Sunday School Lesson

I teach 4th Grade Sunday school and I love it.
The kids are fun, they can read well and they are beginning to understand some of the deeper meanings behind the stories in the Bible. But they're still not too cool to do some great projects.
We have lots of fun on Sundays.
This last week, though, something happened that has stayed with me all week long.
We were discussing John 3:1-16. Of course, everyone knows John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him will not die but have eternal life." Or something like that, I may have paraphrased a little. :)
We were all done with the lesson when one little boy turned and asked me "Mrs. L, would you sacrafice YOUR son if it was the only way to save the world?"
I was absolutely flummoxed. I opened and shut my mouth a couple times but nothing came out. Multitudes of thoughts raced through my head in about two seconds flat.
I look over and my boy, my lovely boy (who is in my class) was looking up at me with big wide eyes.  "Would you let me die, Mama?"
Gulp.
What an incredible question. I really wanted  my heart to say "Of course I would follow God's direction." But my heart was tugged by looking at this boy, this being that lived  and grew inside me for 9 1/2 months, this little one that I would give my life for in a heartbeat.  I would die for him, but if God asked, would I sacrafice him?

I still don't know my answer. But  this question has definitely given me pause and made me reflect on what obedience really means. It made me keenly aware of what an incredible sacrafice it was for God to give His only Son. I can only imagine what that cost Him.

So, you know that Sunday School lesson? This time, I was the student.

Where's that Lunchbox?

"Where's your lunchbox?" I asked S.
"I don't know, I'll find it" S replied. It's about 5 minutes until the carpool comes.
"Better hurry" I offer my  oh-so-helpful advice.
Mumbling something (I prefer not to know what it was), S looks for the elusive bag that has his lunch inside.
It's now 2 minutes before carpool.
S uses the bathroom. I say (with slightly more emphasis, well, if you count yelling as 'slightly more') "Where's the dang lunchbox? You are NOT ordering school lunch. I packed a perfectly good lunch and you need to find it. It was in your hand not 5 minutes ago, where is it?"
"Mama, I'm in the bathroom, I'll look when I get out" S replies.
I still think it's an avoidance tactic.
By now, I've looked all over the house. S has looked and can't find it and the carpool has arrived.
S hightails it out of the house (I believe he was secretly glad to leave the increasing pressure cooker that was our house with the missing lunchbox).
"Mama, I can't find it. I'll just eat school lunch" S yells as he's getting into the carpool car.
I may or may not have well, not so gently, slammed the front door  all the while muttering "he just wanted school lunch, bet I find the ding dang lunchbag right after he leaves."
I continued to look for it for about 1/2 hour. It remained unfound. I remain convinced that S had hid the lunchbag just so he could have school lunch. Not a happy mama.
Fast forward to the next morning.
"S, where is your lunchbox?" I asked.
"Mama, I looked everywhere, I can't find it?" he said.
"Are you sure you didn't put it somewhere so you could have lunch at school?" I ask.
"NO! I didn't but I'll keep looking even if I can't figure out where it might be" S decides.
I walk over to open the front drapes. Look outside the window, and lo & behold, there's that lunchbox. Outside, on the ground, behind the bushes, next to the house.
Now, why didn't I think of that??!!

The Sacrafices I Make

It's Lent.  A season of preparing, of forgiving, of re-examining, of sacrafice.  A season to talk about what this all means with S & C.
This morning, I asked them "How should we celebrate/remember Lent as a family?"
A couple of blank faces looked back at me. I was thinking 'oh oh, I'm in trouble here' and at the same time thinking 'what can of worms am I opening?'
"Well, we could pick a charity and figure out ways to earn or save money that we would give to them," I said.
 A little interest perked up on their faces. But, they were not totally convinced.
"How about giving up something as a family?" I asked.
Both heads nodded vigorously.
"YES!" they both shouted.
"I know, tv!" spouted S.
"Yeah!" answered C.
"OH Crap!" thought Mama, "why do I do these things to myself???"
Then the  kids said "Mama, I think we should go without tv one night a week. And, spend some time working on something about Lent or doing something special together."
First, I was proud that they agreed on something and something that was such a nice idea. But, second, I really don't want to go a whole night without the television. It's my relaxation and escape after they go to bed. It's my down-time. It's, well, my crutch.
"I think it should be Weds nite" C continued on as if they hadn't noticed my panicked, deer in the headlights look and the thought that they better not pick Tues nite 'cause if this Mama doesn't get her Biggest Loser fix, watch out!
"No, not Weds, it should be Mon or Fri" S replied, "cause those are the two nights we don't have anything else going on. So, it'll be harder not to have tv, more like a real sacrafice and then we have time to do something else. As a family. together."
Well, darnit all anyway, who raised these smart kids who are so responsible????!!

The reality of it is, I am the one who doesn't want to sacrafice. I am the one who is pondering that it's sometimes a looooong time between the end of school and the end of the night. I am the one who is hesitant to do this. I am the one who is making excuses.And, frankly, there's no good reason for it. It's simply my stubbornness, my unwillingness to step out of my comfort zone, my lack of faith. Wow, looking at what I just wrote, this really was all about ME. Completely the opposite message than the one I intended to send.  Ouch.
This tv fast is a small thing to do. It'll last a relatively short amount of time and I know the gains from it will be worth it. This will be a great way to remember a much greater sacrafice that was once made for all of us.

So, Mondays it is. No tv from after school to the end of the night.
It's settled.
Except for one thing.
Now........who's gonna tell the Hubster?!

10 Things I Like About You

I walked by the desk of S and found this note from C:

Here's what it said:

The 10 Things I like about you:
1. your nice
2. you love me
3. your fun to play with
4. I like it when your there with me
5. I like when you hug me
6. your funny
7. your careing
8. you stand up for me
9. I like that you think about me
10. I like you succe (sense) of humor

I like it when they get along.

Webelos

S had his Cub Scouts Blue & Gold Banquet. That's the big celebration where the boys get all their badges and pins. They have a meal and some entertainment. This year, it was the FrogMan. He's a hoot, we've seen him a few times. At the end, the boys and any other kids/adults there were allowed to hold the snakes he brought. S jumped right up and grabbed one. I, however, watched and took pictures from a safe distance. Me + snakes = not a good match. S had no such compunctions though:

Course, he also threatened to come over and drape the snake on me. I politely refused. At least, that's my story and I'm sticking with it.

S also received 3 pins that night, physical fitness, citizenship and art.  But, most importantly, he is now a full-fledged Webelo Scout (that's the final stage of cub scouts before becoming a boy scout).  Webelo stands for "We'll be Loyal Scouts."

It was really hard to get a good photo as things were moving along quickly, but here is S checking out his new pins and ribbons.
We're proud of our little Webelo!!

Snack Attack

C came in from playing outside, hung up her coat and bopped into the den. She asked me if I wanted anything to eat or drink. "Real food or play food?" I asked.
"Play" she said.
 "OK, I'll have chocolate cake and ice cream."
"Oh, I'm so sorry, we're all out of chocolate cake."
"Really?" I asked incredulously.
"Yes, but we have strawberry cake, would you like a piece of that?" C asked, standing as if she was taking my order at a restaurant.
"Sure" I answered.

"And, what flavor ice cream would you like? We have vanilla or strawberry" C said.
"Oh, vanilla please" I answered.

She hopped out of the room and returned a few seconds later with pink plastic cake, a plastic scoop of vanilla ice cream and a pink cup of pretend ice water.

After I 'finished' my cake, she came back to clear off the dishes.
"Did you enjoy your cake and the ice cream? I hope so because it was the last piece we had" she said.
I told her I enjoyed it very much. She skipped away and went off to play.

Truly, it was the best snack I've had all week.

My Royal Family

We went for a nighttime walk tonight. The weather was beautiful, the moon was out, the snow was a-melting. As we were coming home, C started this conversation:
C: Look! Maggie is walking and leading us, just like a Princess!
S: Yep, she's a princess all right.
C: Princess Maggie and I'm a princess too.
S: Oh boy, here we go.
C: I'm Princess of Nice and Maggie, she's the Princess.... Princess of.... um.....
S:Pooches?
C: Yeah, Princess of Pooches. And Mama is the Queen. She's always the Queen. She's the Queen of Mamas.
[At this point, I was thinking that I've taught my youngest well!]
C: And Daddy is the king, of course. King of all the boys.
S: Well, what am I then, if you're the princess, Mama the Queen and Daddy is the King?
C: Oh, that's easy. You're the Joker.