Smallness

Recently, Janie wanted to know about wearing goggles if she was baptized. Then, she wondered why they didn't just chop down the tree of knowledge of good and evil back in Eden. A few days later she asked how God and Jesus talk to each other if they are all in one. She never questions the character of God, only her understanding of him - only her own smallness.

Ever since she found out that God rewards what is done in secret, she keeps asking, "Can I do something to earn secret treasure? I want my treasure to be in heaven." She dumped a dirty diaper for me the other day, even swallowed a gag as she did it. She said she did it for Jesus. A smile twiggled at the corner of her mouth - pleasure!
























Sometimes she reads stories to the nativity baby Jesus. "He is the one that I worship," she says.

In her words, "The best thing about the Bible is just God." Yes, maybe that's it. Maybe that's what we're supposed to get from the whole long saga of salvation.

Manners

There we are sitting in a nice restaurant making civilized conversation. I glance at Jack and he has tired of the finer graces. Not only is he stretched out on his tummy but actually face first on the carpet and grinning. I am pretending like I didn't just see him lick the floor. Yes, I had said, "Don't be wild," in my very SERIOUS voice, but somehow pictured he would sit politely in his chair. Never a dull moment.

Make Your Mark

He marches into the bathroom, "I eat butter!" Clearly pleased with his new sophisticated self, Jack walks past a large and permanent rendering of sister's name on our mirror and informs Daddy he need not worry, Jack can now take care of himself, "I eat butter!" I tell you he is practically a man. Our butter dish is now slick, smooth, and very buttery all over, yet miraculously not broken.

Then, there are the almost dozen graffiti tags on our walls that testify to this new found independence. He delights in the smudgy squish of new markers on smooth walls, the scritch-scratch of a fresh pencil on painted-over wood paneling, and in the back of his mind, the power of making a mark. Don't we all just want to make our mark? I dole out compelling consequences and the draw is still there.

The draw is there at bedtime when we thump-thump-thump race down the hallway, run and plop into the nightly ritual: laugh-pray-sing, kiss-and-hug, good-night-sleep-tight. We whisk out of their room. We sink down into an old green couch with arms enough for Craig and me. Sit, breathe, rest. We joke. And our children long to make their mark. At first it's only one shout. Then a yell and another. Before long it is the full-throated bawl of children whooping it up. And strangely in all their gusto they are shouting with voices like trumpets, "Worship the Lord! Worship only the Lord! Everybody only worship the Lord!"

Then there we are like permanent marker on our walls. Like great students of humanity, they pick the one phrase we can't hardly disagree with and shout it with great might. And once again we see, this craft of growing our children is really more art than vocation.

She Believes

Craig holds Janie and I see why she believes in God.

















She thinks he's just like her daddy.























Perhaps we all see some version of Dad as we try to imagine the creator of all that is good. The personality of complete security and outrageous fun, the starting point of devotion - a job description like that and suddenly in the image of God begins to make sense.























The scaffolding of love.

Thumbie

Lulu cried a long time falling asleep. She keeps pulling the patch off. She sucks on it like a gauze flavored lozenge and, of course, can't tell me how much precious eye development she has she's frittered away. The drool and smiles almost make up for it - for now... I put her in a real long sleeved sweater that covers her hands. Poor baby, can't suck thumbie now. She makes her lip all wide and pouty, cries like the pope died.

The Good Life

Tonight Craig shoveled thigh-deep snow off our roof.
It took awhile.
We missed him.

Our accomplishments?

~I stepped on a tube of lotion and squeezed hand cream on the carpet.
~Lulu attempted to eat her eye patch half a dozen times.
~The children served her and themselves Cheerios on the kitchen floor.
~I kicked down an ill place Leggo tower.
~Janie prayed that Jesus will help our world go well.
~I wrestled a crumbly potpie crust in place after 45 minutes.
~The kids had a dance contest.
~Lulu and I busted moves across the living room until we were dizzy and giggling.
~Finally, we had dinner at bedtime and Daddy came inside.

Silly Question

The kids drew pictures of our family. "Why is that one so big, honey?"

"That's you, Momma. I made you really big because you ARE really big!"

As my Gramma always said, "Ask a silly question, get a silly answer."