While on one of our many road trips this summer, we stopped at an outdoor mall. During one of the many waiting times/potty breaks, Princess K was getting antsy waiting and from her seat in the car said, "Mom, Mom, Mom, can I drive with Snoofie?" I did not understand and thought this was one of those times that my sweet daughter's unexplainable mid-western accent coming from a girl born in the northwest whose parents are from the south...was simply making up words that I didn't comprehend. 


"Mom, can I drive with Snoofie?"


Ok, think...think...


Context clues.


Where is she looking? Pointing?


I see a cluster of those ride on toys that used to cost 25 cents to "ride." If you are my age you remember the carousel with three horses, I liked the red one and would beg a 25 cent ride from my mom after she'd survived a grocery store trip and probably just wanted to get home and have dinner made while someone else put away all the food she'd just purchased.  Sometimes she gave in and it was always a little disappointing because it was super slow, but I'd sit on the red horse and smile.  


I don't see a three horse carousel, but I do see a "mail truck."


And driving it was none other than Snoofie, or better known as Snoopy.


I don't know why but on this day sitting in the car, that was hilarious!  I looked in my purse for what now costs 50 cents but didn't have it.  I said as much and she said "Mom, can I just drive with him?"


She was happy to get out and just turn the pretend steering wheel and talk to Snoofie.  


I laughed and laughed and Princess K drove with Snoofie. 


Sometimes I miss the little things, usually because I'm thinking of something entirely different than the little people in my life are. 


Am I content to enjoy the little things in life?


Driving with Snoofie.


Kids see the little things and they are easily appreciative of them.


Even without 50 cents.


I still laugh when I repeat her little voice saying that.


I want to be a mommy who laughs, who sometimes let's the kids ride the 50 cent ride.  Who doesn't always say no because it's more convenient than saying yes.


I have a friend who said her husband wants to always say yes if he can and not say no without reason.  I admire that.  She came home once to see him spraying their kids out the kitchen window with the sprayer on the kitchen sink.  


After I heard that I wanted my kids to ask that too.  I could say yes to that.


There are so many times we hear no in life...and so many my kids will hear.  


As a parent, I've experienced it's hard to not say, "don't" and "no" alot.  I want to change that.  It takes discipline and....gulp....time.  Also, I understand that it's not pragmatic to "always" say yes, and calm down I'm not a yes mom either.  But maybe more in the middle than on the far "no" side would be a good change.


Handsome K calls me negative sometimes...I think I'm realistic, but can see how that can come across negative.  I often deduce all the things to think about/plan for and they seem to be those things that will make my life harder.  I'm a cost counter.  I'm trusting more and more, but I want to be a safe "yes" giver too.  Of course.


No matter the personal cost.


Sometimes driving with Snoofie is more about seizing the moment than just putting the 50 cents in.
Princess K was so happy.  I know life will not always be happy, but seizing those opportunities to smile and laugh don't really cost anything either.


So when's the last time you drove with Snoofie?

Character teaches...

Ever have a moment where you kind of feel really great about a skill or ability or role you have. I had one of those for about 10 minutes recently.

During my last pregnancy, I could not use or smell any toothpaste but the plainest of the plain.  It's flavor title was even boring "regular paste."

Well, I unnecessarily purchased a multi-pack of the stuff that didn't cause me to gag because I was certain I would be using it forever now that no other kind was acceptable.

Well, I came back around, said a sarcastic yet honest "I'm sorry honey" to my husband for putting up with the disgusting flavor for so long. Then I bought some sparkling, whitening, control maximum everything flavor kind to replace the other paste.

So then I was stuck with 3 tubes of regular paste.

I pushed it to the back of the closet and found the expired paste the other day.

I almost tossed it in the trash, then I stopped.

I remembered how as a kid I thought it would be fun to squeeze out all the toothpaste from the full tube, call it my rebellious side, I know.

So I brought my proposal to the kids along with some paper plates.

They looked at me funny, then decided they liked the idea, and within minutes were giggling and laughing. Both at the absurdity of the moment and at the paste squishing out.

Enter my moment. It was a good few seconds feeling like a cool, creative carefree on task mommy. I began to prep for dinner. My first mistake.  When I turned my back the kids asked, "can we put our hands in?" not wanting to loose my moment I said yes but do so outside.

3 minutes (and I'm not exaggerating) later. Silence from the deck then eruption of giggles.

Of course I float over with my great mom halo, and then I hear the cackle in my head.

Regular paste in their hair, regular paste on the deck, regular paste painted the picnic table, regular paste on their clothes...

...regular paste my new worst enemy.

Exit awesome mommy.

Enter near freak out mommy.

I bark some orders which included not to touch anything and go to the yard awaiting your hosing off.

I snapped and what was innocent playful fun became way too much mess to clean.

I proceeded scrubbing the deck, washing the door handles, sulking in my sheer stupidity.

Silently hoping Handsome K would enter from work to see a happy, silly fun time...after those three minutes that hope was shattered....in from work he walked as one child was stripped down standing in the yard and the other was finding it entertaining to watch mommy scrub the deck floor.

Fail.

But my husband did not let out a stream of words condemning my idea and saying how obviously south this "activity" went.  He didn't belittle me or make me feel stupid.

He simply scooped up one and headed to the shower.

I sent the second kid into the bathroom, because in case you're wondering paste does not come off by simply squirting from a water hose.

Handsome K stepped right in, with the day of work behind him and with a frazzled "cool mom" to greet him...he never once said anything to state the obvious mess. 

I would have.

Had I walked in on this I would have had a stream of frustrated things to say about the situation and sadly probably directed toward him too. 

I thought of this as I scrubbed and cleaned and almost started crying (and even get teary as I write this now) at the sheer ugliness of my alleged sin I would have committed, I'm sure of it.  If the tables had been turned.

I confessed my attitude and disgust and went back and told the kids I was sorry for being so frustrated at the mess.  Sometimes the mess is worth the fun, I lead them in this mess, it wasn't their fault or disobedience.  They thought it was fun until freak out mom arrived.

Sometimes, more often than I like to admit, I wish I could take back making mountains out of some mole hills.  This was one.

God spoke softly to my heart and said, "I love you and forgive you." I told my dear husband thanks for being kind and gentle.  I confessed that I don't know that I would have been.  God reminded me of this command in His word, "Be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love.". (Ephesians 4:2)

That's what handsome K displayed to me, that is his character. 

Lord, I pray for this character, one that reflects your love God, not my human desires for order.

Thank you, my love, for being someone who sharpens me with you just being you, gracious and gentle.

Much love.

Battles are Fought

This weekend with Handsome K traveling, I found myself on a day trip about 90 miles away going to a friend’s graduation party.  I was simply marveling in my own success while driving with Baby K appropriately taking his morning nap, Princess K and Little K quietly plugged into the headphones watching an educational DVD, and having only left 45 minutes past what I had planned. 

I was singing about life being a great adventure along with one of my favorite musicians and then it happened…

I often believe I have some kind of control over my babies safety, life choices, or anything for that matter.

But I don’t.

I can’t foresee and prevent everything unsafe from ever happening to them.  That doesn’t mean I won’t stop teaching them how to make good choices that honor God or that I won’t attempt to keep them as safe as humanly possible, but there are many things I cannot premeditate.

Up from the back of my mommy “safe” van, right behind Little K’s head, a yellow jacket suddenly appeared hovering near my boy’s head as if to say, “I will do whatever I want and you cannot stop me from way up there, he’s out of your reach.”  I saw that potential harm-inflicting insect in my rear-view mirror and let out a gasp. 

Of which none of the K’s heard due to the sleeping and headphones.

For about 2 seconds, I was paralyzed with the fact that the stinger of that bug was about to harm my children.  I luckily snapped out of my 2 second coma and reacted by pushing the button to roll down the window nearest my baby’s heads.

I got a couple of funny looks, but they weren’t curious enough to even peel their ears away from the dinosaurs teaching them about fossils. 

I wanted to see it get sucked out the window so that I could breathe easy and know that they were safe, but taking my eyes off the road for that long wasn’t an option.  I left the window open for a few minutes and hadn’t seen any signs of the harmful insect anywhere.  I rolled it up and said a silly but heartfelt prayer of, “protect my kids from harm.”

I paused a minute and thought, how many harmful things are lurking around them and by the power of a simple heartfelt prayer a supernatural battle is waged, unseen but real.

I read “This Present Darkness” probably a decade ago and I don’t think about the wars going on in the spiritual realm very often…I’m kind of one with simple faith living in 2D most of the time. 

But I was reminded about the power of prayer on a 2-lane highway driving through the wheat fields this weekend. 

Handsome K’s mom gave him a canvas for Father’s Day right after our 2^nd was born.  It is a picture of a father praying beside the bed of his sleeping child, and in the faint background sky out of the window of the child’s room you can see a battle.  I remember going to a local bookstore when I was younger and looking at this exact painting.  I wondered what battles are being fought on my behalf simply because of people’s prayers.  I wanted to be that kind of parent that prays fervently for my family. 

God says in James 5:16 that “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” 

What battles are being won on my kid’s behalf because of my prayers for them.

Cry out to the Lord on behalf of the little people in my life.

Cry out often.

When those yellow jackets appear lurking behind my kids I hope that my first instinct is always found where I have the most defense…on my knees.