Turkey Full of Thanks…the home stretch

The last 2 weeks in our home have been a flurry of activity and commitments.  We’ve been here and there and celebrating some pretty momentous occasions in our home and with friends, but that’s for another blog. 

We were blessed to spend our Thanksgiving with our best friends, Amber and Henry, and their super kids.  It was our first Thanksgiving celebration without one of our biological families present.  This holiday has been a tough one for me for the last few years following my parents’ divorce, and the days leading up to it were still pretty tough.  I think about “the good old days” increasingly during this time of year, when we celebrated all together.  I still commemorate the past by making  Mom Mom Smith’s scrapple dressing and my mother’s sweet potato muffins.   As much as change still hurts, I find joy in the turns my life has taken and the wonderfulness that has come into our lives through our 3 sons.  Despite the fact that our genes didn’t link us to our Thanksgiving dinner companions, we could not have felt more like we were with family, and for that we are thankful. 

Here’s a wrap up of what we were all thankful for these last 2 weeks…

Mason – Indiana Jones, Daddy, Maddox, Legos, play areas, Chinese food, pie and macaroni and cheese, Miles, Eko, Chick-Fil-A, flowers, Muppets, and his baby brother

Maddox – 3DS, Mason, people, friends, video game creators, Jesus, family, school, Jump Rope for Heart, places to relax, contests, Grandpa, and his body parts (odd, but ok)

Melissa – Caking, good soccer coaches, my sons, rest, parties, Miles’ birth parents, Steelers, sales, my Dad, Maddox’s honor roll, Mason’s perfect attendance, my job (on my last day), and time with Matt

Matt – coffee, good soccer coaches, church, Christian heavy metal, seasons, Friday off, helpful people at church, no traffic, transportation, hot sauce, Muppets, Miles on his birthday, and books

We hope your family, biological or otherwise, had a spectacular Thanksgiving together.  Continue to be thankful!

A Turkey Full of Thanks…Week Two

In increasing measure, I am making a the choice to focus on my many, many blessings instead of the things that can so easily eat away at my bliss I have here with my 4 wonderful guys.  If I let myself, I could dwell on decisions that others make which eat at the big M’s and also affect the little M’s more than we sometimes realize.  I could get frustrated with processes over which I have no control.  Instead, I choose happiness, thankfulness, and patience….the latter being the hardest for the female M in this home.

I feel like I have been listing things for which I am thankful in my head the last couple hours to avoid thinking of junk that makes me a frustrated mess.  I’ve thought of my Pandora account on my phone (which just cut out as I am writing this….grrr), hair brushes, zebra print shoes (no matter how ratty they have become), caking, health, the fruit of the adoption process, and friends who are more like family.  My feather may be full on the turkey tonight.

Without further ado, here’s our list from this week!

Miles – Still thankful for food and laughing at the dinner table!

Mason – Being helpful to family, friends, and teachers; Mom and Dad; Mommy making eggs; Home; Transformers; Cheese quesadillas; School

Maddox – Napkins; Teachers; Clothing; Miles; Eko the Gecko; TV: Mommy

Melissa – Laughter; Twilight (don’t judge me); Recipes; Soda; Doctors; William gets to go off of his meds (a family friend who is Mason’s age and has heart issues); Mason’s drawing

Matt – 3 boys; Christmas music; A job; Mommy is a good cook (why, thank you sir); Extra sleep; New opportunities; Family and friends

 

What a week of thankfulness!  Hope your week has been just as loaded with goodness! Oh, and you’ll be happy to know that my Pandora came back on.  Whew…

 

A Turkey Full of Thanks…Week One

Every Friday in November, I’ll be sharing our little family’s list of what we are thankful for this week.  Each night at dinner, we take a moment to share with one another, and I write down everyone’s remarks.  This year, I found a great turkey deocoration at Target in the awesome dollar section. It came with a paper stand up turkey and lots of stickers on which we can write our blessings.  I see this being a great addition to our decorations! 

Unfortunately, our littlest M hasn’t quite figured out how to articulate his thankfulness, but we’ll guess that he’s pretty appreciative of food, bottles of formula, and just being loved on so very much. As for the rest of the M’s, enjoy the list.  I’m sure as the month goes on, there will be some chuckles and tear jerkers as the boys come up with some pretty interesting stuff.

Melissa’s List:  Matt, Bear Creek School, playground friends

Matt’s List:  Good manners (prompted by some poor table manners that night) and  Halloween candy that everyone can eat (apparently he missed one night)

Maddox’s List:  Food, drinks, and Miles coming to our family

Mason’s List:  For being in the family, picking a pumpkin, and Mommy taking care of me

We hope your family can take time this month, and every month, to count your blessings.

Cheese Curls and Chocolate

Exhibit 1:  This is Mason at his 5th birthday party.

 

Just a year ago, those cheese curls sticking out of his happy little mouth were considered contraband. 

Exhibit 2: Mason enjoying his Halloween loot with Maddox.

 

 

Last year at this time, Matt and I had to sort through his bucket, removing all chocolate and candy that by chance could contain soy or dairy products.

In our house, this has been a season of freedom for Mason.  Ever since he was 6 months old, Mason had issues with his lower half.  Blood in his stool, digestive issues, and overall discomfort ruled the roost in Mason’s small body.  Colonoscopies, endoscopies, GI consults, and hospital stays were a part of our dialogue.  We’d see improvement and set backs within weeks of one another.  We avoided soy and dairy like the plague as well as red sauces. 

Last summer, during a time of anointing at our annual church camp meeting, Matt rose from his seat and went to get Mason from the nursery area.  Very much asleep, Mason was carried to the front by his tearful daddy in hopes of a miracle.  We had earnestly prayed for Mason’s complete healing, and doctors had told us that a recovery with age was possible, but we had never taken that step to have someone else pray a healing prayer over his tiny body.  Sometimes, when you live in the parsonage, you forget that you need that shepherding and pastoring as well.  So during that service, we wept over our big boy as he slept and as he was anointed. 

That fall, during what would be our final allergist’s appointment, the doctor gave us a course of action to reintroduce all the foods he had avoided.  The rest is history.  Shortly after Christmas, he was free of his restrictions, although we do still steer clear of red sauces as they give him what he calls a “spice bottom,” and nobody wants that.  We can go to restaurants and order from the menu, and he can also be my expert taste tester.  All the restrictions have made him a bit more picky, but I’ll take it. 

To add to the blessing, we’ve even been able to back Mason off of his Miralax dosage that he had been taking daily to help him, well, go.  Just in the last month, he’s been going on his own and in mass!  Enough of that talk….

Amazingly enough, I have been brought to tears during this last month by seeing he and his friends eat cheese curls at his party and watching the boys dig through their trick or treat loot without a care!  God had reminded me through cheese curls and chocolate (and an occassional toilet full of poop) that He has healed my son.  He has done great things in his body and freed him to eat all unhealthy things he wants!

Thanks again….15 years later

I am finding it increasingly more difficult to believe that I have been out of high school for 15 years.  Yes, 15 years.  That just seems like a long time, doesn’t it?  Some of my classmates have children in late middle and early high school themselves.  That’s just crazy talk.  Some days I still feel like that inexperienced young adult that meandered through my early 20′s.  Then there are others, like today, that I feel like totally old.  During a conversation with my brother today, I found out that his friend’s younger brother was now a teacher at our old high school. For real!?  How did that happen?

All this realizing-I’m-not-as-young-as-I-think got me thinking about my formative years, but more specifically high school.  We all owe part of who we are to our parents and other family, but teachers, coaches, and other adult leaders in our lives truly help to shape us into who we become as well.  Tonight I attended a football game starring my alma mater battling our local high school.  Well, battling may not be the best word.  It was pretty one-sided.  I decked my kids out in orange and blue, strapped on our caps, grabbed my mom and dad’s old football blanket, and headed to the stadium.  I must confess, that neither Maddox or Mason wanted to go.  They just weren’t sure how this was all going to go down, but when we pulled up and the bright lights of the stadium hit their glistening eyes, they were sold.  Mason said, “REAL, live football!!!”  Maddox saw the band approaching, and immediately he was hooked.  He always has a song on his lips.  I was totally pumped to share something with my children that was a massive part of my life from the time I was in elementary school.  Good ol’ Wildcat football.

We entered the stands, and I looked around at the loyal fans who had traveled over 2 hours for their team’s game.  At the same time, those same folks were sizing me up.  At first I wondered why, but quickly remembered that many of them have no clue who we are.  No longer being the local girl I once was, I failed to recognize many faces, except for the faithful old guys who were old guys when I was in school.  I saw my former principal and some parents of former classmates, too.  Little by little, I was taken back. 

The cheerleaders, what seemed like a million of them, started doing a cheer that I recognized, and just by instinct I started chanting along.  Matt grinned at me, while Maddox asked how in the world I knew all those cheers.  I went over with him that I had been a cheerleader at that school, but I had also coached cheerleading there, too. Surprisingly, he was impressed.  As I rehashed the past with my boys, my thoughts went to those who, during those incredible formative years, made the biggest impact on me.

English teachers Mrs. Speicher and Mr. Pusey inspired me to dig deeper in our language and literature, and ultimately to follow that career path.  The office secretaries were always encouragers and supporters.  I had a personal relationship with administrators, mostly because dad was on the board and mom worked in the cafeteria, but they were invested in my success.  I remember in the 8th grade, the principal tutored me one-on-one because I just didn’t get the math work we were doing.  Growing up in a small town did have its perks.  Youth leaders at church invested time into my spiritual and emotional growth and helped me mature in the faith that I have today.

But as I was sitting there in those bleachers tonight, my mind zeroed in on one person who helped me to become independent, confident, a leader, and fun-loving.  Some of my greatest life learning was done on the sideline of a football field, in the bleachers of a basketball court, in a practice room, or just through conversation with an adult who genuinely cared who I was to become after this temporal journey we call high school.  My cheerleading coach, Juley, was an energetic, outgoing, fun-loving, and extremely dedicated influence in my life.  She didn’t just raise up a herd of clones or valley girl wannabe airheads, but she helped to raise a group of young women.  Juley made us more than cheerleaders.  She held us to a higher standard than that.  We were to be leaders and examples.  While she instilled lifelong learning in her English classroom, she went beyond that and charged her girls with high expectations.  When someone else has those expectations of you, it’s pretty easy to then reach for higher heights yourself.

In short, Juley helped my parents raise me and raise me well. She showed me through her own perseverance that you just keep moving and pushing and doing it until it gets done.   I know that at the time I probably thanked her for all she meant to me.  Later on, we became colleagues when I went home to teach, and since we’ve traded Christmas cards and keep in touch via Facebook.  Tonight as I watched that group of cheerleaders take the field, I was reminded that I once again need to thank Juley for her amazing influence in my life.  Thanks, Juley, for all you meant to me 15 years ago and beyond, but more so for how your influence has carried me through many situations down the road, whether I fully realized it at the time or not.  You are loved and appreciated.  Thanks for always being 100% you…and teaching me the value of perky ponytail!

Perhaps this will take you down memory lane and bit, and you’ll remember someone whose influence you still feel today.  It’s never too late to says thanks.

Life as Defined by our DVR

It’s funny how the little device pictured above has changed the face of television watching in our home.  Admittedly, this house of Mosers loves watching TV.  We count it as one of the simple, stress-free joys around here amidst a very hectic family schedule.  We do our best not to feed the kids’ screen addiction by limiting when and what they watch.  Our kids can give you the laundry list of shows they are not allowed to watch, including Fairly Odd Parents and Adventure Time, as well as our family faves…iCarly, AFV, WipeOut, and Phineas and Ferb.  However, previous to the arrival of the blessed DVR in the Moser home, it was record a show via tape or DVD or just skip it.  We did, there at the end of pre-DVR living, catch episodes online.  Now, hooray for a technological upgrade.

So, I decided that it would be interesting to share the current contents of our recording friend with a bit of commentary about Moser life.  Here we go…

iCarly - 2 episodes:  We have tried spaghetti tacos with rave reviews from the kiddos.  There is a collective love of Spencer among our family.  We also frequently keep an eye out for Beavcoons when out and about.  Good times.

Phineas and Ferb – 2 episodes:  A confession that I haven’t shared on our blog so far is that the big boys, not including Matt, are not quite sure that our family is done growing.  They would still love to have a sister.  I keep telling them that is likely not in the plan, but they both smile at the thought of a princess around the house.  Mason actually wants a big sister.  Why?  He would like a sister like Candace who can regularly say, “Mom!  Maddox and Mason are making a title sequence!”  He says that she would try to bust them having fun, and she, like Candace, would always fail.  So far they haven’t asked for a pet platypus, so I’ve got that on my side. 

The Wonder Pets! – 1 episode:  Our busy message on the voicemail is to the tune of the Wonder Pets theme song.  You just have to call when I’m on the other line to hear it.

Pokemon:  Black and White - 8 episodes:  Oh, Pokemon.  I speak fluent Pokese, if I haven’t mentioned that before.  I know evolutions and had pretty much just mastered a bunch of them when they came out with the BW version.  Thanks, Nintendo.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars – 13 episodes:  SW is a shared love amongst all of us, as I’ve shared before.  It’s a family tradition.

Pokemon – 38 episodes:  Wow, what can I say.  Just about everyday, Maddox encounters a situation where he says, “Wow, I wish I had a Pokemon. (Names Pokemon and abilities)  That would be helpful.”

Pokemon:DP Sinnoh League Victors – 22 episodes:  I give up!

America’s Got Talent - 1 episode:  I am a reality TV fan.  I don’t like the celebutante type shows, but give me a freak show, and I can’t help but watch.  Therein lies our AGT fascination.  FYI…Big Brother starts in just a couple of weeks!!!

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids – I remember watching this countless times as a kid, so the fact that it’s all come full circle and Maddox is dying to watch this blast from the past cracks me up.  I guess everything old is new again!

A Horror Movie That Matt Insisted on Recording - Oh, Matt does love a good frightfest.  It’s one place in our TV viewing habits that we differ.  My TV diet does not include blood and guts and being scared to go to bed at night, but I guess his does.  One night he convinced me to watch Paranormal Activity, and I couldn’t go to bed until he went to Wikipedia and proved to me that it wasn’t true.  Bad. dreams. followed.

The Frighteners – See above.

Tron – I thought Matt was recording the new Tron Legacy, but no.  This is the original.  I wouldn’t mind seeing the flashy new version.

Avatar - This movie, along with a few others on this list, was recorded during one of those fantastic free preview weekends.  We received the DVD from NetFlix a few months earlier, but just didn’t have time to sit down and watch a 3 hour flick.  We’ll see how long this one sits on the DVR.

Max & Ruby – 1 episode:  If Maddox was a girl, this would be the story of my oldest children’s lives.  For real.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Maddox is a huge fan of the entire book series, having read each novel at least once, if not 5 times.  He’s in love with them.  Through his fascination, he has created fans in both Mason and me.  I recently saw that number 6 is coming out in November of this year.  I’m not sure who was more excited.  Funny story…if you know anything about DOAWK, you know about the cheese touch.  Last weekend, we went to Giant to collect crisis care kit items for our church to send to a warehouse where they will distribute them worldwide to those in need.  Where our group was sitting was directly in front of an old piece of cheese laying on the sidewalk by the wall.  We joked about it being the real cheese from DOAWK and that no one should touch it.  While we crossed our fingers to avoid the touch, Mason, brazen soul that he is, picked it up!  We all screamed and laughed…and I prayed he wouldn’t pull a Rowley and eat it.  Thank goodness he didn’t.

The Book of Eli – This is one of those movies that has my curiosity piqued, but my brain hasn’t yet found a moment when it can sit for 2 hours and focus.  Perhaps when Miles is 12.

The Civil War - 3 episodes:  This was a Matt choice.  He doesn’t get many, so I didn’t question it.

Ghostbusters - Maddox swears that he wants to watch this.  While I know he’ll love Slimer, I’m just not sure it’s 100% appropriate.  I guess I need a refresher.  Again with the old becoming new…

Toy Story 2 – Having this on the DVR is cheaper than buying the DVD.  I’m thrifty, what can I say?

Scrooge – Another Matt pick…he loves all things Christmas Carol.  This is an old black and white musical version.  We’re always afraid he won’t be able to find it the next year when he wants to watch it, so there it will stay.

Christmas at Union Station – Matt really enjoys music….like a lot.  Jars of Clay, one of his faves, stars in this showcase of Christmas songs.  A keeper for him!

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - There are very few days that go by when I don’t hear Mason singing this song.  He loves Rudolph. He could watch it everyday, and to see his love for this classic makes my heart melt.  Nobody messes with my curly-haired baby, so there shall be no deleting this one!

Othello - This is our oldest recording…logged on October 3, 2010.  It is also, sad to say, unwatched.  I was an English major and harbor a deep love for all things Shakespeare.  Othello is one of my favorite plays by the Bard.  I love it so much, we named our first trusty dog Othello.  I loved that dog.  He was a member of our family from the moment we met him at the pound a mere 2 days after we moved to Dover, Delaware in 2000.  We paid our pet deposit in our apartment before we even had the O-O-dog.  He was amazing.  He loved to watch Spongebob, lick Matt’s head while we all snuggled in bed, and would never leave our side.  We had to put Othello down shortly after we moved here due to failing kidneys.  He was 11 years old and had a good 7 year run with us.  Matt and I still miss him a great deal.  He was our first baby in a sense.  We still hang his ornament each year at Christmas, and each year I tear up.  What a good dog he was.

What takes up your DVR space?  Does anything dominate your DVR like our Pokemon addiction?  An interesting peek into the Moser life through out watching habits for sure.

Growing Up Friends

Tonight Mason was begging Maddox to let him have a sleepover in his bed, just like he begs each and every weekend.  Maddox said, “N-O,” so I was trying to help Mason convince him to give in to his requests.  I had my own motive, that mostly being that if Maddox acquiesced to his proposal, Mason wouldn’t go into a 20 minute crying fit.  What can I say?  The less drama, the better.  Mason gave Maddox “the face,” which ends up being combo of a lip sticking out and a smirk.  No dice.  He clasped his hands and said please. Nada.  He said, “Come on, Maddox.  I’ll be your best friend!”  Maddox smiled at him and said, “You already are my best friend!”  Oh, the joys of young brotherhood.

I hope it stays that way forever.  At this point in his almost 8-year-old life, Maddox has a collection of “best friends,” so I’ve been told.  Tony at school is his best school friend.  Reeve, also from school but a year older, is his best, best friend who also likes Pokemon.  His long time lady, Miss Elizabeth, is his longtime girlfriend, which he informed me beats out all other friends by virtue of his love for her.  Sweetness, really.  Mason, well, that’s his brother best friend who knows everything about him. 

Over the last 4 years, I’ve been most thankful for having had my own brother.  My little brother’s name is Joseph Timothy, but we called him Joey growing up.  He wanted to be called J.T. during a phase, so now he has a son named that same thing.  He currently goes by Joe, but to me, always Joey.  My dear brother and I are 2 years and 8 months apart in age.  He just turned 30 years old, which kind of blows my mind, regardless of how old I am.  Being semi-close in age, we shared a lot of life together.  For a time we shared a double bed, and I cannot even imagine how we survived that.  We then went to bunks where one of my most clear memories is him standing on the top bunk puking his guts out and me below just hoping that none streamed down on me!  Truth be told, my parents redecorated a lovely room for me during my 5th grade year, but I stayed downstairs with Joey until right before I went into 7th because I was petrified to sleep up there by myself.  Joey moved upstairs with me for a while when our grandmother lived with us.  That phase kind of reminds me of our boys sharing a room nowadays.  They chat; we yell up there for them to go to sleep; they continue to chat.  Familiar. 

Joey probably knew me best during those formative years of my adolescence.  He shut me down when I needed to be and made me laugh hysterically constantly.  We went through the death of 3 grandparents together, as well as other family members.  I watched Joey become popular among my peers and was even known by the guys older than I.  At that time, I would’ve given my right arm for some of those hot football guys to look my way, but instead of knowing me, they knew Joey.  We lived directly across from the high school and regularly sat on the porch after school.  The players would drive by and wave, making my heart beat fast, but then I’d hear, “Hey, Joe!”  From even then, he was that kind of guy.

We struggled and muddled through our parents divorce together, a time for which no one volunteers.  We’ve both celebrated our weddings the arrivals of our 6 collective children together.  Joey has given me a lot of great memories to share with my kids.  I’ve told them not to put stones in their noses, citing my brother’s own experiment as an example.  When they wrestle, they hear about how Joey and I would wipe the mat with one another.  OK, he’d wipe the mat with me, except for that one time that I gave him a rug burn on the side of his face.  Mom took a picture to prove it happened.  When my kids try to indulge in sugar, I let them know that eating a cup of sugar and chasing it with pancake syrup is not the brightest idea in the world (but remembering his face while he did it makes me smile every time).  A more recent lesson comes when the boys brag at their claw game skills, and I remind them that Daddy and Uncle Joey got a live lobster from one.  The cooking fiasco that ensued was one for the books! 

Amidst all this, I remember that I spent 18 years with my little brother, day in and day out and can now probably go a month between phone conversations and longer between face to face visits.  It’s amazing how life and time change things.  The one thing that I know hasn’t changed is the fact that I know can call Joey if I need an ear, and he’ll do his best to listen.  We share a different bond these days, one as survivors of a crisis moment…perhaps moments, but always the one of brother and sister. 

Back to my boys…Looking 20 years down the road, I hope my boys remember these crazy sleepover nights together and laugh. I hope they are still creating crazy moments with their own potential families.  Maybe they’ll really be pursuing their shared dream of opening a dental office together, with Maddox as the doctor and Mason as his assistant.  Oh, I hope so.  Just maybe down the road, they’ll still lay around in their underpants, cracking bad jokes, and smiling like they were tonight.  If they are, God bless their wives. 

Questions Boys Ask

DISCLAIMER:  I must warn any male types who read this blog that some lady stuff is discussed.  You’ve been warned….

Last night was quite the night for awkward questions at our house, more specifically, in the bathroom.  As any mom or dad knows, one rarely gets a private bathroom moment once you have children who can walk.  Unless you latch and lock the door, forget about it!  Our bathroom conversation went something like this….

Maddox:  What’s that?

Me:  Not again….

Maddox:  What is that thing?

Me: A maxipad….leave now.

Maddox:  What’s it for?

Me:  Really?  Again?  You don’t remember from the last 4 times you’ve asked?

Maddox: No.  What is it for?

Me: {Discreet explanation so as not to traumatize the youngster}

Enter Mason…

Maddox:  So if girls don’t have winkies, what do they have?

Me:  Guys, ug, do we have to do this now? 

Both: Yes.

Me:  OK, girls have a uterus in their bodies so they can carry babies.

Mason: Awww, do I have a uterus?  Can I carry a baby?

Me:  No, that’s how God made ladies special.  They carry the babies.

Maddox:  Well …(wait for it)…what makes our winkies special?????

Me:   MATTTTTT!!!!!!

Matt:  {Choking back laughter and embarrassment}  I gotta help the baby, sorry, no time for questions now….

End scene

 

My Little Bunny

Almost every night before bed, Mason asks me to read him this book.  On every page he reminds me that he is my little bunny and I am his mother.  Every couple of nights, especially if it’s been a not-so-great-behavior day, he’ll say, “Today I felt like the little bunny a lot.”  The way he looks at me as I read melts my heart every single time.  In honor of mother’s day, take a minute to enjoy our favorite book and keep chasing your little bunnies.  It’s well worth the adventure.

Once there was a little bunny who wanted to run away.
So he said to his mother, “I am running away.”
“If you run away,” said his mother, “I will run after you.
For you are my little bunny.”

“If you run after me,” said the little bunny,
“I will become a fish in a trout stream
and I will swim away from you.”

“If you become a fish in a trout stream,” said his mother,
“I will become a fisherman and I will fish for you.”

“If you become a fisherman,” said the little bunny,
“I will become a rock on the mountain, high above you.”

“If you become a rock on the mountain high above me,”
said his mother, “I will become a mountain climber,
and I will climb to where you are.”

“If you become a mountain climber,”
said the little bunny,
“I will be a crocus in a hidden garden.”

“If you become a crocus in a hidden garden,”
said his mother, “I will be a gardener. And I will find you.”

“If you are a gardener and find me,”
said the little bunny, “I will be a bird
and fly away from you.”

“If you become a bird and fly away from me,”
said his mother, “I will be a tree that you come home to.”

“If you become a tree,” said the little bunny,
“I will become a little sailboat,
and I will sail away from you.”

“If you become a sailboat and sail away from me,”
said his mother, “I will become the wind
and blow you where I want you to go.”

“If you become the wind and blow me,” said the little bunny,
“I will join a circus and fly away on a flying trapeze.”

“If you go flying on a flying trapeze,” said his mother,
“I will be a tightrope walker,
and I will walk across the air to you.”

“If you become a tightrope walker and walk across the air,”
said the bunny, “I will become a little boy
and run into a house.”

“If you become a little boy and run into a house,”
said the mother bunny, “I will become your mother
and catch you in my arms and hug you.”

“Shucks,” said the bunny, “I might just as well
stay where I am and be your little bunny.”

And so he did.
“Have a carrot,” said the mother bunny.

Love you my little bunnies…all three of you.

Epitomizing the Journey

On Sunday, I returned from our district’s annual Pastors’ Wives’ Retreat in Pennsylvania.  I chose to come back early so that I could be present at church for the incredible baptism of a woman and her 4 children who have recently started attending our church.  Their story is a beautiful one of redemption and perseverance.  There are very few things I will leave retreat early for, and this was one. 

I walked into church about 11:30 to be greeted by the big boys who had been with Daddy all weekend.  Miles accompanied me and was an absolute delight.  By 11:35ish, I was wondering whose children were sitting with me, whacking each other on the head and yelling, yes I said yelling, at one another during worship.  Who had raised these animals in my pew?  After about 10 reprimands, Maddox said something to Mason, and then Mason decided to start screaming and punching Maddox.  I grabbed him up by the arm (baby firmly tucked under the other arm) and started to take him out of service.  He’s yelling; Maddox is yelling.  It was not a pretty sight by any means.  Then again, they are pastor’s kids.  Perhaps that comes with the job.

I took the 2 heathens downstairs and interrogated them regarding their craziness and overall disrespect.  Mason was crying with his entire hand planted firmly in his mouth.  Maddox looked at me like I had a problem.  Oh boy.  Miles, well, he looked at all of us like we had lost our minds.  I teared up as I spoke to my children.  I had come home just for this special day, and at this rate, I wasn’t even going to get to be a part of it.  Maddox gathered himself together first, and was sent upstairs to sit and wait for us.  Mason took a bit longer, but eventually we made it back upstairs. 

I write quite often about Mason and his journey to make good choices in life.  Of the 2, typically he struggles more to go the right way.  Maddox has had some integrity issues of his own lately, but that’s another post.  At this point in his 4-year-old life, Mason is on a journey, and one that I just realized today is closely tied to all of our spiritual journies.  There are days where it’s sunshine and roses, glitter and unicorns,  and then, well, not so much.  Sunday morning was one of those days.  I was so very angry with he and Maddox for “ruining” my chance to watch God work.  The whole time that I was worried about missing it, it was happening right in front of me in the life of my middle baby.

Picking up…Mason, Miles, and I returned to our pew just in time to see this dear family get baptized by sprinkling.  The faith community gathered around them in support.  It was beautiful.  Maddox anticipated seeing one of his friends baptized.  He even participated in the baptism liturgy, stating that he was a member of the Body of Christ, so he better read!  After the celebration, Matt invited us to the table for communion.  At our church, we take the elements every Sunday, which I love.  He reminds our parishioners every week, lest we forget, that the meal is for you wherever you are on the journey.  I love my husband, and love the heart that he has as my pastor.

Maddox got up and went to get in line for communion, his favorite part of service.  He took it for the first time 2 years ago after going through lessons about salvation and communion with me and his friend in children’s church.  I quizzed him about it to make sure he understood, and periodically, I ask him why he takes communion, just to keep him in check.  It’s beautiful to watch him participate.

Mason has wanted to take communion for a long time, mostly because I think that he thought it was snack time.  I’ve put him off because I just didn’t think he could understand or sit still long enough to let me explain just what it means.  The boy loves Jesus with all of his heart.  He drops to his knees by the couch to pray for me when I have a headache.  It’s a wonderful faith.  I just didn’t think he was ready.  To go with the day’s trend, Mason decides to have a discussion with me about why he should take communion that very day.  Part of me thought, “He’s been so awful, no way he’s choosing today to do this!” 

I went with his discussion, knowing I could put him off.  I asked him what communion was.  Very plainly, my baby says that the bread is Jesus’ body, and the juice is His blood, but not really ’cause that would be gross.  Impressed, I asked why we take it.  He said, “‘Cause I love Jesus, and His dad, God.”  My heart melted as I asked my final question:  Where do they live?  “God lives in Heaven, and Jesus lives in my heart.  Please let me do it.  Now I know it’s not just a snack.”  Well, how was I to say no.  I wept as I walked hand in hand with my guy to the front, the quietest he’d been all day.  Under his Daddy’s instruction, he took the bread, dipped it into the cup, and ate it.  He was so proud.  I was totally humbled.

In all the junk my 2 eldest had dealt me that day, I never saw that one coming.  All in one day, Mason’s life had been an example of this fantastic journey we are on as His children.  He had been mad with his brother, mad with me, mad with himself.  He had railed against me. He had sought forgiveness.  In the end, it was all about the journey to the table.

I have to confess that in my doubt, I had not taken the time to fully explain communion to Mason, ever.  I thought his scattered little brain couldn’t handle it. Shame on me.  Come to find out, his knowledge was gleaned from his 14-year-old Wednesday night teacher at church.  They had talked about communion and he got it.  I will be forever grateful to the young man who didn’t care that Mason is a crazy little bug.  He just cared enough to show him Jesus.

I challenge you to put yourself in Mason’s shoes and see where we are on the journey.  I’m pretty sure when God looks at each of us, he sees little Masons…or whatever other little rebellious child you can think of in your own life.  Thank you God for the crazy journey.