This Where the Nonsense Turns to Makesense

..A large family working to perfect our sweet skills: Loving others, making an impact, parenting on purpose, living simply, and embracing sarcasm.

Sunday, June 12, 2016

Think About it

My youngest daughter, The Squirrel, brought home a paper asking her to pick between choir, strings, and orchestra for next school year. She had it narrowed down to playing the violin and choir. I suggested we make a pro con list. 


Hear me out. I love pro con lists. Like. A lot. I'm Rory Gilmore when it comes to pro con lists. I make them about everything. 

They help people process. Cause us to make links and jumps from one thing to another and get to a final conclusion. And these matched with prayer is just a win win. Especially when we pray for God's will and use the brain he gave us to start taking steps. 

You would think, because I function this way about the most mundane questions (how much should I spend on a vacation? Should I donate to this charity? Do I say yes to taking on this Bible study?) and then proceed to make a mental pro con list, you would think this is how I am training up my child. 

Ahem. It appears I've missed my window. It appears I've said one thing and done another, which is always a bad idea ESPECIALLY when I've DONE what is good and SAID what is just lame. What a weirdo. What a complete rookie. 

Sometimes I catch a reflection of my parenting and think I couldn't possibly be more like Homer Simpson. I'm a work in progress. And thank goodness for chance after chance after merciful chance. 
She chose violin. It was a cool and calculated decision and in just the nick of time I threw out a "you know. You sing naturally well. God has already given you that gift. You can keep working on that without lessons if God wants you to be great. But violin playing needs lessons. And who knows, maybe God wants you to use all this music as part of your ministry when you grow up." 

It was added lamely, but I'm grateful God opened my eyes before it was too late to approach this decision without prayer. And I realize, in the huge scheme of life this is a small decision for a small little squirrel. But for an eleven year old learning to approach Jesus for his direction, this is one step in the right direction. 

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