Oh Yeah Buddy - They're Real

Hey there you insanely faithful readers (I say that because if you’re still hanging in there with me you have to be faithful at this point – I’ve been horrible with keeping up with this blog, but I am trying). Sorry I didn’t get to post anything last week – we went on vacation, and I brought my laptop with me thinking that I’d sneak off and post at some point, only to find that they didn’t have free internet where we were staying! Now, not that writing isn’t worth paying the $9.95 a day fee at least once to post, but the goal here is to make money writing at some point, not to have to pay to do it. So anyway, I’m here now for a quick post and I’ll put up some pictures later of our Spring Break fun for you to enjoy!

In the meantime, I have a bit of a – well, “situation” (for lack of a better term) – that I could use some help with. Little Man’s little imagination has been blooming and budding as of late, and it’s led to some really interesting conversations, one of which I have no idea how to handle.

He’s in this mode of realizing that there could be more to this life than what he just sees with his eyes. He’s realizing that he has feelings, and a heart (and not just the one that he can hear “beeping” after he runs fast), and thoughts and dreams, and the whole thing is just fascinating to him. I admit that some of his concepts are a little fuzzy, like when he told me the other day that I can’t hurt his feelings because “they work at Wal-Mart” (I don’t really even know what that means, but I don’t think it was supposed to be as funny as his daddy and I found it to be…). But some of the things he’s exploring are starting to hedge on some pretty deep theological truths.

I guess to begin, I should say that Little Man has some new friends. “Benbizable” friends, that is. Four of them. Two skeletons, and two black ghosts (yeah, I know, a little morbid, but apparently that’s how his brain works). All four of them are named Squirt. No, not like, Squirt, Squirt, Squirt and Squirt – the unit of friends as a whole is just Squirt, and is often referred to as “he”, but never “they” (I guess almost like a trinity thing here, I don’t know).

So Little Man likes to play with Squirt and talk about Squirt and tell other people about Squirt (“I have Squirt and it’s skeleton, skeleton, black ghost, black ghost…). And when he plays with Squirt his name changes too – suddenly he is no longer Little Man, but Cowboy Squirt Cake.

Yeah, I know. Disturbing. But it gets better.

He also has two other “benbizable” friends, and this is where it gets tricky. These other two are the same benbizable friends that Mommy talks to all the time but he can’t ever see… Can you see where this is going?

So, yeah, his other two benbizable friends are named God and Jesus. Um, yeah, I told you it was tricky. I tried to explain that, unlike Squirt, God and Jesus really are real, but he most certainly thinks I’ve lost my mind. We’ve gone through the questions so many times: “So where is God? Can I touch Him? Can I step on Him? Why can’t I see Him? Why can’t I hear Him? Why can He see me and hear me if He’s not here? How big is He? Can He fit in my bed? Well, can He fit in my bed?” And lately it usually ends this way: “Mommy, just take God with you when you leave – take Him out of my room.”

The other night apparently God didn’t follow me out, so Little Man got out of bed about 30 minutes after bed time and marched into the living room dragging God by the hand. “Now sit here, God – on the couch.” Then he went back to bed and fell asleep.

Oh dear.

So what do you do? On the one hand it’s hard not to laugh when he tells Jesus that He’d better finish all His carrots and clean His plate before He leaves the dinner table, but on the other hand you don’t want to encourage him to think that his heavenly Father and Holy Savior are figments of make-believe (or that at least one of them is something to be freaked out by at night).

The truth of it is, my sweet little confused three year old is asking the same essential question as people 10 to 20 times his age. How do we know that God is real when we can’t see Him or touch Him? Faith, Little Man. Faith is what I tell him. He doesn’t know what that means, really, but to tell you the truth he’s freer to accept it than a lot of those older people are. His mind hasn’t been confused and confined yet by the things that he thinks he can see in this world, and that gives him a great advantage.

I’m scared to death over how to field these deep questions of his, but so excited to see them forming so early in his tiny little brain. If you have any suggestions about how to tactfully distinguish between Squirt and God in a way he might grasp, I’m totally open to comments!

What a weird, wild journey this whole parenting thing is. I’m so thankful, though, that the Lord has a sense of humor and keeps us laughing through these wonderfully strange little creations of His.

Oh, goodness – I just thought of something. “The Lord”? Does Mommy have a third “benbizable” friend that we just haven’t talked much about yet? Hmmm… looks like we might have another one of those deep conversations tonight…

Please Pray for Baby Jonah!

Hey friends! I'm thick in the process of reformatting one of my books for self-publishing on the web, and I have to be honest - my hands are a-killin' me. Carpal Tunnel is such a cruel writing companion...

So being that I really wanted to post something for you today but should be taking a break, I thought I'd post a link to a family who has really been on my mind over the past week or so.

The Williams family from Winston-Salem, NC are friends of friends for us. To put it mildly, they've had a rough go at life over the past year. There first son, Gabe, was still born in April of last year. Then on February 27th, Patrice gave birth to Jonah, a beautiful little guy who has a horrible condition called Epidermolysis Bullosa - a rare skin disorder that causes his skin to blister and peel off at the slightest touch. They can't even really pick him up and hold him, though they finally got to cuddle him through a pile of blankets this past weekend! Can you imagine not being able to touch and hold your newborn baby boy?

I am happy to report that though Jonah is still in a lot of pain, he is doing really well today! He is still in the hospital, and every day is a new challenge as they learn how to feed and care for him, but their thankfulness for each little victory is a testimony to God's greatness.

Patrice is a great blogger, updating with posts every day (sometimes even more than one day), so it's easy to keep track of his progress and know what to pray for on a daily basis!

Please join me and thousands of others in praying for baby Jonah and his parents Patrice and Matt. Their story is one that will both break your heart and inspire your faith. Just click on the link below to visit their site.

Thanks friends, and I'll see you again soon (when I can type more!)

Brace Yourselves

Mmmm… I’m back. That was nice… It’s been a while since we were able to really get away – just the two of us – and since the opportunity presented itself, we went ahead and took advantage of it! I know it was only three-and-a-half days, but it was like a mini second honeymoon to us! Three whole nights of no kids and no alarm clocks! Yay!!!! It was really a special treat, and I’m thankful that my in-laws were able to come and spoil – uh, I mean babysit for us. They’re the best!

So I guess I should offer some kind of explanation for my absence lately (even if it’s a lame one). We’ve been through a nice little round of illnesses – colds, a stomach virus and even walking pneumonia – but that’s not really all that’s kept me away. No, it seems that I was getting too comfortable with this whole new phase of life with kindergarten and all, which naturally meant it was time for another curve ball, right?

No, I’m not pregnant.

( I always have to throw that out there pretty quickly). That being said, this curve ball was one I certainly didn’t see coming.

Remember last May when Little Man nearly broke my jaw by jumping off a stage and bumping heads with me? Well I remember it. I remember it every day because my jaw has never fully healed. I remember it every time I try to eat a sandwich or chew steak or turn my head while I’m yawning. I remember it a lot.

If only we had known that going to a church musical that night was going to cause so much discomfort and pain. If only we had known that showing up to hear those little kids sing was going to result in fairly drastic change in my diet for the foreseeable future. If only we had known that our little outing to the church was going to cost us nearly $6,000 – wait – if only we had known that I think we would have stayed home and sang to ourselves!

Yes, an emergency room visit, two dentists, a chiropractor and an oral surgeon later, it’s come down to this: I have to get braces. Me – little ‘ole going-to-turn-31-in-a-couple-of-weeks me – is going to have to get braces. Ugly Betty, move over!

Well, to be fair, I’m going to the actual orthodontist later this morning, and he will tell me if he’s willing to do it. You see, braces are the only way to correct the damage (something about my teeth not fitting together anymore so my jaw can’t rest and heal), but there is a chance it won’t work at all, and a minor chance that it might make it worse. Permanently. (I just discovered that I have no idea how to spell that last word… I’m going to be how old?)

So the braces are our only shot, but he might not be willing to take them on since it’s such a weird case. I guess we’ll see in a couple of hours, huh? Although I walked out of the dentist office in tears after he explained the situation to me, I’m actually praying now that we can go through with it. Imagine eating a banana without cutting it up first! And apples and steak and Rice Crispy treats – oh my stars Rice Crispy Treats!

But all of that to say that we can’t afford braces, so I’ve had to get a job. The Lord has truly blessed me in this area, really. The day I found out about the braces thing I mentioned it to a girl in our youth group. It just so happens that her mom needs some help with her insurance business and is willing to take me on part-time and let me work from home. I couldn’t ask for a better situation – especially in this economy!

So I’ve already started working, and of course that means that the old schedule has to change yet again. I think I can still make it on Tuesdays to write a quick post (and I might be able to sneak in one or two extras now and then!), but for now all the extra writing I wanted to do is going to have to be on hold. That makes me sad, but hopefully it won’t stay that way. We’ll see – I have a Bible study idea in my head that won’t go away, so He’ll help me carve out time if He wants it written.

Anyway, that’s my long saga / excuse. Some people would say it’s not a very good one (“what’s the big deal? It’s only braces”, I’ve heard). But at 31 braces are kind of life-changing. Especially when it means you have to get a job to pay them and you really need to be putting that “extra” money towards a safer car that your entire family can ride in (instead of only three of you). There’s other things that it changes, but I won’t go into details here. Doesn’t matter anyway, right? It is what it is. And right now, I really am praying that I have to make those changes anyway, because I want my jaw to heal so I can move on with life.

And besides, what’s the worst that can happen? I’d finally have straight teeth? You mean I could eat bananas and smile?

I could live with that!