Never Ever Dull
With every conversation, I always seem to end with "Never a dull moment"....our lives are rich, complex, and beautiful stories. Join me in laughing about everyday things and appreciating life-bumpy roads and all.
This morning, I witnessed a huge Easter egg hunt. So big that they had divided the neighborhood park into sections so that the little kids were separated from the medium kids who were separated from the big kids. I smiled as I looked on at the eager faces of toddlers decked out in their precious spring attire. Just the sweet anticipation of good things to come. And that brings us to Easter. Good things are coming. In a world beaten down at times with terrorist attacks and with people shaking their heads wondering "what next?", we need to know good things are coming. I admit during this past week, I didn't spend as much time as I should have preparing my heart for this incredibly holiest of holy weeks. The week which changed everything for us who call ourselves believers in Jesus. Instead, I was just trying to survive the last days before spring break. Not giving much time to consider His last days... As we all prepare for Easter and move forward into the next week, may we all pause and give thanks that good things are yet to come. Yes, life is difficult and ugly and so far from what we want at times, but He fulfills His promises. He is good all the time. All the time, He is good.
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This thought occurred to me when I got stuck in my car. Not stuck in traffic. Simply stuck in my vehicle. Let me explain: I pulled into my driveway after dropping one son off at high school and another off at middle school. Each minute of my morning is calculated carefully. I thought I could toss some food in a crock pot and finish up some house cleaning before heading to work, A great idea until I realized I couldn't get out of my car. I pressed my seat belt button but it only went further down. It should have popped up and released my strap. It didn't. I sat there and realized that I couldn't remain in my car the rest of my life. I had to figure this out. The buckle wasn't budging. So, I made the strap as loose as I possibly could (which wasn't much) and began to use my Houdini type moves to get out of my seat belt. I glanced around. No neighbors out and about... yet. I kept twisting and turning to free myself of the seat belt and kept thinking: this would only happen to me, this would only happen to me, this would only happen to me. After a solid ten minutes of sweating and weaving my head, arms, and legs throughout the straps, I got out of my car. I must have looked like a wet, wobbling tumbleweed as I tried to stand on the pavement. I tried to recover quickly as one of my neighbors drove by waving at me. Was she staring? Another neighbor walked by with a questioning glance. Oh, great. I managed to get in the house to let my energetic puppy out. His legs were crossed since he had been anticipating my return. His head had been turned in wonder at my acrobatic movements as he pressed his nose against the window watching that entire escape scene.. No time to cut veggies and prepare a healthy crock pot meal. No time to vacuum and clean those bathrooms. That heap of laundry? I just shoved it over to the side and headed back out the door. It was Cereal Night at our house that night. No glamorous meal with all the food groups. The bathroom showed glimpses of toothpaste spray and globs of gunk were left on the counters. We just walked around the laundry mountain. Nope, I didn't win Mom of the Year award that day...but I think I did entertain my neighbors. =) Maybe I was absent the day my teachers did the lesson on Jacob, Rachel, and Leah. Or maybe I was more interested in the crayons and coloring pages they gave us in Sunday school at my Baptist church in my little eastern North Carolina hometown. Well, whatever the reason, I missed the lesson about what really was happening when Jacob chose Rachel and got stuck with Leah. From my days of wiggling in my chair in that classroom itching to get out of my black shiny shoes and lacy white socks with ruffles on the edges, I've always believed it was a "do-wrong": Jacob worked for 7 years for some dude named Laban. After 7 years, he was supposed to get married to the one he had fallen in love with and worked all those years for...Rachel, the beautiful one. Sigh. I love a good romance. Instead, after the "I do's" were exchanged, he realized he had been given the wrong daughter (Leah, who wasn't so pretty) from Laban. Laban acknowledged it and told Jacob, "Work another 7 and you can have Rachel.". Jacob did. What a good guy. So in love with this gurl-friend, he'd do anything to marry her...even work for that Laban dude almost another decade. I always thought Jacob was wronged, jipped, cheated, and felt sorry for him. And Leah? I just ignored her. Rachel was the beautiful one and the one I cared the most about. Given a test on what was really going on, I'd score a "F". I was not getting the full picture. It took a children's book to turn on the light bulbs in my brain. We're supposed to be reading the Bible in a year at my church. I am....except I'm taking a short cut and reading along using The Jesus Storybook Bible. As I got to this part and began to skim it, I stopped abruptly. I'd never thought about Leah much, but the story was focused on her. She realized that Someone had chosen her. Not Jacob but Someone. And this Someone did love her-"with a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love." (from The Jesus Storybook Bible) That Someone is God. I always had seen Leah as the rejected one that no one wanted. In fact, she must have been not so pleasing to look at that her own dad tricked Jacob to get her married off. I wanted to hear more about Rachel. Yet, God had a plan and there was no mistake that Laban gave Leah to Jacob. So...what I learned is that Leah was not the rejected one but the chosen one. In fact, it would be through Leah's children's children's children there would be a child born that was very special, God's Son. I had no idea, but I get it now. God truly doesn't look at the outside but sees the heart of each individual person. So while I was wrapped up in a guy falling in love with the beautiful girl, I missed the point: God can use anyone and He loves us just as we are even if we feel rejected in some way or not one of the "beautiful ones". I just wish I could return to my Sunday School days and stand up for that Leah. What a girl who came to realize the One who truly loved her. "You know, it might just be easier to get some panda bears," my friend commented as he noticed the continuously growing pile of bamboo in my backyard. The last 10 days have been a battle: us versus the bamboo grove.. After three days, I called my tree guy to come and haul it away. He took one look at our stack and said we need to triple the size of our pile. What?! It was 6-7 feet high! But we continued the hacking away of bamboo. We've bought new loppers (yep, that's what they're called....I always thought they were just big shears), a bow saw, and gloves. Armed and ready, the Blonde, KazKid, and the SeriousAthlete have chopped, dragged, and made an even bigger stack of bamboo trees. I wouldn't classify them as plants since these are at least 1-2 stories high. Our mountain of bamboo almost reaches my roof line currently. My neighbors commiserated with me. They moved here in August and have been on this bamboo battleground ever since the day they arrived. It's an invasive aggressive plant with sprawling deep roots that never give up. We bonded as we discussed ideas of how to get rid of this bamboo enemy that had made its way from my yard to theirs. I grabbed my laptop and began learning the in's and out's of getting rid of this pest. Pulling out bamboo shoots, roots, and rhizomes seemed an insurmountable task. At this point, I'm agreeing with my friend. I think we should just get a panda bear. I did some research and you can get a pair of panda bears for $600,000...just for a rental. Never mind. Back to Plan A and watching the pile reach exponential heights. If you don't hear from me, check my backyard....it really is a jungle out there =) |
AuthorFun-loving mom to 4 kids and 1 big puppy. Fifth grade teacher of amazing little people who have never ending things to share with me. Love to discuss Jesus, diy projects, and life. Trying to keep it simple: Love Jesus, love people. Archives
December 2021
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