Monthly Archives: June 2012

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Devotion for GG's Banana Extravaganza

 

Now that I've got your attention, this title isn't meant to be rude.

It's simply good advice.  We all want to grow up.  And we want to grow up well.  -Believe it or not bananas give us some great advice on just how to do that.

Most of you know the answer, but I'm going to ask the question anyway-just to get you thinking.

How do bananas grow? -Up from the stem or do they hang Down?

I specialized in Biology in college and didn't know bananas could grow up until I saw them with my own eyes on our Kenya trip.  How did I miss that?  Maybe because it seems logical that such a heavy fruit would grow down hanging from a branch or stem.

Bananas do indeed grow up, but they don't start that way.  Baby bananas actually grow down like most other fruits and vegetables. Gravity pulls them toward the ground just as it pulls you back down when you jump.

Here are some vocabulary words to keep you smart this summer.

Geotropism-the way an organism grows in reaction to gravity

Positive Geotropism-  organisms that grow downward ex. the way roots grow

Negative Geotropism-  organisms that grow upward ex. stems

Bananas display negative geotropism.  The more they encounter sunlight, the more they gravitate toward it.  This the reason bananas are curved..  In their small state, they grow toward the ground as gravity would have.  But as the bananas start to mature they start to sense the sun more and more. Referred to as fingers, the bananas curve from their starting place on the stem upward toward the sun.

You, my dear have spent time as a baby banana. 

As a baby banana some interesting things have gravity in our life. Gravity is defined as importance.  In Science you may have learned that gravity means weight.

Lets think of some weighty or important things in the life of you- as a baby banana.

Your clothes?

Others opinion of you?

TV and other entertainment?

What else?

As we mature, these things shouldn't hold so much importance.  Especially after we've sensed the sun.  The sun in our lives should be Jesus.  There would be no life without him.  It's also him who sees to it that we grow. As we reach for "the son" we begin to grow away from the old things that used to have gravity.

Just as the growing banana stretches to the sky leaving the ground behind, those things we once found weighty and important shouldn't matter so much anymore.

Grow up. Grow beautiful.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Against such things there is no law. -Galatians 5:22-23

Discussion Questions:

1.Which way does a banana grow?

2. How are you like a baby banana?

3. What does a banana sense that helps it to grow?

4.How can you be more like a mature (or grown) banana?

Just for fun.

Banana bunches are referred to as hands and single bananas are referred to as fingers.  Fingers are much better combined to make a hand.  Likewise friendships and other healthy relationships are like bananas.  They come in bunches and grow together.

Also, a banana like any fruit stops growing and soon loses its beauty when disconnected from the branch or stem (think of a mushy brown-spotted banana). Likewise, our beauty and growth comes from staying connected to Jesus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I couldn't sleep last night so I did what I tell my children to do when they can't sleep.  I tell them to talk to God.  So that's what I did.  This is what I said.

Slept in until 7:30 this morning.

Had nowhere to rush to.

Thankful for the little things.

It was Jason's day off today.

We ate at Willy Burger and went to the movies.

Thankful for the little things.

The kids gathered around me in the kitchen.

We made chocolate-covered banana pops.

Thankful for the little things.

Rylie lost-  and I do mean "lost" her tooth.

This resulted in a fun letter to the toothfairy.

Thankful for the little things.

We had fried bologna sandwiches and baked kale for supper.

A quite mismatched meal, but no one complained.

Thankful for the little things.

I talked with two of my old students through facebook

-One I taught in first and second grade, the other I taught in Sunday School.

Thankful for the little things.

I am sitting in the hallway writing late this night as to not disturb.

My family is safe and healthy  around me.

Thankful for the little things.

There really are no little things when it comes to you God

Only

small vision,

small recognition, and

small understanding

Rather than seeing bits and pieces of who you are and what you do,

Grant me single focus, opening my eyes to your splendor. 

Thankful.

 

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We are about to depart on a journey of a thousand miles. It is literally 1,062 miles from our driveway to our destination in Colorado. I'm bracing myself for this trip. Being in the car with the family for as many hours as it takes to make this trek can turn into a toxic situation. The kids get bored and whiney, I get tired and cranky, and Kristi gets caught in the crossfire. Over the years we have learned a few relationship preserving techniques for arriving at our destination with our sanity intact.

Reading a Book Together

Vacation travel has much improved with iPods and installed DVD players. Many miles are spent in peace and semi-silence while the kids are engrossed in a movie they have already seen or by listening to music.  Sometimes this is a welcome break if there has been bickering.  But we have found that a reading a book aloud captures our children's attention just as well.  I usually read to the family while Jason is driving, and everybody else listens.  The kids take a couple of turns reading, too.  I feel they learn and are even stretched as they get involved in a plot they might not have chosen had they only been reading for their own pleasure. I have been shocked at how well they listen; from Hayden who is fifteen to Rylie who is six.  The teacher in me also stops ever so often to check for understanding, to make predictions or just to discuss what we think about what just happened in the story.

Some of our reads have included The Bridge to Terabithia, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and The Great Gilly Hopkins. 

Travel Dehydration

I'm goal oriented when it comes to traveling. For some odd reason I find great satisfaction in getting to the end of a trip as quickly as possible. This is more true for the return trip than it is for our departure.  A few years ago I started a practice while on the road that has served to feed my sick desire to arrive ahead of schedule. I call it travel dehydration. Stopping to use the bathroom adds unwanted hours to an already long trip. I've found that when the sodas and juices and water are limited, the only time we have to stop is for gas and food.  The fewer times we have to stop, the faster we get to our goal.

Good Snacks

Jason is the only fan of travel dehydration. The trip coming home is shorter in hours, but the dehydration suffered causes irritability, then finally resignation resulting in sleep. Thankfully he doesn't enforce this cruel practice while traveling to our Colorado destination.  I'm also thankful that he gladly drives both ways. I like to have an ice-chest full of drinks and little snacks.  Whoever gets the back seat to themself, also has the duty of serving as snack attendant. I for one tend to get cranky on an empty stomach.  The snacks nourish and help the time to pass too.   I keep a small trash bag so that we can clean as we go.  Sometimes that works. 

Breaking Up the Trip

One thing that Kristi and I look forward to on these long trips is the great food we will find along the way.  Since we have made this trip to Colorado together over 17 times, we have become familiar with the best eating spots.  But even when we are going places we have never been before, I find it worthwhile to research and plan out our culinary experiences ahead of time. Anticipating great food helps us to break our trip into manageable sized pieces.

Knowing that a 24 oz. ribeye awaits me at the Big Texan in Amarillo helps me stay focused on my westward destination. I'm already anticipating a cup of perfectly made espresso in Rotan, NM at Enchanted Grounds. We have even timed our arrival in Colorado to coincide with the all you can eat stark night at our resort. These stops along the way make the entire vacation seem a little more spectacular.

 

What travel techniques help you survive in the car on vacation?

What are your best memories of being on the road?

How do you pass the time with the kids?

 

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We took a day trip to Stuart Beach in Galveston on Friday.  It was a glorious day.  We had some old friends come along with us.  We had the ice-chest packed with snacks, a couple of umbrellas and lounge chairs, and seven smiling kids.

The water has always brought out my cautious side.  I could simply stick my toes in the water and be a satisfied beach girl.  The kids though, can hardly wait to get in the water-and that scares me! These are some of the precautions I took.

Armed with two cans of sunscreen I generously sprayed the children down.

Knowing that the current carries the kids down shore, I pointed out some red-painted posts, and further down, two rescue boards to serve as boundaries. I told them to start at the posts and to get out and come back if the current took them as far as the rescue boards.

"Pay attention to where you are", I told them, "and stay together".

As irony would have it, in no time the rescue boards were removed along with the boundary I had given. So I supplied a substitute boundary; a colorful umbrella.

No matter, because my children, like most children, inched farther from the shore as the day wore on, visible boundaries or not.  I ended up in the water to help Rylie "the best surfer eva"(as she says).  I tip-toed through deepening waters to help her catch a good wave.  As the current strengthened we turned around to head back, but only in time to be assaulted by a wave.  As I tried to help Rylie, she thrashed, making it harder for both of us to keep our heads above water.

As a parent, I avoid unsafe situations. It's just easier that way.  If it were'nt for Jason I might not ever take my kids to the beach.  I feel certain the kids will tell stories to their spouses and kids about things I wouldn't let them do out of fear. Out of all the things I didn't let Hayden do, He broke his arm twice, once needing surgery.  The first break was during prayer meeting.  He was hanging from a low limb with his feet twenty-four inches from the ground.  The second break occured as he and I were swinging right beside each other (right before prayer meeting). No, avoidance and even prayer doesn't guarantee safety.

Boundaries are also established  for safety. - "Don't go past the ...... -Be back by.......-DO NOT....." But boundaries don't guarantee safety either. Boundaries can easily be ignored or removed.  Even if your children give heed to those boundaries, there is an ever-rolling current that carries them away from the safe arms of the shore.

Don't we all feel safer just being next to our children? As I held on to the black twine rope on Rylie's surfboard I felt more confident.  In arm's length, that's where I best like to have my children.  But it took one wave to render me powerless.  What an awful feeling.

We can't safeguard our children or ourselves. In all honesty, we have less control than we'd like in a great number of matters.  Our children's choices. The way other people drive.  Outside influences. Sickness. Disease. Death. I felt small and helpless; tossed in the depths of those waters with Rylie.  I feel powerless when I'm in the car with Hayden driving along a road with deep ditches on both sides.  I am seemingly useless when Hallie faces a problem that I don't have the answer to.

Let's not forget the unseen hand that holds both the waves and us. "Even the wind and the waves obey him"-Matthew 8:27 

There's no promise that we won't be blasted by the wind or tossed by the waves.

 We are not safe.

But take heart.....,

We are rescued.

 

Jesus sought me when a stranger,

 Wandering from the fold of God;

 He, to rescue me from danger,

 Interposed His precious blood;

 How His kindness yet pursues me

 Mortal tongue can never tell,

 Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me

 I cannot proclaim it well.

 

O to grace how great a debtor

 Daily I’m constrained to be!

 Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,

 Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

 Prone to leave the God I love;

 Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,

 Seal it for Thy courts above.

-Hymn -Come Thou Fount

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One of my best friends is coming with her family to visit tomorrow.  I can hardly wait.  I sent her a message Monday night reminding her to bring her walking shoes.  We used to walk most every day.  We walked over four miles the day before Rylie was born-on August 31-IN THE HEAT!

I'm really surprised that I developed such a love for walking.  My friend, Tammy and I walked despite some  discouraging events.  We had to change our route numerous times. We would cross paths with stray dogs which would become our entourage making for a host of barking as we passed dog-occupied houses. I was bit pretty badly by a dog at one point. Not all shady characters were dogs either.  One time when I wasn't able to walk with Tammy, a lady brought out her shotgun saying that her chickens were dying as a result of our dog posse.  Another time she stood at the side of the road with a bullwhip.  There was also the time that Tammy fell.  I've probably blocked other crazy moments out of my mind.

Why did I love walking so? I've gotten out of the habit of walking now, but I clearly remember.  There was something therapeutic about walking.  It was good for our health, but maybe even better for our souls.  We would talk about our kids and give movie reviews.  We talked about spiritual matters too.  Our walking time, dogs and crazy people aside, made for uninterrupted minutes.  And because we walked most every day, we were able to get into some deep conversations; soul matters.

I miss those walks.  I have walked now and then with Jason or alone.  But my walk is so infrequent, that deep conversation isn't easily reached (I'm probably panting too heavily).

There are times my walk with God is infrequent.

I am so busy after all.  Every minute is met by distraction.  He is with me, but without my recognition of his presence it's as if he's not. I know there are soul matters he wants us to talk  about if only I'd be present.

There are times my walk with God is brief.

How can my relationship with God go deeper by giving him so little of my time?  A short prayer every morning or at night is notable, but I want to walk with him on a never-ending journey. Most days Tammy and I took our long walks we ended up calling each other and talking more. Or we would even go get groceries together; thus still walking together.

I feel sure that if I had been walking alone, dog bitten or with the sun beating down on me in the heat of August, my walking would have been arduous -if I continued to walk at all.  But there's something about having someone there to keep you going; someone who with you "can laugh at the chaos to come".

I'm looking forward to walking with Tammy this week. But in thinking about the joys of walking with a friend, through both cool breeze and terror, I have decided to reconsider my most important walk.

Yes Lord, walking in in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desires of our hearts.  My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you.  -Isaiah 26:8,9

I'm going to shape-up. Through longer walks in study, prayer and meditation I'm going to develop a greater love for the journey.  Together, God and I will have our walk; one that is ever-increasing in duration and depth.

Now where are my walking shoes?

 

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In yesterday's post "Pillow Fight: A Shared Blog" I shared the purpose in beauty.  Though I used decorative pillows to show that purpose, I know full well that true and lasting beauty comes from within. The pillows I've used to adorn my home will quickly grow ragged and dull. But there is  God created beauty all around you; beauty that remains. It is when we attempt  to create beauty with our own hands that we find beauty unlasting.

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. -Proverbs 31:30

It is when we live in awe of almighty God that we truly become beautiful.  It is when we know Him that we have a beauty that remains.

But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. -1 Peter 3:4

To stay beautiful-Stay in Him

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Jason is a great husband.  And after seventeen years of marriage we see eye to eye on most things.  This does not apply to decorative pillows.  Our living room and bedroom are adorned with pillows.  I see great purpose in them.   Jason despises them saying they’re not comfortable.  I think they bring color and beauty to the room.  Jason argues that they’re in the way; that they have no purpose.  When he wants to sit on the couch or go to bed, he throws them with disdain.


I despise Kristi’s decorative pillows.  They serve no purpose but to impede my comfort while reclining on my own couch.  When I am tired enough to try to use one as a pillow, I’m reminded how uncomfortable they are.  The fabric is either rough, or crackly, or the pillow is an odd shape.  They frustrate me.


Some decorative pillows are just dangerous.  I’ve seen pillows covered with pheasant feathers.   Feathers are supposed to be inside the pillow, not on it.  You can lay your head down to rest and come up with a quill stuck in your ear!


They come with sequins, too.  Can you imagine the comfort that comes from laying your cheek down on a bed of sequins!


Most have this little zipper whose pull tab always seems to be poking out.  You can’t have a pillow fight with zipper tabs sticking out everywhere.


You can’t have a pillow fight at all with these decorative pillows!


I don’t want to fight about pillows.  I don’t even want to fight with pillows.  But if we were fighting, I would want to be able to have a pillow fight!


 


But I argue that beauty is not always comfortable.


Comfortable is not always good.  Jason picked out the couches.  People have commented on how difficult it is to get up once having sunk into the thick cushions.  And though I want our guests and Jason to be comfortable I suspect that if the pillows weren't there, Jason might not ever get up.


Comfort invites you to stay.  Beauty invites you to go.  After sitting within the comfort of the couches, there is a silent urging from the pillows to move along in renewed strength; that is unless you've chunked them onto the floor.


As a Christian I often get comfortable in my walk, and I like it.  I will remove any obstacle that stands between me and my comfort.  I think of times that I have not wanted to approach people in pain.  Those who have faced tragedy.  It can be uncomfortable not knowing what to say.


I remember anxiously approaching one lady who had lost her four year old son.  Without words I held her hand and we cried together in a crowd of people.  That beauty has stayed with me.


There are other times I know I should invite someone to church or share what God has done in my life, but it can be awkward—similar to laying your head on a pillow with pheasant feathers.  It's easiest to cast those things which bring discomfort aside.  Choosing not to deal with those things that make us uncomfortable often cause us to miss out on beauty intended.


I remember a few times where I was faithful to have that awkward conversation with someone upon the prompting of the spirit.  There are times I have walked into a hospital room or a funeral home anxious and uncomfortable but willing.  It is in those times that God displays his beauty.  It is in abandoning comfort that beauty soothes my soul.  And as comfort from a couch quickly evaporates when my feet hit the floor, beauty often remains in my sight traveling down to the depths of my heart.  Beauty is worth it.


In spite of hating her decorative pillows, this is one area that I have come to have a deep appreciation for Kristi.  Can you imagine what the house would look like if the decorating were up to me?


Let me draw you a mental picture: One big cushy couch in the middle of the room.  One 80” TV on the wall.  One large wire spool picked up from the side of the road to set my feet on and to hold my bag of potato chips.  No art.  No decorations.  No pillows.  No Beauty.


I’m getting sad just thinking about it.  I think I can put up with a few snazzy pillows


This is just one area where we have found compromise.  There is an artfulness to compromise in relationships.  Neither one of us has to give up our preferences.  I still have my cushy couch.  She has her pretty pillows.  The house has beauty and functionality.


“And the two shall become one flesh.”


Life is full of that delicate balance between comfort and aesthetics.  Between conviction and convenience.  Between action and hesitation.


Compromise.


One of the keys to an artful life is finding that compromise, that balance, between what we know and what we feel.  Finding that place of agreement with what we want and what we need.  Arriving at the spot where form and function meet.


Do you find compromise easy or difficulty?


How do you arrive at that Just Right spot in your decisions?


Are you more for functionality or style?


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A Blog, Shared.


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