O Wise Kermit

Remember that Kermit the Frog song, "Bein' Green?" Well, he was one wise frog.



Yesterday was my first day back in my normal life. Man, it felt like I was back in my own skin again. I did "homework" with Adam without feeling rushed, I did two loads of laundry, we played football in the backyard, went swimming at Grammy's, watched a cropduster dust the wheat field near our house, cooked dinner, went to soccer (which was then canceled) and then made S'mores. When the day was over, I felt fulfilled, a feeling I didn't have for the previous 7 weeks.



While we were tossing the football back and forth, I suddenly thought of Kermit's song. Of course, I thought the song was called "I love being me" but whatever. The point is, Kermit sang about the challenges of being green yet at the end of the song, he says :

I am green and it'll do fine

It's beautiful!

And I think it's what I want to be.

Kermit, my friend, I hope you don't mind, but I'm changing your lyrics:

I am mom and I'll be fine

It's beautiful!

And it is what I want to be.

I Calendar

Caffeine, alcohol, exercise, smoking, eating, cleaning. These are all coping strategies used to deal with stress. Me? I calendar. I'm cringing right now as I make a noun into a verb, but oh well.

Last Monday I was feeling pressed to squeeze in 3 months of summer break into only 2 months of time. The temporary assignment as manager sucked up an extra three weeks of my life and left me feeling like time was running out. So what did I do? I made a calendar.

On my calendar, which runs from June 22 until August 27, is every event we have planned thus far. It includes bi-weekly soccer, weekly church services, camping trips, doctor's appointments, "field trips", story times, park dates, birthdays and work events. By the time I was done, I was encouraged and excited about my summer plans with Adam and Gracey.

This isn't the first time I've used the calendar as a coping mechanism. I made at least 6 calendars while serving as district manager -- weekly and monthly calendars. Whenever someone comes to visit, I make a calendar. When we go on vacation, I make a calendar. Every January, I fill in the calendar with birthdays, school holidays and annual events. And in 2006, when I was wrought with anxiety and fear, I made a 2007 calendar containing every "do not be afraid" verse found in the Bible.

A sister to the calendar, I also like to make schedules. For example, I had an 8-page schedule for our wedding day. Our pastor teased me because I only scheduled 7 minutes for the homily. But being a fellow Type A, he complied. I do this for vacations, too.

When we were dating, Scott called me "The Walking Calendar" because I could pull out dates easily. For example, he'd ask "what is the date of the last Monday in June?" And I'd reply "June 29." Or he'd ask, "what was the date of Thanksgiving last year?" And I'd know.

I'm not sure where this came from or how it started. But I love my calendars. I often keep them in case I need to refer back to them at a later date. They put my nerves at ease even better than diet coke, chocolate and shopping combined.

Did Jesus Multi-Task?

Yesterday a friend texted me from church. When I commented that she must not be paying attention, she said she was multi-tasking and that Jesus multi-tasked. This gave me pause.

When I reflect on all I've read about Jesus, I can't think of one instance of multi-tasking. Yes, He was busy but in every endeavor, He was wholly present. It is nearly impossible to have that kind of presence while multi-tasking. Think about it. When you're blogging, watching TV and talking to your husband, does any one of those tasks have your full attention? No. You've parsed yourself out to your tasks. And more than that, multi-tasking indicates hurry. Good or bad, I multi-task often. But I do so because I'm hurrying to accomplish many things in a short amount of time. And if you've followed my blog for awhile, you know that often in my multi-tasking madness, I make stupid mistakes. Sorry, I digress. I can't think of a time when Jesus was in a hurry. He was thoughtful, present, and attentive. Sorry, that doesn't qualify as multi-tasking to me.

Now, this friend then pointed out that Jesus is at work in all our lives at the same time therefore He is multi-tasking. Okay. But to assign the label "multi-tasking" to His omniscience and omnipotence seems well sacriligious.

So, if you ask me, no, Jesus did not and does not multi-task. What do you think?

Whose Car Am I Driving?

So I was driving to my mom's this afternoon, kids strapped in the back, Adam talking non-stop about something and Gracey babbling right along with him when I had to do a mental double-take. Whose car am I driving? When did I become an adult, a parent? And then the real shock set in: I don't really remember much about life before car seats. Oh sure. I know I drove a sporty little Prelude but what was that like? It seems so long ago and this new way of life feels so, well, right. Weird.

Second Chance at Life

A few months ago, I told you about my beloved plumeria, the plant that has filled my heart with pride. Well, you know that freeze we had over Mother's Day? Ya. Well, my tropical princess suffered. Her green baby leaves turned black and fell off. The claws (pre-leaf thingies) turned black and the limbs became squishy. Eww. Oh how I nearly cried. Over the last few weeks, I've doted on her, not knowing what to do. Her trunk is fine, but those limbs, all four of them, are most certainly dead.

I did some research tonight and guess what?! My plumeria has a second chance at life. I won't bore you with the details but it involved careful pruning. She won't bloom either leaves or flowers this year, but that's okay so long as she comes back!

Of course as I stood in my foyer carefully pruning the branches, I was reminded of how God prunes us. You know some times parts of our lives get black, squishy and withered. Once healthy limbs dangle like dislocated legs and though the trunk is alive, if the mushiness isn't removed the entire plant suffers. And maybe even dies.

Isn't that the way it is with life too? If we just went along through life and never had a pruning, our spiritual life would die. Maybe we become too heady and fall over under the weight of our arrogance. Or maybe a good crisis comes along and freezes us in our tracks and we wither. But if we allow our Father to gently prune back the dead wood, new growth can come in just like my plumeria. It's not an instant fix, mind you, and the growing part is difficult too, but oh the glory when those new blooms burst forth!

I love that stupid plumeria even more now that it's been near death. It's a sweet reminder of my Father who just wants to see me bloom.