Hands off!!

The whole world is online.  The whole universe is accessible at the poke of a finger.  The children born in this decade, will never know a time when mommy and daddy did NOT carry a device on their hip, in their purse, in their pocket that rendered them "find-able" at any given moment.  My Nora recognizes when I do not have my phone with me, and promptly reunites me with the device, asking, of course, to play Angry Birds. :)

Everyday, we are given a certain amount of time to impact the little people God has given us. We are given precious fleeting moments to spend time with our children.  During these moments, we can love them, help them feel loved, teach them, influence them, talk to them, ask them questions, hear their answers, show them how to be influential, and show them God's love through our actions.  We have the ability and potential to do these things to create productive, secure, loved children.

We somehow, however, choose to spend this fleeting time much, much differently.  We spend the day on our phones, talking to friends and/or relatives for hours, while the little ones meander about, finding menial things to occupy their minds.  We spend this time snapping at them when they interrupt these conversations, putting them in front of TV sets,  pushing them out of the way so we can finish using the app on our phones, ignoring them when they are calling our name to show us something they are discovering for the first time, tell them "later" every time they ask us to read to them, or treat them like a burden to your ability to enjoy our day.

This realization hit me recently in the, not so pleasant, aptly named, "hard way".  I was in the yard with my two children; Nora was running around and Evan was on a blanket, happy as can be, eating grass.  I was sitting on the porch, phone in hand, reading e-mails and responding to the people who had my undivided attention, when I looked up to see Nora staring back at me.  She had the saddest eyes, and they were on me.  She had been calling to show me something...I was ignoring her....and the moment was gone.  I immediately felt something....shame.  My little girl was exploring the world, discovering the coolest things she has ever seen, and wanting me, her most favorite human, to share them with her, but I was....busy.  I immediately got up, engaged her, played games until we were breathless, came inside, prepared for bed, read, prayed, and sang her nightly songs, and said goodnight.

The moment stayed with me though.  I couldn't shake the fact that perhaps I have missed more moments like this one.  How many times hadn't I looked up?  How many things did she discover without me?  And more importantly, how many more will I allow to go unnoticed?

I want my children to feel important.  I want them to know that they are set apart by the God I serve (The God of heaven, not of Apple), for a purpose.  I have been given the incredible responsibility of preparing well-rounded, fully prepared disciples of Christ, who feel loved, respected and noticed.

These moments were given as a gift.  We can use them productively, filling the minutes with meaningful memories, teachable moments, and lessons that prepare them for the life God has set before them, or, we can spend the precious moments involved in stuff.  Stuff that steals their attention and hugs.  Stuff that steals their tickle fights and butterfly kisses, and stuff that is way less urgent than responding to the latest request on the e-mail account.

God has placed in our hands the tremendous responsibility of raising men and women that could impact the world.  I refuse to allow them to leave my hands ill-prepared because of my need to stay connected!  I will, with God as my leader, put down my phone and my laptop, and fill the fleeting moments with meaningful memories.  Memories that teach, grow and develop people who will change the world.    

5K faker...

I recently began to pick up a renewed interest in running.  When I was in college, I ran all of the time.  So much so that I would eat food all day and never gain a pound.  I am not talking about that healthy stuff people tell you that you need to eat to stay skinny.  My old roommate would appreciate this post, because she could tell you of the times we would order pizza and I would eat MOST OF IT myself!  That is embarrassing, now that I think of it.  I sort of don't want to publish this with that last sentence in place, but it is the truth, and that is what I do...."gumball head", remember?   


Anyway, running was easy!  I had so much strength and endurance that I would sign in RELIEF when our coach would tell us we only had to run a few miles that day.  "Good, easy day", I would think.  Now, thinking about running a few minutes makes me feel sick.  So, how did I get here?  It is obvious really.  I got married, new life began:  working/teaching, church life, ministries, exhaustion, then came our daughter, and then a move, more church and ministry obligation, our son...you get it.  It happens to everyone.  At some point, within all of the "busy", running to anywhere but the refrigerator became taxing, so, I just, stopped.  I don't necessarily miss it; I have this love/hate with running, but I do miss the health aspects of being in shape.  


So, as I stated, recently, I began to pick it up again...sort of.  I signed up to run a 5K for "Life Choices".  I planned on preparing for it, I really did, but that life thing got in the way again, and well, I only worked a little hard.  I suppose I only worked hard enough to prevent certain death on the road.  I showed up, pretty nervous, and ran the race.  I ran 3.3 miles, in 35 minutes.  Not bad!  I was surprised I did as well as I did.  I felt good and proud of myself.  


As the week went by, however, I realized that although I finished that race in a reasonable time, I totally faked it.  I didn't prepare adequately for the race.  I was terrified going into it, and sore and exhausted the week following.  Not to mention, during the race, I seriously contemplated heaven as a viable option.  


I showed up, with snazzy running clothes and ran that race in a time that would make anyone think I tried beforehand.  I faked it!  


I was in pain, it was hard, and I suffered throughout the next week.  The 3.3 miles proved to be difficult because I didn't do anything to become strong enough to endure.  


Life, serving or living for Christ, is a lot like running a 5K, inadequately prepared.  I was probably able to complete the race with some level of success because of my past ability and strength.  I was able to fake being a runner, but I reaped the consequences.  


Life is hard.  It hurts and leaves wounds.  Jesus promises he will walk with us through these hurts.  But, that is all depending on how much we are willing to get to know him.  The better we know Him, the more equipped we are to handle life's lemons.  If you give your life to Jesus and prepare your heart with His word, He can give you what you need to endure life's not so sweet moments or seasons.


Just as remaining idle didn't help me run the 5K, idling away our life as a  follower of Christ, will not prepare us for running the race of life. 


We must keep growing, maturing, and serving to the end of our days.  


Faking it will exhaust us more, hurt us more and take more energy and recuperating than anyone has energy for.