Fun or Torture?

Sep3

The activity my husband most likes to participate in on any holiday is a family bike ride. He’s a big cyclist himself, so he wants everyone to enjoy his passion. That’s completely understandable. And I would enjoy it myself if it wasn’t for that pesky part of the equation: the family.

None of our kids have taken as strongly to cycling as David has. One in particular, who shall remain nameless, spends a great deal of the time complaining about one thing or another, or just basically being unhappy. Uncomfortable on a bike, this child won’t take a hand off the handle bars to scratch an itch, or adjust a helmet, or even switch gears. Therefore, whenever one of the first two activities needs to happen, we have to come to a complete stop. And because this child won’t let go even enough to change gears, little legs have to pedal twice as much as bigger ones.

It’s common knowledge that, in order to feel comfortable doing something, you have to keep doing it. You’re not going to get comfortable unless you keep at it. If you only ride once every couple of months, you’re not going to get comfortable, and every street crossing or obstacle in the path is going to throw you for a loop.

So what was supposed to be a nice family bike ride to run some errands on this holiday turned into one part of the family way up ahead while the other part of us trailed behind, keeping pace with the slow-goer.

Rather than lose my patience, I should have been more kind. We all are not the same, nor do we have the same abilities. Though the whining didn’t need to be tolerated, I think this child would have responded better to compassion and to the encouragement of the family, rather than the scorn.

“Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. . . But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. . . But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it” (1 Cor. 12:14-26).

Thankful today for:

583. a holiday with no grading to do!

584. my daughter’s clean room

585. vacuum cleaners

586. Jasper becoming more vocal

What Do You Know?

Aug31

I haven’t been able to write lately, because I’ve been at school every day, breaking in a new batch of 6th graders. Here are my observations from my first week teaching middle schoolers:
1. They are older than 2nd graders
2. They can actually carry on intelligent conversations and ask thoughtful questions
3. I love not having to teach math
4. They are good writers!
5. I can read their handwriting without much trouble
6. I love not having to fill out a homework sheet
7. Now that I have teenagers, middle schoolers aren’t so scary
8. I love not having seat work!
9. I can keep my expectations high and not have to worry about being disappointed
10. I know more than I thought I did

 

Thankful today for:

579. my co-teacher Jenni. She rocks!

580. my school being right across the street

581. my 10 6th graders. They rock too!

582. that my kids are old enough to get themselves up, dressed and fed

Teacher! Teacher!

Aug25

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The pressure is on. I’ve been handed responsibility for 10 new 6th graders who will start out their middle-school careers under my tutelage. How scary is that? I’ve had exactly two years of teaching experience. In 2nd grade. That’s a far cry from what I’m expected to do with these 11- and 12-year-olds. That God would trust me with my own 3 kids is one thing; that others would trust me with theirs, quite another.

In 2nd grade we studied the Olympics, U.S. sites and symbols, farm animals. I can talk to 2nd graders all day about such stuff. I could attempt to teach them about verbs and adjectives and hope they remember to start their sentences with capital letters and end with some sort of punctuation. Sometimes they did it, sometimes they didn’t. But that was OK; they were only in 2nd grade.

Now, I’ve got to try and talk intelligently about the ancient civilizations in China and the Indus Valley, Egypt, Greece, Rome and Sumer. I don’ t even know where Sumer is! I have to guide them into beautiful wiring with strong verbs and quality adjectives. (Or is it quality verbs and strong adjectives?)

And I have to teach them Latin.

The only Latin I know is carpe diem! And e plurbus unum. Did I spell that right?

Lord help us all. Good thing that’s what He does. I hope He’s not busy elsewhere this year, because I’m going to need a lot of His attention.

“That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10 NIV84).

Thankful today for:
564. A good start to my son’s sophomore year
565. After-school swim-team practice instead of 5 in the morning
566. A team with which to work
567. Trace Academy
568. Vista Community Church
569. Photos
570. Our avocado tree
571. My new iPad 🙂
572. The weekend
573. Sunshine
574. Animals
575. Massages
576. Homemade chocolate chip cookies
577. The ability to keep making our mortgage payment
578. Gifts

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