Humbled again!
Every time I think, I might have this parenting gig down(insert any other topic here as needed), I go and prove that , no really, I don't. If you know our family, you know that one of our long standing commitments is AWANA clubs. Memorizing the Word of God is the main emphasis. At times, I have pondered about the "reward for learning" aspect, is it bribery? And what happens when some kids learn faster, and so, get more rewards? But in the end, having addressed these issues in my family, having God's word hidden your heart is always positive! It WILL come back to "haunt" you. Not the best choice of words, but I am not much for using my thesaurus at the moment. A few weeks ago, Anna-Laura competed in a Bible Quiz about an hour from here. I went along with an assortment of other siblings. We came in late(intentionally) and snuck a seat in the back. Anna was up next. Liberty was quietly playing on the floor; occasionally cooing or shaking her rattle. But not very loud(in my opinion.). Out of nowhere, the AWANA missionary for our area swooped in and asked me if I would take the baby out so as not to disturb the quizzers. I am mostly positive they could not hear us in the front, and I would certainly have removed her if she had fussed at all. I was about to explain this when Savannah scooped her up and left. I have all kinds of explanations I want to give, reasons I should have been able to stay with the family intact, but I will not(and did not) disgrace myself further. Fast Forward to this weekend when the younger girls went to the AWANA games. The morning games went great. In the afternoon, trying to care for the baby in the stands and keep a 5 year old and seven year old interested, while cheering for our church got to be a little much. The ever friendly Trinity made friends with another observer and the two went out to buy fries before I could catch them. I DID manage to quell the coke sharing with a juice box. Imagine my face when I glanced around to find Trinity running up and THE SAME AWANA MISSIONARY behind her, telling me she wanted to make sure my child found me. Trinity is a runner and fearless(see my post "Trinity hits the road"), but I thought I had a handle on her, NOT! I feel like my name is MUD to that woman. My baser self wants to EXPLAIN and JUSTIFY! Later that same day, Trinity ran onto the track circle and ran alongside the runners(a definite no-no), and then ran onto the track DURING a race. When we got home, she jumped on her bike and rode off unbeknownst to all. We found her at our pest control man's house(at the corner of our three house street), but still! What happened? BTW, she had been playing hangman in a classroom with the aforementioned friend at the AWANA games. I decided to stake her to me(seen on a website here.) Then it was a performance Sunday for her children's choir. Naturally, I did NOT appear onstage with her. We are still working on this. I guess I really needed to be humbled in this area, and I just want you all to enjoy this uncomfortable moment with me. Sometimes it helps to know that the person you put on a pedestal is really just like you, dependent on Christ for strength. Not that I ever thought I was, or wanted to be on anyone's pedestal, but the next person who says, "Wow, you have ten kids, you must be so patient! " Gets referred to this story! All the glory to the One who placed these children with me, knowing that I would HAVE to rely on Him!
Sorry so blurry. Guess which one is Jeanette?
3 comments:
Whew, I'm tired just reading about it! I still get this all the time -- you have FIVE kids?!!! How in the world do you do all that stuff with FIVE kids??!
That's when I'm tempted to say....
Oh but you should see Laura; she has twice as many!!
Glad to hear Daniel and Trinity still have so many things in common!
Seriously you are still an inspiration to all moms. We should cheer each other on instead of thinking that that other mom over there should have a better handle on her kids or something like that. I love to read about how smart and well rounded your family is. Trinity is awesome for being such a free spirit. Even if she gives her mommy a hard time sometimes. I think if people cannot love the sound of babies cooing well there is something wrong with them. I had a similar thing happen last year with Cassie at church. I will tell you about that another time. Hope you have a blessed day.
My eyebrows lifted a little at the "Missionary Woman." You chose to respond to it wisely and humbly and I am not trying to put a stumbling block before you, but I would encourage you a little here by saying that her attitude was not humble, nor Christlike, really... I can't see Christ shewing a child out of the room with a tsk, a mortified mother tagging along behind. Some people are not very "child-friendly," and unfortunately, they are in the church, too, sometimes.
Still, these things are sent to teach us... and once again I am reminded NOT to give "that look" to the mom behind me at the restaurant with the weeping child, or the parents at Walmart with the screamer.
My third one was the one sent to humble me, and I wouldn't have it any other way. :) Still, I do remember (even now I experience!) those moments of utter mortification when you want to hide under the table. Well, it serves to give us more grace, and lots of compassion, right? :)
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