Kids say the darndest things

I absolutely love to hear a four- or five-year-old talk.

They can be so adorable and funny. Yes, even mine.

We were lying in the bed the other night, after bath and stories, listening to the first songs on "Jed's" lullaby CD. After the first two songs, I leave the room.

Usually, we don't talk. We just say our prayer and then "try to go to sleep."

But this time, "Jed" had a question. He'd been watching the Disney Channel, and had seen a preview for the new teen movie Starstruck. He wanted to know about it. But I didn't know anything. So our conversation went like this, when he spoke with his sweet soft voice into the darkness.

Mommy, why is Starstruck a big-kid movie?

Buddy, I don't know. I don't even know what that is.

It's a new show on Disney Channel. Why is it for big kids?

Buddy, I told you, I don't know. I don't know anything about the show. We'll talk about it in the morning. Just go to sleep now.

-Brief silence, while I think I know what he's thinking, then-

It's not like a star that got struck by lightning, Mommy.
It's just the name of the show.

Yep, that's exactly where I thought his mind had gone. I guess a Mommy knows her little boy and how he thinks.

Just like God knows God's little children and how they think. Kinda scary, and really comforting.

The Wreck

The other day I got a bill in the mail from the SC Department of Transportation. My husband had told me that it would probably eventually arrive, but even he began to doubt after this long. It seems that when you damage state property on the interstate (namely, the cable barrier in the median), you are responsible for paying.

You see, on October 24 (over 3 months ago now), I had a wreck. "Jed" and I were on our way to Greenville to celebrate the birthday of one of his little friends, the son of one of my best friends. As we made our way (yes, probably too quickly) up the interstate, a series of events ensued. The chain reaction started with my reaching into the back seat to get "Jed's" cup and ended with our car facing incoming traffic from the median, caught in the cable barrier between the north- and south-bound lanes. When it was all over, the passenger-side-curtain airbag had deployed, the interstate barrier cable had smashed the back window in on that same side (right beside my son) and "Jed" had a teeny scratch down his right arm, from the

"Jed" was a jewel and a trooper through the whole thing. He said,

"I wasn't even scared when the car went all wiggly; I just was like 'Whoa! What's goin' on here?'"

He also kept saying,
"I'm sorry you broke your car, Mommy. I really liked your car. I know you liked your car."

When I would tell him how sorry I was that I messed up driving and he was going to miss his friend's birthday party, he would just say
"It's OK, Mommy. It's OK."

In the face of my little boy that day, I saw the face of Jesus.

I also knew God's Spirit at work in some miracles and gifts, like:

+ Somehow, our car wasn't hit by another car as it swerved all over the two lanes of the interstate totally out of my control.

+ Somehow, our car didn't slam into another car as it swerved all over the two lanes of the interstate totally out of my control.

+ The two nicest young guys in a pick-up behind us (who had seen the whole thing) stopped to check on us, got "Jed" out of the back seat, and waited with us until the first responders came.

+ The officer that responded to the accident had a preschooler and thus a carseat in the back of his vehicle, and he offered to drive us to meet my mother (who was the first family member I could reach to come meet us, and who dropped everything to come)at a gas station 20 minutes away from the accident.

+ That same officer let me pile all my stuff (the car was loaded down) into his vehicle, and then helped us get it in my mother's car.

+ My mother drove us on up to Greenville to where the party was, and all the kids were still there and still in their costumes. "Jed" got to play with his friend on his birthday after all, and I got to see my good friends.

+ And, not least, neither of us were hurt in any way (with the exception of that teeny scratch on "Jed's" arm.

So, God showed up in some amazing ways, and I took a few weeks (during which I borrowed my Lay Leader's Jeep--thanks, Ken!) to discern what I should do for a new vehicle. Of course, they had totaled my beautiful 2-year-old Hybrid Civic. Ugh.

I do like my new car, though. It's just that the gas mileage isn't QUITE as good--only 32 MPG :-) (The hybrid got about 45).

All this was just brought back by that LARGE bill from SCDOT. I realized that I'd never shared the story. I'm remembering the good gifts. And I'm thanking God yet again for yet one more gift: GOOD CAR INSURANCE.

New Blog

I just posted for the first time on a second blog that I've just begun.

The other blog will be open to invited readers only, and will chronicle a new journey our family has begun. We are following what we believe to be the call of God into adoption.

If you would like to be invited to follow our journey on the new blog, please send an e-mail request to preacherkristen@yahoo.com.

Whether you read along with my other blog or not, though, please join our family in prayer for the child we hope to adopt, and for God's guidance and provision through this process.

Thank you!

Haiti

Marthe lives there. She's almost 14 years old, and I've been her sponsor through Compassion International since she was 5. My $38 a month gives her clothing, a Christian community and mentors who show her the love of Jesus, and education designed to release her from poverty. Her school and community are located 3 km from Port-au-Prince.

It's Jean-Luc's home. I'm not sure where he is now, but he was one of my good friends in seminary. He wanted to go back to Haiti to minister there, to make his country better. I wonder where he is now.

The Reverend Dr. Sam Dixon, the top official of the United Methodist Committee on Relief and a member of the North Carolina annual conference, died there after the earthquake. He was trapped with two other United Methodist ministers in the Hotel Montana, and two other aid workers (at least one of whom was also United Methodist). The five had gone to the hotel to discuss improving medical missions in the nation. Those with Rev. Dr. Dixon were pulled from the rubble alive. The Reverend Clinton Rabb was rescued 55 hours after the earthquake and is in critical condition now in a Miami hospital. The Reverend James Gulley is back in the U.S., too.

Mrs. Jean Arnwine died in the earthquake, there, too. She was 49 years old and one one of three United Methodist mission teams in the country.

Let us pray for the families of all these individuals, as we pray for them by name. And let us lift the hundreds of thousands of others affected, even though we don't know their names. Because each of them is a beloved child of God.

And, though the earth may shake, there is something I do know for sure: the love and grace of God is unshakeable. They never move, except to reach those who suffer. And I know that Jesus cries with those who cry, and that the Holy Spirit of power and healing fills all who open themselves to it.

Let us pray that the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, will indeed work powerfully, yet again, to bring life out of death, order out of chaos, and hope out of hopelessness.

May God use us to do just that.
Please visit UMCOR's website to learn more.

Five Years Ago Today...

this picture was taken, and sent out to friends and family by my husband, to announce the birth of our son:

He woke me up this morning by coming into my room and announcing (with his hand up and all his fingers up in the air to show me his new age):

"Mommy, I'm five! I'm five years old today...it's my birthday! I'm five years old FOR REAL!"

It was the best wake-up I could have gotten. Such a happy boy...joyful to be five years old.

Over these five years, I've made many mistakes and lost my temper more times than I can count. I've not been a perfect parent, and he's not been a perfect child. But I pray that I've done a few things for him.

I pray that I have...

shown him a reflection of the unconditional love his Creator has for him,

taught him a bit about God's design for his life,

introduced him to his Savior as faithfully as I can,

begun to guide him to accept the grace of the Holy Spirit who will fill him throughout his life,

and

taught him about the beauty of the Church, the followers of Jesus who love God and each other as best they can and who walk together, hand-in-hand, on the journey of faith.

If I've done this, then perhaps I can consider that the greatest success of my life.

But I pray each day to be a better representative of Christ to my son than I was the day before. I thank God each day for the grace that offers me forgiveness, a new start, and transformative power. I pray each day that "Jed" knows the love and grace of his Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, as I do. I thank the Lord each day for the man who is "Daddy" to our "little man" and my partner in parenting...and I pray for those who have no partners as they parent. I can imagine no harder task.

In this, my son's now-sixth year of life, I pray that we will all "grow up" together through the beauty of sanctification. What a journey...

New Year's Resolutions

I'll continue my tradition.

My resolutions for 2010 are:

+ Write thank-you notes (haven't I had that as a resolution before...hmm...a growing edge?)
+ Rescue a child from an orphanage (if indeed that's God's plan for our family), OR
+ Get involved in orphan ministry in Ukraine
+ Grasp a vision...God's vision...and take a step (or two) to help make it a reality
+ Clean my desk
+ Get rid of some junk (in my soul and in the house and office)
+ Hug my child every day, whether he likes it or not
+ Every week, call a friend far away
+ Read a book each month, even if it's an "easy read"
+ UPDATE MY BLOG!

And, if you're reading this, how about help remind me about these?! Thanks!

Time, Time, Tickin'...

So, about six weeks or so ago I came home from work to a most amazing scene. My husband practically met me at the door to say: "Your son has something he wants to show you."

"Mommy, come here!" his voice rang out from the hallway. So I went through the den and peeked around the corner to see this:

Look carefully. He's so proud. And can you guess what he had been doing? I knew immediately, because I had been watching him copy the times off of the digital clock under the television for days. My husband reported that for a full fifteen minutes, our son would copy the time onto a piece of paper and then put it in the marching line in the hallway, only to begin again as soon as the minute changed. He did both sides of the paper, so when you flipped a sheet over, you saw 1158 and 1204, for example.

He left out the colons, but he still marked every minute of time for fifteen minutes of his life and left the evidence of his focus all down our hall.

It got me thinking about just how quickly those minutes change and turn to hours, and how those hours turn to days, and those days to weeks, and those weeks to months, and the months to years. And how do we mark that time? How do we honor the truth of each minute? And do we recognize God's presence in each time?

I realize that I haven't been the best blogger here recently. The past few months have brought lots of twists and turns, and I've been preoccupied. Time has marched on, and I've just tried to hang on for the ride, giving honor to each death and to the grief it brings, while celebrating moments of joy and peace in a spirit of thanksgiving to God.

I've also been faced with many questions and struggles over the past year, as I'm sure most of us have. These struggles have been personal as well as vocational, dealing with family and church life. As a family and as a church family, we've tried together to discern the best paths ahead, the ones into which Christ would lead.

But today is New Year's Eve, and I look forward to the calendar's turn-over. I look forward to a new year. I hope it is full of hope, health, love, celebration, and joy. Perhaps it will involve adding a new "little one" to our family through international adoption...we're working on that. Perhaps it will lead to peace with our family just the way it is. Perhaps...

What is sure is this: God already knows what 2010 will hold, and will hold us through it. Thanks be to the Lord for that!