Over Here! No, Wait, Over Here! February 28, 2008

Donna and I are on a trip!  Yesterday we woke up at 3:09 AM (yes, AM!) and boarded a bus for a women’s leadership conference.  We are having a fabulous time, feeling refreshed and looking forward with great anticipation to all that God is up to.  There is nothing quite like a bus trip with women.  Have you ever been?  As women, we sure know how to throw a road trip, don’t we girls?  Greyhound could take a lesson from us.  Bus trip sales would boost if all trips included chocolate, pillows, fruit, chips, homemade granola bars, a stop for shopping and of course lots of fun and laughter. 

 I brought my iPod and after the initial giggling and chatting settled down, we plugged in to listen to some tunes.  About that same time our friend put a CD on the bus’s music system.  I was looking forward to listening to my favorite songs, so I decided to keep my earplugs in.  At first all I could hear was the CD from the bus player and my own music was drowned out.   I was distracted at the conflicting sounds.  If I concentrated really hard and tried I could make myself listen to either the bus or the iPod.  I practiced, and after a few minutes I figured out how to train my ears to hear my iPod music.  Once I figured how to hear my music, I noticed that the sound of the other CD faded off.

We live in a world where we are constantly bombarded with things that compete for our attention.  (And I’m not just talking about the kids here!)  Our “to-do” lists compete with our “want to-do” lists.  Our lists can be full of completely legitimate, good things.   You can be sitting and reading your Bible, but distracted by the mound of dishes in the sink.  You can be trying to play with your kids, then distracted by the ring of the phone.  You can be listening to a friend share a problem then distracted by a thought.  So what do we do?  When things are competing for our focus, how do we handle it?  The first step is to make the choice of what it is that is most important at that moment.  Knowing what should get your attention is half the battle to actually be able to follow through.  

After you know what it is you need to focus on, ask God to “Help me concentrate on this thing Lord.”   Then PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!  Just as I could completely tune out the loud music, you too can give something your complete attention.  It does however take practice.  I looked up several types of “attention” and “concentration” type exercises to see if there were any nuggets I could offer you – the one consistent message across all of the info I found was that improving concentration takes practice.  

So if you too find great things tearing your focus in two different directions, my advice is pray, make a choice and then practice.

~kp 

Celebrate! February 25, 2008

This morning was one of those mornings that had “disaster” written all over it.  Our 6 year old son has autism.  Frequently, he will get an idea in his head and if the idea can’t happen exactly how he envisions it, he can get very anxious and fixate on the issue.  Last night he asked for “black Old Navy”.  In his language, that is referring to his black t-shirt with Old Navy written on the front in green letters.  He hasn’t worn that shirt in months, and I actually had gotten rid of it because he wore it continually last winter, even though it was extremely too small on him.  Since it was bed time, I told him he had to put PJ’s on, which he did, and I hoped the shirt would be forgotten.  I could hear him repeating “black Old Navy” as he fell asleep.

 

This morning, the first thing he said when he woke up was “black Old Navy.”  There was no avoiding the issue.  We had to tell him “It’s all gone.  We don’t have it anymore.”  

 

He sobbed and sobbed.  He continued to ask for it, we continued to tell him it was gone, and I could tell he was feeling defeated.  My husband had to lovingly and firmly instruct him to pick out another shirt for school and to our wonderful surprise, he did it.  He picked out a yellow t-shirt, put it on and then did something interesting.  He went right to his coloring supplies and drew a picture of himself wearing the yellow shirt. (see above!)

 

When we arrived in the school yard, he proudly showed his yellow shirt to anyone who would look at him.  It was pretty cute – he seemed so excited every time he pointed at his shirt and someone said “Nice shirt, Cooper.”  His teacher clued in right away that he must have had a special reason for pointing out the yellow t-shirt he was wearing and she made a big deal out of it.  He went into his class with a smile as big as Texas on his little face.

 

I was taken with the realization that he must have understood what a big obstacle he overcame in the simple act of “un-fixating” on the shirt he wanted.  Being able to let it go and put on a different shirt sounds so trivial, but for him to do it was HUGE.  It wasn’t the shirt itself – he has worn that yellow shirt countless times – it was what the shirt represented to him.  A change.  A shift in thinking.  A victory.   The celebration he showed was even better than the fact that he did it.  Ya-hoo!

We too need to celebrate our victories, great and small. Each time we are able to forgive when we don’t feel like forgiving, when we let go of our agenda and allow someone else to take the lead,  when we hold our tongue instead of letting the unkind word sneak out…  these are victories worth celebrating.  Give thanks to God and store up the treasure!

 

~kp

Today Is The Day February 22, 2008

It was 6:25 am and Tae bounded out of bed, dawned his cowboy hat, (along with his mismatched PJ’s) and rode his horse (my broom) out into the middle of our living room, with a new song he had just composed. It went something like this:

 

“Today is the day hurray hurray

Today is the day that Brynn comes to play.”

 

Earlier this month after much schedule-juggling, Sheri (Brynn’s mom) and I were finally able to make a date for our two little ones to get together.  Brynn and Tae are classmates in Kindergarten.  

 

Just after 9:00 am my phone rang.  It was Sheri, I held my breath and said a quick prayer for Tae’s sake that nothing – flu, car trouble, family crisis, would prevent today’s play date.

 

His arrival brought squeals of excitement.  “Brynn’s here,” he yelled, “Yeah yeah ya yeah yeah…”

 

Apparently, Brynn awoke this morning in similar fashion.  I marveled at their excitement.  Though the two of them had not played together before (outside of school that is), they just knew there was a whole lot of fun awaiting them in their day together.

 

Many times I have had to tell Tae, “Sorry buddy, your friend can’t come today.”  A cancelled date for one reason or another causes a well spring of emotions anything from the tears (sobs) to questions of why and statements like,  “It’s not fair and you’re not my friend anymore!” flow from my disappointed little boy.

 

I got to thinking, I wonder how many play dates I’ve broken with God.  What is his reaction when I call him to say – “Sorry Father, I know I promised we’d get together today but something’s come up.  We’ll reschedule, I promise.”  If only we saw these dates with our heavenly Father through the eyes of two little 5 year olds about to embark on the greatest adventure.  

~dl 

Forgotten. February 21, 2008

Somehow, all 5 of us ended up piled on top of each other on the couch.  It began with me resting – I had my feet up and was reading.  Then my husband sat down on the other end of the couch to join me.  Then our baby girl climbed on Daddy’s lap.  Then Bennie took a flying LEAP and landed on me.  And finally Cooper and his poohbear topped it all off.  It was one of those cuddly-we-need-these-more-often kind of moments and all felt right with the world.  As we hugged and kissed whoever was nearby, my Ben looked up at me with big blue eyes and said,

“Remember that time you and Daddy were grumpy with each other?”

Huh.  That had potential to be a mood-kill.  But I had no idea what he was referring to.  Don’t get me wrong.  My husband and I have our fair share of squabbles and definitely don’t agree all of the time.  But I couldn’t recall anything in the recent past that Ben could be talking about.

“Which time?”  I asked.

“You know Mommy, when you and Daddy were grumpy together.” 

Colin and I looked at each other and just shook our heads.  Whatever incident he was recalling was lost to us.  It hit me tonight just how cool that is….that I can’t even call to mind the reason for my last “grumpy” with my husband.

It is just a wee bit like how God must feel when we dredge up something we have brought to Him and received forgiveness for.  I do that occasionally, and I suspect many of you do too.  We may have repented for something we’ve done or said that was a bad choice, but we continue to beat ourselves up over it and keep apologizing to God about it.  

Next time you feel compelled to say sorry yet again for something you’ve already brought to Him, pause a moment and listen for what He might whisper to you.  It might sound something like, “What thing?  Don’t you get it?  I can’t even recall what you are talking about!”

~kp

Limited Understanding February 19, 2008

Today at school my 6 year old boy lost another tooth.  When he came home, he was proud to show us the gaping space, but other than that, we didn’t talk too much about it.  (It was after all, the 4th one he’s lost.)

Tonight when I went in to say good-night to the boys, my 3 year old was sobbing in his bed.  When I asked “What’s wrong?” I got a barrage of sentences cried at me, all in one long miserable monologue:   “Coopie lost his tooth….I don’t want to lose my teeth… I won’t be able to talk…  It’s gonna hurt….  How can I eat…. It won’t be good… I don’t wanna lose my teeth…” 

I said “Slow down Bennie, you’re worried about losing your teeth?”

He sniffled, “Yes,  I won’t be able to talk anymore.”

(Now I have to admit, Bennie is a very vocal boy.  And often very chatty.  VERY chatty. This thought made me grin just a little…)

“Oh Ben,” I said, “You’ll still talk when your teeth start to come out.”

“No I won’t.”

“Yes, you will.”

“No I won’t.” Insert big long sob and more tears.

I tried to explain how little teeth come out and big permanent ones grow in.  This made him sob harder.  Finally, I had to say, “Ben, you’ll just have to trust me that when it happens it will all be okay.”

I wonder if that is what God whispers to us sometimes when we get anxious about certain promises He makes that we may not understand because we just don’t have the mental capacity to imagine the experience.

“God, how can this bad circumstance be used for good?”

“You’ll just have to trust me.”

“God, how will I possibly be able to enjoy heaven if you call me there before my loved ones?”

“You’ll just have to trust me.”

Trusting God’s promises when we don’t feel that they make any “sense” to us from our limited experiences is difficult.  But if we can take a deep breath and say, “Okay, I don’t get it.  But I will trust.”  It will get easier to trust.  And when the teeth come out we’ll be able to say, “Wow!  It IS all okay.”

~kp

What Is It For? February 6, 2008

What is it for?

What does it mean?

Why does she do this,

For a God that’s unseen?

He called her first,

He made her frame,

He designed her life 

And He gave her a name.

But, she turned her back.

She walked away,

“I’ll have NONE of this”,

“I’ll find my own way!” 

Tears streamed down

As He watched her go

The direction she headed

made His heart sink low.

He whispered,

I’ll be right here – whenever you’re ready

When your done running, 

when there is no where to hide

No matter what – 

I am on your side.

But she couldn’t hear him,

She had things on her mind

Like fortune and fame

And the life she would claim.

All too soon though, 

things started to blurr

She cried out,

though to whom, 

she wasn’t sure

“Too fast, slow down, 

I want to get off!”

Her voice started to tremble

And fear gripped her heart

The path that she’d chosen

Was lonely and dark.

Again a whisper –

Yet ever so small

From somewhere inside 

That familiar call

The still small voice…

Come back to me now

My arms are open wide

Right here in my shadow

It’s your birthright – DECIDE!

Your life – I planned it

Your days – I ordained

My gift to you

The cross where I’d hang

Why did He do it?

What was it for?

The divine shed his blood

My sins are no more.

His voice again  – Though a little bit louder

“Your past?  

I’ve removed it.

Now it’s your future I see!

I love you my child

You belong with me.”

A new day begins

And a life is restored

There’s a joy in her heart

For new hope is born.

From rags to riches;

Is that what they say?

Do they not know,

From where it all came? 

Why does she do it?

What is it for?

Her Prince of Peace

The one she adores.

And yet that’s not it

The story’s not over

There’s hunger and hurting 

and evil remains;

A world filled with anger

where streets are blood stained.

Now she knows the secret

It is her turn to share

Jesus – the Truth, 

He’s the Light and the Way.

His gift of grace, 

It can be yours today.

Do you hear the voice?

Is He calling your name

Are you lonely and tired

of  playing the game?

No whispers now…the voice is clear!

“My chosen ones

You belong to each other

To help those who hurt

Every child and his mother

Bring them the news

of the gifts I wish to give them.

Give sight to the blind, 

restore the lame

Fight the Good fight till I come again.”

Why do they do it? 

What is it for?

The lost should not perish,

if we are Heaven’s door.

~ Donna Lowe