Some Advice

Main Street Grill is not a great place to have quality conversation with your children about where they think they'll be in the next 10-20 years.  Why, you ask?  Well, for one, the competing football game.  For two, the noise level.  And lastly, who thinks about what they're going to be like when they are 31 years old anyway?

We did nail down a few pointers in the midst of chaos.

Lindsay on being 18 years old:

I'll be in high school!  How old will I be when I start high school? 14! Wow. Then I'll go to college maybe if I want to.

Kimberly on being 18 years old:

I'm going to go to college and be in a math class.  I want to be an engineer like my dad, do something with math because I am really good at that.

Lindsay on being 31 years old (my current age):

Well, I don't know what I'll be like.  Glance at the tv. Comment on the pink helmets and black pants.  Those look nice together!

Actually, I'll be like Aunt Melanie, that's what.  I'll always be correcting kids.  And I'll probably have a baby too.  Giggle, giggle.

Kimberly on being 31 years old:

I'll probably be doing Ebay or something like that. Or maybe I'll just be playing my violin or piano and not practicing.

Lindsay on "what is a goal"?

Huh? I don't know what a goal is.  You mean like make a goal?

Kimberly on "what is a goal"?

It's like saying to yourself at swim lessons, "I can make it to the other side of the pool", and you do!

And that's when we made it our goal to finish our lunch and enjoy the rest of the afternoon 

in Cambria.

Earwig

So Lindsay has been feeling a bit under the weather these last couple of days. Just a cold, which turned into a cough, which seems to be bothering her ears.  This evening she dripped from the bathtub to her jammy drawer, then came shivering to find me before bed.  

Wiggling one finger in her ear, I heard her mumble I have a wig in there. 

She looked at me uncertainly. 

What was that? I questioned, trying hard to keep my smile under control.

An earwig.

Ear wax, maybe? I prompted.

Oh yeah. Another wiggle of the finger. It's not funny.

My laughter could be contained no longer.

Much better than a wig... or an earwig for that matter.

A New Birth Day

We had some pretty exciting stuff happening around here a couple of weeks ago. While reviewing Lindsay's memory verse for the week (Philippians 4:5), we got to talking about Jesus returning to earth and taking all believers to live with him forever.  When I asked her if she would go to heaven, she said, "Well, Kimberly told me the words to say, but I don't really know what that means."

Talk about opportunity!

I tried not to get my hopes up.  We had talked many times in the past and she just didn't have a clear understanding of the price Jesus paid for her.

"Will you read the story to me again, Mama?  The one about Jesus dying on the cross?"

Music to my ears!

"Of course, dear."  We opened up our Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes and read through the account of Jesus' betrayal, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. Lindsay turned to me and said, "I want to believe, but I just don't know how to do it!"

Enter the analogy of a gift.  "Just imagine I have this beautifully wrapped gift in my hands, with a big bow on top," I told her.  "It's not your birthday or any special celebration, but I just want to give this gift to you because I love you.  What would you do?"

She giggled.  And said she didn't know.  So I handed her a book.  "Let's pretend this is the gift! What would you do?"

"Well, I would take it," she said.

"Right!  And that is just how you believe!  Just accept that Jesus loved you, Lindsay, enough to die for you and he is offering new life to you!"

"I want to do that," she said.

And she prayed.  Hallelujah!  The angels were singing, along with my heart.

Jesus moved right into her heart, and the resulting life in her has been astounding to watch unfold.

Is she still Lindsay?  Yep.
Is she still naughty? Uh, yeah.

But there are these little glimmers of something new growing in her soul that peek up out of the overgrown weed patch of a heart which has never known a Savior.

I am eternally grateful.