To the Lazy Jackwagon

To the Jackwagon in the back of the classroom:

When you're given an assignment in class, you need to get out the necessary materials to complete said assignment, in this case, your textbook, a piece of paper, and a pencil. When you tell me that the reason you have not yet completed the assignment is because you don't have your book or a piece of paper, I make a mental note that you have come to class unprepared. I will also tell you to "solve that problem". This usually means that you should ask to share somebody's book with them and perhaps borrow a piece of paper to complete the assignment. When you continue to sit there like a bump on a log, making up excuses as to why you cannot do the assignment, I guarantee that I will roll my eyes and start to look for ways to "reward" your laziness by docking points from your grade every chance that I get. Furthermore, your demonstrated behavior and lack of initiative that I have seen in this class so far have me convinced that the future generation will most certainly die out; and that my job to prepare you to solve the world's biggest problems - like finding a cure for cancer, preserving the environment, and finding innovative ways to keep the human race alive - is all for naught.

So in conclusion, dear student, spare us poor teachers the pain and hurry up and get your act together before we need to release you into the wild. For in the wild, you do not get friendly reminders to be productive during the day, to stay on task, or to take charge of your own learning. In other words, do you know what bosses do to employees who sit around doing nothing? THEY FIRE THEM!

Sincerely,
Your Teacher

Why does Monday feel like Friday?

It feels like I've been through a week just today. Sadly, when I noticed that my husband was watching a football game, I actually used valuable brain cells to recall whether it was a Thursday night game or a Monday night game. Monday. Bummer. It means I have a whole 'nother Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to go through.

I'm usually a pretty chipper person, but I'll be honest, even us chipper people get tired every once in a while! I think my issue is that we're sorely lacking in the sleep department in our house. My nine-month old son has been having difficulty sleeping. We think it might be a combination of the cooler whether rolling in causing his room to get cold at night plus teething (which explains the gobs of drool every minute of every hour of every day). It just occurred to me that he might have reached the age where he needs a night light too...

(Dramatic Pause for Google search)


I think I'll try and plug in his night light tonight and see if he stops waking up 4 times every night like he has been the past few nights. I can't go back to that newborn phase of no sleep. It would be horrible to go back to THAT place.


I sure hope this week takes a nice little turn for the better. I could certainly use some reprieve. I wish it was Friday - then there would be hope for a date night or something. Gosh, it's been a while since my husband and I had a date. Like a real date. One that didn't feel rushed because the babysitters/parents had other plans. One where we could actually talk about our relationship and where we're at rather than showing each other pictures of our super cute kid. One where we could hold hands while walking leisurely somewhere. Anywhere really. One that didn't involve us hashing out what had gone wrong during the week. One where we could come away refreshed and reminded of why we chose to spend the rest of our lives together - for better or for worse.

I really need it to be Friday.

I hope I'm not bringing anybody down. Sometimes we have days like this, where things seem a little dim. Fridays bring hope...We could all use a little bit of that!


God made Friday's so we could have hope throughout the week. I'm convinced.

Here's to Hope and Fridays!

The Solution to my dirty floors

You know what I've decided I need? A Swiffer. Yes. It occurred to me that if I got a Swiffer, my floors would get cleaned - Magically. If you're going to tell me that I've bought into the lie that comes so easily with consumerism, then you're right!

I'm convinced: My future Swiffer will solve all my problems.

Side note: Notice the Cheerios scattered on the floors in this picture. I thought it was the perfect picture to represent my own floors. But mine are dirtier. That's why I need this little beauty!

I Come to the Garden Alone

Two thoughts to leave here in this garden today. Hopefully, by leaving both here, I'll find my peace and quiet that my soul so desperately needs.

First, Workaholism. I am a workaholic. I struggle with workaholism every day, almost every moment of every day. And why, you ask? Well, I ask myself the same thing. I'm a list person so at work it's really easy to just make a to do list and keep my head down to get things done as quickly as possible, hoping that the list will end one day and I can go home and live happily ever after. The truth is that the list will never end, so long as we breathe this air anyway. I've come to believe that the root of workaholism is a form of idolatry. For what is idolatry but becoming a slave to something other than God? I've become a slave to work - to that lengthy To Do List that accomplishes such trivial things rather than serving the God who created all that we see, hear, smell, taste, sense, and think. And then I look at my To Do List, which has turned into a small and pathetic excuse for a "god", and I wonder, Where did I go wrong?

I guess that's what happens when you "keep your head down and hustle" (a quote from a great movie monologue in the Rom Com Last Holiday from Queen Latifah). I've forgotten to look up. I've forgotten to see, hear, smell, taste, sense, and think about the Above. Like a compass that needs to be fixed to point due north again, I find myself needing a bit of an adjustment.


Thought numero dos:

Hymns. Yes, good ol' fashioned hymns. We don't sing enough of them these days. They use big fancy words like transgressions and atonement and transcendence.

But maybe those big fancy words push us to think about the God we serve and how big and fancy He is. I dunno. I kinda wish we got out of our little praise choruses for a moment and sing something that has some weight to it. Sing something that makes us a little afraid. I'm not talking scary fear. But if we sang something that was so weighty and thought-provoking that we'd fear if it were right about God, we'd have to make some real changes as to how we talked to Him or spoke about Him...well, it might make us think a little higher of God. And isn't that what worship is supposed to do? Elevate our thoughts about God so that we stop ourselves from thinking that WE are God?

Let's pause here. And let this stew for a while. What songs do this? And why aren't we singing more of them? Do the fancy words scare us away? Or perhaps it's the thought of something that we sing that could actually change the way we respond to God...and I guess, others too?

Anyway, that's all I've got.

Sometimes when we're quiet enough to think about BIG things, we come away with more questions than answers. Maybe that's how it's supposed to be. Life is full of questions, but maybe these kinds of thoughts remind us that we have to be still long enough so we can ask the right questions.


I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.


And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice,
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing.



I’d stay in the garden with Him
Though the night around me be falling,
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling.

This is my first attempt at a blog. Yes, in the age of Mommy Blogs, where it seems like every mom has one, I might very well be the last one to jump in this train. But I needed a spot to process my thoughts and honestly, I needed a place in this world to find some peace and quiet. Initially, I thought this blog might help me find my own peace of mind. But then I realized that my mind is full of crazy. My life is full of crazy. No, I needed somewhere to find God's peace. So my hope is that this small little garden of cyberspace can help me quiet my heart enough to find God's peace. In a world full of noise, may this space provide the peace my heart needs to grow in God's grace.

Well, it looks like that's all the time I'm going to get right now. All the quiet I'm going to get anyway. I just saw my son attempt to stick his finger in the electric keyboard headphone socket. He's now headed for my stash of plastic bags. But more on child safety in our home later...