......revelations of one woman's reality of life, love, and all things hopeful...

Monday, June 30, 2008

Get Real, Blondie!!!

Living with teenagers means drama can escalate at any moment. Such an escalation gave me a huge "laugh on the inside" today. In the heat of the moment I could only file the humor of the event away in my heart, but now I can laugh out loud in the privacy of my office, only in the presence of my computer and anyone who happens to stumble upon my little journal.

So I'm having a conversation with Maddie. Somehow the topic evolves into cats when Jessie joins the conversation. A conflict arises when one girl says a pregnant lady should never, ever be exposed to cats or cat poop because of toxoplasmosis and the risk of birth defects in the unborn baby. The other gal utterly disagrees because it's a scientific fact that if the lady has been exposed to the cat for a long period of time prior to becoming pregnant, she is immune.

The insults and creative arguments continued to exchange back and forth. First like ping-pong balls, the words battled back and for in a light and gentle mood. As tempers (as well as nostrils) began to flare, the exchange of words batted back and forth like the tennis balls of Wimbledon. Finally, Maddie dropped a "just-shut-up-you-stupid-redneck-bomb" on Jessie's battleship and then stormed out of the house.

Jessie didn't seem too overtly injured by Maddie's blow-up. She mumbled a few comments before she realized the real offense. With all seriousness, without even a hint of a smile, Jessie said "Oh, by the way, she needs to know, I'm not a redhead, I'm a brunette!"

What? What did she say? Big-time laugh on the inside! No, honey, you are blond if I've ever known a blond!

Silly girls! Don't you know that we don't even have cats in this house? Or outside for that matter! You are arguing over a mute point!

Silly girls? What about silly woman? Or silly Christian?

...crickets....crickets....

Guilty.

My ways are not your ways. My thoughts are not your thoughts.

When you were a child, you spoke as a child. Now you are a woman, so put away childish things.

Follow Me. Delight in Me. Trust Me. Obey Me.

Love one another. Consider others higher than yourself.

I hear you loud and clear, Lord.

Just call me Blondie!

I saw a monkey today, too!!!


Last Thursday morning I took Zay to daycare for LeeAnn. As I was leaving his "school" I noticed an assembly of the older children in the dining room. Standing before the group of children was a man, obviously from a zoo or wildlife preserve, holding a real, live monkey in his arms, discussing the details and habits of the animal. After peeking into the dining room for a few moments, I went on my way.

On the drive home, I reminisced about a vivid childhood desire: a monkey. Why did I always want a pet monkey when I was a little girl? I remember seeing monkeys on tv as a child (Sesame Street, The Electric Company, Wild Kingdom) and being fascinated. I always pictured myself toting a little monkey on my hip, it wearing nothing but a white Pampers diaper. Just remembering that little childhood thought just made me smile and laugh out loud. Thinking about thinking about it makes me smile.

So later the same day I was mowing the lawn. For some reason while still riding the lawn mower, I decided to take my cell phone out of my pocket and check for missed calls. To my surprise, I didn't have any missed calls, but was actually receiving a call at that moment. It was my friend Jennifer who I call "Marie" (and that's a whole nother post! That's her picture up there, by the way!) I turned off the mower and answered the phone. Why was she calling me in the middle of the day?

"I just had to call and tell you about what I just saw!" she giggle-said. What is so funny? "I was driving down the road behind this car and there was something in the back seat that just kept jumping around and taking this lady's hat off and sticking it's arm out the window. At first I thought it was a kid but then I figured out it was a MONKEY! It was soooo cute! I have laughed so hard at that monkey!" She went on to tell me that seeing that monkey just made her think of me and that she just had to call and tell me about it.

Of course, I told her of my own "monkey siting" that same day. I discovered that she, too, always wanted a monkey a child.

Here are my questions: How weird is it that we both sited moneys on the same day? How weird is it that she called to tell me and I actually stopped mowing the lawn in order to answer the phone? Why did I even take the phone out of my pocket in the first place at the exact moment she was calling me? And especially, why did Marie think of me when she saw a monkey?

Hm. Wow.

First, I saw a monkey. Then I had all the vivid recollections of a monkey. Then in most unusual circumstances, Marie calls and tells me that she saw a monkey. All within a matter of a few hours.

That reminds me of times when I might run across a verse in the Bible that really jumps out at me. I may ponder the verse throughout the day. Then, the next thing I know, some song will come on the radio which quotes the verse, or Bro. Jeff will mention the same verse in his sermon. It's times like these that I know I need to perk up my ears to understand what The Lord may be saying to me.

Now, I'm not saying God was speaking through the monkeys! I'm just saying that they remind me of how He works sometimes. But wait.... maybe He was speaking through the monkeys because they made me think of Him. Or was it that the monkeys made Marie think of me?
My head hurts.