Seeking Him

Uncomfortable?

The school where we send our daughter and our money, American University, was in the news this morning.  Apparently, a professor teaching a Sex, Gender and Culture anthropology class made the choice to breast feed her child during her class.  Her child was sick and couldn't go to day care so, rather than canceling her class, she brought the child to class and ended up having to feed her.  Of course, everyone has strong opinions about the appropriateness of this action, but that's not really my point here.  I personally think that it is no coincidence that this happened in a class about gender norms and culture; in fact, I think she did it on purpose to make a point....but I could be wrong.  If she did, I think it is a great idea and probably will likely trigger meaningful discussion on just the types of issues that these classes are designed to address.

Here is the part that I found interesting.  In pursuing the story, Channel 4 interviewed some students at American University.  Most didn't see it as a big deal.   One young woman, however, said "It made me uncomfortable and I don't go to class to feel uncomfortable."

Hmmm....interesting.  

In the book I referenced in my earlier post this week, we are examining what makes our life a "good" story.  As I mentioned before, the author suggests that a good story is when a character wants something and is willing to overcome obstacles to get it.  In the following chapters, he goes on to talk about the things that get in our way.  For many of us, our addiction to comfort is the number one obstacle to living the meaningful story we crave.  Even though we dream of a "better" story, we often struggle to move out of the patterns and habits with which we have grown comfortable.  Even the undesirable can become familiar and safe.  And that can keep us paralyzed in inaction.

As I traveled around to colleges with my daughter over the past year or so and listened to their spiels, I grew more and more excited about the opportunities she will have to dig deeper and explore her place in the world.  I like to think that we have given her a good foundation, but now I hope she meets people who see the world differently and challenge her to really think about what is meaningful, what she believes and what her contribution to the world will be.  I hope she is stretched and, yes, I hope that it is sometimes uncomfortable.  And I hope that discomfort is much more compelling and provocative than being "forced" to see your professor breastfeed her child.  Seriously! 

Some of the best sermons that I have ever heard were the ones that make me uncomfortable.  This is also true of some of my favorite books.  Yet we live in a culture that is all about us maintaining a certain level of comfort....an underlying assumption that if I am uncomfortable in any way, then something is "broken" and needs to be "fixed."  

To some extent, this is true.  If I am feeling pain in my body or my spirit, then I may need to look more closely and give attention to the source of that pain.  However, I think we sometimes miss an opportunity in those times when discomfort or discontent is simply an invitation to wrestle with something, to dig deeper, to look more closely....simply put, an invitation to grow.

As I talked about in a post long ago, Jacob told the angel with whom he was wrestling "I will not let you go unless you bless me" in Genesis 32.  Really wrestling with something, being uncomfortable, being challenged, being unsure, living in that "in between"  and "I don't know" place can sometimes bring about the greatest blessings on the other side.  I am learning that sometimes I need to rest for a moment in those places and see what they may have to offer.

That doesn't mean I have to like it though.  :-)

 

 

 

Pet Squirrels and Storytellers

I have a five year old friend who started Kindergarten last week.  As part of the "getting to know you" activities, she shared with her new class that she had a pet squirrel at home.  She described the squirrel with such enthusiasm and in such detail that her teacher decided to check with mom to see if perhaps they had indeed tamed a squirrel!   Mom responded that it would be in the teacher's best interests to confirm the veracity of any "larger than life" stories she might hear this year with her; my five year old friend has what some might call a "vivid imagination."  As the youngest of 5, that imagination and creativity has been nurtured and encouraged, as well it should.  The story made me smile and it brought back wonderful memories of my own little storyteller.

When my friend shared the tale of the pet squirrel with me, I recalled that I had had the exact same conversation with my youngest child's Kindergarten teacher.  In fact, I am pretty sure I had it with most of her early elementary school teachers, although these flights of imagination began long before she started elementary school.  When she was 2, she would begin her tales with "Once upon at time, there were two wittle dirls..."  For those who don't speak toddler, that would be "little girls' because the adventures always starred two little girls suprisingly similar to the two that lived in our house.   When she was a little older, her stories often included her alter ego "Fireball" who was a boy and something of a super hero.  Fireball had many adventures and always conquered the bad guys in the end.  Sometimes, when she arrived downstairs in a certain outfit, we knew that my daughter had temporarily left the building and Fireball had taken her place. Eventually, Fireball outgrew his special super hero clothes and we had to rely on our imagination to conjur his presence.  

Fast forward 10 or 12 years and "Fireball" has become a lovely young woman who is still a gifted teller of stories.  Whether on a stage or on the page, her creativity and imagination continues to delight her unabashedly biased mother.  She paints pictures with words and makes me laugh with her zany way of looking at the world.  I have no idea what God's plans are for her in terms of a vocation, but I have no doubt that it will somehow have something to do with telling good stories and I feel quite certain that she will be successful.  The world needs more good storytellers.

We love stories.  Books, movies, plays...even the commercials to which we only give cursory attention...people universally love to hear a good story.  Stories engage us at our most creative and imaginative level.  We picture ourselves in the role of the hero and we conquer our greatest fears and insecurities as we lose ourselves in the struggle to defeat the forces of evil.   The power of a good story is the power to influence and change minds and hearts.  It is why I love books and it is why I love theatre.

I am reading a book right now called "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" by Donald Miller.  Mr. Miller is best known for his best-selling book "Blue Like Jazz," one of my all-time favorites.  In this book I am reading now, he talks about the power of a good story as he recounts the process of turning his book "Blue Like Jazz"- a memoir of his own life- into a movie.  In the process, he explores what makes a story a good story.  Along the way, he decides that a good story is about a "character that wants something and is willing to overcome obstacles to get it."  He then goes on to discover that his real life isn't really telling a very good story and sets out to change that.  I haven't finished the book yet; I'll let you know if he succeeds.  I saw on his website that he has a new book coming out this week called "Storylines," so I bet he does. :-)

Anyway (and yes, I know I am rambling a bit here) I have been thinking more about stories and what makes a good story and whether my life is telling a good story.  If I am the main character in my story, what is it that I want and, perhaps more importantly, am I willing to overcome obstacles to get it?  And, as a follower of Jesus, whose life is arguably the greatest story every told, how does His story impact my life's story?  

I think I will leave us there for today because this is getting long and I have a meeting to attend tonight. We will let this marinate a little longer and see what comes of it.

What do you think of this definition of a good story?  What kind of story is your life telling?

And yes, my dear friend, I do think your pet squirrel story would make a great blog!

 

Happy New Year

I've been living by the school calendar my whole life.  And on the school calendar, September is the beginning of the new year.  Each year, as September rolls around once again, I vow to "get organized" and refocus my efforts to get control of my little corner of the world.

I think I can hear God giggling. 

So this year, on Labor Day, I spent some time with my fancy calendar on my Mac...which automatically syncs with my phone.  From my phone, I run my little corner of the world.  I read recently that there is some value in doing things at the same time every day, so I scheduled my mornings with the things that I see as priorities in my life.  Once Brooke leaves for school at 6:45 each morning, I am scheduled to seize the day in this fashion:

7-8    Prayer/Study time 

8-9    Exercise

9-10   Shower/ pick up around the house

As you can see, by 10 a.m. each day, I will have nurtured mind, body and spirit and taken care of my lovely family by caring for our home.  By 10 a.m., I will be ready to get out there and face the world.   This new plan to tackle the world was to begin on Tuesday of this week.

Well, maybe next week.

On Tuesday, I got a good start.  I got up, got Brooke off to her first day of 11th grade with a packed lunch and a smile.  Of course, since I have been sleeping in all summer and my brain was used to waking up at 8 instead of 6, I'm pretty sure I slept through most of my reading and prayer time.  However, I did do it and, as always, was blessed by any time I spend with God.  He is happy to see me, even if I am sleepy.  

I was supposed to exercise next.  The problem was, I also was scheduled to meet some friends for coffee at 10 and then go to the Lamb Center at 1:00 and so I would need to shower first and well... the problem was is that my hair was already clean.

You can see my dilemna.

I had showered late in the day on Monday and it takes time to dry my hair and my hair was already clean.  I sweat a lot when I exercise...if I exercised, I would HAVE to wash my hair.  So, if I exercised in my scheduled time slot, I would be wasting a perfectly good head of clean hair.  And that just seemed wrong.

So I checked Facebook instead.  Then I got ready and went to have coffee with some wonderful friends with my already clean hair.  I then went to the Lamb Center and talked about manna and God's abundant providence with some other wonderful friends.  Later that night, having already utilized my clean hair sufficiently, I did yoga.

Wednesday was going to be a whole new day; kick off for the new schedule!  However, my husband came home from work on Tuesday with a 101 fever.  So I slept poorly in the guest room that night.  After Brooke left for school on Wednesday, I went back to bed until 9:00.  Woke up to find my sweet husband awake and feeling better, so I had coffee with him until 10:30.  Did get in a work out later in the morning, but mostly threw out the schedule for the day since he was there and distracting me from my new sense of purpose and focus.

So, now it is Thursday.  I think I am starting to feel a little more awake.  I did indeed have a lovely time of study and prayer this morning.  Hopefully, God found me to be a bit more interesting conversationalist this time....at least I was conscious.  Haven't made it to exercise yet, mostly because I had to brag about the Cowboys win on Facebook first.  I chose Tony Romo as my fantasy football QB and he scored me 23 fantasy points last night....so I'm feeling quite self satisfied about my football prowess. Even though Steve will probably take credit for it if I win my league this year.

So, what's my point in sharing this sad tale of best laid plans and my constant distraction from my goals?

I don't know, but it makes me laugh.  Life is messy and wonderful and sometimes it does not obey my attempts to tame it.  Kids and husbands need care and time and attention.  I'm so grateful that I am here and available to provide that care most of the time.  Friends need time and care and attention.  I want to be here to provide that too.  I know there are some things I need to do to take care of me....to fill my cup so that I have something to give.  To breathe in those things that give me life and strength.  To feed my soul by drawing near to God and His word.  To take care of my body so that I can physically be here for as long as God has plans for me.  To be around friends that encourage me and remind me that I am not alone in this journey.  Those things ARE important and I will neglect them, if I don't schedule them and make them a priority.

But I've known me for 48 years now.  I am easily distracted by something shiny, so I have to continue to take myself by the hand and gently remind me of what is important TODAY.  As I have gotten older, I have also learned to not take myself too seriously.  I don't respond well to stern reprimands and finger shaking.  Most days, I get done what needs to get done and, if I don't, then I put it on the list for tomorrow.  And most days, that is good enough.

So, maybe I'll try the new schedule again next week.  I still like the idea of getting those important things done first, so that I'm available to do my other "stuff" in the afternoons.   Like write blog entries!  Of course, today it seemed important to do that now instead of exercise.  Plus, I once again have clean hair and I have a lunch date with a special friend!  :-)