Diary of a Wimpy Parent

"Hey, Mom! I know! There should be a book called Diary of a Wimpy Parent; Kid Fever!"

Not sure exactly what prompted that except that we took a family walk after a very loud, very eventful supper, which was after a very loud, very eventful library snack time. And I was dra-gging.

"Good idea, G. You think I should write that book?"
"Yeah!"
Oldest always-knows-the-right-thing-to-say-daughter chimed in, "But, Mom, you're not a wimp."

I literally did not have the energy to laugh out loud on that one. I forced out a half-chuckle as I mustered the muscle to open the door to the house that I was only walking into because if the neighbors saw me sleeping in the driveway they might get a little concerned.

Diary of a Wimpy Parent felt just a bit autobiographical at that moment.

And you should see circles under these eyes today... could be the detox eating program I am doing. On. Day. Three...or the kids... or...anyway.

But the conversations I have been having lately have been circling around strength a lot. What makes you strong? Not letting the chaos out? Not letting the stress overwhelm you? Or is it admitting that this life is hard? Sometimes really really hard. Confessing you need help- and not the "pray for me" alone help, the "I need to talk to someone" help. The "I can't do this job alone" help.

As Christians, it's easy to get into the mindset that if we have God, we really don't need anyone else. But while God is obviously the most important, most faithful, most fulfilling partner we have in this life, to stop needing others is to reject the means by which God serves us.

God created Adam, and while God supplied all Adam's needs, He knew that Adam needed a partner, a helpmeet. God gave Adam the gift of a friend beyond his own friendship with God. Linked to his friendship with God. He gave Adam family, Eve. So when those perfect relationships were corrupted, Satan snuck in that little lie about self-sufficiency. Autonomy. Which is why God wrote into the laws how His people were to help and provide for each other. He knew our tendency to turn inwards in self-service and self-destruction.

God knew our propensity to believe that we could do it on our own. Without each other. Which meant without Him.

He knew we would be confronted with our own weaknesses and be tempted to despair instead of giving others the opportunity to fulfill their calling to help us. He knew we would rather rob someone of the joy of serving us in the name of the Lord than appear weak.

So I've been considering this when others have offered to help. Saying yes. Every time. (Ok, almost every time.) Because my reasons for saying no usually have less to do with my needs, and more to do with my pride. I don't enter this lightly with a diva attitude, but with a humble posture. I do what I can. I really do. But maybe if we stopped trying so hard to do it on our own, we would give joy to those who want to help us, and find the joy in helping others as well. Maybe that means talking to someone who has chosen to help people as a profession. Maybe that means scheduling in a much needed coffee time. I don't know what it looks like for you, but I do know this:

"But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, 'Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.'”

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

He does it still. All the time. He uses the world's wimps to defeat Goliaths every day. To bring glory to His name. So we can look at our lives and say, "Wow, I was way too weak to handle that, but God provided. He sure did provide." 

Human Humidifiers- Why Jesus is More Than Just an Inside Deal

Hurrah! Welcome to my celebration post! Today marks the 1 year, 4 day anniversary of this blog! Woot! Really, I just got curious as to when I started this whole deal and flipped back to my first post. 40 Days (posted 2/13/13) was my humble explanation of what Lent really is, and why I was starting this blog. It's nice to look back on past writing and think it ain't bad, but it also ain't quite me.

Then there's this quote: "So will I give something up? Well, it's noon on Ash Wednesday and I still haven't decided. Will I decide to "take" something up? Ta-da! Blog! Looks like I may be taking up courage this Lent. And then perhaps this 40 days will give way to a more incredible resurrection joy that my writing can only hope to convey."

BOOM! So there you go, I've been on this blog here for just over a year and I think I will be celebrating that somehow with my kids this President's Day. God is good.

Now on to the actual point of writing today...

I've been through a whole season of Messy Monday's and yet this one didn't hit me until last night. I've had ideas bouncing around in my head for a few days, none materializing into anything worth publishing, but then the precious preschooler looks at me at supper last night and tells me, "Mom, you will haf to put someping on my lips because de orange hurts dem."

Citrus fruit really picks a heckuva time to be in season. Her lips flamed red as she wiped them with her napkin. Her attempts to wipe away the burn.

It's on the faces of kids all over the place. The wind-burned lips and cheeks. Our own hands cracked red and bleeding from the lack of moisture. It pains me to think what state we'd be in without our humidifiers. So when my dear one pointed out her dry condition, the first thing I thought of was living water.

God designed our bodies with this incredible need for saturation. And not just on the inside. Sure, we need to ingest water to survive, but we need more than just that. Without moisture seeping in from the outside, life becomes painful. Citrus fruit burns. The cracks in our skin and souls are easily irritated. Those things that would give us pleasure: our adorable kids, our talented friends, our endearing spouses, grate on our nerves. The kids become pests. Our friends a source of envy. Our spouses a nuisance.

We try to fix it ourselves. We clean up our act- rubbing our souls raw. We steep our hands in water for an hour a week, thinking that one hour will make the difference when there are 167 other hours in the week to dry us out. We slather on yummy lotion that is more scent than salve.

Meanwhile, the moisture within us wicks away little by little until we are dry. Bone dry.

We wonder why there is so much pain, so much hate, in this world.

Satan is drying us out.

And it's hard to bring healing to others when we are just so irritated.

Hey, Christians, I have news for you. The world is in need of some serious humidifiers. Some human humidifiers full of the living water. Not just the ones on TV and the radio. Not the kind that publish books and grace home libraries. The ones who need the living water the most, the ones dying without it, are the ones who don't watch those TV shows, listen to those stations, or read those books. They are the people who walk from place to place in your world, and they are cracked and bleeding.

God put you in their atmosphere deliberately. No accident there. He loves you. He loves them. And you can never hear that too much. That's what humidifying does. It permeates the world with life-giving water.

Let's plug in for a moment-

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:16-17

Paul was talking about Christians living alongside other Christians. Christians get dry too. I have been a lot lately.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16

Jesus was talking about believers living alongside nonbelievers.

The common denominator is this- Everyone needs God, and God alone gets the glory. That is the honest truth. God is the balm that heals. Jesus is the only living water that satisfies. He reminds us that we are His instruments. To each other. To the world. So fill us up, Lord, with your presence. And plug us in! 

Who is your human humidifier? Who encourages you? Who showers you with Christ's love? Thank God for that person. Ask Him to show you ways to thank them for the gift of encouragement, love, and truth in Christ.

Who can you share Jesus with today? It doesn't have to be a testimony- just thankfulness and light can be balm to a wounded soul. A listening ear goes a long way.

Are you cracked and dry? Are you in need of extra encouragement? Visit my Facebook page and message me. Let me know how I can pray for you.

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It's really been a great year! I've been exhausted by life lately, but I thank God for bringing you all into my world in this special way. Thank you for your words of encouragement and your open arms. Thank you to my wonderful husband for his understanding and patience with me. He learned quickly how to tell when I was mentally writing, and he has taken up the cross of a writer's husband with grace. Love to you all!

Eyes to See {Messy Monday}

If I was to measure the distance from her nose to the treats she sought, it could not have measured more than 8 inches.

I laughed my frustrated laugh, "They are literally right in front of your face."

"Huh?" Her eyes searched the counter and settled on the gummy worms my husband was now pointing to.

"Ooohhhh!"

In my helpful fashion I mused, "You must have zero peripheral vision." (To be sure, this was not the first time that day that her eyes had completely missed an item I asked her to fetch...)

"I was looking for a bag."

There it was. The moment I handed my giddy son his gummy worms and watched him skip into the living room, I showed initiative and went ahead and pulled more worms from the bag. I placed them in neat, equal piles on the counter.

She wasn't looking for neat, equal piles. She was looking for a bag.

Haha, Lord. I get it.

He does this to me all the time. I ask for something. I search for it in confusion. Then there it is. Right there. Right in front of my face.

I prayed that I would be able to make it through Glenn's funeral music relatively intact.

I then wrenched my back something fierce while working out, and spent the majority of the funeral focusing on the electricity massaging my back to keep the inflammation down.

Ok, it doesn't seem much like an answered prayer. It certainly wasn't in a package I expected, but the singing went awesome. As easy as breathing. (I'll blog more about the funeral on Wednesday.)

And I shouldn't be surprised. God's always wrapping up answered prayers in His own packages.

A deliverer in a basket in the reeds.

The Messiah in a little baby.

A healing cleanse in a dirty river.

Body and blood in bread and wine.

You are an answered prayer. You are to me, and to so many others. He hears our prayers and so often we want a magical finish. From what I've seen, God can definitely do that, but more often He changes the packaging. He wraps it in flesh. He wraps up His answered prayers in fallible people with hearts for God.

You are going to meet people today with messy lives. People who are praying for an answer, for a miracle. You might not be the answer, but you can be the one who points them to The Answer. You can show them the love and support that they need to get through this. You can be the one who receives the help from the person wondering if there is any purpose to their life.

Today I pray God give you the eyes to see His answers, no matter how their wrapped. And I pray He gives us all eyes to see that He has chosen us to point out His Answer to a broken and hurting world.

God bless your Messy Monday, Friends! I love you dearly!

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Today I am linking up with Inspire Me Monday!

Together

Sometimes it is hard to remember, when you are in the good times.

 

When the world is your playground.

 

 

When blessings crowd your feet like leaves fallen on an October day.

You only need to bend down to pick them up.

 



 

You forget the scramble. The times when blessings seemed harder to come by. When you chased them falling as the wind blew them back, forth, just out of reach.

 

These are the times when living is in the listening. Because the scrambling is still happening. If not you, then someone near. Someone near is waiting to catch a blessing.

 

And that blessing could just be you.

 

Because we are all of us broken. And the decisions I see played out in my life and the lives of others makes me wonder, "What is wrong with us?"

 

We are broken together.

 

Broken people bumping into broken people. Sometimes breaking people.

 

But there is beauty in the broken together because God uses broken vessels to leak out the love He pours into us until we burst. Broken as He was, so we could be put together- into the people we are in Him alone.  Into people who are blessed and blessings because we are together with Him.

 

Who will catch you today?

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Today's post links up with the writers over at Five Minute Friday! Join us for 5 minutes of writing, and reading, and encouraging with today's prompt: Together! I confess- I have absolutely no idea how much time today's post took, or if it even makes sense... Blessed interruptions...

Five Minute Friday: Song

Before you read today's Five Minute Friday, I have a request. Please take a moment to pray for a woman whose name I never caught. You will read about her here shortly, and perhaps then understand why. I may never see her again here on earth, but I so fervently would like to see her again in heaven and hear of the wonderful ways she witnessed God in her life- perhaps even in a simple hour at breakfast with a stranger half her age.

Five Minute Friday means five minutes of writing with no edits, no going back. I admit, I had a lot to say here, so limiting it to 5 minutes was a struggle. But everyone has a song, if you are willing to stop and listen. Thank you for stopping here.

Today's Five Minute Friday prompt: Song

GO

I told my huband I had one of those If you ask it, she will speak moments.

Ask what? I searched for minutes for just the right question as I stared out the Panera Bread window at the parking lot and trees.

Isn't it so nice to see the sun shining again?

She was caught off guard, I know it.

Yes it is. Now I just hope this warm weather will move west to the UK, and then I'll be fine.

Oh? Why is that?

Because she was leaving in few short days to visit the UK, to have her birthday dinner with her historic clan chieftain in Scotland. Because this woman in her sixties (I am guessing here) was taking another photography class at a local college and was taking another trip overseas to search out beauty. To capture it. Somehow process it and convey it.

Everyone has a song if you are willing to stop and listen to it.

What would have been a brief intermission in her life became a glorious aria, the duration of which was over an hour. My invitations to continue and small interjections probably contributed about 5 minutes to the opera.

She sang of poison dart frogs and tailless scorpians.

My husband chimed in about the beauty of God's creation.

She sang of the first "color" television.

I cheeped out a ditty about how removed I already am from the highschoolers at church.

She sang of preserving historical remnants of WW2.

I composed a melody of a Jewish Christian forgiving the Nazis because forgiveness is "what we do."

She sang of poverty.

I belted the truth that poverty has more to do with your spirit than your pocketbook.

And she glossed our one-liners over with a confused smile as she continued her song.

But I knew she was listening. Because she knew I was listening. Really listening. To her.

And somehow I get a glimpse of Jesus hearing a blind beggar man call his name, "Son of David, have mercy on me," and I know that at that moment, in the din of a bagel joint, Jesus was listening.

STOP