Freezin’ Fun

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Margaret

Here in Michigan, our weather is really cold. Freezing, in fact. Actually, below freezing. Tonight we’ll go down to – 8 actual temperature.

Although Jack loves the cold and develops a thick coat much like a bear’s, I’m not a fan. But that wasn’t always true. The authorities in our childhood neighborhood encouraged children to play outdoors regardless of the weather, especially so when it was extra-cold. Once we got a good cold snap, the fire department would bring their high-volume hoses to a steep hill near our home and flood it till it had become a five inch-thick slab of straight-down glare ice.

This kid-magnet was nick-named “Suicide Hill” by firemen and children alike, though no one actually died there. It dropped down to a broad, icy beach that led to Lake Michigan’s shoreline (visible here as we slide down backwards). If we aimed just right, we could sail all the way there. Never mind that we had to dodge trees and concrete-encased bar-b-q grills along the way.

Mom, ever-ready with her camera, encouraged us to head for Suicide Hill often, sometimes taking the whole church youth group with her. Below zero? No matter. Can’t find a good sled? Go down on your rear-end.

We learned to balance with expertise, standing straight up on our clumsy buckle-galoshes all the way down the hill at high speeds. Yes there were accidents, but nothing with permanent consequences.

Yesterday I stood in my kitchen listening to a repair man describe the bumps and bruises he endured during childhood, ex- pressing gratitude for the freedom to learn by experience. “Today’s kids are stopped at every turn from having good old-fashioned fun,” he said, “all in the name of safety.”

Immediately I thought of our heavenly Parent and the boundaries he sets for us… or doesn’t. Just as our parents let us freely experiment in the great outdoors, God allows us to do the same, never protecting us with complete safety. He gives us free rein to make decisions and follow desires however we please, opting in and out of wisdom. And he lets us experience all kinds of natural consequences, both good and bad, with the hope we’ll learn from them.

Natural consequences of our own making can be dramatic and life-altering. We’re forced to pick up baggage we might never have had to carry, had we asked our Father which decision to make in the first place. But following our own lead (often an “expensive” process) can teach us quite effectively, too.

Recently my sister, brother, and I took a drive to Suicide Hill to see if kids were still enjoying the same kind of fun we’d known. Despite the winter weather, there was no ice on the hill. Actually, the whole area had been permanently fenced off from the public.

The only glare-ice hills today’s kids get to experience, I’m afraid, are on video games.

“There is hope for your future, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 31:17)

Not What We Envsioned

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Margaret

What do we do when life doesn’t turn out the way we envision it? Based on the facts we know on any given day, most of us project next-step logic. When it doesn’t follow accordingly, we become unsettled and usually unhappy.

This is especially true when a first baby is on the way. A young couple nurtures the mental picture of mama and baby snuggled together in the minutes after labor and delivery, the sweet desire of the heart accomplished just as they’d hoped. But what if the doctor delivers a piece of news that rearranges that picture?

That’s what happened to my nephew Andrew and his wife Kim during the last weeks of her pregnancy. It was a blow to learn their baby wasn’t growing as he should in the womb and that their wisest choice would be to induce delivery 3 weeks ahead of schedule. The diagnosis was Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR), and the medical consensus was that the placenta wasn’t delivering adequate nutrition to the baby.

Little Anders James was born on December 22 weighing 4 pounds 2 ounces but other than his low weight seemed healthy and whole. So what does a young couple do when their parenthood picture looks nothing like what they visualized?

They do the same thing all young couples do. They love, protect, and pamper their new baby. These particular parents have also rooted for their newborn in ways most parents never do, applauding each half-ounce of milk he takes in, comforting him when the effort to suck wears him out.

They’ve also become immediately aware of the fragility of life, something most new mothers and fathers don’t learn till much later. And they work to bond with their new baby through tubes, wires, and the NICU schedule. Caring for their little one is done in the presence of hospital personnel, and when it’s time to go home each night, they don’t get to take their baby with them.

Kim and Andrew’s introduction to parenthood has been anything but smooth, yet they’ve responded to each complication with courage and endurance. When Anders’ weight slipped to 3 pounds 15 ounces, they didn’t panic but trusted God to bring the gains he needed and continued diligently to tend to his feedings. When he pulled out his feeding tube again and again, they patiently endured his objections as it was reestablished.

The Lord is hovering close to this young family as it goes through these difficult days of wondering what the future will hold while managing the complex present. But God made Anders to be exactly who he is, a little fellow working hard to meet the big challenges of each new day.

And as all three of them continue to learn from each other, one thing they already know for sure: Anders James has been “fearfully and wonderfully made” by a God who loves him with an everlasting love.

“From everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children.” (Psalm 103:17)

Praising and Praying with Mary

I’m thankful Anders’ feeding tube was taken out today and that he is continuing to gain weight, up to 4 pounds 11 ounces at last count.

Please pray he’ll continue to make steady gains and that the Lord will direct as to which day he leaves the hospital.

Gettin’ Creative

Posted on December 3, 2014 by Margaret

Today I did something I bet no other grandma has ever done. I took 7 slightly used rolls of toilet paper, unrolled a couple of rounds, tore them off neatly, then Scotch taped along the seams.

Dementia? Art? Idiocy?

It harkens back to when Emerald was a one-year-old and we taught her to build tall towers out of fresh rolls of TP. They were soft, safe building blocks that tolerated the clumsy hands of a toddler perfectly.

Emerald loved the idea, and “tower” was one of her first distinguishable words. I figured it would be a brief phase in her development, but a year later (now a two-year-old), she’s still building. She’s capable of constructing towers taller than she is and understands that role-placement plays an important part in a high tower’s stability. And if there’s such a thing as being creative with toilet paper, Emerald is.

She lines them up on the edge of the bathtub, rolls them like wheels, and bunches them in symmetrical clusters. She erects walls with them and uses them as stools. I am one proud grandma.

Today while she was happily building TP-towers at my house, the bathroom suddenly became quiet, my signal to quickly check. When I rounded the corner I found a party-in-progress, complete with abundant confetti on the floor, in the tub, toilet, and stuck to the bath toys. Apparently one of the rolls had begun to unravel, and rather than Emerald’s usual, “Oh-oh, Mee Mee,” she decided to try a shredding project.

Tiny bits of TP were in her hair, on her hands, and hanging from her clothes (breakfast pancake syrup helped with that). She was quite proud of herself and said, “TP, Mee Mee!” as I stood in the door, not knowing quite what to do.

Which brings me to the Scotch tape. Rather than disappoint Emerald by putting TP supplies on a high shelf or in another room altogether, I decided to try securing the rolls so she can continue to build without the temptation to shred.

We can learn a great deal from watching young children. Their spontaneous creativity is something God established inside every human being as if to remind us of him, the Creator. Though we can’t create as he can, we can “be creative” in a mini-likeness of him. And isn’t that what he wants us to be, a reflection of him? After all, the word “Christian” actually means “little Christ.”

Now that I’ve thought it through, I can appreciate Emerald’s creativity in a new way as she uses what God gave her. Of course my TP-taping may have been for naught if she arrives tomorrow with shredding on her mind.