Sunday, December 17, 2017

The little boy that kept us laughing...

Well, they tell me you are not supposed to laugh in church. We are supposed to be joyful, but not laugh. Well, I totally defied all the odds and not just laughed in church last night but howled; inside of course. Well, no, not really. We were laughing, the people beside me were laughing, the people in back of me were laughing and we laughed ourselves out the door. Oh yes, even the people in front of us were laughing.
You see it was the Christmas program by the Elementary Children at Church. Lots, and I mean lots of kids were on stage dressed in the black T-shirt that I think said, "it's a Son". 
The boy that caught our eye, was one of the first ones on the stage and the last one off; literally. He had it. He had the smile, he had the impish twinkle in his eye, and he had the beat. You don't need a fidget spinner when you got arms, legs and hips. He was moving every which way and relatively standing still; kind of. It's hard to behave when there are hundreds of people looking at you. He did sing; once in awhile. He got the Joy down and he got his boogie down. And that was just the beginning; but I would like to see you stand for 35 minutes on stage and not itch and scratch. 
Then, here comes Mary and Joseph. What caused hysteria was the calm way that Mary said, "Joseph I have a pain; I think it's time." No way on the face of this earth has a women ever calmly said, "Honey, i am dilated to ten and by the way I have a contraction...." calmly. If you have had a contraction that racked your body and made you double over, there is nothing calm about saying anything. But the funniest thing was what came next. Joseph said, "Here Mary, I have made a bed for you to lie on." I have been married for almost 30 years. I am not sure Jim has ever made a bed... But then again they were newlyweds too.
The Angels came in next to sing; they were the Preschool. There is nothing cuter than preschool kids looking like total dorks with stuff around their head to try to imitate halo's. Just let them be cute, however it does allow for some interesting actions as no one trains their preschooler to walk around with scratchy stuff on their head. When it's a strange thing on your head, your nose scrunches up, your eyes have to look straight up to see it and then you have to wave at anyone in the audience you might know. That's all normal, but, what does an angel do when he has to sneeze? Let er rip! And he did it fairly on beat also but it didn't help our giggle factor. We were attempting to try not to egg on the preschoolers while watching the dancing behind them
. And then, here comes the wise men. Did you know wise men brought Funyuns to baby Jesus? Why not? I guess if you can have Joseph making beds and Mary calmly stating she is having a baby, bring along a bag of Funyuns. They have enough preservatives in them they would not have had to worry about spoiling. 
Christmas through the eyes of children is always a blessing. Christmas through the eyes of faith is always soul searching and Christmas through the eyes of Jesus, well I am sure that in more ways than one he realized quite quickly that he left heaven this will be an adventure. As they left the stage the last things the kids doing the acting part which was going through the Nativity scene piece by piece and sharing what it meant, was to remind us what Mary did. Well, what she did after she calmly had her pain and a baby. Mary pondered. Of course Mary pondered. She's a women. We ponder. We think about. We rehash. We remember. We think back upon. We meditate. We mull over. Yep- we ponder all right. The difference is that we ponder about things that are so meaningless and worthless. We worry about our clean house (or lack of that first word- clean). We worry about if the food is good enough. We worry about if people will like our new couch. We worry about if anyone will remember our birthday (and yes I forgot 3 this past couple weeks). We worry; we don't ponder. Mary pondered these things. What things? The angel telling her she would be a mother without having sex, the fact that Joseph didn't have her put to death (unwed mothers were often put to death), that she made the trip on a donkey, the angels, the shepherds, the proclamation of who her son would be....what a difference my life would be if I pondered those things in my heart rather than the things I worry about.
I don't really make New Years Resolutions but I will try to ponder Mary's pondering rather than my meanderings. I will ponder what God has done for me, I will ponder the uninhibited joy of a child dancing with no hesitancy an the angel sneezing and still sang on. I will ponder the beauty of the Nativity and each role that the figures played in Jesus coming to earth to be my Messiah.
And yes, at the end you will never guess who came running back across stage when the others were walking off in line? Ok- you guess it. And he made me smile all over again- ok we laughed again. The joy of Christmas through the eyes of a child should make us do things because we can't help ourselves...and make others smile from the heart in the process.

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Crisp morning air

It was early: well not really for people who actually get up early but for me it's early. The air was crisp. The ground was frozen and crunchy. As I walked, I tripped over puppies and cats. Their desperate need for affection was almost cute: to them very essential however to me quite an inconvenience. The barn door had beautiful frost pictures and the ice on grass is beautiful.  I almost hesitated to step on the grass as to try not to ruin the beauty God had presented to me.
The horses were eager for their hay.  They knew what they wanted and I had it.  They were eager to eat; something o never do until the chores are done.  And I worked, the air kept reminding me of the morning.. New mornings are beautiful. Even on a day like yesterday when I slept in to kick a headache, and ended up cleaning all day, it was rather fun to look out at the snowy windy day and have the chance to stay inside...for as long as I wanted. So either side of the window crisp is beautiful in different ways.
God gives us crisp mornings to remind us of our reliance on his waking us up. We take each step because of his mercy. I opened the door because he created me with hands. I walked and pulled a sled full of hay because I was blessed with energy, strength and the desire to work. I had the knowledge thanks to his giving me a brain and wisdom, I had the financial means to own 10 horses to feed all with different jobs and different abilities.  I was enjoying the crisp morning totally because God was allowing me.  My steps felt different when I thought of things thst way. My smile was bigger, my heart was lighter, it wasn't work as much as a privilege, the gates shut behind me knowing that I had the honor of being outside.  Any people didn't wake up today. Many more re housebound, bed- bound, restricted by life and its affects on their bodies and minds. Walking back to the horse, I stepped a little higher, pranced a bit more and enjoyed each time I heard the "smush-crunch" under my feet. For to live is Christ, and to walk in Minnesota in the winter time is great enjoyment. And there is no wind today...I should mention that's what makes it so enjoyable to be outside....
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Friday, December 1, 2017

Changing focus...can make things blurry

its time to change things up a bit in life...chang No ones focus can also make everything blurry.  Like the time I got bifocals. They said it would answer all my questions... make things better but they didn't tell me I had to get used to them. First night out we were doing a concert. I looked down st my music and...it wasn't there. All I saw was a Blurry mess. So, back to the car for the extra set is f glasses so I could see. Eventually it was no problem but that first week was tough.
So things are changing... the obligations I have had are over. It's time to change focus. I went to th missionary convention, ICOM, to find my next God adventure. I talked to tons of missionaries. I talked to groups, I listened and I prayed... blurry. Plus a flat tire and lots of rain and bad convention food. What I came back with was not what I started out thinking I might. It's still blurry but definitely it's something I would not have thought of..only God would come up with something like that. I know eventually things will be clear but I am a modern American women. I want to know all the plans and want to know now...without a waiting period. Incubation periods are for eggs not my ideas... how often do we talk about Jeremiah twenty nine and say we know the plans God has for us but not be willing to wait and be patient for them to grow, develope and mature? So blurry yet, yes...but I can see the outline and know the plan is there. God has a way of clearing things up in his own time.