Today I learned that the truth hurts.

Today I got my haircut. I know this doesn't sound too exciting but this was the first time this hairstylist cut my hair and she surprised me. She told me something about my hair that I hadn't heard before- the truth. You know what? The truth hurts. You see, when I was in high school and college I had really easy hair. It was the kind of hair that looked good with relatively little effort. However, after both of my pregnancies, my hair changed. It is no surprise that pregnancy does strange things to your body (like how you can weigh exactly the same as you did before but you still have to go up a size anyway- how does that happen?). My hair went from stick straight to curly. My hair became very curly except for the very top which is still stick straight. To say that my hair can stick out in very strange ways is an understatement. I believe that we all deserve a quick and easy hairstyle. Don't you? I am sure that since I believe that, it must be true. Right? I sat down in the chair to discuss my hair and told the lady that my hair was curly and looked bad no matter what I did to it. After listening to me, she proceeded to tell me that I was doing something wrong! I told her that I used the smoothing products but they didn't work. I told her I tried to blow dry my hair straight but it still curled in odd ways. She said that what I had told her just didn't make sense. How dare she contradict me? I know my own hair, right? I know how to live my life! I couldn't believe she was questioning my methods. To be honest, at this point I was apprehensive about having her cut my hair. However, I noticed that as she cut my hair she was really putting a lot of care into it. She explained what she was doing and why she wouldn't do what I had asked of her. Then she took half an hour to teach me how to style my hair. I hate to admit this but the truth finally came out. I didn't want to put the time into working with my hair. She then told me point blank "you have curly hair and you just have to put the time into styling it". What I wanted her to tell me was that a really good haircut would solve all of my problems. I really, really, really wanted to hear that it was possible for me to roll out of bed each morning and with no effort have perfect hair every day. She told me the truth: my hair needs time and attention to be its best. There are no shortcuts. Well that made me think about what we are discussing at church. We have been talking about growing spiritually. We have been talking about quiet times, prayer partners and seeking God's plan for each one of us. I realized that there are no shortcuts with God either. Just because I wanted my hair to be quick and easy, it didn't make it so. If I don't want my hair to stick out in strange places, I need to put the time into styling it. It is the same with my spiritual life. Just because I really, really, really want to be closer to God, it won't happen without me putting forth the effort. The truth is that I need to take the time to read the Bible every day; I need to find others to keep me accountable and pray with me; I need to seek out God. God has promise us that if we seek after Him, He will show himself to us. There is no doubt in my mind that being closer to God will make each day better than I could imagine. However, I needed to realize the truth that it won't just happen. Making the decision to grow spiritually won't make me grow; taking the time to act on the decision to grow spiritually will bring me closer to God- and that's the truth.

Today my lab ate my son's lunch box- again!

We have a little problem with our lab. He isn't supposed to eat people food, but he doesn't seem to remember this. Ok, it has gotten to be quite a big problem with him as is evidenced by this blog history (see Today my dogs ate my daughter's guinea pig or Today my lab ate my Christmas present). You see, today's problem started when my son saved some of the ham from his lunch for later. He told me this but I forgot. Oh, the things I forget. I put the lunch box on the counter and left it there. When my son decided that it was time to finish the ham, he went to get it and then I heard a scream. I knew immediately what had happened because (I must admit) this was not actually the first time my lab ate his lunch box. In fact in recent history, this old dog has taken meat that was thawing out of the sink; he had the audacity to take a sandwich out of my hand (oh, yes he did); this dog has swallowed a lump of play dough whole when my son was playing with it at the kitchen table. He is so bad now that he is eating things that aren't even food in the hopes of getting something good- that is bad! You would think I would have learned by now not to leave ANYTHING in his reach, but I haven't yet. Be honest, you know you forget things too. However, I must admit that I have to take some of the responsibility for this problem. Our lab is almost 11 years old and awhile ago I decided that I could relax a little about disciplining him since he won't live much longer. Well, two years later I realized that he is still going strong and we have a problem. My lab didn't always disobey like this. He started small (OK, an entire casserole wasn't small but it was easy to get to that day) and slowly but surely he became sneaker and more persistent in his attempts to get our food. It wasn't a sin of opportunity anymore, this behavior became something he would think about and plan. He watches us and as soon as we aren't looking he strikes. We have to post our children guard over the food on the table if we need to leave the room. Our lab is now making a concerted effort to disobey. But that make me wonder, where in my life am I allowing habits to form just because it is simply easier to do something wrong? What behaviors do I have that have slowly slipped into becoming a problem? I usually react without thinking when other people brag about their kids- am I gracious or do I turn around and brag myself? What do I do when I am driving and someone cuts me off- do I ignore it or do I become angry? I need to examine my life and see if my habits have slowly crept into something that is wrong. It is so easy for that to happen. Just like our lab started out eating small bits of food when he shouldn't and has now moved on to very bad behavior, have I let something small turn into sin? How about you?

Today was a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day.

When I was a child, I loved the book Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day. It was about a boy who had everything go wrong and at the end of the day he realized that tomorrow will be better. Even as a child, I wanted to know that everyone went through bad days. It is a universal need to know that we aren't alone in our feelings of disappointment and hurt. That is one reason why I wanted to write this blog; sometimes it looks like everyone around you is leading the perfect life and you are left out of "perfect world" but let me tell you a secret (there is no "perfect world" and you are normal). We all have bad days, we all mess up and we all need encouragement. You know what else, it is OK that our lives aren't perfect. Well, with that introduction, let me tell you about my terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day. It all started while my daughter, son and I were waiting for the bus. I happened to look out the window where a small stream of water trickled down the window pane. My first thought was "Oh, how sweet, an icicle is melting..." Then the next thought was "Huh, that is strange, I've never seen an icicle in Augusta, Georgia before." Then I noticed that my curtain, the one I made myself, the one I loved, was dripping water! That led me to look up and I shuddered at the spreading stain on my ceiling. I threw some towels at my kids and gave the instructions "Watch the time, watch for the bus, mop that water up" and ran upstairs to find the leak. My daughter promptly stationed herself between a clock and the front door watching both the time and for the bus. She then gave instructions to my son to mop up the water with the towels. When my son soaked the towels I had given him, he did what every self-sufficient 4 year old would do and grabbed a generous amount of paper napkins from the kitchen table and proceeded to mop some more. Yes, we work together like a well oiled machine in the face of crisis; I would like to tell you that has nothing to do with the vast amount of practice we have dealing with things like this- but then I would be lying. I found the toilet in my bathroom leaking water from the tank and was able to turn the valve to the off position. The rest of my morning went pretty much the same. A friend got called into work and couldn't meet for coffee; my beagle found a new way to escape from the backyard; I met someone I once knew in a store and after talking for a few minutes realized why we weren't friends anymore; the $50 off coupon from Office Max that looked too good to be true turned out to be too good to be true (they printed "see details" on the coupon but forgot to print what the details were- I just got $5 off). I came home for lunch and an idea occurred to me. Now I suspect that this idea may have come from God because I'm not this smart but it did help. I had a realization that there was no reason to be angry. I didn't need to be angry at myself, at the world and especially not at God. I then had my delicious left-overs from dinner last night; found my beagle just 5 feet from our front door; and when I got home from picking my son up at preschool found Robbie to the Rescue (my husband's nephew who can fix just about anything) already working on the toilet. Then I had another thought, probably from God again, that God will take care of all of our needs. So, even if you have a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day, know that God will take care of each and every need.

Today my son ate another boy's lunch.

The life of a four year old boy isn't always easy, or so I found out today. You see, while I was waiting to pick up my son from preschool, I had a nice little chat with another mother. We had a lot in common and she was really very nice. So when I saw her waving me down as I sped- I mean slowly cruised- past her in the parking lot, I thought "Oh, how nice, she is waving good-bye". Well, that isn't what she was doing. In the next moment, I noticed the familiar looking lunchbox she was holding out for me to see. I expertly (OK, barely missing her) pulled over to the side and rolled the window down. This organized mother noticed that she had my son's lunchbox and not their own. She handed me the lunchbox, graciously explained that both boys had the same lunchbox and then stared. Yeah, it took me a minute to realize that I, therefore, must have hers. We exchanged the lunchboxes and then laughed about it. I carefully (OK, I did barely miss my neighbor/son's Sunday school teacher!) pulled back into the line of cars and headed home. It was then that my four year old had the epiphany that he had eaten this other boy's lunch! Neither he nor the other boy even realized that it was not their own lunch. Not unusual for preschoolers right? Well, it just so happened that this morning I made certain that my son knew what was in his own lunch. I had packed the lunch and put in cinnamon applesauce. I told my son that there was CINNAMON applesauce in his lunch and that he would like it and should eat it this time. I mean this was not your boring old applesauce. I did everything a mother could do. I called his name, made eye contact, and required a verbal acknowledgment of the special applesauce. However, he forgot. There was no applesauce in the other lunch but he ate it anyway. Well, I laughed- it was all so innocent. My son didn't think it was funny and wouldn't get out of the van until I promised not to tell Daddy. I started to think about how I had packed the lunch just for him, based on his needs and likes. ALERT: I AM GETTING ON MY SOAPBOX Christian convictions are a pet-peeve of mine. God gives each of us our own convictions and these convictions don't have to apply to everyone else. God wants us to support each other and not tear each other down. We are required to do this as Christians. Just like I packed my son's lunch for him, God gives each of us convictions for us and our own families. Convictions, or beliefs about things like where your children should go to school, what TV you watch, what holidays you celebrate, are personal. I did not intend for another child to eat that lunch and God does not intend for our convictions to be used by another person. Next time you start to judge another person for their behavior, stop and ask yourself if your opinion about this behavior might have been given to you by God just for you. Maybe, just maybe, God packed your lunchbox full of opinions that were meant for you to digest and not for someone else. It is time we love each other- don't forget and expect someone else to eat your lunch too.