Someday I'll tell him

Someday I’ll tell him.

So far, Cole seems to be a follower.  Although others see him as a leader, he doesn’t realize it.  He’s energetic, happy, and full of ideas.  But he’s a people pleaser.  (After months of failed potty training attempts, I told my then-three-year-old boy that it made me sad when he didn’t pee in the potty.  That was that.  He never wore a diaper again.)

But this same trait that has allowed Michael and me the luxury of correcting and disciplining Cole with mere words or looks of disapproval, disappointment, and displeasure may haunt us some day.

Cole wants to please.  He wants to fit in at whatever the cost.  Even though Cole is one of the tallest and smartest in his class, he has an enemy.  At 7, Cole’s nemesis is his age.  He’s the youngest in his class.  He’ll be the last of his friends to turn 8.  Then 9.  Then 10.  He’ll be the last to drive and the last to get to vote.  This age difference is HUGE in his mind.  And, in his eyes, it leaves him no choice but to be a follower by the very definition.

So someday I’ll tell him.  I won't just think it or hope it or steer him in that direction.  

I'll tell him.  

I’ll tell him that he will have to take a stand.  Against every fiber of his being, he’ll have to say no when others say yes, say it’s wrong with others say it’s right, say I’m leaving when others say please stay.  I’ll unwaveringly tell him what’s right and what’s wrong, what’s expected and what’s not expected.  I’ll tell him that pleasing others is wonderful as long as it first pleases God. 

Someday I’ll tell him he might be the last man standing.  He might be fighting the battle alone – or so it may seem.  And along the way, I’ll either be his biggest cheerleader or the uncoolest mom, but I’ll tell him.  Someday. 

But today, I’m a green army man who just lost the battle against the last warrior standing.  Cole’s “pow pow!” took me – and all my men – down in seconds.  Again.  Amazing. 

“See, Cole.  You’re a leader!” I say without saying.  Instill without speaking.  Pray without him hearing. 

And he smiles – a gapped tooth grin under summer bleached hair.

Yes.  Some other day. 

Hoarder of the Almost Empty

I’m a hoarder.  There, I said it.  But I hoard the randomest items:

-Almost empty tubes of toothpaste

-Almost empty rolls of toilet paper

-Bottles of perfume with just a few drops left inside

-Eye shadow compacts with a scoop of flakes clumped in the corner

Yep, that’s me.  And, yes, that non-staged photo of toilet paper is from my guest bathroom.  I have a reason for this (or an “excuse,” as my husband says). 

What if a friend comes over and uses the bathroom and the toilet paper runs out?  They’d have to get up and go rummaging through the cabinet to get a new roll.  And what if I run out of eye shadow?  God forbid I go a day without makeup!  I might need that little clump of circa-2010 sea-foam green powder.

Used up.  Almost empty.  Drained. 

God is a hoarder too.  Bear with me… 

Psalm 107 reminds us that God’s people, the Israelites, were hungry and thirsty.  They had no place to live.  They wandered.  Their soul fainted within them.  Used up.  Almost empty.  Drained.

And what did He do?  He didn't throw them away.  He didn't toss them aside or consider them useless.  Instead, he delivered them out of distress.  He led them to a dwelling place.  He satisfied their soul and filled their soul with goodness.  And he still does for us, His children.

That’s my God.  The hoarder of the almost empty. 

Hole in One

A hole in one: The great and elusive triumph in golf – or putt putt in my case – that only matters if witnessed by others.

I still remember the day my then 4 year old got a hole in one at the city park.  It was the most difficult hole – the one that’s perfectly straight with a mole hill in the middle and the tiny white cup in the middle of that.  (Yes, of course we took a picture.)

Let’s face it.  No one jumps up and down and gives high fives for the story of a hole in one.  But gather a group of friends around an obstacle hill of green carpet and tap that little round dimpled sucker into a hole in one swing, and you've got yourself a glory-filled, chest-bumping, high-fiving brag fest.

But, unless you’re vying for the new car on The Price is Right, a hole in one is just that brief, fleeting moment of glory that wins you nothing but a story to tell.

______________________________

My husband Michael’s cousin passed away unexpectedly a few weeks ago.  On the somber drive home from the funeral services, Michael and I thought about our lives. 

Who would be at our funeral?  What would they say?  Would we have finished all we’d plan to do in life?  Or would people say “I remember when” and that “when” be a years-ago feat?

It was one of those moments when you do more thinking than talking.  When, an impulse inside you prompts new ideas and commitments to pursuing today and not putting off until tomorrow. 

It was a commitment not to living a “remember when I hit the hole in one” life, but, instead, actively and passionately committing to daily successes and nightly confirmations of a day well fulfilled.

Ephesians 2:10 - For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.   

~Allyson

www.allysonmcelroy.com

www.facebook.com/OilEducator

POOFing Jesus

February's Featured Post...

 

In the book of Matthew, just 3 verses after Jesus states, "If you have faith as a small mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to here,' and it will move," a curious thing happens.

Jesus and his disciples were asked to pay the temple tax. Peter approached Jesus about it, and, after some dialogue, Jesus sent Peter to "fish" for the tax. Literally.

Go and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.

Why didn't Jesus just "poof" the tax?

He easily could have said, "Here you are, Peter" and (poof!), like a white gloved magician, produced a coin out of air.
But He didn't.

He easily could have said, "Peter, if you close your eyes and pray, (poof!) a coin will fly into your pocket."
But He didn't.

He easily could have said, "Peter, just as you can ask the mountains to be moved, you can ask the temple tax to be (poof!) done away with."
But He didn't.

No. Instead Peter had to leave Jesus' side, go get his fishing gear, bait his hook, throw out the line, wait for a fish, and then dig the coin out of the slimy mouth.

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I don't understand Jesus' choices or ways to get a job done. Why did He put spit on a blind man's eyes to heal him? Why did he allow Lazarus to be dead for 3 days instead of healing him before he died? Why did he allow the woman with the issue of blood to bleed for so many years? She had the faith before she even touched the hem of his garment, right? I may not understand. But I know that Jesus had/has a reason. And I know He ended every story by meeting the need.

Our vision of Jesus is hindsight. We know the end of every story.
Peter gets the coin - regardless of how he had to get it.
The blind man is healed - regardless of what was placed on his eyes.
Lazarus was raised from the dead - regardless of how long his sisters grieved.
The woman's issue of blood was healed - regardless of how long she had to wait.

But we don't know the details of our stories. No book has been written about our life that tells how Jesus' will heal us. When Jesus will mend hearts. Where Jesus will meet our pressing need. Or how long before Jesus answers our prayers.

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What if Peter hadn't obeyed? What if the story went something like this...

Jesus' Promise:
Go and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.

Peter's (what-if) response:
Are you kidding me? So, instead of providing for me right here & now, I have to DO something to have my need met? This is not a "want," Jesus. This is a NEED. For crying out loud! I have seen you do crazy miracles for a whole list of people, and here I ask this tiny thing. Am I not loyal to you? I am with you almost every day! I'm learning from you! I pray with you! I know your word! Forget it. I'll just figure this out on my own.

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Jesus' Promise:
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you (John 15:7). If you ask anything according to my will, I will hear you. In whatever you ask, you have the requests that you ask of me (1 John 5:14-15). Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours (Mark 11:24).