Oh Shi...I mean shoot

So, last night I was watching TV with my David...he was controlling the flipper (surprise). We were watching soccer. I decided to discuss the game with him, since he plays on a traveling team.

We begin discussing the strategies of the game...for scoring....for corner kicks....and then I began to discuss the throw-ins. I told David to watch how they move and do runs for the throw-in. But instead of showing the field, the camera man decides to zoom in for a close up on the thrower....I holler out an expletive at the camera man. My David begins to say that word over and over again. Then he says, "Mom, from now on anytime you swear, I am going to begin to use that word in my vocabulary."

Seriously?

So I begin to make a deal with him...."Okay,seriously, you made your point." He says, "No, I am serious mom. Anytime you use a word, it opens it up for me." I beg him to start over....from that point on and he agrees.

So, my vocabulary is changing...I'm cleaning up a bit. You know...this humbled me....my David just called me out on what mothering is all about...me teaching and mentoring my children. It was a wake up call to reality.

BR 549

So, tonight I am driving through the metropolis of downtown Wilmore. There is a portly, older farmer fellow slowly plodding along the sidewalk. He is wearing a pair of bib overalls with a hankie hanging from his front pocket. His head is hanging and he is shuffling his feet along...it's been a long day. Right behind him is his dog....a bassett hound....his ears are hanging and he is shuffling his feet along right behind his owner.

Now I have seen pictures that capture the essence of Wilmore....but this one just might take the cake.

Look mom, no hands

So, yesterday I took my Becky to take her driver's test. We had spent hours on the road preparing for this test. We had practiced and practiced and practice parallel parking....we had some weeping and gnashing of teeth....but Becky persevered with my excellent teaching ability and now it was time to test her skills (and my coaching).

We walked into a small cinder block building (dark, ominous music playing)....it looked like it was built in 1950 and was furnished that same year. There were 2 KY State Highway Patrol officers, one giving written tests and the other giving the driving test. Becky went up and gave them her paperwork and then she and one of the officers walked out to go to the car. I sat there and waited.

The door opened 10 minutes later and in walked the officer....my heart sank. That was too short of a time to be good news. I began to formulate my consoling remarks. Becky walked in, and she was aglow. She had passed.

I was so happy for her and yet so nervous....another child on the unforgiving Kentucky roads. This is one of those memorable moments...when the little bird flies out of the nest for the first time....and you can only sit and watch....and pray...

As she got into the Buick to drive to school all alone...I said the first of many of these types of prayers, "Lord, she is leaving my reach of protection and entering yours....please watch over her and keep her safe."

It's Disney World

So, yesterday I had to drive down past Knoxville, TN to visit a donor. As I was driving along, all by myself, I had a lot of time to think...I have driven down I-75 a million times....for work and for pleasure. It is the main road that leads to any state south of Kentucky, specifically Florida.

Anyhow, as I was driving down I-75 in Tennessee, I crested the hill and saw the fireworks store that has the ferris wheel, the world's longest firetruck, rockets and other tacky lawn decorations. I remembered many years ago...my David was only about 3 years old. We were heading down to Orlando to go to Disney World. The kids were so excited. I had started the drive after work in the evening. We had been driving for a couple of hours and we crested that hill and there was that fireworks superstore all aglow. The ferris wheel was lit, the world's longest firetruck was lit, the rockets, the fence and all the tacky ornaments were lit.....the place was glowing in the dark. My David's eyes got huge and he screams, "Look......it's Disney World." We all laughed because we knew it was just the cheap, tacky fireworks store and that it PALED in comparison to Disney World.

Anyhow, yesterday as I crested the hill and saw "Disney World" I wondered how many times as I have been on my spiritual journey, have I been content to stop short, and not complete the full journey to the destination.....how many times have I been content to stop at a cheap imitation of Disney World? How many times has God smiled and laughed as I screamed, "Look God, it's Disney World"....

My butt will catch the next flight here

So, the other day my friend and I were driving into work. We were in the midst of a big weekend at work....early mornings.....late nights.....long, long hours. I was at the end of my rope....all out of gas. Suddenly, flying across the road, right in front of our windshield, flew two Canadian geese. These two geese were fat ones.....and their butts were dragging.....they were having a very hard time getting their butts off the ground. As a matter of fact....our car barely cleared their dragging butts. My friend and I busted out laughing....these geese were the visuals of how we felt that day.....

A dirty window

So, tonight I will give you a quick glimpse through the window to my soul....and it has to do with being a mother....and my Becky.

It is 12:30am....my Becky walked out the door tonight at 6:00pm....with a boy.....my Becky was in a little, sexy, sequence teal gown....cut down to there and up to here....they were on their way to prom. As I kissed my daughter good-bye and let her walk away with this young man...I felt extremely sad.

That was at 6:00pm....it's now 12:30am....I am no longer sad.....I have ventured into mad.

Let me ask this question, why is it, that when the last words that you told your daughter was, "Call me or text me and let me know what the plans are for the evening....no curfew, just keep me informed." Well, why is it that in 6 and a half hours there has been no correspondence? This was not a difficult or unreasonable request....was it?

Anyhow, right now....I am fighting the urge to stop incessantly hitting re-dial....and go get in my car.....with my oversized sleeping shirt, no bra....so boobs hanging down to my knees.....scooby-doo boxer shorts, and big old terry-cloth robe and drive out to prom and find my Becky....

There you have it...a glimpse in my window......it is about as pretty as the outfit that I have on.

Windows of the soul

So, I am reading "Windows of the Soul," by Ken Gire. It has opened my eyes to look at the meaning in moments and people. Yesterday, I looked through the window to my Becky's soul.

Becky got larvae and a butterfly home to watch the life cycle of a butterfly. She got about 7 larvae and we watched them climb to the top of the container and begin to harden into their chrysalis. We waited and watched....nothing. But one day we awoke to 2 butterflies in the butterfly habitat....then a few hours later and 3 more appeared.

Becky fed them and watched them...then she decided it was time to let them go. They only live 2 to 4 weeks, and she couldn't stand the thought of them having to spend their short lives in a net....she wanted them to fly free. So, she took them out and 4 of them flew high into the sky and flew away....but one remained.

Becky looked at the poor thing, and his wings did not form properly, he couldn't fly. So, she left him in the habitat net and took him back in the house. She continued to care for him.

Last night, when I came home from work, there was Becky. She had her little butterfly outside. She placed him in an iris in the middle of an iris patch. She stood over him, watching him and protecting him from any birds that might see him as dinner. She stood there for a long time, moving him from one flower to the next....allowing him to drink from a real flower, not just sugar water.

Yes, I saw into my daughter's soul.....and what a beautiful soul she has.....caring for one of God's smallest creatures....caring and nurturing and protecting him...what a beautiful glimpse of the woman is becoming.