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The Blessing Of Mistakes

Jesus looked at them and said, “For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”   Mark 10:27

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURESWhen Mason makes a mistake, his reaction is intense. A dark cloud descends and he beats himself up, literally and figuratively. When he’s really disappointed by what he’s done, he’ll actually bang his head against the wall or slap himself in the face.

I have tried every tactic I can think of to help him respond differently. None of them has had any lasting effect. I feel a lot of pressure to figure this out soon. He’s still young and still listens to me. In a few years, he’s going to tune me out. If I can find the right response and teach it to him now, it will hopefully be a positive habit he’ll default to when he’s older.
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Losing Time

He restores my soul.     Psalm 23:3

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Marie Joseph Spiritual Center in Biddeford, ME

For my fiftieth birthday this year I wanted to go away on a weekend retreat. After searching all summer long for the right location, I ended up at the Marie Joseph Spiritual Center in Maine this past weekend. I went alone for a guided retreat: three full days of nothing, except meeting with a spiritual director for one hour on each of those day.

So, me being me, I packed a gazillion spiritual books, in addition to my standard journal and Bible. I also created list after list of all the issues I needed to work through, pray over, and discern answers to while I was there. I envisioned conquering the spiritual world with all that time on my hands, and coming home with my life all figured out.
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Conforming

Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.    Romans 12:2

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURESZack was away at Nature’s Classroom for three days last week with his school. He’s never been away from us for that long before. They didn’t allow electronics, cell phones, phone calls, or communication of any kind. We just got a group text message from the school Wednesday afternoon letting us know the five bus loads of seventh graders had arrived safely in Connecticut.

As we drove to the school on Friday to pick Zack up, we were all exploding with different emotions. Mason was bouncing with excitement to get his best friend and soulmate back. Jocelyn was literally crying because she missed her brother so much. I was wound tight with anxiety, desperate to hear whether he had a good time or not.
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Bed Time Blessing Bags

“But the one who listens and does not act is like a person who built a house on the ground without a foundation.”  Luke 6:49

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURESI am a terrible mother at bedtime. By that hour of the day my tank is empty, and there’s not a shred of patience left in me. To protect my kids from the mean mommy that lurks within, my husband usually puts our kids to bed.

That being said, in our household my husband has every Wednesday night off (my night off is Thursday). So tag I’m it for Wednesdays. Knowing this, I’m very conscious of keeping some energy and patience in reserve on Wednesdays so I can make it through bedtime.

However, last Wednesday was a longer day than usual. Mason had baseball practice at night. I should have known what was coming.
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Rocky Transitions

Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient spirit is better than the proud in spirit.    Ecclesiastes 7:8

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURESJocelyn started first grade last Wednesday. She went from half days in kindergarten last year, to a summer of rest and relaxation. These new six hour school days are a shock to her system. By Friday afternoon, with just two and a half days of school under her belt, she was literally sobbing in my arms. As I rocked her, and sang to her to calm her down, I felt her pain.
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Rising To The Occasion

“Many are invited, but few are chosen.”    Matthew 22:14

9 1 16 with word overlayZack did track this past spring in Middle School. It was one of the only sports without a try out: anyone can join. I kept getting conflicting reports, but I think there ended up being 120 kids with only 3 coaches. Needless to say, Zack got next to no coaching all season.

That was very unfortunate. It was Zack’s first time ever doing track. He didn’t have a clue how to jump over the high bar or hurdles. He certainly didn’t know how to throw the discus or shot put. It really bothered me that he was pretty much on his own to figure things out.
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Compassion

Finally, all of you, be of one mind, sympathetic, loving toward one another, compassionate, humble.   Peter 3:8

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Later that day.

My kids were in Vacation Bible School (VBS) last week. They do it every year and have an absolute blast. They really get into the daily themes. In fact, on Tuesday, I spent a solid hour getting them ready for “Crazy Hair Day.”

Things went well with Zack and Jocelyn’s hair. They were thrilled with how they looked. But when it came to Mason’s, it was a completely different story.

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Weaving It Throughout

He said to me: Son of man, eat what you find here: eat this scroll, then go, speak to the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.   Ezekiel 3:1-2

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURESWhen Zack started Middle School last year, he was required to take a foreign language. Oddly enough, his school put a computer class (ILS) in the foreign language category. I suppose it’s because it included computer coding, and that’s certainly Greek to me! Of course Zack, with his passion for computers, opted for ILS.

Since ILS is being eliminated this year, Zack will have to take Spanish or French in seventh grade. Zack’s brain isn’t wired for a traditional foreign language. Knowing this, I decided I’d teach him some introductory Spanish over the summer to give him a leg up.

I’ve always guessed that Zack has a photographic memory. When he knuckles down and focuses, he absorbs information like a sponge. Now, being his pseudo-Spanish teacher, I’m sure of it. On day one, with just a quick lesson and some flashcards, Zack was able to complete an entire Spanish worksheet with brand new information on it.  It really was amazing!

However, later in the day, when I asked him one of the same Spanish questions, he looked at me like a deer in headlights. Sure, he had absorbed the information in an instant, and could immediately regurgitate it exactly. But he hadn’t ingested it. What good is that?  Continue reading →

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Curiosity Questions

“Do you not yet understand?”  Matthew 16:9

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Jocelyn with MaryAnn and Anna

My kids and I went to the new Discovery Woods a few weeks ago. We met up with my husband’s cousin MaryAnn. After, we went back to MaryAnn’s house and had dinner with her and her two grown children, Jonathan and Anna.

It always amazes me how much Jonathan and Anna engage my kids. Although they’re in their mid-twenties, they show such a sincere interest in whatever my kids’ passion of the day is: Pokemon, Harry Potter, you name it. I watch my kids grow a few feet taller with all the attention.

As we drove away, I asked my kids what that felt like: to have people so interested in them that they dropped whatever they were doing to focus and shine the spotlight on them. Of course my kids said it felt wonderful. Then they quickly went back to their own kid conversation and didn’t give it a second thought.

But I did. As I drove home, I wondered what MaryAnn had done to raise two amazingly bright and sincere people who were fantastic conversationalists?
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Eliminating Overwhelmed

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self control.     2 Timothy 1:7

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURESI’m one of those mean moms who makes her kids do math and Spanish worksheets almost every day of the summer. I truly believe my kids need the practice. I can see the positive impact on their school work September to June because of it. Of course my kids don’t see it that way. To them, I’m just a terrible mother who is raining on their parade.

Math is Zack’s strong suit. He breezes through his worksheet, while Mason sits at the counter struggling. Although Mason’s actually great at math, he convinces himself he’s not.

For a while,  “the first battlefield is in your mind” lecture was working. But it’s effects eventually wore off. I’ve spent the past few weeks working my way through new and different tricks and strategies to help him, all with no success. Last Wednesday, frustration had both Mason and me ready to jump off a bridge.
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