The Scientist

This is my grandson, Reece. He’s five. And he chose to be a scientist for his kindergarten community helper day.

Now I ask you, why would a five-year-old want to be a scientist for community helper day? This has puzzled his mother and me all week. To our knowledge, Reece doesn’t know any scientists, nor has his teacher ever suggested that our community has one helping out somewhere.

Here’s my theory.

The kid has an imagination that goes far beyond what most would call normal limits. Really. This is the same child that claims he can teleport into his top bunk. He’s also drawn a treasure map with “X” marks the spot, fully convinced that there is truly a treasure buried there. Wherever that may be. I don’t think he even knows. Or maybe he does, and we’re just too grown up to see it. Oh, and he was muttering “shiver me timbers” during the creation of the map. So, if you really think about it, the whole scientist concept isn’t much of a stretch for him.

I love it.

This is imagination as it should be.

And I pray with all my heart that the teachers and adult influences Reece has in the years to come will be astute enough to allow his mind to soar. I pray that they teach him how to think and not what to think. He has a tremendous gift. He is destined to think things, to create things, to do things that no one else can. How completely wonderful is that!

By the way, the glasses are not real. The magnifying glass is.

Sort of.

Back Off, Okay?

Dear Readers,

On this lovely, quiet morning, I respectfully tell you to BACK OFF!

You’ve got deadlines. I get that. You’ve got things that need to be done. I get that, too. But you’re overwhelmed. You feel the panic rising every time you think about how you’re going to do it all. You are hacking away at the big picture, hardly making a dent, because you haven’t backed off from your frenzied activity long enough to take a good look at how ineffective you’ve been.

Stop!

Take a breath. Now take another one. There, doesn’t that feel better? Make a conscious effort to fill your lungs properly and then slowly let the air out.

Read this:

“Be still and know that I am God.” - Psalm 46:10

Now rest. That’s all.

 

The Lesson

I remember once spending a good chunk of a perfectly good weekend trying to get an operating system installed on a freebie laptop.

I am usually pretty good at computer stuff and thought this would be easy. Wrong. Nothing worked and I became frustrated beyond belief. I wanted to throw the whole thing out the window and forget about it. But . . . I reminded myself that the computer didn’t cost me a cent and if I had to take it in to a PC repair shop to get the deed done, then so be it.

After I calmed down, I decided to give it one more try and Googled “how do I reformat my hard drive and install Windows XP”. Lo and behold, the very first website that came up was a step by step instruction on how to do this, and within an hour the good old laptop was back in operation. Amazing what happens when one follows instructions.

Is there a lesson to be learned in all of this? Of course there is. And I’m going to get spiritual here because it’s a pretty awesome lesson.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to be one of those people who likes to do everything myself – you know the type. Kind of bossy. Know-it-all. I need to know it’s done right. Right? Doesn’t matter that lots of other people could do a better job. Anyway . . . this tiny little character flaw often spills over into my Christian life. I neglect to follow the instructions in God’s Word and end up getting frustrated and impatient, wondering what went wrong. Like my way is better than God’s??? But when I get the step by step instructions set out so clearly bythe Father in His Word, I am back up and running in no time.

Yeah, there are consequences to going my own way, just as there were consequences resulting from trying to fix the computer without the instructions. And those consequences are usually unpleasant. God is loving and forgiving, however, and He makes a way where there is no way. Things may not be as perfect as they would have been had I followed His direction in the first place, but I’ve hopefully learned something in the process and I am stronger at the end of it.

So there’s the Lesson.

The Write Spot

I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no perfect place to write. There is no perfect time. There is no perfect mood. You can sit there and wait for all your ducks to line up before you start writing, but I’ll tell you right now that those ducks don’t behave themselves too often. There is always something going on to stir them up.

It all comes down to this, folks.

Discipline.

Yeah, I know. It’s a nasty word.

Let the ducks fly off and do whatever it is that ducks do, but you keep your rear end in the chair and your fingers on the keyboard and write something! You don’t feel like it? Too bad, so sad. Stay put and keep writing. The phone will ring. Your kids will demand your attention. Even the grown up ones. The beautiful weather will call you. Your errand list will dance before your eyes. But you must stay strong!

You have a task before you. A book that only you can write. Don’t let anything sway you from doing it. Stop making excuses. You’re not too tired. Your brain is not frozen. You do have an hour or two right there. Just write, okay?

Good.

Now you’re in the write spot.

300 Posts

This is my 300th blog post. Can you believe it?

I’d like to say I have covered almost every topic there is, but I know that’s not true. It’s really amazing how much there is to write about. And what’s more amazing is that people actually read what I write. That just blows me away.

So, I want to dedicate this milestone blog post to everyone who takes the time to read the weird humour, the family anecdotes, the spiritual insights, the frustrations, the writing journey, and the general oddities that show up here. Some of you have been with me since the beginning, and I appreciate you more than I can say. You know who you are. Others are relatively new readers and I so much enjoy your comments and the fact that you like what you read in this blog. Thanks to all of you!

I recently thought about changing the focus of my blog, but I am going to stick with . . .

The intensely profound. The deeply spiritual. The just plain silly.

And you can read into that whatever you want.

Thanks again!

The Bakery Run

Yesterday afternoon we were on our way home and decided to stop in and say a quick hello to two of our little grandsons. And their parents. We had just dropped off another two grandsons and their mother a few blocks away, having armed them with McDonald’s Happy Meals and strawberry Frutopia. They were hungry and they were thrilled to have been allowed to order whatever they wanted.

Anyway . . .

The parents of the first two little grandsons were in the process of loading the family into their van with the intent of visiting the local bakery. We decided to tag along. This particular bakery has a lovely small town atmosphere and you can sit outside while you eat your pastries. Yum.

Nikolas, our grandson who will be 3 years old in a few days, came with us in our car. This is a huge deal for him. He’s a smart cookie (bakery pun intended), and took full advantage of the opportunity to captivate a different audience with his constant chatter. And chatter, he did. It went like this (note: you may need to brush up on your toddler translation skills):

“Papa, you don’t drive too fast so you don’t be scared, okay?”

“Mama, dat a twain twack, wight?”

“Papa, dat anudder twain twack, wight?”

“Papa, why dare anudder twain twack?”

“Mama, see dose birds up dare?”

“Mama, wook! Dare’s a bicycle! Two ones bicycles!”

“Mama, where da bicycles go?”

“Papa, wook! Dare’s dwums up dare! Wots of dwums!” (Apparently the converters atop power poles look like drums to Nikolas.)

“Mama, you stay in da car. I go wiff Papa. You be okay, wight?”

We hardly said a word during the entire trip, which took only ten minutes. Nikolas, however, verbalized every single thought in his little head and obviously felt like he was the most important person in the world to us. And at that moment, he was.

As delicious as the bakery’s produce was a few minutes later, the highlight of that little trip was Nik’s running commentary. This started about the bakery, but ended about something far more important.

I love how each one of our grandchildren have their own unique characteristics that endear them to us. And I love how each one has claimed their own special place in our hearts.

 

The Old Career

I had a dream last night about the old career. The one where I worked way more hours than I should have and loved every minute of it. Well, almost every minute. Except for the last year of that old career when I reported to the new vice president. He and I never did see eye to eye on too much. It was a happy, happy day when I was informed that my position was being eliminated and I could leave before I did something I’d regret.

Do I miss the old career? Not a bit. Last night’s dream confirmed that once again.

The very thought of going back into the corporate world, with all of its politics and petty games, just turns my stomach. And having just recovered from a bout of the stomach flu, you can be sure  that I have recent knowledge of what stomach turning feels like.

At one point in that old career, I was on a fast track, being groomed for an eventual promotion to vice president. It was a heady feeling, let me tell you. Suddenly, I was thrust into secret meetings and included in confidential conference calls. I was sent on training courses, flown to various cities across the country, given responsibility for critical areas of the company. I was being pulled in dozens of different directions, each demanding my immediate attention. My opinion mattered. People listened to what I had to say. And they acted on it.

For someone who likes to be in charge of things, this was pretty awesome. For a while.

After four years of this fast-tracking business, I finally applied the brakes. I sat down with my husband and we had a long talk about where this was going, what it would cost us as a couple and a family, and we made a prayerful decision. The next day, I went in to talk to my boss and to the president of the company, who happened to be there that day. I told them honestly that as much as I appreciated the opportunity they were giving me, I could not continue on the career path they had me following. I can still see the look of shock on their faces. People didn’t usually say no to these men.

After a few attempts to encourage me to change my mind, they accepted my decision. I requested a voluntary demotion and within a few weeks I was happily ensconced in a new office, managing a small department of wonderful people.

There are probably some readers out there shaking their heads. Why in the world would someone pass up an opportunity like that?

Priorities, my friends.

No job is more important than your family. No job is worth your emotional and mental well-being. No job should be what defines you as a person. No job should ever be your entire life.

So, here I am. The old career is gone. My family is intact. I am in a very good place emotionally and mentally. I have new friends who never knew me as a corporate dragon. And I think my heavenly Father is pleased.

That’s all that matters.