Friday, November 9, 2012

Dreaming...

I used to dream of singing,
   not just in the rain
  or even in the shower
          ... but on a big stage,
              with a sound system that made me sound good

                             with a band,
                             with back up singers,
                             with back up dancers (j/k),

   or in a small room with an enraptured audience,                         
           on a stool with a guitar,
           at the piano, effortlessly playing
           .... singing like no one else was in that room
           .... singing for an Audience of One

I used to dream of traveling the world,
      a flight attendant, a pilot
             suitcase never quite unpacked
    traveling this vast planet, seeing the world
I would be able to speak multiple languages, fluently.
       communicate to strangers, who would soon become friends because that barrier of language would be gone

I used to dream I could play instruments,
            not just piano
                but saxophone (very groovy)
                guitar
                    no....  bass guitar (very cool)!!!!
     I would definitely be in a "chick band"

I used to dream that one day I would be a mom to dozens of kids
             rescue the children of the world who seemingly had no one to call their own
                             those who had no parents, no one to take care of them
     or I would show up at bus stations, in large cities, ready to snatch beautiful, broken young people who had run away
run from abuse or from themselves
   rescuing them from the Predator, the Bully who was waiting
I imagined being the one to find an abandoned baby, maybe left on my door step, maybe crying out in a dark alley, or stuffed in a bag, left with little more than one more breath of life yet much more love to give

Now I dream of being a writer ...
one who spends hours on my laptop creating story lines,
                                                      chapters to books,
                                               lyrics to songs,
                                         posts on a blog
        words that encourage a friend
        words that annihilate that sense of isolation that creeps at our minds saying
             "we're alone in this, nobody can relate to what I'm going through"
        words that tell stories of true life, of what has happened, what is possible
        words that give Truth
        words that offer Hope
I dream of having that time, to share what flows out of my heart and my head
         generously offered to me by my Creator
To be one of His many ways that He answers prayer, He changes hearts, He gives purpose

I haven't sung in a while, I never did conquer the bass guitar (I'm not dead yet ...)
But I have sung in the shower, in the rain, and even on that big stage,
          for my Audience of One!
I never did get my pilot's license, or serve people their drinks thousands of feet in the air
But I have traveled the world, met strangers who became friends
There are not dozens of children living in my home, I've never rescued a run away or found a baby abandoned ... but again, I'm not dead yet!

I still wish I could grab a microphone once in a while, with a bass wrapped over my shoulder, singing a song in my perfect vocal range, belting it out with the strength of a diva

But this I can do
     I can write, I will keep writing,
                                 and I will keep dreaming!






Sunday, November 4, 2012

Planned Parenthood??


My family ... amazing!  
Perfect??   umm... 
     if my kids heard the word perfect they just might burst out laughing or roll their eyes or walk out of the room, shaking their head in that way that says “you’re delusional”

But I'm the mom - I know
    we are perfectly put together.
These lenses in my eyes allow me to see my kids, my family, very uniquely, perfectly formed by a perfect Creator.

My five kids 
(no we didn’t adopt again
no I didn’t get pregnant again
yes my daughter got married and now he’s ours)
 are definitely amazing!
They are God’s gift to me, to both their dad and me.
We are a perfectly formed family.

Years ago I would hear people talk about their perfectly planned family - 
        3 kids, 
        3 years apart
        star athletes, full-ride scholarships.... you get the picture.

They had it all planned out.

We can’t relate to that. Every time we tried to plan it was shifted, just a little here, a lot there.
The backward glance on my life helps me to see what I once thought as disappointments, difficult waiting times, a seemingly silent God, were actually a perfect plan in motion.
Forming our family has been an adventure, one sweet life at at time finding each other.
Just as God intended

Because 
Before the world began ... He knew us
While I was in my mother's womb, He knew me
While in their birth mothers' wombs, He knew them
While in my womb, He knew them

 He knew my sweet girl, the one who made me a mommy, 
      a woman one who has learned how to live grace and give grace like few 
      others,
 He knew my first boy, a gift of life, 
      one who was created with such purpose, definitely wanted, wired to love 
      fiercely
 He knew my second boy, a life of great worth, 
      one who is divinely appointed and chosen, who will impact his world with a story of 
      life given 
 He knew my third boy, a treasure to all who know him, 
       uniquely gifted with empathy and wisdom beyond his years 
 He knew my dear son-in-law, 
       one who is discovering a Father who has been there always,
       one who has stolen her heart and ours

amazing...

each one of them, perfect, called by name


He knew how much I would blow it as a mom 
           and yet he picked me to be their mom. 
Amazing!
He knew we, as their parents, would be asked very hard questions, a lot of “whys” at such young ages
He knew we wouldn’t always have all those answers 
           and yet he picked us to be their mom and dad. 
Amazing!!
He knew I would love them so much my heart hurt 
          but that I didn’t really understand love like He does 
          my imperfect, learning-on-the-fly, dependent on God kind of love
                                 because He is Love
and yet He planned for me to be their mom. 
Amazing!!!

He knows the answers to some very hard questions that are asked in our home. Some answers I don’t have, but I’m confident He does have.

I don’t have a clue why people are cruel
I don't know why they abandon, or others abuse, why people bully, why there is rejection
I don't know why it some times looks like He’s standing there, with arms crossed, indifferent, while life is pummeling us to the ground.

But I do know He is not indifferent
I do know that before the world was even created that He already knew me, each one of us

The truth is
He has promised to never leave me, He does not abandon
The truth is
We are given a hope and a purpose in a world that is hopeless and purposeless

The truth is
 He hears my prayers
          He answers my prayers
          He knows the story of my life before I know it
So, sometimes with faith that is so small it is hard to even see - I will choose to trust my God

I will surrender to Him my parenting abilities
           I will give Him my plans for the future

I will love my family .... my amazing, God-put-together family!!