Life's Little Parables

There was an….incident…this past week. (Does that word make you nervous? Well, it should!) My 6 ½ year old (and that ½ is VERY important to her) is old enough that when we go for a walk, I’ll let her go ahead of me. (As I told you in my last post, she likes to be the leader). She enjoys running. Sometimes there gets to be some distance between us, but she knows her boundaries. Generally, she stops when I ask her to.

We were out for a walk this past week. My daughter put a bit of distance between her and me. I held my son’s hand because he is too young to run ahead. Then, a few things happened simultaneously which could have been disastrous (possibly even deadly if you want to go for the dramatic). My daughter passed a driveway, and a car began backing out after she passed. A few seconds later, she turned around to come back to me, passing the driveway as the car was rolling backward. A UPS truck rumbled passed just as I was screaming at the top of my lungs for her to stop because I was afraid that the person backing the car couldn’t see her. Uncharacteristically, she didn’t stop, but kept coming. The car continued backing out, and I continued hollering as loud as I could. Helpless, I realized I was unable to get her to stop. Terror set in quickly. I was screaming, and scared stiff that my child would be hurt. All of this happened in probably less than a minute, but it felt like a lifetime. She ran past the driveway, and luckily the car didn’t hit her. She ran to my side, grabbing for my hand. The UPS truck and the car went on their merry way, and we were safe. The terror passed, but I asked very sternly why she hadn’t stopped when I was yelling at her to stop. She told me she couldn’t hear my voice over the noise of the truck.

After this incident was over (and I could breathe again) I started pondering…how often do I allow the “noise” in the world to over power the whisperings of the spirit? I like to run through life. There are so many things to do, and so much stuff to buy. Running, running, running, noise, noise, noise. There have been times when I run blindly, not really seeing where I’m going. During those times I feel like I want guidance from the Lord, yet I think He isn’t talking to me. Then, as the noise clears and I focus on what’s important, I can hear Him and his guidance again. The scriptures state that the Holy Spirit whispers in a “still, small voice” (1 Kings 19:11-12). So the next time I feel like I can’t hear the Spirit, hopefully I’ll remember to slow down, listen closely, and know He is always there.

Since Thanksgiving is approaching, I felt like sharing this one. I hope you enjoy!

My father started running competitively at the age of 65. (Yes, I find that utterly amazing myself!) My family had the opportunity to watch one of his races several month ago, when he was 67. It was a 10-mile race and there were 125 racers. We watched the racers from a water station at the 6-mile marker. It was fun to see the racers come around the bend, grab their water from a volunteer, and zoom past us. As my dad came through, my kids and I cheered him on. He was so happy to see us there! I noticed that my dad thanked the people who gave him water. I realized very few racers had done that, in fact, I totaled up how many racers thanked the volunteers giving them life-sustaining water. The total count…four out of 125 racers. I noted this to my mom and she said, “Oh, most racers are running too hard to say thank you”.

That statement got me thinking, “how many times in my life do I start running too hard to thank God for the many life-sustaining blessings?” It’s so important to continually notice what blessings the Lord has given to me. In Luke 17 we read that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem when he came on 10 lepers. They stirred his heart with their cries of, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” He told them each to go to the priest because they were healed. Only one turned to give thanks to Jesus and to glorify God. Jesus sadly said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger….Arise, go they way: thy faith hath made thee whole.” He gave them the precious gift of health, and they didn’t even turn to Him with a small amount of gratitude. I don’t know what their circumstances were. I imagine they had families they ran back to as fast as they could, which wasn’t a bad desire, but they forgot, in their haste, to give thanks to their Lord. I’m trying to be mindful as I run through this race of life that I take the time to thank God along the way, for without Him, this life would be like an unsharpened pencil--pointless.

I've never blogged before. I've tried (and failed miserably) a few times. This time is a bit different. This is more about the parables I see in every day life. Since I was a child, I've seen parables all around me. I've had several friends tell me I should write a book. I got about 15 pages done and haven't touched it since. Sigh. I'm going to try to write one parable a week. Once a week...that's not so hard, right? So, without further ado, my next post will be my first parable. I hope you enjoy!

Have you seen the movie “Enchanted”? I personally love it! It’s one of my favorites. There’s a scene when Prince Edward’s servant, Nathaniel, asks him, “Sire, do you like yourself?” Prince Edward responds, “What’s not to like?” and then gives Nathaniel a big, cheesy grin for a few seconds.

There are times in all our lives when we start feeling a bit unlikable. The reasons for this happening are many. However, when we feel like this, God looks at us and thinks, “What’s not to like? You're perspective on yourself is not what I see.” We are his children and He loves us. He sees us as we truly are.

I had a friend tell me the other day that she saw me as “very athletic”. My perspective on myself was very different, and I very nearly laughed my head off. In elementary school, I was always the last one picked for just about any team, but kickball was the worst. Without fail, I ran as hard as I could, and kicked. The next thing I knew, the ball was rolling behind me, or if I actually managed to kick the darn thing, it would land squarely in the arms of the other team causing me to get an out. In middle school, trying to play volleyball created an equation for me that I still live by today: Lynnae + ball = harm or humiliation. It’s not pretty. Graciously, in high school they allowed you the option of walking around the top of the gym rather than playing the sports. That was the best part of my high school P.E. experience! Obviously, hearing that someone thought of me as “very athletic” just didn’t fit with my perspective of myself. I started to think about her statement and realized as an adult I enjoy running in a few 5k races per year, swim laps, and take a few dance classes. I still don’t see myself as athletic, but I began to realize why she would have a very different perspective than the teammates from my youth.

If we are unable to see ourselves as others see us in this life, how much further off would our perspective be from how our Heavenly Father sees us! He looks at us, and loves us. In Malachi 1:2 He says, “I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us?....” We make mistakes. We are imperfect. However, He continually reaches for us and thinks “what’s not to like?”