Rule breaking and a thank-you.

For the second time this week, Caleb and I made the laborious 2-mile trek to the grocery store. I try my best to buy everything I need during my weekly trip, but this week, we ran out of a few essential items mid-week, and I was forced to make a second trip. By the time we arrived at the shopping center, I was hot, sweaty and sapped of energy. It's bad enough to feel that way myself, but when I looked down into the stroller and saw little beads of sweat on Caleb's face, my heart melted. We were in dire need of a pick-me-up and I was desperate. In the heat of the moment (literally the HEAT of the moment), I decided that the fastest plan of action was to head for the nearest restaurant and order a cool treat. (This is where the rule-breaking comes in. . . ) So, before I could think twice, I pushed the stroller through the entrance of McDonalds and heard myself ordering an Oreo McFlurry.

I always swore I would never willingly feed my kid McDonalads (have you seen Super Size Me?). It was rule number 2 on my list of "Things Good Moms Never Do." But there I was, hunched down next to the stroller offering spoonful after spoonful of flurry fluff to my 13-month-old kid. Only 13 months, and I'm already resorting to McDonalds. . .

"What kind of mother am I!?" I thought. "With every spoonful, I am dooming my son to a nutrient-deficient future. My son will never like broccoli or spinach or cauliflower. I can see it in his huge grin and oreo-studded teeth. And, if he's ruined, what hope can I possibly have for any future kids God may give us!"

As I berated myself for ruining my son's appetite for all things green and nutritious, I heard my brother's voice ringing in my ear, quoting one of his favorite verses, "Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise" (Ecc 7:16 KJV) (If any of you know my brother, you know he is always quoting obscure verses from the King James version. . . usually with a King James-ish accent, to boot).

Be not overly wise. . . be not overly wise. That's just what I was being. . . or trying to be. Suddenly I realized that there are some rules in life that are worth breaking every now and then. . . and eating at McDonalds was one of them.

So, even though he's half-way across the world, I'm sending out a little thank-you to my brother. Thanks, Dan, for the reminder that it is possible to be overly righteous and overly wise. (If Caleb could type, I'm sure he'd send his thanks, too!)

p.s.-Just for the record, I'm going to make Caleb eat green peas for dinner! =)

The True Test of Motherhood

You know you are officially a mom when you can sit in a Thai taxi holding your sick 1-year-old who just vomited all over you and 1) you don't gag and 2) the only thing you care about is whether or not your child is okay.

God really does give us the grace we need to handle the situations He sends our way!

(for more info about the story behind this, check out our other blog)

Walking

The other night, while at Ikea, Caleb started walking. This isn't the best video because he was already really tired by the time we got home and took this, but it is still cute to see him toddle.

Imagination: A Christian Duty

This devotional was sent to me by my mom and I thought it particularly good.

(for the original source, click here)

God is Not Boring
John Piper

Recently I spoke at Northwestern College as part of their year-long 100^th anniversary celebration. The title of the message was "The Supremacy of God in the Life of the Mind." One capability of the mind that I focused on was the imagination. It applies to everybody who has a mind. Here's what I said:

One of the great duties of the Christian mind is imagination. It is not the only thing the mind does. The mind observes. The mind analyzes and organizes. The mind memorizes. But imagination is different. It does not observe or analyze what's there; it imagines what is not seen but might be there and might explain what is there (as in the case of most scientific discoveries). Or it imagines a new way of saying what is there that no one has said before (as in the case of creative writing and music and art).

I say that imagination is a Christian duty for two reasons. One is that you can't apply Jesus' golden rule without it. He said, "Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them" (Matthew 7:12). We must imagine ourselves in their place and imagine what we would like done to us. Compassionate, sympathetic, helpful love hangs much on the imagination of the lover.

The other reason I say that imagination is a Christian duty is that when a person speaks or writes or sings or paints about breathtaking truth in a boring way, it is probably a sin. The supremacy of God in the life of the mind is not honored when God and his amazing world are observed truly, analyzed duly, and communicated boringly. Imagination is the key to killing boredom. We must imagine ways to say truth for what it really is. And it is not boring. God's world - all of it - rings with wonders. The imagination calls up new words, new images, new analogies, new metaphors, new illustrations, new connections to say old, glorious truth. Imagination is the faculty of the mind that God has given us to make the communication of his beauty beautiful.

Imagination may be the hardest work of the human mind. And perhaps the most God-like. It is the closest we get to creation out of nothing. When we speak of beautiful truth, we must think of a pattern of words, perhaps a poem. We must conceive something that has never existed before and does not now exist in any human mind. We must think of an analogy or metaphor or illustration which has no existence. The imagination must exert itself to see it in our mind, when it is not there. We must create word combinations and music that have never existed before. All of this we do, because we are like God and because he is infinitely worthy of ever-new words and songs.

A college - or a church - committed to the supremacy of God in the life of the mind will cultivate many fertile, and a few great, imaginations. And O how the world needs God-besotted minds that can say the great things of God and sing the great things of God and play the great things of God in ways that have never been said or sung or played before.

Imagination is like a muscle. It grows stronger when you flex it. And you must flex it. It does not usually put itself into action. It awaits the will. Imagination is also contagious. When you are around someone (alive or dead) who uses it a lot, you tend to catch it. So I suggest that you hang out with some people (mainly dead poets) who are full of imagination, and that you exert yourself to think up a new way to say an old truth. God is worthy. "Oh sing to the LORD a new song" - or picture, or poem, or figure of speech.

Caleb's Birthday List

Every year on my birthday I make a list of things I love (in no particular order), one item for every year. The list is usually random and certainly not comprehensive, but it is a fun way to "capture" my life at that moment.

I've decided to carry on the tradition for Caleb. I don't usually explain the items but since Caleb only gets one item on his list, I thought I'd throw a story in, too.

Caleb's Very First Birthday List

1. Daddy! Caleb's favorite thing to do toward the end of the day is sit by the front door and wait for Daddy. When he hears Josh on the other side of the door, he stands at the door and babbles "da da! da da!" This morning, after Josh left for work, I was doing the breakfast dishes while Caleb was playing. I peeked my head out to see what he was up to and there he was, sitting by the front door with Daddy's shoes in hand, pointing to the door and calling "da da!?! . . . da da!?!" Very, very cute!

Happy Birthday, Caleb!

Focus

Our pastor said something last Sunday that has been rumbling around in my head all week. He said, "Don't let the FORM of your faith cause you to miss the FOCUS of your faith, namely Christ Jesus." Although this was said in the context of a sermon being preached on Romans 2, I can't help but think of Hebrews 12:2.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus,
the author and perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy set before him endured the cross,
scorning its shame,
and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The question I have been asking myself all week and which I now put to you is this: Are your eyes fixed on Christ? Are you fascinated with Christ? In love with Him? Is he your waking thought in the morning and your last thought before slipping into sleep?

I don't know where you are in your walk of faith, but wherever you are I encourage you: "throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles" and run toward Jesus! (Heb 12:1) Whether you be entangled in the grossest of sins or simply weighted down with trappings of religiosity and morality, the end result is the same. . . you cannot run freely to the arms of Jesus.

Photo: Singaporean Sunset by Joshua Redin

Organic

I know many of my readers (probably most) are into the whole organic foods thing. I have not yet joined your ranks and, based on my experience today, am not headed in that direction.

We are having Italian food tonight--spaghetti, garlic bread and salad. So last night at the grocery store, I bought the only available head of lettuce--an organic butter lettuce head. I just opened up the container (can I say that it makes no sense to me that they package organic produce in fancy plastic containers) and was washing the lettuce when I discovered a whole family of worms living in my future salad. I'm not talking about just a momma and papa worm. I'm talking about mama, papa, and several other generations. . . probably about 10-12 worms total. GROSS...double gross.

I know worms in produce are a fact of life, but I am a boneless-skinless-chicken-kind-of-shopper and I don't usually like to buy worms with my Tuesday dinner salad. I'm still debating on what to do with the freshly washed, de-wormed head sitting in the colander. Maybe we'll just skip the lettuce and have a cucumber and tomato salad.

Practicing Walking

Caleb is oh-so-close to taking off by himself. He has taken a few steps but by and large he still wants at least one finger touching us. I don't mind. . . it makes me feel important ;-)

This picture was taken at the Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival in Chinatown. I'll be posting more about the festival on our Everyday Singapore blog.

Rice

Due to our change in locale, we have been eating quite a bit more rice lately. Caleb loves it. He eats it as fast and as furiously as he can.

On the upside, rice is the perfect size and texture for little mouths, it's cheap, and it is reasonably nutritious. On the downside, it gets everywhere and is nearly impossible to clean up.

Even after a diligent rice hunt, I am always finding rice in the strangest places, like this stray grain. . .