Time Keeps on Slippin’, Slippin’, Slippin’

Aug20

I sent my baby boy off for his sophomore year of high school today. He won’t like the fact that I called him my baby boy. Plus, he’s taller than I am now. But it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t read my blog anyway. Sigh. Last night I asked him if he wanted me to get up and say goodbye to him in the morning (which is a BIG sacrifice for me, since he needs to leave the house at 6:45 or so to catch his bus at 6:52). He said no. Then he added, “You can if you want to.” So when I woke up at 6:47 and asked my husband if he had heard him, and he told me he hadn’t, I went to his room to check.

Yep, there he was snoozing away. 5 minutes until the bus arrived at a 3-minute-walk-away bus stop. Wasn’t gonna happen. So, being the kind mother that I am, I drove him. Got him there 3 minutes before the bell for first period. I don’t think he made it. But, I was guessing they were giving grace on the first day of school. But what a way to start.

So, my big, strong Air Force officer wannabe son still needs his momma. Whether he wants to admit it or not.

My desire to hang on, to make sure he has everything he needs for the day, that he hasn’t left anything behind, is hard to break. Last year I stopped myself from checking that he had his athletic shoes for an ROTC field day that he was attending. He had to wear his uniform there, but then change into PT clothes later on. Turns out, he forgot the shoes. The result? Major blisters and torn skin on the soles of his feet for his error. Lesson learned? I think so. But it’s hard to see your children suffer the consequences, isn’t it?

But what’s that saying? What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger? I bet he won’t be forgetting his shoes again.

When we go to a restaurant, my husband is telling me, let him ask the questions. Don’t baby him. But not asking the right questions can have physical consequences as he is severely allergic to dairy products. And I have more experience knowing what to ask. And what if he doesn’t have his allergy medicine with him? And, and, and.

Let it go. Cut the apron strings. He’s a big boy now.

Wrong. He’s still my baby.

Thankful today for:

561. growing independence

562. a new computer coming

563. approaching fall

Barking Up The Wrong Tree

Aug17

My black lab, Berkeley, is a barker. In fact, one of his nicknames with people is “Barkley.” He’s the sweetest dog and not the least bit dominant, but he has a ferocious bark. We like that for the burglar-proofing it does for our house, but really, does he have to bark at every movement?

He’s what I would call an alarmist if he were a person. Every little sound, every little movement, every car door that shuts five houses away, he lets us know about it.

I feel that way sometimes with things I read online, especially on Facebook. Obama is trying to take over the world! The Republicans are out to steal your money! The next phone call you receive could be your last!!!!!!

If I foolishly believed everything I read, I would be in a constant state of panic. Thanks be to God that my future is not in the hands of either political party. I would surely be doomed.

As I’m always telling my dog, why don’t you get all the facts before you sound the alarm? Is that car that’s driving down the road turning and stopping in front of the house? Is there actually someone coming to our door, or is that the neighbor in their own driveway? Did the unemployment rate under the Obama administration really quadruple? Is Romney going to call in that alien army to suck out your brains and leave you helpless and in their hands? Is eating potato chips going to give you cancer?

Being rightly informed takes work, and I know that I’m not up for spending hours and hours researching things that, in the end, don’t affect my eternal destiny. Use your brain, but don’t get carried away. Balance is everything.

In Matthew 6, Jesus is quoted as saying, “‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

“‘And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own'” (Matthew 6: 25-34).

Bobby McFerrin understood that. See what he has to say about that in his funky song, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”

My favorite saying these days is: “It is what it is.” Sometimes, you just can’t change things. Like a rainstorm during a picnic. Or a favorite dish getting broken. There’s really no use getting upset. Look at the weather forecast; move dishes away from the edge of the counters and be careful. Other than that, there’s nothing you can do.

And I really don’t think the world is going to end on December 21st.

Thankful today for:

549. bird song

550. a good school schedule for my eldest

551. a new computer for a good price

552. pressure washing

553. training

554. the excitement of a new school year

555. dishwashers

556. helping hands

557. weekly trash pick up

558. yummy food

559. peaceful negotiations

560. a job well done

The Wonder of it All

Aug14

It’s too bad that we can’t remember back to when we were newborn babies. What would we think of all the new sites, sounds and smells that were bombarding us from our first moments in the light? When we try to see things through a baby’s eyes, we get some idea of why they cry. It’s too loud! It’s too bright! Something about me feels funny! Who are all these people, anyway?

I think my new parakeet, Jasper, must feel the same way. We got him yesterday after deciding the sun conure we were pet sitting was too much bird for us. Jasper is just a baby. In the matter of a few moments, he was snatched rudely from the crowded pet store enclosure (and who knows what indignities he had suffered before even getting to that place?), confined to a small cardboard box where it was dark and cramped; carried, albeit carefully, into a large metal structure that made funny noises, moved to another habitat, surrounded by gawking people and placed into this cage where that same bunch of people continued to stare at him, talk to him and encourage him that it was all going to be OK.

Right.

After sitting on the bottom of the cage nearly the whole day, Jasper (named after the green jasper gemstone which he resembles in coloring) did hop up onto one of the perches. That was encouraging. And then this morning, he actually chirped! Several times! And then, much to my relief, he ate.

Phew. What a couple of days he’s had. We have a big dog who barks at whatever he sees moving across his view from the window next to the cage. We have a cat who has curiously peered into his new home. He must think the world has gone crazy.

But everything is going to be alright. He felt a little of that this morning when he felt good enough to eat. As the days go on and he realizes more that he is safe, that he can trust us to do him no harm, I’m sure he will enjoy exploring his new world even more. He’ll get to know us and we’ll get to know him.

That reminds me of a verse:  “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” 1 Corinthians 13:12.

We’re glad to have him as a part of our family. Hopefully soon, he’ll feel the same way.

Thankful today for:

544. new pets

545. a feeling of security

546. potential

547. challenges–not because I like them, but because they cause me to grow

548. friends just dropping by

 

Parrots Are People Too

Aug11

We’ve been Sun Conure parrot sitting this weekend, test driving a friend’s bird to see if we might become her new family. She has beautiful bright orange, red, yellow and green plumage. She makes cute, quiet clucking sounds and other pleasant noises. That is until something disturbs her. Then an extremely loud and shrill squawk comes out of that pretty face. The disturbance might be that she’s hungry, or someone just walked into the room. Or out of the room. Or a car just drove by on the street outside. Who knows. But that sound, especially right next to our ears, is making us all a little crazy.

So, much as we’d like to help out our friend, we will be returning Baby (whom we’re calling Mango while she’s with us) at the end of the weekend.

But it’s not just for the squawking: we have a cat who has had to be sequestered nearly the whole time Mango’s been here because the bird squawks loudly when she’s not with us, and if she’s free range in the house, the cat is a definite hazard. And then she poops wherever she wants. That gets old pretty quickly. Does she have a sweet personality? She can. Would the cat like to find out how she tastes? Probably. Is she a little high-maintenance? Yes, if you want her to be quieter.

I’m thinking a cat-free home is the one for her.

Amazingly, the dog learned very quickly not to react when she flies overhead.

But, this experience has shown us that we would like to pursue getting a different kind of bird. Maybe one that is happy in its cage as well as out among us. And who has only pleasant things to say.

That reminds me of a verse:

“It is better to live in a corner of a roof than in a house shared with a contentious woman” (Proverbs 21:9).

A pleasant personality makes for a happier home than does all the glamour in the world. Mango is beautiful to look at, but don’t give her what she wants and she lets you know. Loudly.

Sound like anyone you know?

Thankful today for:

532. beauty

533. my sweet, obedient dog

534. fast forward

535. good friends moving back home

536. modern medicine

537. youth leaders

538. our location

539. the ability to help

540. red nail polish

541. time to read

542. sleep

543. articulate people

 

Unwashed Faces

Aug7

A friend shared a story about arriving home one day to his small daughter’s exuberant welcome. Problem was, she was covered in spaghetti sauce, having just been fed by her mom. Being still in his work clothes, my friend held off his daughter’s embrace so as not to soil his nice clothes. In his sharing of this story, as I remember it, my friend felt regret that he hadn’t just as joyfully embraced his dirty daughter as God so joyfully embraces us, His dirty children.

James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

Joyce Meyer points out the order in which those things happen: draw near to God, then cleanse your hands and purify your hearts.

We can’t become clean on our own. Nothing but the blood of Jesus can accomplish that. If we wait until we’re clean to draw near to God, instead of trusting in Him to do the cleansing, we will never come to Him.

I think about my friend’s story whenever I try to keep my kids’ dirty hands away from my clean clothes. Oh, that I would accept them, dirt and all, the way God accepts me.

Thankful today for:

519. puzzles

520. creative smoothies

521. partnership

522. laughter

523. praise music

524. cleanliness

525. acceptance

526. weekly trash pick up

527. thunderstorms

528. my kids still liking to be with me

529. my Macbook Pro

530. experts