Stand still!

Today I had lunch at Costco with this little lady.

A tiny little pink croc-wearing 4 year-old.  She's funny and cute and and calls me mama and holds my hand.

While we were eating, a bunch of teenagers started filing in for lunch.  I watched them joke with each other, hold their boyfriends hands, look at other groups of teenagers and whisper.  I looked back at my cute little stripey girl eating her hot dog like a "Beaver" and thought "TIME, STAND STILL!!"  Don't let her get that old.  Don't let her have a boyfriend and don't let her be old enough to go to Costco by herself to have lunch.  Let her stay 4.

Then I said to her, "Viv, can you just stay 4?"  To which she replied, "I will be 4 forever... until my birthday next year."

A Real-Life Conversation with a 9 Year-old

Jackson: Don't you ever wish you had less kids?

Me: No, not at all.  Why?

Jackson: Because aren't we kind of annoying sometimes?

Me: Yes, but everyone is annoying sometimes.  Don't you think I'm annoying sometimes?

Jackson: VERY!!


Don't ask a question you don't want to know the answer to.

A Real-Life Conversation with a 4 Year-old

Viv: Mom, you know all the people who don't have houses?

Me: You mean homeless people?

Viv: Ya! I know what they could do. They could build houses.

Me: That's a good idea. But they don't have money to do that.  That's why they don't have a house

Viv: Well, how about tents? They could get tents.

Me: Where would they put their tents?

Viv: On grass.

Me: That's a great idea! What else can you think of to help.

Viv: Remember the guy at Shari's that we gave our sleeping bag to?

Me: Yes.

Viv: We should really get another sleeping bag because I want to sleep in one.

If I thought like a 4 year-old the world would be a better place.

Listen

I encountered God in a whole new way this weekend at the SHE Adventure.  By listening.  It's counter intuitive.  It requires being still.  Not just still in the body, still in the mind.  And getting the mind to be quiet and still is hard!

I had a woman approach me and say, "God has something to say to me and He told me He's going to speak it through you."  I have never had something like this happen.  My heart was pounding out of control!  I was scared to death!  What if I couldn't hear?  What if I said the wrong thing?

"This is what we have to learn right from the beginning: to listen to the voice of God in our heart, and then in the silence of the heart God speaks. Then from the fullness of our hearts, our mouth will have to speak. That is the connection. In the silence of the heart, God speaks and you have to listen. Then in the fullness of your heart, because it is full of God, full of love, full of compassion, full of faith, your mouth will speak." -Mother Teresa

This is what I had been reading the night before.  God was preparing me.  In fact, this is what I heard Him say in some quiet time right before the service where this woman came up to me.

"Be quick to listen and slow to speak.  Listen for what the Lord is telling you."

I listened, He spoke.

Slow down. Listen.