Wednesday’s Wisdom from the Word: Because I said so

a. Mothering Monday, c. Wednesday's Wisdom from the Word

“Because I’m the mom (or dad), that’s why.”   “Because I said so.”

If you are a parent, chances are you’ve said this, or wanted to say this.  But it seems lately in our society, that is frowned upon.  I’ve heard the reasons:  it doesn’t allow your kids to think for themselves, how will they learn to make good choices when you aren’t there, it doesn’t value your kids’ thoughts and opinions, it’s not respectful towards your kids, your kids will likely rebel when they get older.

I am not going to dispute the validity of those reasons.  But, I’ll admit that I am a “Because I’m the mom” or “Because I said so” mom.  When I give my kids directions, I expect them to follow without me having to explain why.  I teach them that they are to obey immediately and then they can approach me out of curiosity, not defiance, and ask why they had to do so and so or couldn’t do so and so.  And I will explain.  Sometimes they come to a point of understanding, and sometimes they do not.  Sometimes, our conversation will make me realize I was a little too rigid and I will admit to that.  Sometimes it will make me change my mind for next time.

I have taught my kids the verse, “Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.”  I have explained to them that I will have to stand before God and be held accountable for how I have raised them.  Therefore they can trust me.  I have apologized to them when I was wrong – so they do know that I’m not perfect.  But still, I expect them to obey me.  I have taught them to obey teachers and other adults in authority.  (The one exception being if they are ever asked to go against God – to lie, cheat, steal, hurt someone…)

Society may tell me I’m wrong for having this attitude, but reading through the Bible encourages me to continue.  My pastor has encourage our church to commit to reading through the Bible in a year.  For those of us who have been faithful, we are in Leviticus (I’m still in Exodus… but am trying to catch up!)  One of our youth pastors posted this on his Facebook page:

“I am the Lord your God.” In the book of Leviticus God says this statement 19x for the reason why the Israelites should listen and obey Him. Is that enough said for us to listen, follow, obey, trust, and love Him?”

So I jumped ahead to Leviticus – a very hard book to read filled with laws upon laws upon laws.  God didn’t give reasons for the laws.  (Interestingly enough, when scholars have studied the laws, they found that they make a tremendous amount of sense in terms of keeping a society healthy and just.  But God didn’t go into those explanations.)  His reason for the Israelites to obey was, “I am the Lord your God.”  Sounds a lot like “Because I said so.”

I’ll be honest, there is a lot in the Bible that I don’t understand why it’s that way, or I think I would have chosen to do differently if I was God, but I’m not God.  And I need to listen, follow, obey, trust and love Him through it despite my lack of understanding.  Because I believe God is who He says He is, and I believe that God loves me and I love God.

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”  (John 14:15)  One of the ways we can demonstrate our love to God is by obeying Him.  A friend pointed out that she started looking at the 10 commandments not as a list of rules, but as a list of how we behave because of our love to God.  If I love God, I will not have any other God before him.  If I love God, I will not misuse the name of God.  If I love God, I will not commit adultery.  If I love God, I will not steal.  If I love God, I will not lie.  If I love God, I will not covet my neighbor’s ____.  If I love God, I will honor my father and mother.

Just as I display my love to God by obeying him, I believe that my children demonstrate their love to me when they obey me.  So I will continue with my “Because I’m the mom” or “Because I said so” parenting.  And I will continue to expect them to listen, follow, trust, obey and love me.

♥Becki, the mom

By the way, I have taught my kids that they are not to blindly obey peers, that their peers are not in authority over them.  They should always question what peers ask them to do.

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Mothering Monday: Back seat driver

a. Mothering Monday

“Mom, the sign says 35.  How fast are you going?”

I have 3 back seat drivers, but my 5-year-old is definitely the worse!  He likes to read all the speed limit signs and verify that I am going the correct speed – not too fast or too slow.  But that’s not all…

“Mom, you were supposed to turn there.”

“Mom, why are you going so slow?”

“Mom, turn the wipers on.”

“Mom, the light is red.”

“Mom, where are we going?”

“Mom, there’s a stop sign.”

“Mom, this isn’t the way home.”

“Mom, the light is green.”

“Mom, why are you stopped?”

“Mom, the van needs gas.”

“Mom, you just went through a red light.”  OK, well maybe sometimes I need a back seat driver… but for the most part I have it under control.  Sometimes I find it amusing and I just chuckle, other times I want to scream, “Will you just let me drive??? I know what I’m doing!!!!  Trust me!!!!”

One day as I was getting annoyed I wondered if I do the same thing to God.  Am I a backseat driver?

“God, life was supposed to go that way.”

“God, why is this taking so long?”

“God, I can’t see what’s happening.”

“God, I want this to stop.”

“God, where am I going?”

“God, I really want this to stop.”

“God, this isn’t where I want to go .”

“God, let’s get moving.”

“God, why aren’t we moving?”

“God, I need ____.”

I wonder if God chuckles when I tell Him what to do, where to go, how fast to do it, like I sometimes chuckle with my 5-year-old.  Or does he want to scream (does God scream?  I don’t know) “Will you just let me drive??? I know what I’m doing!!!!  Trust me!!!!”  Perhaps it’s a combination of both…

Trust in the LORD with all your heart 
and lean not on your own understanding; 
 in all your ways submit to him, 
and he will make your paths straight.

(Proverbs 3:5-6)

♥Becki, backseat driver

 

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Friends & Family Friday: Saving valentines

f. Friends and Family Friday

On Tuesday, the kids came home excited to open their valentines.  They stockpiled their loot: candy, pencils and tattoos.  Their stash was almost as big as it was on Halloween!  They quickly cast aside the actual valentine’s.  Knowing how long it took my guys to write out cards for each of their classmates, it made me sad to see them so quickly forgotten.

That night at dinner, when it was time to pray, one of the boys remembered to pull out our book of friends and family.  I’m glad they are good at remembering because I’m not!  Anyway our book is the scrapbook that I filled with all our Christmas cards.  Every night that we eat dinner at home, we open it up to the next card and talk about the person or family that sent it to us.  We then pray for them as we pray for our meal.  I love this because I absolutely love hearing my boys praying for their friends and family and also praying for people they never met.  Usually the prayer is something short like “Help the _____s to have a good night.”  But occasionally the prayer is more specific.

Later, I realized that I could do the same with the boys’ valentines.  Instead of putting them in a scrapbook, I decided to punch holes in them and secure them together with a binder clip.  (I saw that idea for Christmas cards on Pinterest after I already did the scrapbook.)  I kept them separated so they each had their own “book” of classmates.

Here it is hanging on his bulletin board…

I just made these today, so I haven’t started “using” them yet.  But my plan is to start alternating at dinner between these and our Christmas cards.  My thought is that when we use the Valentine’s, I’ll have the son whom (or should it be who???  I’m so bad at proper English) it was for read a card and then tell us one nice thing about the classmate who gave it.  Even if it’s someone they don’t really like, I want them to say one nice thing.  I figure that will help my boys see the good in people.  And then he’ll pray for that classmate as he prays for our dinner.

And hopefully, my boys will remember every night.  Because after I figure out what we’re having for dinner and actually make it and get everyone to the table, opening the Christmas card book or valentine books is the last thing on my mind!

Hope you’re inspired to do more with your cards than just throw them in the trash and, more importantly, inspired to spend time thinking and talking and praying about all of the amazing people who you are blessed to know!

♥Becki

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Thursday’s Thoughts on Home: 60 seconds

d. Thursday's Thoughts on Home

If I can do it in 60 seconds or less than I will do it right away instead of waiting for later.

That was my mom’s New Year’s resolution.  Now that it’s a month and a half into the year, I should ask her if she’s sticking with it.  Although I didn’t steal her idea for my resolution, I’ve thought about it a lot and I find myself taking that approach – well OK, not all the time or maybe not even close to all the time, but more than I used to!  And here are some things I’ve found that I can do in 60 seconds.

  1. Put dirty plates/cups in the dishwasher instead of just the sink.
  2. Empty the dishwasher instead of just pulling a cup out to use.  (Not including the utensils, that takes an additional 60 seconds.)
  3. Make my bed.
  4. Put the toilet paper roll on the toilet paper holder thing.
  5. Put the vacuum away instead of leaving it in the living room.   Actually putting most anything away takes 60 seconds or less.
  6. Sort through the mail and throw away the junk instead of just putting it on the table.
  7. Put the laundry away instead of leaving it folded in the hamper.  (Each person’s takes about a minute.)
  8. Fill out a school form and put in their backpack or write the info down on the calendar and throw the paper away instead of putting it in a pile to deal with later.
  9. RSVP to an invitation.
  10. Reply to an email.
  11. Wipe off the counters.
  12. Take the trash outside instead of overstuffing the trash can.  (Well, mentally I know that’s true… I don’t think I’ve actually tested this yet… I usually keep stuffing until Jeff comes home and takes it out…)

I’m sure there’s more I can include, but typing this is reminding me of the pile of mail that I dropped on the table including an invitation that I need to RSVP to and the dishes in the sink that I left… so I press on…

…but all of our laundry is put away after I spent 2 hours at the laundromat doing a week’s worth of laundry and all of our beds are made!

♥Becki, imperfect manager of time

P.S. one thing that I definitely cannot do in 60 seconds is to check Facebook or look something up on Pinterest!

P.S.S. In less than 60 seconds you can leave a comment of something you are able to do in 60 seconds or less!

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Wednesday’s Wisdom from the Word: What I really want

c. Wednesday's Wisdom from the Word

“I often trade what I really want for what I want right now.”  A friend commented recently and I find myself thinking about it often.

What I want right now is a double chocolate donut… but what I really want is to lose weight.

What I want right now is to read my current fiction book of choice… but what I really want is to read through the Bible in a year.

What I want right now is spend time on Facebook and Pinterest instead of cleaning… but what I really want is a clean home.

What I want right now is to go out to dinner instead of planning and cooking a meal… but what I really want is to feed my family healthy meals that cost less than $10 – so we can be healthy and stick to a budget.

What I want right now is to put on jammies and stay home instead of going out with friends… but what I really want is to strengthen friendships.

What I want right now is to go walk around target instead of going for a run… but what I really want is a healthy, strong body.

I could go on and on.  Did anything come to your mind?  I think occasionally it’s OK to choose what we want right now over what we really want.  But, if occasionally becomes often, then we will never get what we really want.  I fear I can relate to my friend’s comment more than I’d like to.  “I often trade what I really want for what I want right now.”

Recently as I was reading in Exodus, I thought how the Israelites had this attitude too.  They were in bondage to Egypt.  They were slaves forced into hard labor.  They were forced to kill their first born sons.   They were not allowed to worship God properly.  But God rescued them.  You know the story… He sent his plagues on Egypt and eventually Pharaoh let the Israelites leave.  Pharaoh then changed his mind and chased after them.  God parted the Red Sea and allowed the Israelites to go through, but when the Egyptians tried to follow, God had the water cover over them.  God rescued the Israelites and promised to deliver them to a land flowing with milk and honey.

But first God took the Israelites into the desert.  There, one month after God’s miraculous display of power and deliverance of the Israelites, they began to complain and longed for Egypt, “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted.  But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve to death.” (Exodus 16:3)  They were ready to trade what they really wanted – freedom from Egyptians, freedom to worship God, living in the promised land for what they wanted right now – food.  God heard their grumbling and fed them manna and quail everyday.

Not long later, God was confirming his covenant with the Israelites.  God said, “If you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the earth: for all the earth belongs to me.  And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.”  (Exodus 19:5)  The Israelites responded that they will do everything the Lord commanded including “You must not have any other Gods but me.  You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.  You must no bow down to them or worship them.” (The first and second commandments found in Exodus 20:3-5).  They agreed.  They want to be His special people.  But then God brought Moses up to a mountain for 40 days.  “When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. ‘Come on,’ they said, ‘make us some gods who can lead us.  We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt,’  … Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down and molded it into the shape of a calf.  When the people saw it, they exclaimed, ‘O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt.'” (Exodus 32: 1, 3-4)  The Israelites really wanted to be God’s chosen people, but their impatience to wait 40 days for Moses to return with God’s word caused them to trade what they really wanted for what they wanted right now – a god, any god.  And so they made their own.

I don’t want to be like the Israelites… but I’m afraid I have been.

Christ was not.  When he was hungry in the desert (“For 40 days and 40 nights he fasted and became very hungry” Matthew 4:2), he did not give into Satan’s temptation for food.  Christ did not choose what he may have wanted – to feed his hunger over what He really wanted  – to come to earth to live a perfect life honoring God, to suffer and die and rise again to save his people.  So I press on to be more like Christ… not trading what I really want for what I want right now.

Therefore, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up.  And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.  We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

I have not achieved it (perfection), but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus is calling us. (Philippians 3:13)

♥Becki

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Training Tuesday: Strutting in a bathing suit

b. Training Tuesday

Have you ever watched Biggest Loser?  Sometimes as I watch the weigh in segment I wonder if I would be able to do that.  Would I be able to go on national television in tight shorts and a sports bra and stand on a scale for my weight to be displayed to all?  I noticed that on the first couple of episodes the ladies all look uncomfortable and they have their arms folded awkwardly in front of their bellies.  But by the end, even if they are still over 200 pounds, they stand there naturally with their arms at their sides, not trying to hide anything.  Why, because they are so proud of themselves that they feel like a supermodel… well maybe not quite a supermodel, but pretty close.

Last summer for one of the few times in my life, I comfortably walked around in a bathing suit, not reaching for a cover-up the instant I got out of the pool or ocean.  Why?  Because I had just lost weight and was consistently running and I felt good about myself.  Don’t get me wrong, my XL size body was still overweight and not going to land me any New York & Co. modeling gigs, but I could fit in their clothes instead of having to go to Lane Bryant for their plus size selection.

So here’s what I’ve learned – when I am taking care of myself, eating well, exercising, speaking kindly to myself, treating myself as God’s masterpiece, it doesn’t matter what size I am, I can be comfortable in my skin.  I can proudly walk around because I know my past failures of overeating and laziness are forgiven and that I am pressing on to take care of myself.

But when I’m not taking care of myself… when I’m overeating, when I’m skipping exercise for a nap or television show, then I feel like a fat blob.  It’s a downward spiral from there, I am unhappy so I eat more.  I don’t want to put on a bathing suit or shorts and play with my kids.  I have no energy so I lay around more.  My self talk becomes very hateful and destructive.  And it usually takes awhile for me to hear God whispering that…

He loves me no matter what weight I am.   

He loves me with an everlasting love not because of what I do or what I’ve done, but because of who I am – His creation, His daughter, His beloved, His masterpiece.

And when those words penetrate my heart, I know I need to take care of myself.  Not to earn or deserve God’s love, but in response to it.  I start eating better.  I start exercising.  I start getting more energy.  I start smiling more.  I start speaking kindly to myself.  I start forgiving myself.  I start walking around comfortably in a bathing suit…

So I wonder dear reader… today, Valentine’s Day, do you know that you are God’s beloved?  Do you know that He loves you with an everlasting love whether you are a size 2, 12, 22 or 32?  Let that love take hold of you… and treat yourself well, after all you are God’s prized possession.

♥Becki

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Mothering Monday: Best basketball ever

a. Mothering Monday

I am typically not the super gung-ho sports mom.  I enjoy watching my boys play, but in moderation.  I have no desire to sign my kids up for traveling teams.  I have no desire for my life to revolve around a 5, 7 and 11-year-olds’ game and practice schedule.  But on Saturday, as we do every Saturday for 8 weeks, we loaded the van up and drove 30 minutes to get to my 7-year-olds basketball game – passing several closer locations that he could play at, including the Y which is about 4 minutes away.  So why would I, not a gung-ho sports mom, drive 30 minutes to get to a game?  Because I love, love, love the league.

For the first time this year, we signed our 7-year-old up for basketball through Upward.  Upward is a Christian sports league that locally is run by churches.  Our league has 4 churches that participate.  (We are not a member of any of those churches.)  And in case you read “run by churches” as a small league that is not very well run, you are way off!  The teams are split up by grades.  There are 8 second grade teams.  They are well coached and super organized.

So what makes it different?  In addition to working on skills and learning how to play, they seem to be concerned about developing the players’ character and sportsmanship.  Probably the best way to explain is to walk you through a typical game.

When the players arrive, they first meet their team in a classroom for a team meeting.  The parents go to the gym and then the players come to the gym as a team.  They then individually run in while being introduced on a PA system.  (Click below to see a video of my guy running in… so cute!)

Upward basketball introduction

After the players are all introduced, the teams meet in the middle of the gym for an opening prayer.  One of the coaches prays with the 2 teams.  He doesn’t usually pray loud enough for me to hear what he’s praying, but I assume it’s along the lines of “Help us to play well, to play fair, and to have fun…”

The players are given color ties to attach to their jersey.  They then meet the player on the other team who has the same color tie so they know who they are guarding.  The coaches really try to make sure the players are all playing a 1-1 defense.  My poor guy, is one of the shortest players out there but he seems to always be matched up to a tall kid!  It’s so cute though watching him chase the player around, hold his arms up and jump up and down to prevent his opponent from making shots.

The time-keeper blows a whistle for subs and they do a good job of making sure everyone plays.  He then blows a whistle signaling half-time during which they bring all the players onto the floor and someone shares a 5 minute “devotion” with them.  During this time, they talk about things like smiling at others, loving others, being a good sport.  The players all sit quietly, listen, and seem eager to answer questions that are asked of the group.  It may seem odd to stop a game, have the players all sit down and then talk about a serious subject.  But it shows me that they care more about my son’s character than how good of a player he is.

The players finish up the game and then return to their classroom for a closing team meeting.  (This may actually be my son’s favorite part of the day!)  At the meeting the players have a snack and are awarded different color iron-on stars.  The coach presents the star to the players with a description of why they earned the star.  Two weeks ago, my guy earned the “Best offense” star because even though he didn’t score a basket, he always made sure to get open and be ready.  The week before he earned the “Best defense” star and last week he earned “Best sportsmanship” star.  We take the stars home and iron-them on the sleeves of his shirt.  All week, my son will ask, “Did you put my stars on yet?”  (He also earns a green star for attending practice.)

In our rushed world, it is so nice to see them taking the time to really talk to the players. I love that the focus is on the child first and the sport second (don’t get me wrong – they are just as well coached and instructed as any of the other leagues we’ve been involved in).  Because, after all, why do we sign our young kids up to play sport?  Is it so they’ll be an amazing basketball player who will get a scholarship and eventually play in the NBA?  Or is it so they’ll learn the sport, learn about playing on a team, learn about being a good sport, and having fun?  For me, it’s the latter and I haven’t seen any league do it better than Upward!

By the way… they also have cheerleaders!  Unfortunately, the second grade teams all play at one church and there isn’t room for the cheerleaders at it, so we’ll have to wait for next year to get the cheerleaders!

If you have a child who plays sports (basketball, flag football, soccer, cheerleading)… definitely check out Upward at www.upward.org They have leagues all over the country and if your local league is anything like ours, you won’t be disappointed!  (And no, Upward has no idea I’m promoting them!)

♥Becki, basketball mom

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Friends and Family Friday: Putting on your pajamas

f. Friends and Family Friday

True Confession:  I’m 39 years old and I still love slumber parties with my girl friends.  From 4th grade all through high school, pretty much every weekend was either spent sleeping at a friend’s house or having a friend sleep at mine.  Then of course college is basically a 4 year slumber party.  After college, I lived with 3 girls for half a year and the slumber party continued.

Then I got married and my friendships changed.  Instead of sitting up late nights with my girl friends eating cookie dough ice cream and talking long into the night about everything, I had a husband.   And truly it was fantastic – I still connected with my friends but I always came home to Jeff.  Jeff became the one I talked to late into the night.  (This is a good thing, and I’m thankful for my relationship with Jeff.) Eventually though, probably after I had children, I started feeling like all my friendships with women were superficial and surface level.  Something was missing from them and I wasn’t sure what it was.

But then when my youngest was a year old, a friend from my high school years and I left the families behind and went on a road trip to Vermont for another friend’s wedding.  We rode 7 hours together each way and spent 2 nights together in a hotel room.  And I started feeling like I was connecting again.  There’s something special that happens when girls (no matter your age) wash off the make-up, put on pajamas and sit up and talk.    I don’t know how to describe it, but if you’ve experienced it you know what I mean.

Since then, I’ve gone on 3 church retreats, 1 hotel stay at Women of Faith, 2 hotel stays for the MOPS Int. Convention, and 4 leadership retreats for my MOPS group.  All of those involved my girl friends and pajamas and definitely some of my best memories.  My sister gets this too – at Christmastime, she sent her husband and baby home (5 minutes away) and spent the night at my Dad’s while my family was there so we could hang out late into the night!  Those friendships have grown and I’ve let my guard down.  I know it’s probably hard to believe considering how open I am writing here, but I really have a difficult time letting people hold a spot in my heart, but my pajama friends do.

So if you are ever presented the opportunity to go away with girl friends – do it!  If not, create your own opportunity.  Dance, play games, watch movies, laugh, sing, talk, eat, cry… whatever you do, I promise it’s more fun when you do it in your pajamas!

♥Becki

P.S. This picture is the only picture I could find with pajamas… because even though friendships deepen when the makeup comes off and the pajamas go on… friends know that the camera should also be put away!

P.S.S.  I don’t know if I should say thanks Tammy for your MOPS newsletter article which inspired me to write this post, or sorry Tammy for slightly copying your article!  Regardless, I’ve loved our pajama parties!

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Thursday’s Thoughts on Home: When there’s not enough…

d. Thursday's Thoughts on Home

As I’m typing this, a heating guy is here trying to get our heat working again.  We have radiant heat which I absolutely love, but it is original to the house 60 years ago.  We are 1 of 2 or 3 houses left on the block that hasn’t had to switch it over and I’m wondering if I’m going to get the bad news that it’s time…

Which if it’s time, it doesn’t just mean a new boiler, it means a whole new heating system: radiators, baseboards or ductwork.  Although it will be more efficient and if we go for the ductwork and heat pump that means central air too (bonus for this girl who can’t stand to be hot!), we’re talking about $12,000.  Which is about $11,950 more than we have.  ***I said this is a recent post about not having a lot of money – I truly don’t say it to ask for pity – it’s a decision we made – read it here.  But here’s my question / debate: how do you handle these things without accruing more debt?

I’ve been trying very hard not to use the credit card because we have old debt that we are still paying off.  The heating guy told me about a state program for a low-interest loan to take care of it, and that sounds great and is probably what we’ll have to do… but it still adds debt – and another payment which makes it even tougher to get through the months.    I wish I could say, well we can’t do it until we have the money… but we’re not talking about a vacation, we’re talking about heat.  Money was definitely much more fun when I was a teenager working at the local farm store and I spent my money on clothes and movies and things like that!

So since I’m sitting here starting to stress and worry, I know I need to talk to God.  I need to ask Him for wisdom and peace and trust in him.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Oh God, help me to trust you, because I know my own understanding just leads to stress and worry and anxiety…

Your father knows what you need before you ask him. So do not worry, saying ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ … your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today’s trouble is enough for today. (Matthew 6:8b, 31-34)

Thank you God that you know all my needs and my family’s needs.  Thank you for providing for us.  Help me to wait on your provision instead of solving financial problems in a worldly way!

Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

God I do thank you for your love and the numerous ways you’ve proven your trustworthiness.  Thank you God that I have a home for my children.  I pray that it will be filled with warmth – and not just in temperature!  Lord, I ask for your peace as I learn to trust in you.

And I do feel better, but I’d love to admit that the perfect finish for this post would be to say that the heating guy just said it all looks good.  But he’s still working and I don’t know what he’ll say.  But with God, we’ll handle that when we need to!  Thanks for listening to me working through my stress.  I pray that you cannot at all relate to my struggles, but if you do, God’s words are for you, dear reader.   May you find comfort in them as well.

♥Becki

P.S. Jeff, if you are reading… you are an amazing provider.  I am so proud of how hard you work at your job to take care of your family and to help your students – students who wouldn’t be able to succeed in school without someone like you there.  (It’s not your fault that there’s not more money to pay teachers what they truly deserve.)  I’m also very proud of all that you do for God, your extended family, and your friends.  I would rather live snuggled up in a heatless home with you, then in a mansion without you.  I love you!

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Training Tuesday: The police, seriously???

b. Training Tuesday

No training words of wisdom today… other than Nike’s famous words: “Just do it” and a funny story.  I’m sitting here, showered and feeling good after a run/walk with a friend.  I really think the hardest part of exercising is motivating yourself to do it.  Last Thursday was especially hard, motivation wise, for me since my boys had off of school.  But I knew I needed to, so we headed to the park for a run.  My oldest decided he’d rather go into the library than run so that’s where he went.  My younger 2 decided to run with me.

My 7-year old is faster than me, so he was ahead of us as we ran around the park.  He’d run, stop and walk, notice us getting closer than start to run again.  This continued for 2 1/2 laps.  Then up ahead I see a police man get out of his car and approach my son.  He stopped my son, talked to him, and then my son continued running.  I wondered what he said to my son, as I was too far back to hear.  I then realized I wouldn’t have to wonder too long because the cop was now approaching me.

Of course my mind starts going 100 miles per hour (much faster than my legs) as I try to predict what the cop is going to say to me.  Am I a negligent mom for not keeping my son right next to me?  Is he going to report me to child protective services?  Is what I’m doing wrong?  The cop approaches me and for whatever reason I decide to not stop running.  Not that I was running away from the cop, but I let him walk next to me and talk while I continued running.

“Are you ___’s mom?”  “Yes I am.”  “He told me he’s exercising with his mom.”  “Yep, but he’s faster than me.”  “Well, I had to check because someone called us to report a child that looked lost running around the park.”  “Oh, no he’s not lost.”

I had to give him my name, date of birth, and address.  The cop assured me that I wasn’t in trouble, that he just had to follow-up on the phone call.  Before he left, he even praised us for exercising.  But by the time I got around to my son, he had quit and was sitting on a bench ready to go home, “Right now!”  Being stopped by a cop really freaked him out and he didn’t want to keep going.

I then started looking around at the other moms at the playground a little suspiciously (I assumed one of them didn’t think I was being a good mom and called the police).  I told my son, very loudly, that the police man said it was good that we were exercising and that we didn’t have to stop.   You see, this is a downtown park of our borough and there are always kids all over unchaperoned.  So it’s a little hard to believe that someone was worried about this 7-year-old boy who was obviously running laps around the park.   So I was feeling a little angry that someone had “the nerve” to call the police on me.

Of course there is an off-chance that someone really did think he was lost and was concerned and all.  If so, thank you, kind stranger, for caring enough about my son to call the police.  But regardless of whether your intentions were good or not, now my son doesn’t want to run again.   And that really stinks.

I guess that will have to motivate me to get faster so I can tell my son that I can keep up with him.

♥Becki

Update: So I just reread my post and I have to apologize for the tone… it’s just dripping with sarcasm and negativity – but my intention was for it to be a light-hearted, funny post.  Truly, I can laugh at the story… I mean how many people can say they were stopped by the police while running?  Do you have any funny exercise stories???

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