A Praying Life

I spent a bit of time today searching my own blog.  I was trying to find the post where I wrote about Paul E. Miller's book, "A Praying Life"... only I don't seem to have written about it.  Ooops.

Tremendous book.

I'll share some:

"The second thing we must do in learning to pray is believe like a child.  Children are supremely confident of their parents' love and power.  Instinctively, they trust.  They believe their parents want to do them good.  If you know your parent loves and protects you, it fills your world with possibility.  You just chatter away with what is on your heart.  It works the same in the world of prayer."

"Imagine asking Jesus how he's doing.  He'd say, 'My Father and I are doing great.  He has given me everything I need today.'  You respond, 'I'm glad your Father is doing well, but let's just focus on you for a miute.  Jesus how are you doing?'  Jesus would look at you strangely, as if you were speaking a foreign language.  The question doesn't make sense.  He simply can't answer the question 'How are you doing?' without including his heavenly Father.  That's why contemplating the terror of the cross at Gethsemane was such an agony for Jesus.  He had never experienced a moment when he wasn't in communion with his Father.  Jesus' anguish is our normal."

"Efficiency, multitasking, and busyness all kill intimacy.  In short, you can't get to know God on the fly."

Those are just the first three quotes I opened to.  The whole book is quotable.  Engaging.  Encouraging.  Exciting.

Tremendous book.

Yesterday, a friend gave me a copy of it.  Since I already have one, she said I could share it.

Would you like to have it?

Waz Dat?

Because I bought a certain meat at the deli, they gave me this free re-usable bag.

I was unpacking the groceries, when G started staring intently at the bag.  "Waz dat Mama?"

"That's a new bag I got."

"No, Mama.  Waz DAT?..."  (pointing to the picture)

"... Dat's heaven???"

Actually, Son, I'm guessing Italy. 

But what do I know?

G Composes a Letter

Dear Joseph,

And I love you.  And I think about you.  I hope I see you.  Please come home.  Please.

We got a thing.  We like it.  It making us sleep.  Sorry you can't have it because it's ours.  We have it first.

Love,
G




Bet you wish you had a thing too, don't you?

But you can't have it because it's ours.  We have it first.

Ha!

Hate to Break It to You

At G's eye appointment, his doctor emphasized for him the importance of compliance with his restrictions.  She was kindly taking the time to stress the value his eyesight will have in his future.  She pointed out: "G, you might want to be a doctor when you grow up and then..."

He interrupted.  With an attitude of trying to let someone down gently, he said: "Wewllll.  Really, I want to be a construction worker."

Fortunately, she was able to transition smoothly into a lecture about how construction workers need to see what they're doing.

She is fabulous.  And - man - that kid cracks me up.

Pronoun Awareness

G seems to finally be moving past the stage where everyone is "him."

This stage has provided plenty of awkwardness as G has not only asked loud, ill-timed questions of me, but has added the insult of gender confusion. For example: "Mama, why him (the lady standing 2 feet from us) smoking dat cigarette? Dat gonna make him sick?"

Not that he's getting his pronouns correct yet.

Now it goes more like: "My teacher gave dat to me. Him said - her - him - she - HER said iz for me."

We're getting there.

Variety

Last week I successfully navigated the fafsa (college financial aid) AND kindergarten registration.


My life cracks me up sometimes.

Eye Update

We went to G's retina doctor yesterday morning.

THREE HOURS LATER...

He seems fine.

Some scarring in the eye will need to be watched.  Some inflammation means that he has to resume the steroid eye drops.  But, overall, the retina looks fine.

I wish we could have determined the "fine-ness" in less than 3 hours, but - it's good news.  I'll take it!

And G is thrilled because he can JUMP.  How many months now has he had to be still?  Since the surgery in October?  He jumped all down the hallway out of the doctor's office.  I don't think the boy cares if he goes blind or not; he just wants to MOVE.

So - jumping is allowed.  Running and playgrounds are back in the repertoire.  Once I buy him some prescription goggles, then riding a bike will be allowed!  We're still waiting for an ok to play with balls, and then you will surely hear G's shouts of joy.

Please continue to pray for the healing of G's eye & restoration of his vision.  But feel free to celebrate with us too.

Safe Families

Single moms often live closer to the edge.

If I lose my job, there's not the hope of another income.  If I get seriously ill, there's not a caretaker in the home.  The operation of my home rests largely on me.

Fortunately for me, I have a network - family, friends, church.  If I was desperate, I'm pretty sure someone would help me back from the edge.

Many moms don't have that network.

They lose their job - and then their apartment.  They need to go away for a week of job training.  Or a month in the hospital.  And what do they do with their children?

Can you imagine the anguish?  Leaving your child with whoever is willing to take him... knowing that the "caretaker" might not actually take care of your little one?

That's why I like Safe Families.

Safe Families allows a mom to place her child - voluntarily - temporarily - in a home where he will be protected and loved.  She has the opportunity to get her life on track and then welcome her child back.  The child is given as much care and security as possible in the face of major transitions.

It's not foster care.  The child is never taken from his mom.  The Safe Family is not reimbursed financially for their service.  It's just community - loving on families - providing a network.

I think many people, if they were asked to host a child in need for a few weeks, would react by considering saying Yes.

Maybe you want to proactively consider saying Yes.  Safe Families, at least in my area, has more families in need than it has volunteer host families.

I'm finishing up my Safe Families volunteer training.  We'll see where it leads.

In Which We Survived Mr Peter's Absence

For obvious reasons, it is Very Stressful when Mr. Peter cannot watch G.

Leading up to Mr. Peter's vacation, I had contacted 100 babysitting prospects.  None of whom could watch G.  Did I mention that it was Very Stressful?

Finally I found someone for Thursday.. a young local college girl.. Miss Megan.  We went to interview her, and found her to be very nice.  And young.  I assured her: G is very funny; you'll probably have a terrific day, but if you need to restrain him....

I prayed for Miss Megan.

My coworkers prayed for Miss Megan.

We prayed a lot.

When I got home, I asked Miss Megan how the day had gone.  "Terrific.  G is great.  We had a lot of fun and he was really well behaved."

Of course.

I asked G how the day had gone.  No matter how I asked him the question, I only ever got one response: "All day, Mama.  Miss Megan not go potty all day." 

Apparently Miss Megan is not actually human.  But what do I care?  We all survived.

Paint

This is month-old news but will surely still be fascinating to all.

It's been troubling me that G's entire youth is being captured against

my YELLOW walls.

or are they ORANGE?

No - my kitchen is ORANGE.

This is YELLOW.

I've been imagining my 80-year-old self, spending my days flipping through old (non-existent) photo albums, and wondering: WHAT was I thinking?  10 years of YELLOW?

For the benefit of my future sanity, I decided to paint.

Yes, brown.

It's different, anyway.

You're welcome, Old Heidi.

Nursery Rhymes by G

Courtesy of the Weekly Plan that G's teachers send home, I know he's been learning different nursery rhymes.

Me: "G, did you learn about Jack and Jill today?"

G: "Ya.  I know about dat."

Me: "Wow!  Do you think you could tell me how it goes?"

G, matter-of-fact:
  "Jack went up da hill to fetch da water.
  And Jill fall down.
  And Jack come tumbling after him."

Me, sing-song:
  "...And Jack came tumbling af-ter."

G, corrects me:
  "...And Jack came tumbling after him."

Nursery Rhymes by G.

A Healthy Weekend

We've finally replaced sickness with FUN.  Hooray!

Time with friends

Time with family

I even made a big Easter Dinner.  Ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, corn, and cranberry.

Took me all of 15 minutes.  It takes long than you might think to open all of those containers and get everything in & out of the microwave.

It's good to be back.

Important Ponderings

Maybe I am recovering from The Plague. Let’s hope.

While I’ve been trying to cough myself to death, G has continued to be hilarious.

Friday night he posed the all-important question of “What’s da fastest car inna world?”

I had to consult with an expert on that one, but came back with: “Ferrari.”

This led to research. “We see dat car, Mama? Dere’s a video of da Ferrari?”

As it turns out , there are videos on Ferrari’s website. Oh the joy.

Later, G & I are in our car. As I drive, G anguishes over his decision: “Mama, I not know what to do. When I a man, I gonna buy a Ferrari or a towtruck?”

Good thing he's started planning now.