Peace like a pond

Sometimes I let the kids take their baths in our big jet tub. They get so excited about turning on the "bubbles." But often, when the time comes to turn on the jet tub bubbles, they chicken out and decide they don't really want those bubbles after all. They seem to have a love/hate relationship with the jet tub bubbles.

For example, this morning Hannah took her bath in the jet tub. She begged me to turn on the bubbles, but the water level has to reach a certain point before the jets will work so she had to wait. Her excitement built as she waited for the tub to fill up. Finally, the water was high enough, so I reached over to turn on the jets. She freaked out. She stood up on the edge of the tub to wait and watch first, but then just as I was about to turn them on she shouted "No! No! No! I don't really want the bubbles today!" So she swam around in the calm water of her bath for a long time and finally exited the tub without ever experiencing the jet bubbles. She missed out. She knew she missed out too, but she opted for the safe calm of a serene bath rather than the fun bubbly bath that a jet tub has to offer.

As I observed her this morning, I was reminded of something I learned last week in my Bible study. We were talking about peace and the passage that says "If you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea." (Isaiah 48:18) The study pointed out that God didn't say that he would give us peace like a pond (which is completely still and serene without bumps), but rather peace like a river (which is constantly moving, sometimes even around large boulders). In other words, when God's peace comes into our lives, it doesn't mean that all our trials and "bumps" go away, but rather than we are able to navigate those trials in such a way that we pass through those "bumps" all the while moving along in the clear refreshing waters of His peace.

Sometimes, like Hannah, I wish for the calm that a pond or jet-free bathtub has to offer. I wonder why I have to deal with all these "bubbles" and "bumps" that seem to jostle my life. I want peace like a pond. No bumps. No worries. No problems. But God is bigger than a pond, isn't He? He takes me by the hand and says "let's go for a ride! I'll take care of you. Hold on to me and you will experience my peace as we ride this river together!" So I'll take His hand, hold on tight and enjoy the ride.

P.S. - Joey and I agreed to be youth sponsors for the youth mission trip this summer. Part of the trip is a day spent white water rafting. Even as recent as last night, I informed my small group girls that I was NOT in any way interested in that part of the trip. I'll sit that one out, thankyouverymuch. I sure hope it is not God's idea of a funny joke to give me a good object lesson by forcing me to go white water rafting on the trip this summer. Eeek!

Give us one pure and holy passion

I listened to this beautiful song this morning and made it my prayer for myself, Joey and each of the kids.

Lord, for me...

Give me one pure and holy passion

Give me one magnificent obsession

Give me one glorious ambition for my life

To know and follow hard after You

And for Joey and Jonah...

Give him one pure and holy passion

Give him one magnificent obsession

Give him one glorious ambition for his life

To know and follow hard after You

And for Hannah...

Give her one pure and holy passion

Give her one magnificent obsession

Give her one glorious ambition for her life

To know and follow hard after You

To know and follow hard after you

To grow as your dicsiples in your truth

This world is empty, pale, and poor

Compared to knowing you, our Lord

Lead us on and we will run after you

Lead us on and we will run after you

You can sample and purchase this song by Candi Pearson from the OneDay Live Passion CD by clicking HERE

A plastic birthday cake

Mrs. Huber had a little plastic white cake that she would keep hidden in our preschool Sunday school classroom. She would always get it out when one of us kids had a birthday. It had places where she could put real candles in it. I remember looking forward to her class for the sole reason that if, perchance, someone in our class had an impending birthday, we would get to see the plastic cake. I'm sure Mrs. Huber taught us some great lessons from the Bible, but her smiling face and that amazing plastic cake might be some of the few memories I have of my early Sunday school years. I don't remember the toys. I don't remember the lessons. I don't remember the other kids in my class.

There was however, a little boy in my class who somehow remembers me. To this day, he talks about a little girl with reddish hair and freckles who always squinted her eyes when she smiled. He also remembers going home from Mrs. Huber's Sunday school class and telling his mom that he's "gonna marry that Kelly Jones girl."

Bless my soul, he did.

This birthday, I may not get to blow out candles on a little plastic white cake, but I do get to spend my life with the boy who fell in love with my smiling face from across the cake.

Love you, honey.

:)

Dirty Hands, Clean Hearts

Sometimes my kids cause me well up with pride. It could be when they do something especially nice for someone or when they remember to make their bed without being told. It could be a dinner where they clean their plates, all the while complimenting my choice of vegetables for a meal. When I hear a good report from a teacher or see an awesome score on a spelling test, I think that's my kid. Sometimes one of them will say something clever or poignant or hilarious. These are the moments that I like to blog about. These are the true TEACH moments and the golden TICKLE moments. When they happen, it's like something kicks on in my brain and I make a little mental note - blogworthy material, take notes, don't forget.

I'm not so vain to believe that the twelve people who read this blog hang on every aspect of my children's lives, but I do like to record these things for posterity sake. I want to remember them. I want the kids to remember them. So, I blog about them.

Funny thing though. Life is not just made up of moments when my kids make me proud. In fact, sometimes my kids make me downright ashamed. Like when Jonah somehow forgets basic hygiene techniques and can't seem to remember how to wash his hands. (Seriously, you can almost see the dirt and germs having a party on his hands these days.) Or when either of the kids spend a good 30 solid minutes sitting in public picking their nose. Or when I have to tell the kids for the fourth time NOT to crawl under the table during dinner. And let's not forget about the dreaded "Hannah tantrum" over silly things like what to wear in the morning. Then you don't want to get me started on all the short bus things my kids have done. (I seriously worry that Jonah's IQ dropped by at least 20 points when he lost his two front teeth. Short bus. That's all I have to say. Please let his teeth grow in quickly.) These are the moments that I do NOT want to blog about. The times when I feel like a failure and wish I didn't have to do this hard work we call parenting.

But the simple truth is this: God uses those difficult moments to TEACH or TICKLE me too. He doesn't just use the "blogworthy" moments. In fact, sometimes the best (albeit, hardest) lessons come when I am humbled by my outstanding imperfections. These are the times that I am more apt to turn to God instead of myself. These are the times that I do more of what I am supposed to do all the time - I pray. I bathe those tantrum throwing, nose picking, dirty handed kids in fervent prayer. It's usually around this time that I realize that I very well might fail my kids in teaching them the basics of personal hygiene (heaven forbid!), but I will NOT fail my kids by forgetting to pray for them. In the end, cleaning dirty hands takes a back seat to praying for clean hearts.