Switching Gears...

Finishing... anything.

Now there's a true task for me. I have learned something about myself over the years... I'm not a great finisher. I love to start things, get them going, and keep them going, but closure for some reason is difficult for me -- especially when speaking of a task.

Maybe that's one reason I enjoy ministry so much. It's never finished. There's always something new and exciting that God is doing, but there are also things that need to be completed.
I've kind of concluded that this is one reason I even have trouble stopping what I'm working on, even if it's just for one day.

My most difficult day for life is Thursday. It shouldn't be.
I guess I should say it's one of my most difficult and most loved days. Why?
Loved:
I get started on my day early and accomplish a lot.
I get out of the house.
I get to work on things I love.
I get to work with people I love.
I come home and work with my kids.
I get to teach them and enjoy life with them.
What's not to like, right?

I have trouble switching gears. Once I've been at the office and have my mind on all of the things I need/want to do... well, it's just hard to stop.
It's like yelling, "CHARGE!" and then someone saying... "PSYCH! I was kidding."
*Psych - now there's an old word. It was an '80's term that means "NOT!" for you youngins out there. ;)

This is something God's had to work on with me most of my life.
I guess it's a bit different from your typical ADD personality who can thrive on switching gears constantly. I can multitask well, but usually in the same subject or mode.
Example: School - I'm usually working on three subjects at once. Ministry - same thing - three or four tasks at a time, switching back and forth as if coming down a ski slope.

Back to Thursday -- as the day progresses, it gets easier. Once I'm resigned to completely change modes, then I can do it. It's my own stubbornness that makes it harder on myself than it needs to be.

So there it is.
Not particularly funny or interesting, just where I am personally.

In many ways, it comes back to patience. Ugh! Patience again? I feel like that's one of those things that never goes away. God's continuing education plan for me. Patience. I am very much a person of convenience. If it's convenient for me to work on something right now, I want to do it.

Alright, as I said at the top of this post, I have trouble finishing things and now I'm finding myself rambling and hitting the backspace button more times than I'm actually completing a sentence.

Life is Precious, Life is Sweet...

This has to be one of the most touching articles I've read in a long time.
Totally an amazing miracle!
Twinseperable!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow...

One of my sons, Brandon, likes to wear his hair long. I really don't mind, as long as it stays clean and he takes care of it (which he does). He's a good kid/young man. He looks rough on the edges, but he seriously has a big heart.

OK, so I can deal with the long hair, but what do you do when your son now wants to color it, not brown, not blonde, but like... purple? I used to be really against this and I mean really against this. I think more so because I was afraid of what people might think of him (or us). Yes, that's right. When it came down to it, it had a lot more to do with my own pride than anything else.
Regardless of the reason, we had made the stand - said no - and it was non-negotiable... until about six months ago, when I (yes, I) colored my hair pink.
Pink!?! Me?!? Can you believe it?!? I lived through the 80's and never did that stuff.
Before you need to pull on your Depends trying to picture it, please note that it was not my whole head of hair. Even in a moment of temporary insanity, I don't want to look like a giant Easter egg from the Dollar Store. It was just a small section on the top of my head. Our whole team did it, but that's a whole different blog for another time. Let's just say I blame Sarah for it, or more to the point, I need to thank her for it.

I was really embarrassed that first Sunday, I remember telling literally everyone I passed in the hall why my hair had this odd color in it. I was so afraid of what people would think of me. Looking back now, it was a lot of fun. We took pictures together and laughed... a lot.
Even with the laughter I do want to note that this is not something I'm looking to repeat anytime soon. I will, however, continue to color my hair, because this is a habit that just won't die. The reality is that I've had more product on my hair than L'Oreal, Revlon, and Clairol can make in one year. But, when it comes down to it, the ROY G BIV spectrum just isn't my thing.

Unfortunately now, after all of this, I have a new issue... to my son - hair color is open game.
We told him that since I did it once, he could too. So he bought some purple and put it on a small portion on his hair. It actually looked OK.

The next time, he decides he wants to cover his whole head purple... and he tells Matthew first - big mistake!
Matthew's eyes got wide and suddenly he finds a "look" to give me.
Here is where my own life lesson pays off:
I, for a change, am the one that remains calm. I'm actually able to talk to Brandon without freaking out. Ergo, I could reason with him a bit.
Since I was able to stay calm and not see this as an attack on my parenting we were really able to talk about it. The really awesome part was (because I could stay so calm) he didn't see what I was saying as a defensive strike to rebel against, but rather seasoned advice on hair color. From there we were able to talk about options and finally settled on a few streaks here and there.

I have slowly learned to deal with my fear of what other people think.
I can't make everyone happy and I don't need to put that pressure on my kids.
The most important point (above all) is that Brandon loves Jesus, his family, and others. He's a hard worker, loves to serve others and (though he may not admit it) is a big hearted guy.

I can't say I'm thrilled in any way, shape, or form that he likes to color his hair, but I totally need to pick my battles and this one is really nothing compared to the things I see other families struggling with.


After all of this, there is one thing I'm left wondering...

Did Sampson's parents have these sort of issues?

I mean, everybody had long hair back then, but his obviously stood out a bit. God had told them never to cut his hair, but I wonder if they felt the need to explain that to everyone they met?

Doctor, Doctor...

hack, hack, cough, cough ---- bronchitis anyone?

Did you know that Bronchitis can last over two weeks? huh... neither did I.
So that means if you share it with someone in the family, that makes about a month of hacking till you turn blue and sleepless nights for all in the house...
Let's see... how about a broken wrist? Yes, let's take a dash of that too.
Would you like anything else with your order? Oh yes, how about a UTI to go.
Lovely, will that be all?
Yes.. No, wait... I almost forgot. Could you please remove my voice just enough so I can't talk on the phone? Hold the easy breathing, and go heavy on the inhaler.
No voice? Uh oh, sounds like the return of "the look" and an intense game of charades for the teens.


So how's October going for you?

Break It Out

Have you ever wondered why socks come in a bag with a "ziploc" type top to them?
Do people actually buy a whole bag just to take one out and put the rest away for later? I mean, if they do, that's fine... wierd, but fine. If that were your need though, do they really need a zipper top? Will they go bad? Nothing worse than when brand new socks get stale, eh?
If that's not what the zippers for then... Do people reuse the bags for chips after they've taken the socks out? I know the socks have never been used, but still - ew.
Can you imagine being at school and pulling out a bag of chips that have Hanes written on the outside? Talk about being bullied, you know that would be in the yearbook when you graduate in ten years. People don't forget stuff like that.