Thursday, June 24, 2010

Wonder Woman to the Rescue!

It's "Open Mic Nite" in heaven and God's using my life as a punchline again.

June was supposed to be about finding balance.

Isn't it funny that I haven't had enough balance to find a few minutes to write in two weeks?!

Well, I find it amusing anyway. I sort of have to find it amusing. Because this is the way God deals with me quite frequently.

My kids still tease me about the time when I was praying to God for patience. I was a young stay-at-home mom with four kids and I desperately needed all the patience He would grant me. So I started a daily prayer for patience. And here's how the funny, funny man upstairs answered that request.

It was one of those Sundays at church where you truly, truly believe in Satan because he's been trying to sabotage you all morning. There was the misplaced shoes, the breakfast on the favorite dress, the last minute diaper change, the uncooperative carseat. Everything was working against us. But we forged on, arriving only 2 or 10 minutes late. Luckily, there was a nearly empty pew which we not-so-quietly scooted into.

Almost immediately I noticed it--a high pitched, eardrum piercing beeping noise. I casually scanned the church-goers sitting near us, but I couldn't tell where the noise was coming from. Then dread descended upon me. I grabbed the diaper bag and scrounged through it, looking for some wayward battery-operated toy that must have been inadvertently shoved in the bag. Nothing. Hmmm.

The beeping continued while one kid tugged on my sleeve. "What's that noise, Mommy?" And another shoved her palms to her ears and frowned through through the entire service. And another joined in by mimicking, which of course caused the fouth to come down with a contagious case of the giggles. All the while, that beeping was like an ice pick in my ear.

Towards the end of the service, when the congregation kneels in silent prayer and I repeated my patience prayer over and over and over, the contagious giggles overcame me, too. This is how God delivers patience. He throws me in the middle of situations where I have to practice it. Thanks, God.

June has been a month full of beeping church days. Last weekend my amazing, corporate working Mom sister was supposed to come to town and organize my life. In just a few hours she was going to perfect my balancing act. She sent me encouraging e-mails and voice mails to prepare me for the changes she was going to make. Which, honestly, scared me just a little. I didn't realize finding balance would require such drastic action. But I was ready and willing and exited. My sister is Wonder Woman. I've always had a secret desire to be Wonder Woman. I was eager to join the Wonder Woman ranks.

Then something really funny happened. When Wonder Woman flew into town, guess what? She overbooked herself. We never did get to the balancing act lessons. Again, I had to laugh.

But I did learn a lesson. If even Wonder Woman can get out-of-balance sometimes, I should give myself a break. Part of the balancing act is regaining equilibrium when you are about to go over the edge. And sometimes pulling yourself back up when, in fact, you can't keep from falling.

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