Born Leader

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. ~ Proverbs 22:6

It was twelve years ago today that I saw and held my son for the first time. His wiggly little body had become familiar from the inside during the months he was baking. Now the movements were felt from the outside. It was surreal.

I labored for hours, about sixteen to be exact. An epidural brought some relief, but because only half of my body responded, I felt every contraction on my left side. Mark watched the contraction monitor, and tried to prepare me at the lines went up. With each crescendo of consuming pain, it was all I could do to breath through the waves.

After what seemed like an eternity, Matthew finally entered the world. He let out a dignified scream, and proceeded to grab the suction bulb right out of the doctor's hands. Now that my friends, is what you call a born leader! I can just imagine what he must have been thinking, after getting to know him these twelve years.

Hey, it is freezing out here. Where am I? Who is this guy in the white coat, is he the one who is in charge? Get that thing out of my face!

After cleaning him off, and handing my husband a tissue to dry the lake on his face, they placed this brand new life on my lap. I held my son. A boy. We did not know the sex of the baby before hand, which made the surprise so sweet.

Those first days home were so difficult. Colic kept Matthew up at all hours of the night, leaving us feeling frazzled and ill-equipped. But as the months wore on, it got easier in some ways and harder in others. Even today, all these years later, raising two sons and a daughter is our greatest joy and our greatest challenge.

My little blond haired cutie is what brought this hard-hearted young mom back to church. It had been years since I stepped foot into a sanctuary full of spirit filled believers. Being angry at God for half of a decade, I really didn't want anything to do with church. But my whole perspective changed when Matthew was born. Mark and I wanted the best for him, and raising him in church seemed like it would be best.

I have a great relationship with my son all of these years later. He is intelligent, loving, and extremely funny. He is one of my favorite people in the whole world! His faith is strong, his commitment to God unwavering. I see great things for this born leader.

My heart swells with pride as I watch my Matthew grow. May God always instill in Him, what is best.

Happy Birthday son. Daddy and I love you so.

Fruit

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. ~ Philippians 2:5

I read the most amazing prayer request yesterday. It went something like this, "Please pray that I will represent God. That when others see me, they see God." Wow. For some reason it pierced my heart. I longed for the same kind of thing.

As I muddled through Monday, I found myself a little bit on the grumpy side yesterday, especially with my kids. I could blame it on a long list of things, like it being Monday, us being busy, and so on. You know those selfish moments we all have (well, I guess I'm just assuming) where taking care of other people's needs feels like such an inconvenience?

While I still worked to pack lunches, fold laundry, bathe little bodies just like every other night, this night my heart just wasn't in it. I longed for the moments when my kids would finally be in bed so that I could have a little bit of peace and quiet - a little bit of ME time.

That may sound perfectly reasonable, every parent needs a break now and then, right? But something I noticed that was different about yesterday, was my motivation for quiet. I wanted to jump back onto Facebook (I am embarrassed to even write this) to see who might have written on my wall. My mind raced with thoughts about who else might be on line at the same time as me. My pulse quickened . . . my attitude stunk.

We all have things in our lives that seem good - really good, but somehow they squeeze that juicy Fruit of the Spirit right out of our lives. While I have only been a Facebook player for a total of two days, I found that it consumed my thoughts and fought for my attention - a little bit too much.

So what is that vice for you? Is it food? Shopping? Surfing on the web to build cyberspace friendships? Most everything is okay, as long as it is taken in moderation. It is when the thing that we try to keep control of begins taking control of us, that we need to run.

Recognizing this pattern in me, I don't know if the social media is going to be a good idea. It would make sense to keep at it while setting the necessary boundaries, but it seems like once I jump on I can so easily lose track of time, and even more, lose track of the whereabouts and my heart.

As we walk this path called faith together, it is my prayer that your heart would long to look like Jesus. His life paints a portrait of beautiful things, like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.

Anything that might try and steer you away from such things is not worthy of your time. No matter how fun and trendy it might be.

To be a representative of God is serious business - it is no small task. Inconvenient? At times, yes.

But He is worthy of ALL.

Connection

If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! ~ Ecclesiastes 4:10

It was mind blowing. I chose from a list of over eighty people. Clicking on folks to add as friends. As I became familiar with each page and its capabilities, I chatted with a couple of friends on IM -- all at the same time! From invitations to flair, I received quite an education in the hour I spent parked on my living room couch.

Was it time well spent? That, my friend, is the question.

I've been thinking lately, about the importance of building relationships. Getting to know who I am has been key in being able to relate to others. Something very true about who I am got squashed in my growing up years. I could read off a long list of reasons I suspect caused such a shut down, but I choose not to. God is taking me very carefully through each festering wound, to apply the healing balm of forgiveness.

We all have them. Relationship crash and burns. It may have been with a family member, an acquaintance or a good friend. No matter who you've broken ties with and whatever the circumstance was, there is just no getting around it. It hurts.

There are so many things that lend to a break-up. I don't just mean the boyfriend-girlfriend kind, but all facets of the relationship world. Pride, envy, jealousy, selfishness, insecurities and fear, they all lend to a breakdown at some level or another. When communication gets muffled, feelings get hurt and friendships suffer.

With love being our greatest aim, cultivating relationships do seem worthy of my time. I've studied people who are very good at making friends, and there is one thing that is necessary to build a true and lasting friendship. Time. It takes time to get to know the other person, and time to share the details of your own life.

Being the kind of a personality that strives on productivity, I've let the friendship thing slide for too long. I've asked God to show me how to be good at this relationship thing again, and through my pursuit of friendships, He has begun to heal the wounds of past disasters.

While some may view social media as a waste of time, I choose to take a different view of things. Balance is key in the pursuit of any new venture. Scheduling lunches and dates with friends, picking up the phone and calling - just because - and typing a simple message at ten o'clock at night can all add to the beauty of this thing called a friend.

Pity is the busy man who finds he has fallen. It's a lonely world out there. It takes time and energy to make connections. You've gotta work to make friends! It can be frightening if you've been hurt before, but the risk is well worth it.

So I encourage you, it you haven't already done so, take a chance. Jump on this thing called Facebook and invite me to be your friend.

Chances are . . . I'll say yes!