Monthly Archives: May 2015

Ready To Run

How many times have you heard the Prodigal Son story? I would guess that it’s one of the more well-known parables from the Bible. As I sat in a church pew several years ago listening to that scripture being read…for maybe the fifteenth or maybe even the fiftieth time…there was something that struck me as if it was the first time I heard it.

What detail hit me like never before? It was the image of the father running to the Prodigal upon his return home. As soon as he spotted his son in the distance, he ran. Why did he run? I believe one reason is that he wanted to leave no doubt in his son’s mind that he was still welcome, valued, and deeply loved. No less welcome, valued, or deeply loved than he was before he left of his own accord on a quest for something better than he thought his father could offer. The father was aware that his son had thought his ways were better than his father’s ways…he ran anyway.

He runs to us too. It’s not just a story. It’s a truth. It’s a promise. In Luke 15, it’s the third of three parables that Jesus Himself told in an attempt to illustrate to a crowd how important, loved, and sought-after all of God’s children are. I can almost imagine Him tripping over His Heavenly feet in His hurry to reach us. Isn’t it mind-boggling to be treasured like that? Especially after we go our own way and purposely sin. Especially when we seemingly look into our Heavenly Father’s eyes and boldly say that our plan is better than His plan.

We are not worthy to be loved to that extent. We are not worthy to have the Creator of the Universe desire to be so intimately involved in our lives…we never will be. But, that’s the way it is. (Thank God.) He is incredibly concerned, caring, and compassionate toward each and every one of us, regardless of our past – regardless of our decisions. It doesn’t matter if they are decisions that completely diminish the importance we place on His plan for our lives – He’ll still run to us. We have a God that still welcomes us, values us, and deeply loves us beyond words.

How can He love us that much? I don’t know. But He loves us as a father that waits in confident expectation for the prodigal to come home so He can lavish him with unmatched love, affection, and undeserved blessings. That I do know. And I never want to forget that. Ever.

It doesn’t matter what we’ve done. We have a God that sincerely wants us to come home. He’s waiting for us. He’s watching for us…and He’s ready to run.

Can There Be a Better Job?

Working at a preschool is easily one of the biggest blessings in my life. The teacher I assist and I have had numerous conversations that extol the positives of having this exact job, and often the conversation ends with one of us saying, “There just cannot possibly be a better job, can there?”

My preschool ‘work history’ includes being a volunteer parent aide in its very first year, then a teacher’s aide for a couple years, a co-teacher for a couple years, and then taking a break for a few years to substitute teach at the public school and start my Kindermusik venture. There were two wonderful preschool aides that worked there in the meantime. When the job opened up again in October, I did not hesitate to tell the director and teacher that I was interested in coming back if they would have me!

What brought me back? Oh, among other things: the opportunity to watch the preschoolers grow, the opportunity to see their excitement when they are identifying letters and correctly forming their sounds, the opportunity to see how an art project done by 26 different children with one example can have 26 different variations because this standardized world hasn’t yet squashed their creativity, the opportunity to see them rally around a fellow preschooler when one of them is sad, the opportunity to see them so easily forgive each other when their classmate reacts in an ‘oops, I shouldn’t have done that’ manner, the opportunity to teach them some Christian fundamentals in a Christian preschool, such as Jesus loving them no matter what, and the opportunity to have conversations like the following on an almost-daily basis:
“Miss Gwen, I have terrible news!” “Oh no! What is it? “My mom lost the back to her earring!!!” (Exclamation points to infinity if I was to tell you how distraught this 4-year old sounded.) She also happens to be one of the little sweethearts that answered our end-of-the-school-year question of “What do you want to be when you grow up?” with the very serious answer: “a princess.” In her defense, I would imagine that earrings are a pretty serious accessory in the royalty world. Moments like that are infinite and priceless and they brought this wayward preschool aide back to her previous job.

Are there challenges? Yes. It’s not all lollipops and rainbows…although lollipops and rainbows both have their place in preschool…but yes, there are difficult moments. Moments of, ‘No, that is not okay to treat your friend like that’ talks. Moments of seeing their frustration when things aren’t going the way they had hoped and moments when they just plain miss Mom or Dad and our hug doesn’t quite cut it. Moments like that are difficult. And I am sometimes exhausted, because it’s non-stop activity and bustle and hum and controlled chaos. To be honest, there have been times at the end of the week, I’ve come home, put my feet up, and fallen asleep by 1 o’clock in the afternoon. Just this last week, there was the adorable little girl that couldn’t figure out how old her mom was for our Mother’s Day gift they were making. We were having them make their best guess if they didn’t know. When she struggled to come up with an answer, I said, “Well, I’m 44…how old do you think your mom might be?” “24” was her immediate answer. I happen to know that her mom is 43. If I look 20 years older than her mom, I guess I’m going to blame my hectic preschool schedule for the toll it’s taken on my appearance. 😀

Earlier in this school year, I was experiencing some rather tough stuff. Most people have no inkling, as I was pretty private about it, but my eyes were wet with tears when I got to work, and tears were shed on the way home, (seriously, I admit I’m a crier, but it was an above-and-beyond-ridiculous amount of crying, even for me.) But the in-between time? When I was surrounded by cuter-than-cute 3 and 4 and 5 year-olds? No tears. Only smiles and belly laughs. No thoughts of what my mind was going to wander back to when “work” was over. The preschoolers made me forget, if only for a while, but they truly made me forget. I don’t have to be going through trauma to realize just how precious these God-given children are or how God-given this precious job is!

How God Got Me Through a Mess is a potential title for another blog, but I believe being employed at the preschool at this exact time in my life was part of His divine plan for ‘getting me through’. I really do.

It doesn’t hurt that the teacher I assist and our preschool director both happen to be women that I would put on my “women whose faith and parenting and teaching skills I most admire” list and that they’re also two of my…what’s the 44-year old term for BFFs? Oh, let’s just call them BFFs. It doesn’t hurt that one of the students is one of my nephews, and every time he calls me “Auntie Gwen” my heart melts. It doesn’t hurt that being called Miss Gwen by my non-nephew preschoolers also melts my heart. It doesn’t hurt that I get to spend time with children who still have their child-like faith intact and that haven’t been jaded by difficult circumstances or unanswered prayers. It doesn’t hurt that we rarely have a day without at least one hug from a preschooler for seemingly no reason at all. It doesn’t hurt that with the 3 to 5 year-old population, we sometimes enjoy celebrity status when they see us uptown or at a football game…they are actually pretty pumped that we are in the same place! But even without all those perks, I believe I’d still be there. Because there just cannot possibly be a better job, can there? Thank you, God.

I’ve Got This

Have you ever had an overwhelming problem that you tried to figure out all by yourself? Have you ever felt like you were at the end of your rope…the end of yourself, but my goodness, you’re still going to cope on your own? The “I’ve got this!” mentality?
I have. I’ve tried to figure it out, so that I don’t “bother” God with my problem. Also, there have been times when I’ve tried to figure it out because…well, God wouldn’t understand.
You read that correctly. I seriously sometimes think that God wouldn’t quite ‘get’ it. And when I finally get to the point of, “Ughhh – my solutions aren’t working…time to call on God, I’ve laughed out loud when I’ve caught myself trying to explain my problem to Him. You know…helping Him so that He’ll comprehend? So that He’ll ‘get’ it? I’m even so helpful that I sometimes suggest possible options as to how He could solve the aforementioned problem. I give God “multiple choice” (So thoughtful of me, I know.)
Tell me I’m not the only one…
However, as time goes on, I am realizing that He really is tuned-in, that He’s aware of everything current, and that He truly desires to be intimately involved in our lives.  “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, You know it completely. You hem me in, behind and before, And lay Your hand upon me.” –Psalm 139:1-5 (NRSV) And I don’t think it matters to Him whether it’s the mundane moments or the exciting events. He cares about all the “stuff” that we care about, because He genuinely and deeply cares about every single one of us. “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered…” Luke 12:7a (NIV)
So go ahead – try to stump Him. Your problem isn’t too contemporary or trendy or complicated for Him. He knows what’s happening in this world! He knows what’s happening in your world. After all, you are talking about Someone who always has been and always will be.
We serve a God who “gets” us. We serve a God who cares about everything we’re going through. We serve a God who not only HAS the answer, but IS the answer. Go ahead and “bother” Him with your problem.
He’s got this.