These tiny days

"Given infinite time and infinite resources, anything is possible."

Dr. Lengle, one of my grad school profs presented this idea on the first day of class, the day I started my MA program.  And it is one of the most valuable things I learned during my time at Georgetown.  I think about it all. the. time.

Because the reality is that I don't have unlimited time or unlimited resources.  In fact, both are extremely limited.  And I bet yours are too.  Rare, so very rare, is it that I feel like I have "a few extra minutes" or "a few extra bucks."  I don't.  And I bet you don't either.

What that means is that I must spend the limited resources I have in a way that gets the most result with the least input.  Or it means I spend my limited time on the most valuable things, though sometimes urgency trumps value.

All three of my children are down right now - the boys for naps, the girl is reading to herself in the reading nook.  I can hear her "read" her memorized version of Fancy Nancy as I type.  These moments of three being down are rare.  And the moments of me having enough mental fortitude to write something for me, to feed my soul, express my creativity, remember these blessed days are becoming much fewer and farther between.

But isn't that, in itself, a blessing?  There is stuff in my life that just clutters it, but not much.  There is stuff in my life that is hard and that I wish wasn't there, but doesn't that make the things that are good only feel that much more wonderful?  There are endless to-do lists, reminders for appointments, dishes, laundry, cooking, cleaning (oh, how badly my bathroom needs serious attention...), but shouldn't I be grateful that I can do these things?  That there are people I love dirtying dishes and laundry?  People for whom I get to cook and clean?  That my body is strong enough to undertake these tasks?  My goal has become to clean just enough that we can function well, but not so much that I miss the goodness of these days.

And I lose it.  I lose my patience (especially when I've lost sleep).  I lose my cool.  I lose myself.  I lose my sanity.  I lose my contentment.

That last one.  That one is hard.  Because when I'm content I can function joyfully.  But discontentment steals my joy in serving, in giving, in loving, in life.

Then I have to reground myself.  I may not have steak or salmon every night, but I never wonder where the next meal is coming from.  I may not have time to fold all the laundry before the dirty clothes pile up again, but I do have clothes to wear, and they're clean (albeit wrinkled).  I may not have a bedroom for each child, but I have family overflowing out of the 2 bedrooms I have.

Blessed.

And grateful.

And sometimes it's hard.

But always the struggle is worth the effort.

Bills are waiting to be paid.  The dog needs to be bathed and shaved (and let me tell you, that ain't happening today!).  The kitchen is a pit.  The bathroom is even worse.

But get this - my sweet 2 year old is potty training and he peed off the front step right before nap time!  And he pooped in the potty at a friends house!  Ugh!  I am SOOO proud of him it feels like my heart is bursting!  And my 8 month old is learning to balance and cruise around everything, and I think (fingers crossed) he's starting (after a few months of very erratic sleep) to sleep longer periods at night.  And my 4 year old can read many 3 letter words and the world around her is exciting to her and she just can't be filled up enough with interesting facts or information.

These days are already a blur.  I hear it only gets worse and that I'll hardly remember them, if at all, someday.  With limited time and limited resources I'm doing what I can to live in these tiny days but also to do things to remember them so that in the days to come I can look back and treasure each precious memory.

With unlimited time and unlimited resources, anything is possible.  But limits force us to prioritize and choose.  May I choose well each day, these tiny days.

Family Photo Shoot

Just a few shots from the shoot Kathy did a few weeks ago.  I'm so grateful to have them!

To Trump or not to Trump?

Tomorrow we vote.  Or at least I'm going to vote, and I hope that you will too.

This election cycle has been different, I think, than any election cycle ever before in American history.  It's been different, at the very least, than any in my lifetime.  I'm baffled and depressed and excited and energized by it all at the same time.

Baffled

Like many Americans, I am baffled by the long successes of Donald Trump.  And let's just acknowledge that he has had an impressive run this primary season.  Whether you like him or not, he has held his lead despite every effort to overtake, overturn, or overrun him.

He is at the same time highly divisive and incredibly unifying of groups that aren't used to being divided or unified.  He's effectively divided the Republican party so strongly that many of the faithful base who have voted for years are threatening to not vote this year at all if Trump is the nominee.  Not only that, but some very influential people (George Will and others) have suggested that the RNC convention not nominate Trump even if he has earned the delegates (which, let's remember, at this point he has not, though as the only candidate in the race if nothing changes, he will).

At the same time a great divide has happened within the Republican party, Trump seems to be pulling people from all walks of life who have never been engaged in politics before to come out to vote.  He is pulling Democrats to vote for him despite that he's on the Republican ticket.  It's almost like he's building a new coalition of supporters who aren't defined, necessarily by "pro-life/pro-choice," "conservative/liberal," "traditional marriage/same-sex marriage," etc...  Instead they're unified by...?

The most consistent thing I hear when I talk to Trump supporters is that they're fed up with the representatives in the federal government doing nothing for them - and by that I don't mean implementing more entitlement programs.  The individuals I know who support Trump are middle class Americans who simply want the federal government to make it easier to live life by, largely, staying out of the way so that they can do their thing.  And they don't feel like their representatives in Washington are doing that.  But then that's just the small segment I know personally.  Perhaps that's not what unifies Trumpers?

Depressed

It's no secret that Ben Carson was my favorite candidate.  A political outsider, he oozed authenticity and level-headed deliberation, two things I find desperately lacking in Trump.  So after Carson suspended his campaign earlier this year, I was depressed.  I felt like the one guy whom I would trust to captain my children's ship was done for.  Now what was I to do?

And then, to add insult to injury, Carson endorsed Trump.  Excuse my abbreviation, but WTF?!?

I was in despair.  I felt no hope for the future, and all I had to look forward to was Trump.  Ugh.  (No offense if you're a Trump die-hard.  Just being real about how I felt.)

Excited

The one person whose perspective I most wanted to know at the point of my deepest despair was my favorite politics prof from college, who was also my boss for 4 years, the president of Hillsdale College, Dr. Larry Arnn.  (I worked as a student researcher for him and as his research assistant after I graduated.)

So I did what any former research assistant (or anyone who wants to know anything) does: I Googled it.

Turns out Dr. Arnn has been doing an hour long podcast once a week with Hugh Hewitt for the last 4 years.  How did I miss this?!?  (Here are the freely accessible: Hillsdale Dialogues.  They are fantastic!)

Dr. Arnn and Hewitt claim "Switzerland" neutrality.  They each voted but refuse to endorse a candidate or to reveal for whom they voted until after the election is over.  Though sometimes annoying, it's also terribly refreshing to hear about the election without feeling like I'm being cajoled to vote for one candidate or another.

So how did all this move me from depression to excitement?  Because Dr. Arnn pointed out for me many things that Trump has done to improve politics in America today.

Like what?

For one, energizing a completely new segment of the electorate who have never voted before.  Let's be real - most of the Republican candidates would never have reached some of the people Trump is helping to get involved in the political process.

And have you paid more or less attention to politics this primary season than you have in elections past?  I'm guessing more.  You've probably watched more debates, had more conversations, read more articles, watched more news, etc. than you ever have for a primary before.  If Jeb Bush had been the early front runner and favorite, would you be more or less engaged?

On top of which, because of Trump's fearless political incorrectness, we're talking about issues differently than we would otherwise be.  How much more informed are you (not necessarily because of what Trump has said, but because of what others have said in response to a Trump sound bite) about immigration? or any other issue about which Trump has gone on a rant?

I'm not saying that I think Trump's methods or opinions are great.  Clearly not.  Carson was my favorite - I don't think you could have two more different approaches.  But Trump has been effective.

Energized

Which leads to why I'm energized going into Republican primary election day tomorrow.  I'll vote.  I will always vote. As long as I have the liberty to express my opinions through the ballot box - a privilege millions around the world dream of - I will do so, even if the candidates are not my favorites.  Even if they are the two worst people on earth...

And that's what some suggest we have.  It's the baffling thing again - "In all of American, these are the two best options we can come up with?  We're screwed.  The system is rigged."  I've heard this, and I imagine you have too, or maybe you've thought it.

But even if you've though it, you have to admit that Trump is getting the votes.  I hear the argument all the time that "he's not getting a majority of the votes - he's just getting enough to get the delegates."  That, my friends, is the fault of the RNC because primaries are rigged to favor the front runner.  Which in most elections - almost all - is good for the party because it unifies the party behind a single candidate.  That is the system we have built.  Don't like it?  Get involved.  That's how you change it!

**Primary election caveat - Primaries are unique beasts because they require candidates within a single independent organization designed to build a coalition (i.e. the Republican Party) to differentiate themselves from one another.  And candidates do so with varying degrees of intensity depending on the competition.  This primary season has been particularly intense.  Once the party has a single candidate, then all of those people who stood on stage and publicly said, "I'll be a better President than you, you suck." now come behind the lead candidate and say, "We always liked each other and thought he'd/she'd be a great candidate, he/she won't suck."  That, my friends, is how primaries work.  So now that the party is starting to come behind Trump, don't be surprised.  It's how these things usually work.  We're all on teams that work this way in one form or another.  Have you ever been part of a church group whose leadership you didn't like?  Or on a sports team and you hated the coach?  Or on a team at work or in school and the leader of the group was horrible?  We've all at one time or another, come behind and supported an individual with whom we disagreed in order to accomplish a common goal.  What's different this year is that the Republican Party doesn't really have a coalition big enough to win an election anymore - the party die-hards don't have the numbers to beat a democrat, at least that's what seems to be the case considering Trump's garnering of delegates.  But without the base, Trump won't have enough votes to win against a democrat either.  So I suspect the party will do some realigning post election.  It's going to have to figure out what it's about because the coalition that used to exist isn't as strong as it once was.**

Ok, so why am I energized?  I'm energized because I'm an American citizen and as such I have the right to vote in local, state, and federal elections.  I'm energized because I get to do that tomorrow in the Republican primary.  I'm energized because even if I don't like Trump, I can vote for someone else!

Who Will I Vote For?

Chase and I go in circles about voting - do you vote for the candidate with whom you most agree?  or do you vote for the candidate with whom you most agree who also has a reasonable chance to win?  Which then leads to the question, "If I'm presented with two bad options is it permissible to pick neither and not vote?"

I recently read a really great article that made the argument that Christians ought not to look at this election as a "sin" issue.  Many (myself included) have wondered if they could, in good conscience, vote for Trump in a Trump vs. Hillary general.  I believe that someday I'll stand before the God of the Universe and be responsible for my actions/decisions/choices.  How can I justify a Trump vote to God?  And I know I can't justify a Hillary vote.  (If you're a Hillary supporter and a Christian, I'm not saying that you can't, only that I can't.  It's in no way a salvation issue.)  So the article asked the question If you and your family were in the middle of the ocean in a sinking boat and two other boats came along to rescue you - one captained by an adulterer and one captained by a thief, would you tell them to go on because you were waiting for the boat captained by the conservative Christian captain?  No.  That's stupid.  You'd get in one boat or the other and save your family.

The problem with that particular analogy is that we're not in the place of only having 2 options - theoretically we have millions of options with a write-in candidate.  Heck.  I could write-in myself!

Still, I think the analogy makes a valuable distinction between sinning against God and choosing the best option in a given situation.  While I may not choose to fall under the leadership of, for example, a thief, I may choose to be under a thief's leadership for a short period of time to get my family to land. That seems like the best option as it is a life-saving choice.  So maybe it makes sense to vote strategically, for "the lesser of two evils."  Maybe it doesn't.

To Trump or not to Trump?

I can't tell you who you ought to vote for.  You must make the decision for yourself, based on the information available to you and your convictions.  And if you vote for Trump or not - even if you vote for Bernie or Hillary - we're still friends!  It's not an issue of salvation or friendship.  We can disagree strongly about such things, and we're free to, and that's what's great about America!

For those who are considering not voting I will say this:  it is your right as an American citizen to vote or not to vote.  You have the freedom to stay home.  But.  Should you choose to abstain from voting, you will abstain from complaining about the nominee or the candidate in my presence at least.  If you want to complain, then participate.  I will be asking in the coming months if you voted and for whom should we get into a political discussion.  But that's just my way of dealing with it.

At the end of the day, we should all remember that America is incredibly unique because of the peaceful and voluntary transfer of power from one President to another, from one party to another, between and among individuals with very different ideas about the best thing for America throughout our history.

We are incredibly blessed to claim this heritage.

May we continue it for future generations.

Get out and vote.

Remembering the days

I am told that these days will be gone before I know it.  I'm told that though the hours are long, the years are short.  I am told that I should enjoy now while it lasts.

So I do.

I want to remember these days, and that's part of why I post things here - to remember them in the days to come when every waking hours isn't spent meeting some physical need of a little human being I helped bring into existence.  

I love these little human beings - these in particular are the best ones in the world to me.  They are precious, cherished, unique, imperfect, ideal, and in every way marvelous little creatures.  And they're mine.  How lucky am I?!?  Here's what we've been up to in the last few weeks...

Edgerton Center

On Good Friday we spent part of the day at the Edgerton Center, which I'd always assumed was for older kids.  The science side of things and certainly some of the displays are geared at older kids, but there's plenty there for littles ages 4 and (almost) 2 to do.  We had a grand time (thanks Gram for taking us!) and are looking forward to going again soon.

The giant bubbles were the kids' favorite.

They could be inside a bubble or just pop the
huge bubbles the hoola hoop made.

Connor's outfit glowed under the black light.

Spencer even had a good time watching all that
his siblings did.  He can't wait until he's big enough
to join in.  He's so anxious to do so that he's already
in the early stages of figuring out scooting/crawling!

Easter

Easter came early this year, but we had unseasonably warm weather early, so it was ok.  Easter morning was certainly brisk, and we hunted eggs inside.  But by evening I had my windows open to cool down my warm kitchen.  

Happy Easter!  Lily - 4, Connor - 1 (his last day being 1), Spencer - 5 months

The Francls

Connor's 2nd Birthday

I've thought of Connor as "2" basically since Spencer was born 5 months ago.  In actuality, he has been 1 this whole time and only turned 2 the day after Easter.  When Spence was born, Connor could only say a few words, though he understood just about everything.  Now, he's putting together full sentences, expresses unique thought through speech, and shares his wants and needs with words rather than grunts, points, or tears.  (Though all of those sometimes accompany the speech.)

I love my children in each phase of their growth and development.  But I really, really love the stage Connor has stepped into - spoken language development and discovery of everything around him.  His hoodies have stains around the pockets from the dandelions he's stuffed into them.  He offers to pray at meals: "Dee Jees, Tank you.  Amen." He is polite with "thank you, Mom's" and "pleeeeeeases" with the perfect intonation.  His timing is impeccable. "Who wants to eat their vegetables?"  "Nobody!"  He's clever and confident and the coolest cat around.  He sleeps with his hands behind his head and his legs crossed in the coolest way.  I can assure you that I have never in my life been as cool as this little guy is at only 2 years old.

Speaking of which, we celebrated his birthday largely in conjunction with Easter this year as it fell the day after Easter.  He ended up with 3 sort-of parties since we celebrated Easter 3 different times.

He got a baseball cap, a t-ball, a bat, and a
baseball tee, and he knew exactly what to do with them.

I made his cakes, which were individual animal cakes about
the size of a large cupcake.  They were really fun to make!
We filled their mouths with candy. 

Connor chose the "snake" which was actually
a crocodile.

The important thing was that it was delicous
and that he was now 2. 

He moved from a crib to a big boy toddler bed on his birthday.
He and his sister both love his new bed.

Connor is 2!

In addition to a big boy bed (which he merely
inherited) Chase and I got Connor a big boy bike.
He's here waiting for Chase to get it out of the
back of the car.  We'd told him we had a present
for him there.  So Connor waited in anticipation,
and when he saw it, he said, "My bike!"

The bike has a handle that sticks out of the back
that a parent can use to push the bike.  The
handle controls the front wheel/handle bars and
can be removed once kids learn to ride on their
own.  It's a Schwinn and we are LOVING it!

Watch out world, Connor is 2!
(And girls, don't get any ideas.  He's mine for now!)

The Good Life

We've been enjoying unseasonably warm weather the last week or so, and the forecast for the coming weeks looks excellent!  (70's in early March - Hurray!!!)  My little brood has been sick more in the last 8 weeks than they have ever been in their entire lives - it's just been one thing after another.  I think we're almost through it with only a lingering cough to contend with.

Today I have windows in every room open, I mopped the kitchen floor, and we went to the park already.  It's only 1:45.  It's going to be a good week, folks!  

Here is some of what we've done in the beautiful weather...

Lily's friend Grace taught her hopscotch, so we made a hopscotch
course on the sidewalk.  She started just stepping from box to box,
and over the afternoon eventually got to where she could truly hop
from box to box.  It's amazing to watch her develop so quickly!

Connor still has a ways to go with the hopping,
but he was very observant and knew what he was
supposed to do, even if he couldn't make his feet
do the right kind of hopping.

Learning in motion.

Connor hates stocking hats, coat or sweatshirt hoods, or any other
kind of hat... unless his big sister is wearing one.  They all three
sported baseball caps the other day, thanks to Lily's lead.

This guy is loving the outside and his stroller.
The only thing that would make the outside better
would be if he could run and ride bikes and swing
like his older siblings.  But that will come soon enough!

We had a perfect kite-flying day yesterday, and we have a perfect
kite-flying field just a block from our house.  Question: Do you know
what happens when you let an almost-2-year-old fly a kite?

Answer: The neighbor's tree actually flies the kite.

Thank goodness the low branches on the tree were
sturdy as was their fence.  (Photo credit: Chase)

We tried to teach the kids the velcro toss game, but they weren't
very impressed with it.

Still, a good time had by all!

I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge that Chase offered to climb the tree and fence to get the kite unstuck.  However, I was up there before he could stop me.  Sometimes a mom just has to know she can still climb a tree if she needs to!

Happy Spring!

3 big reasons why Ben Carson STILL has my vote

Let me start by saying that you don't have to agree with me.  In fact, I don't really expect you to.  But that's the great thing about living in America - we don't have to agree on everything in order to maintain friendship, civility, and camaraderie.

Who you vote for doesn't change your value or worth, it doesn't reflect your intelligence, and it doesn't determine your salvation.  So no matter what you think of my opinions and no matter what I think of yours, let's maintain a mature interaction and acknowledge that we can have differing opinions and not demonize each other.

With that out of the way...

We're just days away from Super Tuesday, and every time I watch the news, read the latest articles, or hear anything about the Republican Presidential race, I get depressed.  We're only a few states in (with exactly 5.38% of Republican delegates assigned) and already they're calling a winner - Trump.

But I think we're being bamboozled.  The race isn't over.  It's hardly begun!  The media would have us believe it's over despite the fact that only about 125 delegates out of 2,472 are committed to candidates.

IT'S NOT OVER - THAT'S A LIE THEY'RE TRYING TO CONVINCE US OF!!!

It takes 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination and Trump, the leader, has 82 at the moment.  I wouldn't exactly call that a huge head-start.

I wonder how many of us are beginning to change our minds, "settling for someone who is electable," rather than standing behind who we really want in the Oval Office?  Last night, I was in despair and almost swayed to do that very thing.

When I look at the current Republican primary field, I cringe.

• Trump - he's done extremely well in business (obviously), but I don't exactly see him standing with the Founders pledging his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor.  In their time he'd be more likely running blockade runners of goods through embargos or own 1/2 of the cotton farms in the South.  He's an opportunist, and I just don't see much sacred honor there.  He's all sensationalism.  
• Cruz - from all I've been able to find, he struggles to be able to bring people together.  It's Cruz's way or the highway.  Much as I want someone with strong convictions in the Oval Office, I also want someone who can stand in those convictions while still getting along with and finding common ground to move forward with people who disagree.  I'm pretty sure the Declaration and the Constitution would never have been written if people with different opinions hadn't come together, conversed, made compromises, and found common ground. 
• Rubio - he seems to me a young buck with a lot to prove and perhaps the moxie to do so, but he seems to have a chip on his shoulder, and a need to defend himself and sling a bit of mud, and a memorized schpeel rather than a reasoned, civil response.
• Kasich - I'll admit, I know very little about him, but I'm underwhelmed for sure.
• Carson - this guy is different to me.  Here's why...

1. He didn't spend his life gunning for the Oval Office.

He didn't dream as a 25 year old of being President.  He went to med school, became a leading physician in his field, did ground-breaking work, learned to work with and speak respectfully to those with whom he disagreed.  In his career, he faced heartbreaking circumstances head on, and he knows, precisely, the value of a life.  And he has held in his hands thousands of lives over the years.  And in each of those cases he was held to the highest standard by his patient, their family, his colleagues, and his peers to do the right thing.  If ever he didn't, someone died and his career was on the line.

People kept coming to him, and he kept getting put in charge of more and more, not because he was black, not because of his alma mater, not because he was impressive to look at or talk to, but because he was good at saving lives.

I realize there is a huge difference between a doctor and a general, and I'm NOT saying that I think doctors are the people who should, generally or by default, run for office.  But in this case, this doctor has a lot in common with a general in the military - he had to bring teams together, make a plan of attack, work together to save lives, and he put himself in incredibly uncomfortable positions in order to do so.  Those all seem like good qualities to have in our Commander in Chief.

Dr. Carson's track record shows that he's a lifelong learner, innovative, and that in crunch times he makes the right decisions.  If that weren't the case, some 15,000 patients wouldn't be spread across America and around the world.

2.   He makes the decision he believes to be right, no matter what, and I trust his gut because it's been conditioned to hold to a standard and make good decisions.

Doing what he believes is right is exemplified by the fact that he's still in the race at all.  Conventional wisdom would have had him drop out long ago.  He's only got 4 delegates to his name, and Trump has a whopping 82 at this point.  But both are sorely short of the 1,237 required to earn the nomination.  

I read an article in Time where one of Carson's head staffers was asked when Carson would drop out.  The staffer responded that Carson would take into consideration the advice of his staff, what "We the People" wanted, and pray about it.  Then Carson would do what Carson believes is right.  The staffer said he had no idea when or even if Carson would ever drop out - it was entirely up to Carson and what he believed to be right.

That impressed me.  To not be swayed by the masses, to buck conventional wisdom, and to do it because you believe it to be the right thing.  And let me say here that I fully understand that you can sincerely believe you are right and in that you can be totally wrong.  For example, you may sincerely believe with all your heart that Justice Scalia is still alive (oh how I wish that were true!), but you would sadly be precisely wrong about that.  So a sincere belief isn't the thing that I love about Carson.  I love that he derives his sincere beliefs from a relationship with the Lord.

How do I know he has a relationship with the Lord wherein the Lord reveals "right" decisions to him?  I can't really say why I believe it to be true exactly.  I can say that he's never been shy about his reliance on the Lord throughout his life.  I can say he talked about it in his writing long before becoming a presidential candidate ever crossed his mind.  I can say he's had some extraordinary experiences that either prove he's extremely lucky or Providence is guiding him.

So whether religion is your thing or not, it matters a lot to me, and he's the only candidate in the race whose faith I admire.

3.  I trust Carson with my children.

Like, I would trust him to come to my house and babysit my 3 kids tomorrow night when Chase and I go out.  This may seem like a weird one, or one that shouldn't matter that much - after all, we're selecting a President, not a babysitter.  But if you want to know the most difficult job in the world to get, it's watching my kids.  I am intensely protective of them, and I will stay home with them and send you on your way if I have even the slightest level of discomfort about you watching them.

We all know people (whether we know it or not) who have been or are being physically and sexually abused by people their parents knew, loved, and trusted.  My circle of people who pass this test is very small.

And even within that circle, me loving you dearly and trusting you implicitly is not enough for me to trust you with my kids.  You see, they are more valuable to me than my own life.  I will do anything to provide them a safe place with reasonable opportunities to grow, develop, learn, and thrive.

And that last sentence is the most important reason I'm voting for Carson.  When I go into that voting booth, I'm not picking a babysitter, but I am picking the person who will help shape the world in which my children will grow, develop, learn, and (I hope) thrive.

Carson values life, which means he will value my children's lives.  Carson believes we can have different opinions and not blame, accuse, libel, or defame one another, which means he will not teach my children by his example to do those things.  Carson learns and adapts as situations crop up, which means even if he hasn't been in politics all of his life he can be capable of being a good President.

I don't know if Carson will win or not.  But I do know that someday I may have to explain to my children why I voted the way I did in this election.  And the only answer I can live with is that as long as Carson was an option, I voted for him.

You don't have to agree with me.  But if you do, please ignore the media.  Put your money where your mouth is and give a little to the candidate who you believe will do the best job of securing the future for ourselves and our posterity.  Because this democratic republic won't last forever on its own.  It's up to us, one by one, to preserve it, one vote at a time.  

Worship and the Angelman Girl

Today contained a couple of really big, important questions for Lily.

Lately (despite the fact that it's not Christmas), we've been singing this song randomly because it's just so catchy - Hush, There's a Baby.  (Be careful - if you click that link it WILL be stuck in your head all day/week!)

So this afternoon Lily was singing it as she played around the house, and then came the question, "Mom, what does worship mean?"

...Uh... 

Thankfully I was brushing my teeth so through the sudsy toothpaste and brush I mumbled, "Mmmmm mm mmmmm." Which she understood meant "just a minute."  I took my time finishing up, trying to figure out what to say.

Maybe she didn't really say what I thought she said?  "Lily, what did you ask?"

"What does worship mean?"

"Worship?"

"Yes."

"Oh.  ...Well...  Worship is how we show God that we love Him.  Like when we pray to Him or sing songs to Him.  He likes that, that's how we show we love him.  That's worship."

 Now, if you dared to listen to the song, you'll know that the line is, "Worship with the wise men.  Bow right down..."  So Lily responded...

"The wise men brought Jesus gifts, so that's how we worship?"

"Yes, we worship God when we bring him gifts."

"So we worship our friends when we bring them gifts?"

...Uh...

"No...  We only worship God.  But we do show our friends we love them by giving them gifts.  Worship is like praying or singing or giving gifts to God, but only to God."

"Only to God and Jesus?"

"Yes."

"Only to people in Heaven?"

"No...  Uncle Chet is in Heaven, but we don't worship him.  We only worship God and Jesus."

"Oh.  Ok!"

Lily is 4, and her little mind is amazing!  She takes things in, processes, wants to understand, asks questions, and has the ability to grasp concepts far beyond what I anticipate she can.

We shouldn't underestimate our children - they are sharp, perceptive, intuitive, but they need direction.  Chase often says, "Kids are good observers, but they're terrible interpreters."  Kids notice what happens around them, but they don't always understand what's really going on.  They need adults to patiently take time to explain, answer questions, and help them learn to interpret the world around them.

This evening was the perfect example...

We went to the pancake feed at the elementary where I work.  Many of the families there had kids Lily's age - all of her little friends were there - and there was about 10 of them (ranging in age from 2 to 6) running the length of the gym all in a herd - back and forth, back and forth.  (Thank goodness for plenty of space to run!  These kids have been cooped up inside because of the cold weather for far too long!!!)

My conversation with some other moms was interrupted when Lily came up and tapped on my leg.

"Mom, there's a girl over there who just watches us run.  She just laughs and watches us play."

I looked over to where the kids were playing, and there was a girl in her late teens watching the kids.  But this girl isn't a normal teen - she has Angelman Syndrome, a genetic disorder making her function more like a baby who has just learned to walk than the teenager she is.  This girl is well-known in our community and extremely joyful - always happy.  And she was having a ball watching the kids run.

"Lily, that girl just likes to watch you run.  You can just keep running and she'll enjoy it.  Her mom is over by her, so she shouldn't bother you, but she'll really like to watch you play."

"Should I ask her to play with us?"

"You can, but I think she probably just really likes to watch you run."

Lily took a moment to consider, then headed back over to be with her friends.  I knew we'd be talking about this before bed when we got home, so before we left the pancake feed I made my way over to the mother of the Angelman girl.

The mom dove right in, "She is loving watching the little kids play.  The kids were all at one end here kind of confused about my daughter, so I just told them that she has Angelman Syndrome.  She can't talk, but she loves to laugh and watch them play.  I told them that we don't know why, but that God made her this way..."

We talked for a while and the evening went on.  We came home and as Chase was getting Lily and Connor into their jammies, I was feeding Spencer and sitting near the baby monitor.

Here is a bit of what I heard through the monitor, "Dad, she only laughs now, but she'll talk in Heaven!"

Tears welled in my eyes.  Can you imgaine?  She will talk.

What would that be like as a parent to care for 20, 30, 50 years for your child and then after all those years to hear them speak?  What a glorious, marvelous, indescribable day it will be!

As I watch my children take in and process the world around them, I see the need to help them establish a solid framework within which they can categorize, process, and store information.  They need to be taught good and bad - worshiping God is good, being kind to people who aren't like us is good.

These little everyday experiences piled one on top of another on top of another are what will eventually make the woman who will be my Lily.  I am privileged to walk these days with her.  May I always speak truth to her and blessings over her and all my children.