ll apply to the other colleges of his choice with the hopes of joining their ROTC program. But if he goes on, after 2 years he will have to go through the medical evaluation process again.

He’s tired. Tired of filling out applications. Tired of trying to get into shape. Tired of doing the work without the assurance that it will pay off.

I get it. I really do. But that’s kind of like life. You just keep doing what you know you’re supposed to, and God will take care of the rest.

Hang in there, Son. You’re not disqualified in our eyes—or God’s. He has a plan for you.

 

Repeat After Me: 5 Things To Keep Reminding Myself

Sep23

little_heartsWhen my eldest was born, I found a quote that I wrote in his baby book: Having a child is like having a piece of your heart walking around outside your body. And boy does it hurt. I have good kids. They haven’t rebelled, they get good grades, they are respectful to us and others, we have a good relationship with them all. But it still hurts to see my almost-an-adult son make decisions contrary to our advice simply because he likes to beat his own head against a wall in order to find out that, hey, that actually does hurt.

So, I have to keep reminding myself of a few things:

1. My son is not me. He will not make the decisions I would make. He will not follow the path I would follow, nor will he follow the path I want him to take. And I have to be alright with that, or it will tear us apart.

2. Don’t worry! I keep telling my son I’m not worrying exactly, I’m just concerned. Semantics, that’s all that is. I have this totally unfounded fear that he’s going to do something to derail his future. He tells me to trust him. I have in the past, so why is it so much harder to do now that he’s got one foot out the door?

3. Keep your hands to yourself. Whatever I do, I need to let him become the man God has made him to be. I stopped making his lunch years ago, I need to stop trying to manipulate things in his life now. He will resent me for it. He is not a baby anymore.

4. Be thankful for the time you get. These days, my son is gone more than he’s here. He has a new girlfriend. He has a job. He still has classes both at his high school and at the nearby college. And I miss him, frankly. We knew this time was going to come, and I thought I was maybe a little bit prepared, but I wasn’t. I’m not. But it will be worse when he actually moves out, possibly out of state, at the very least out of the house. I need to treat this as a year of preparation for the real thing.

Wah.

5. God is in control. No matter what decisions my son makes, God is ultimately in control of his life. If he misses deadlines for college applications, or isn’t successful in being appointed to the U.S. Air Force Academy, or even decides not to go to college, his life will not be “ruined.” It might not look like we hoped it would look, but God is firmly, ultimately, sovereignly in control.

I keep having to remind myself of these things, and what I said here about how I should be parenting him. Letting go of a piece of my heart isn’t easy, but it’s necessary. It’s the right thing to do.

 

illustration from theroadtocrazy.blogspot.com

Fire Ants in the Rose Garden

Sep12

IMG_2441I love roses. Not the artificially perfumed hothouse roses you find in the florist shops; the honest-to-goodness home-grown kind I find in my own garden. One thing I don’t love is the weeds. And the fire ants. Welcome to Florida.

The other day I was dead-heading my roses—a necessity if you want to keep blooms on them all year long—happily trimming along, enjoying the beauty and the fragrance when OUCH! I felt a sharp stinging on my foot. What the . . .! For something 1 millionth my size, that little fire ant sure packs a punch, especially if he’s invited several of his pals over to join him.

I’m not allergic to fire ant bites, thank the Lord, but I have a friend whose son is. When he inadvertently stepped on a hill, he nearly had to go to the hospital. Some quick administration of Benadryl averted a disaster.

But the itching and pain can still cause a lot of discomfort, even for the non-allergic. But mostly, I just hate the fact that my beautiful garden is a haven for the heartless beasts.

But isn’t that just like life?

You’re going along nicely, appreciating the beauty around you, being thankful for the beautiful creation, happy with your friends and family. Suddenly WHAM! something hits you broadside. Maybe a child suddenly becomes sick. Maybe a parent passes away. Maybe a pipe bursts in your house and causes a major flood.

Like those little fire ants in my rose bed, the sorrows and pains and grief of this world can distract me from the beauty. But my roses are still beautiful and fragrant.

And God is still good.

Just watch where you’re stepping.

Another Kind of Senior (A Guest Post)

Aug30

LeslieI invited my sister Leslie to post this week regarding her journey as the mom of a senior in college. Enjoy!

My youngest son will be entering his senior year of college at the end of September. When he was 18, my husband, daughter and I moved him into his dorm room at Western Washington University, took a brief tour of the campus and went out to dinner together. After we said goodbye and left him there, I cried most of the way home, all the while being assured by my daughter that he would be fine. Of course, he has been more than fine and has quite a good life for himself in a really nice town. I think he would say so too, except for the studying part, which is why, of course, he went there in the first place.

It turns out that his college experience has been as much about me as it has about him.

He is a remarkable young man in many ways. After his junior year of high school, he got himself an internship at a prestigious restaurant in town and grew in his cooking knowledge and skill. He also survived several rounds of interviews and was accepted into a youth program where he worked at Microsoft every day after school. And he got himself there on the bus every day. He also figured out, all on his own, that doing well and getting good grades was important and he made his way into Honor Society his senior year. I started to think that maybe it wasn’t me doing such a good job as his mother but it was him, working it all out on his own; seeking and finding new opportunities, learning how to be resourceful and successful. And so it has been, for the last 3 years. And so I have moved from being an active participant in his life to being a proud observer and supporter.

He is not pursuing a life of faith right now, at least in the way I understand faith. I have had to grow in my ability to accept that. But I am confident that God is at work and is obviously showing favor toward him, in the quiet, unseen ways that God often does. And may it continue to be so as he moves closer and closer toward that momentous graduation day. Meanwhile, he will choose his classes, schedule his work hours, study on campus and in the new house that he found—along with two friends, and will move into before the quarter starts—go shopping, fix his own meals, pay his own bills, navigate his way around town on his bike and on the bus and all those other things that college students do while they are growing up and becoming responsible adults. And I will cheer him on from home while I, too, grow up, albeit in a completely different way: letting go, praying, trusting. Trusting in my young man’s character and in God’s great grace.

My sister Leslie Grant lives in Kirkland, Wash., is married to Ron and has 3 children, 2 of whom are married adults. She is a para teacher in the public school system. She is an avid Seattle Mariners fan, which puts us at odds during the season as my A’s are in the same division as the M’s. But blood is thicker than baseball, so it’s all good.