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I be wantin me some treasure…. Arrrr…..

16 Mar

treasure-chest-1

Maybe you are like me and you can reflect over a time period and then think of something that you find to be pretty valuable.  Possibly a funny story to remember, a heart-warming incident that you never want to forget, an observation that strikes you as pretty amazing, or maybe even a lesson learned… Well, I had one of those times this weekend where I could just reflect on current little things that I would consider little treasures…. I think I’ll call it “mind booty” (what’s a treasure without pirate talk, yer know… arrrrr)… the treasure that is swiped right out of your mind…

Here’s the booty.. one jewel at a time…

Jewel #1– Lesson Learned- Even if the car in front of you does it too…..the “right turn only” cardboard-box-carsign means just that

Jewel #2 – Funny story to remember- A stimulus package is not a high energy flavored drink package that you dump into bottled water (don’t ask)

Jewel #3–Amazing observation- Children of today, who live in a high-tech society, have 24/7 communication with others (cell phones, internet….yes, even little children), have received more information by age 10 than a 15 year-old would have 15 years ago, are able to play sports, exercise their bodies and exercise military operations from the comfort of their couch with a joystick (and if they have a Wii they may possibly stand up)… all of this and they still enjoy playing in a cardboard boxdisney-ice

Jewel #4–Funny Story- One who turns 7 years-old actually LIKES having people sing Happy Birthday to them in a restaurant

Jewel #5– Heart warming moment- No matter how old you are and no matter if you see it every year, there is still something special about those events that  Disney puts together..

Each one of those little incidents, for whatever reason, make up memories that I don’t want to forget.. a little treasure or mind booty (arrrr…)

I love that about the Bible too.  I can read something one time and read it again later only to see something that I didn’t catch before… like yesterday… I have read the story of how Jesus was betrayed many times.  I know the whole  kiss on the cheek, ear cut off, denying of the denial, the false allegations, etc., but I caught something last night that I have either skimmed over in the past or just never seen.   It is  Mark 14:51-52.  It tells of a young man who had been following Jesus and his disciples. When all of the action of the arrest was taking place someone grabbed this guy and in doing so, his clothes ripped right off and he ran away naked…it is not mentioned in any other account of the arrest, just in Mark and it is only two little sentences.    At first I thought that it was kind of funny…  I chuckled as I pictured the scene of him being scared out of his clothes.  Then I thought about it (arrr…. searched for the treasure) ….right before that little story it said that everyone deserted Christ and ran… This guy didn’t get away in time so he did what he had to do… ran naked…

In that reflection I  wondered if I have ever run away from Christ when times got a little scary.. When Christ asked me to do something that made me feel a little fearful and instead of trusting, I ran?…My rebellious pirate answer? “Aye,”….. I have and I might just be able to say that when I felt trapped, I did what I thought I  had to do to run away from Christ …..not even considering about how I was acting or even how I looked as I took those steps….

Fortunately, we have a loving God who wants to be our treasure.  He knows when we are running scared and he is ready and waiting to give us fresh clothes, nourishment and guide us in the direction we know we should have gone in the first place.  And the best part-he doesn’t leave us running by ourselves…  I’m thankful that I ran back.

Are you running to or from your treasure?

Mark 14:43-52

43Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders.

44Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” 45Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. 46The men seized Jesus and arrested him. 47Then one of those standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.

48“Am I leading a rebellion,” said Jesus, “that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? 49Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.” 50Then everyone deserted him and fled.

51A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, 52he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.

 
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Posted by on March 16, 2009 in Devotions, Faith, Fun, Life Stories

 

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What??? Oh no, he didn’t!…

05 Mar

after-american-idol-its-time-for-vietnam-idol_14After finally getting home around 9:00 this evening, the girls and I settled down to watch the recorded elimination of several more American Idol contestants and the bringing back of a few for a wild card night.  (By the way, if you have never watched a recorded American Idol in triple speed it is totally worth the effort…. the dancing is way fun to watch) As the contestants were narrowed down we were disappointed to see that our favorite female of the evening was going home… “Oh, nuggets”……As we continued watching we were biting our nails in hopes that our personal favorites would have one more chance.   Suddenly, they announced “Tatiana.”  What??? … but we let it go…  It came down to the last open spot… and Simon announced the one final person to have one more American Idol chance… “Anoop”… What???? No Nick/Norman???  Oh no, he didn’t just pick Anoop over Nick… How frustrating… how boring Idol will be now.  I’ve got my top three favorites but I wanted Nick to be in that top three… So now that my fun favorite is not in the mix I will have to root on my top three and my absolute favorite, Danny, and enjoy the rest while I can…..I guess the reality of Idol is not everyone in America can be pleased… we can’t always get what we want..american-idol-nick-mitchell-a-k-a-normund-gentle-20090205054356

You know,  that is the reality of life in general….

In continuing the story of Balaam (Numbers 23-25),I have wondered several times if the author used this little story to bring some humor into the picture… First, there was the talking donkey  and now we are at the place where Balak is hoping for the curse on Israel… You can probably imagine the scene…

Balak, the king/prince, is eager to hear that Balaam has cursed the Israelites.  He waits in anticipation for Balaam to come back down from the hillside and say his evil deed is done. But Balaam has news of his own… I picture the conversation like this…

“Attention everyone!  Balaam has come back down from the hillside to inform us that the Israelites will not harm us because he has cursed them and we are safe.”  The crowd cheers.  “Balaam, would you like to tell the crowd exactly what kind of a curse you placed on these Israelites?”

“Ummm,” Balaam stammers, ” God told me not to because he likes them”

What??? Oh no, he didn’t just say that God told him not to curse these people…

Balak, possibly thinking that Balaam had misunderstood, sent him to another place… same routine of altars and sacrifices.. Then Balaam goes back to Balak…

“Attention everyone!  Balaam has come back down from the hillside to inform us that the Israelites will not harm us because he has cursed them and we are safe.”  The crowd cheers.  “Balaam, would you like to tell the crowd exactly what kind of a curse you placed on these Israelites?”

“Ummm,” Balaam stammers, ” God told me not to because he likes them and they will probably kill you guys”

What??? Oh no, he didn’t just say that God told him these people were going to harm us!

So Balak sends Balaam to another place in hopes of a different story.. same routine of altars and sacrifices.. Then Balaam goes back to Balak…

“Attention everyone!  Balaam has come back down from the hillside to inform us that the Israelites will not harm us because he has cursed them and we are safe.”  The crowd cheers.  “Balaam, would you like to tell the crowd exactly what kind of a curse you placed on these Israelites?”

“Ummm,” Balaam stammers, ” God told me not to because he likes them and he curses you instead”

What??? Oh no, he didn’t just say that God told him to bless them and curse us!

Balak had enough and sent Balaam on his way.
Seems that if Balak would have listened to what God had to say and not worked so hard to change God’s mind he could have been blessed.

Numbers 24:9

9 Like a lion they crouch and lie down,
like a lioness—who dares to rouse them?
“May those who bless you be blessed
and those who curse you be cursed!”

Wonder how many great things I’ve missed out on because I was too stubborn to slow down and listen?

 
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Posted by on March 5, 2009 in Devotions, Faith

 

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Pride vs. PRIDE…… will the real jerk please stand up…

04 Mar

In the past few days I’ve had to do some dealing with pride…. I think there are two different kinds of pride- the first kind of pride is the standard definition of pride… something to the tune of the “quality of being proud” or “a reasonable self respect.”  When I have worked hard at something and it meets the goals that were created there can definitely be a sense of pride in a job well done.  I’m not so sure that there is anything wrong with that … But there is also the other definition of P.R.I.D.E.  –

Personal

Respect

In

Doses

Exceeding

(Necessity)

I suppose maybe that is more likely PRIDE(N) but you get the picture… this is the kind of pride that gets us into trouble … this is the kind of pride that keeps us from allowing ourselves to be humble… this is the kind of pride that is not only dangerous but can be hurtful… this is the kind of pride that make us look foolish in the end anyway…

My daily reading led me to the story of Balaam and his donkey. (Numbers 22:21-24)

The story in a nutshell is about Balaam on his way to visit Balak who thinks Balaam will place a curse on the Israelites for him.  On the road, Balaam’s donkey suddenly takes off into a field.  He gets so upset at her behavior that he beats her and she gets back up on the road.  Then the next thing the donkey does is as they are passing through a walled area she pushes Balaam’s leg up against the wall and again he gets upset and beats her. Finally the donkey just stops and lays down… again, Balaam(seems like such a pleasant guy)takes his frustrations out on her.  This time, little miss donkey has had enough and turns around and asks Balaam (yes, she spoke) why he keeps hitting her.  He said he was embarassed (his pride was hurt) because she was making him look like a fool in front of others who were supposed to respect him.  Little did Balaam know that his faithful donkey was only protecting him from an angel that the Lord had sent that would have probably killed him and Balaam finally sees the angel and is so sorry for his actions.

So all of this takes place and I noticed something… The writer of this acts as if a donkey speaking is a natural thing.   There are no double takes from Balaam and his traveling crew, nor are there any out of control screams of horror or even laughter… there is nothing.  So here is my take on this… Balaam was so focused on his pride and looking like a fool that he forgot he was conversing with a donkey…and I’m pretty sure looked pretty foolish anyway..

Yep, that is the way PRIDE(N) works… or at least in my life… I focus on what I don’t want others to see because it may embarrass me only to find myself talking to a donkey I end up looking foolish anyway.  There are times I don’t ask others for help and it haunts me later…

Are you experiencing PRIDE(N)?  Balaam saw what he had done wrong… and he was sorry…. me too.


Numbers 22:21-34

21 Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab. 22 But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the LORD stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat her to get her back on the road.

24 Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path between two vineyards, with walls on both sides. 25 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat her again.

26 Then the angel of the LORD moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat her with his staff. 28 Then the LORD opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”

29 Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.”

30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?”
“No,” he said.

31 Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.

32 The angel of the LORD asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. [i] 33 The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared her.”

34 Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back.”



 
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Posted by on March 4, 2009 in Devotions, Faith, Fun, Life Stories

 

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Muddling through with Bear Grylls…. and the rest

18 Feb

If you have never watched Man vs. Wild then you have no idea what you are missing.  There are very few words to describe the host, Bear Grylls… “amazing” could be one of them, “crazy” another.   There are things that he does for a show that I don’t think I could ever do even if I knew my life depended on it.  bear-gryllsWe watched him the other night dig through bear poo to find undigested goodies to eat… yes, that was written correctly.. bear poo and undigested goodies …. he did wash it off a bit but apparently not enough to knock the taste as he described how horrible it was.  I’m pretty positive that I wouldn’t do that… yep, I’m positive.  Later he goes on to pull a huge snail out of its shell and eat it.  What I didn’t quite understand is why he didn’t just put it in his pocket and later, when he started his fire,  roast that little guy and enjoy it a bit more… maybe even roast the bear droppings…All of that was for one show….I’m guessing that some of his feats are for ratings and some are for dramatic effect while some are for truly helping people… you know, just in case I am ever lost in the woods and I am wanting a fresh snack.. you see where I’m going with this….

We’ve seen him eat so much other funky stuff that I had to find out how he knew all of this valuable information… I researched a bit and not only was I surprised to find out that he was married but also has three children… I just wonder if she lets him cook at home….

Anyway, I found out more… like his family history, his military career, his college degree and more.  I found out that this man, who eats whatever, swims in whatever,  and sleeps wherever has been trained to survive and actually is a survivor.  It seems that years ago he was in a parachuting accident breaking his back in several places.  His healing process brought him to a place where three years later he became the youngest person to ever climb to the top of  Mt. Everest.  Through that and what he does now, he encourages people that they too, can come through the tough times.  However, with all of his knowledge, his training and his super guy image, I found out that he depends little on himself and the central part of his life is Christ. In one  article he talks about his faith and his struggles with church… not that he is opposed to church but he may be  opposed to “church”..

“Church should be more like a hospital where people are all a bit damaged and are muddling our way through together. It’s Ok to be a bit dirty and bloody, not all perfect and healed. Christianity is about discovering that in the business and struggles of life we are not alone and that this Jesus is actually beside us.”

I’ve been reading in Leviticus about all of the laws that the Lord gave to Moses… There are so many.  It seems pretty obvious that at that time in history many of those laws were protecting the people.  Certain foods were off limits (Bear would have definitely been banished), certain cleanliness  routines were important (again, Bear would be quarantined for some time), health regulations were specific… so many were  to keep the people safe and pure or  separated from what everyone else was doing….. When Christ came it was a common thought that he threatened those laws yet he said that he came to fulfill the law not abolish them (Matthew 5:17) and therefore raised eyebrows and skepticism.

Maybe that is the way that church is seen today… people think that “I have to wear this” or “I have to give this” or “I have to be like this” in order to be a part.  I think sometimes it is easy for people to look at the church and think that it is a place where you go when you are pretty close to perfect or at least ready to pretend that you are pretty close to perfect..A place to be traditional and expect that same tradition from others…. That is too bad…..Maybe the church has done that to itself.. pretended that those who are a part of it have never been broken or aren’t hurting….

Bear should know the need for a hospital… He knows dirty, bloody, imperfection and the need for healing and if you’ll read his faith story you will understand that I am not talking about his television show but about his spiritual walk… I too know what that walk is like… There are those “hospitals” out there that we need….Those churches in your town that have Christ in the center….. He is the doctor that has incredible bedside manner and the rest of us, well we all work to muddle through together…

Are you hurting? Broken?  Want to muddle through?

(Praying for Justin and Kristi and the babies as we muddle through together)



 
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Posted by on February 18, 2009 in Devotions, Faith

 

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Moses P. Diddy Hall, I owe you an apology….

11 Feb

At 3:30am this morning(not a myth either) my dog, Moses P. Diddy Hall aka Moe, began barking.  This usually means one thing…. He is an attention seeking, self absorbed dog… okay, maybe it might mean he needs to go potty and therefore is sending us his little dog message… if only he had a big dog bladder in his little dog body… Long story short, he woke us up.  I laid there for a few minutes and fortunately, he stopped barking and didn’t need us after all…  But that is not the part that makes me so proud of Moe,  this is……..

My daughter came running up the stairs as we were all getting ready this morning.  I was concerned because there was a bit of fear in her voice.  She asked her dad if he had been in his car this morning and gotten into his glove compartment.  He said that he hadn’t…. That meant that it had happened again… Our car had been broken into…  They didn’t take much, just a little money.  This is the third time that this has happened since we have lived in this neighborhood.  We live in a nice enough neighborhood and don’t really fear this kind of thing but still yet, always try to remember to lock the car doors.  This just happened to be a night that Chris forgot to lock up… again, not much taken, just some quarters from his change dish and a few dollars from my daughter’s purse….

So really Moe wasn’t barking to go out because he needed to potty, he was barking because he wanted to go outside and bite the thieves’ legs off…. Good Moe.

I find it interesting that my reading yesterday was Leviticus 6-7.   It began like this:

Leviticus 6:1-7

1 The LORD said to Moses: 2 “If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the LORD by deceiving his neighbor about something entrusted to him or left in his care or stolen, or if he cheats him, 3 or if he finds lost property and lies about it, or if he swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that people may do- 4 when he thus sins and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to him, or the lost property he found, 5 or whatever it was he swore falsely about. He must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the owner on the day he presents his guilt offering. 6 And as a penalty he must bring to the priest, that is, to the LORD, his guilt offering, a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. 7 In this way the priest will make atonement for him before the LORD, and he will be forgiven for any of these things he did that made him guilty.”

Well, what do you know…. God just told our little car robbers that they need to pay us back plus some.  I’m feeling some justice here… but then I started thinking about it… Yes, this robber guy took something that didn’t belong to him and yes, he is wrong and should fix his wrong, but the robber guys are not reading this passage… I am…

So what have I taken from someone else?  Maybe it isn’t something material but maybe it is something just as important if not more … something like dignity, respect or esteem.. I hope I haven’t, but the reality of it is, I am human and there are things that I regret saying and regret doing.  I would like to think that I have the wisdom and compassion now that I didn’t have years ago and if given the opportunity I probably need to apologize… why not?  It might be giving back plus more… I’ll start with Moe…

Moe, I’m sorry I named you Moses P. Diddy Hall..( I’m sure that has to be a dignity issue when he is around other dogs), and I’m sorry I wasn’t respectful of your barking at 3:30am when I mumbled, “Stupid Dog!”  For the most part you are a good dog.

Next, I am on to real people… Mrs. Ricker, I’m sorry for giving a smart alec remark when you were taking role in fourth grade.  You may not remember but I have never forgotten it… and since I can’t give back that respect, I do want to tell you this…..  One time in church you gave your testimony about feeling called to be a missionary….You said something to the fact that you weren’t sorry for your life as a teacher, mom and wife as it was but you were sorry that you hadn’t been obedient when God called you into that ministry field.  You then encouraged others to be obedient to what God had called them to do so as not to later regret… I remember it well and I took those words and eventually put them into practice. Thanks for that.

Now, who is next??

What have you taken from someone? Can you give it back?

 
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Posted by on February 11, 2009 in Devotions, Faith, Fun, Life Stories

 

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16 Ways to Keep My 16 year-old Off of the Road

09 Feb

My daughter recently turned 16.   I’m pretty laid back about things but the other day when she said she was ready to get her driving permit it hit me that she was really at that stage in her life.  She needed several things to take with her to the DMV; her birth certificate, her social security card and a paper stating she is enrolled in school. Well, she did her part to get her school info but I kept dragging my feet getting her other documents.  My mind started racing… What would she do if those documents just happened to be “lost.”  Now I am not the type of mother to manipulate my daughter but it did run through my mind.  What if the document thing didn’t pan out though….. what would be next?  What would I stoop to?

I’ve made my list-16 ways to keep my daughter off of the road…

  1. Tell her that all licensed drivers must spend a two year stint of public service driving daycare vans – and then top it off with horror stories of vomit and stinky diapers
  2. Give her the keys to the car-  a set from the lost and found at Wal-mart that belong to someone else and then look at her like she is crazy when she says they don’t work
  3. Tell her when she loses the next tooth the tooth fairy will give her a key under her pillow… sometimes vanity is beautiful
  4. Sell the cars- I can do without
  5. Tell her that I fibbed about her actual birthdate and she is still only 14.temporary-poster-1
  6. When she asks to take the car, I will respond, “No hablo ingles”
  7. Paint her bedroom windows black… she’ll sleep for months
  8. Duct tape pool noodles all over the car … for safety… again, sometimes vanity is beautiful
  9. Tell her that there is a warrant for her arrest and going to get her license might land her in jail
  10. Everytime she mentions driving I will scream a B movie horror scream….I’m thinking Pavlov’s Dog, you know.. conditioning will kick in eventually
  11. Have a group of actors storm the house and tell her she won the teen publishers house sweepstakes… she is so rich she can afford a limo with driver
  12. Super glue the car doors shut
  13. Explain the new family tradition where the youngest qualified driver now purchases all gas for all family vehicles as well as washes all cars on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays and buys dinner on Friday nights…
  14. Everytime she mentions the words drive, I will respond with “Dive? You want to dive?”
  15. Tell her she must learn to drive a stick shift before she can take her driving test
  16. And the one that I know will work for sure…. give her the minivan

Ephesians 6:4

4Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Okay, I’m not going to lie to my daughter… and I will take her this week to get her permit….I don’t want to exasperate her….. but I can stock up on pool noodles and get an enormous bow for the minivan

Sometimes we parents have to be creative.

 
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Posted by on February 9, 2009 in Fun, Life Stories

 

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I Heart Young @ Heart

09 Feb

My lesson series at church for the kids is fairness…. Today focused on favoritism.

In my preparation I was looking on Youtube trying to find a video about fairness … I don’t know how I ended up finding these little treasures because they aren’t for kids nor are they about fairness or favoritism….but they struck me as pretty incredible.

The scene is a prison yard… A choir of seniors are performing songs for their prison audience…

In this first video I was incredibly bothered… watch those in the background… look at their laughter… It doesn’t seem to be a laughter of any kind other than making fun of these silver haired folks…. it really made me uncomfortable and sad to watch them laugh in the manner that they did…

With the feelings I received from the first one, I’m not sure why I decided to watch this second one but something happened to the audience in this one….

The inmates pretty much melted. I was so glad I decided to sit through it..

(Unfortunately embedding of this video is not available from Youtube so to watch the second video you must go here.)

I will have to say…at first I was pretty partial to the older folks… but after watching the video, my attitude towards the prisoners began to soften…

I guess, if I teach it then I should be reminding myself of the Words of God…

Leviticus 19:15

15 ” ‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.

And just who is my neighbor?  Seems like it is the prisoners as well as the older folks… I have a very impressive neighborhood!

 
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Posted by on February 9, 2009 in Devotions, Faith

 

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Five o’clock in the Morning is not a Myth after all….

07 Feb

I’ll be the first to admit that I am not a morning person. My family, close friends and co-workers can vouch for me here.  Fortunately, I’ve never had to travel any distance in the morning to work or school that would require me to get up extremely early.  In fact,  until this morning I thought 5:00am was a myth.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve stayed up many late nights and I’ve seen the clock pass by 5:00am, but in those cases I just thought it was some fluke of nature or science.  You know, kind of a Quantum Leap or a Close Encounters type thing.  I’ve also been up at 5:00am when the girls were babies.   But again, I thought that was only caused by some postnatal hormonal collapse or something… Regardless, I never realized that I could ever get up at 5:00am and be civil much less star in my very own sitcom episode…

Here’s how the episode played out….My thirteen-year-old daughter plays violin for orchestra at school.  They won some award that gave them the honor of performing a special concert in front of the governor.   Like any normal performance they have a certain look they must achieve.. black pants and white shirt… but this time her teacher added something a bit more to the attire…. She told them to look “elegant”.  Well,  apparently elegant means curls in your hair because my daughter asked me to do the honors of curling her hair so she could sleep in them.  When all of the curlers were in we laughed a little about her curler head appearance and then she went on to bed.

This morning I made sure she got up (well, lets just say I set the alarm) at 5:00am to finish getting ready.  Just as I was about to doze back to sleep I heard this howling laugh coming from the other room.  I covered up my head and was just thankful that she hadn’t woken up anyone else .  Then the laughter came again only this time a bit longer.  Then I heard footsteps and she stood at the bedroom door and said, “Mom!  You have to see my hair!!”  I uncovered my head, squinted my eyes and turned to look…… she began singing, “Animal Crackers in my soup…” and “On the Good Ship Lollipop..”  My first reaction was to say… no, it was 5:00am, “say” is too gentle……My first reaction was to yell,  “What are you doing?!?”  And I did….. but when I did, I saw what was making her laugh…. at that very minute, I was stunned as a 5 foot 3 inch Shirley Temple stood at the bedroom door… It was a remarkable resemblance.  I know, I know… it was early in the morning but I’m telling you I know the secret to Shirley Temple’s hair.  .  shirleytemple1Allison continued her song and I jumped (literally) out of bed to get a closer look… My daughter kept bobbing her head and singing.  I couldn’t stand it, she was hilarious and her hair was horrible!!  I began using my fingers to loosen up the curls but like those little animals that grow when exposed to water,  her hair started to expand.  It got bigger and bigger and bigger.  Again, we doubled over with laughter.  Finally after about 15 minutes of laughter, intermingled with trying to create an elegant (wasn’t happening) look, my daughter shook it all off an put her hair up in a ponytail.  We even laughed at the ponytail’s awkward appearance… looking somewhat like a second head.

As all sitcoms seem to do, our “episode” ended with a happy ending when I dropped her off at school.  As she walked into the school I thought to myself, “this is a morning I want to remember.”  My teenage daughter was incredible.  I was so proud of her….If I had been in her shoes I would have probably been sobbing  in my room and trying to figure out how to get out of going to the performance.  She didn’t though,  she remained calm,  laughed it off and used plan B; the ponytail.

What an example she set. After all, why do we worry?

Matthew 6:25-34

25“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? 26Look 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? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]?

28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If 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? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

 
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Posted by on February 7, 2009 in Devotions, Faith, Fun, Life Stories

 

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