The Turkey Toddler Trot

For the last few years, our church has run the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. We all wear matching shirts that advertise our service times for Christmas and use the oportunity to invite others to be our guests.

Typically, we've been unable to participate in this event because my entire side of the family heads off to the anual Aggie/T.U. game.

But, this year we will be celebrating Thanksgiving with Chris' family (who live in the area) and that means watch out Turkey Trot, here we come!

Hubs was trying to talk me into running the 10K with him, but then he woke up and remembered who he is married to. Him walking in on my unathletic attempt at Taebo in our living room may or may not have served to jog his memory.

Since then, the word is, "Feel free to walk it at your own pace, sweetheart."

Needless to say, Park is beyond excited about this race. Or, at least he was until I told him there will be a lot of people there and we will need to bring his jogging stroller as a back up plan.

Enter The Great Stroller Strike '08.

According to him, no respectable three-year-old still rides in a stroller for any reason whatsoever. Apparently, that is soooo last year.

So, to prove his capability of running the race to completion, he has been practicing nonstop for the last 2 weeks. Running everywhere we go, he turns back over his shoulder to shout, "See me running this race, Mommy? See how fast I am?? I will WIN that Turkey Trot!"

Perhaps that stroller will come in handy for Park to wheel me across the finish line.

Park's Turkey Trot Countdown Chains!

Inspiring Minds Want to Know

Sarah, Bridget and I just concluded hosting our second Savor event and this month’s topic was “Parenting with an Eternal Perspective.”

I believe that every Christ-following mother has incredible intentions when it comes to the discipleship of her children. However, our dishwashers get full, laundry piles high, and our children constantly need food to eat. (What’s up with that, by the way?)

Somehow in the midst of it all, we get sidetracked with the every day things and lose sight of our ultimate responsibility as mothers.

So, our goal for this Savor was to give mothers (ourselves included) some practical tools for success.

Sally Clarkson’s “The Ministry of Motherhood” does an incredible job of dividing discipleship into 5 categories; Grace, Inspiration, Faith, Training, and Service. And possibly even more helpful, those categories spell out the acronym GIFTS.

For today’s post, I’ll focus on what God has been teaching me about “I”.

Inspiration: Inspiring our children to see the power and majesty of God.

If there is any church in America that models this concept it is Fellowship Church. (Clearly, our Pastor's sermon this weekend, entitled "Seven Days of S*x", illustrates this point! ) I absolutely love the creativity at our church. And the reason our church is so intentional about utilizing creativity is because our God is so creative and we (and our children) are made in his image.

Based on that premise, it is so important for me to seek to expose my son to the evidence of God’s artistry all around us. Not only to just expose him, but to teach him to respond with gratitude, as well as creative endeavors of his own.

Park started teaching me this concept very early on. I believe I’ve mentioned once (or a thousand times) that my child was born more oral than dental floss. He puts EVERYTHING into his mouth and I do mean EVERYTHING!

When he was 15 months old, we were playing outside and he found a dead spider and actually ate it!

Now, I’m not exactly sure that this is what the Psalmist had in mind when he said, “Taste and see that the Lord is good”.

However, it does illustrate the point that our children are born with a hunger to experience the world around them, an insatiable appetite to explore the vastness of God’s creation.

But helping Park enjoy and appreciate God’s handiwork requires a choice on my part. Because if I were to be completely honest, it would be a stretch to describe myself as outdoorsy or even the least bit artsy crafty.

Just mention the word scrap booking and see me break out into hives.

But I strive to expose Park to nature, music, cooking together, plays, arts and crafts, books, Holiday traditions, field trips, and consistently modeling creativity in my own life.

And yes, that means I have to be willing to embrace the spilled paint, broken crayons, inconveniences, and hassles that go along with it. Because we all know projects never go as planned with small children!

But, all of that is worth it if I can even give him a glimpse of the creativity and majesty of our God.

And much to my relief, according to Sally, wise, creative mothers did not necessarily get that way on their own. A wise woman has learned to imitate lots of other wise women; the creativity comes in adapting those ideas to fit the needs of her own family.

One of the things I love about the blogging community is the ability to learn from wise mothers all around me- women I may never meet face to face, yet their ideas are helping make an eternal difference in the life of my son.

Now if that isn’t inspiring, I don’t know what is.

The Grinch That Stole Daylight AGAIN

Last year around this same time of year, I posted this to vent my frustration with Mr. Daylight Saving Time.

Considering I feel the same disgust this year, I figured re-posting it might make me feel better.

It does.

Thanks for the therapy, Internet.

And thanks to the blogger out there whose post entitled "Can Someone Please Tell My Children the Time Changed" , for confirming to me that I'm not alone in my irritation:)

"Collection Day"

Four years ago, on an election day similar to this, Park was just weeks away from being conceived. Perhaps this accounts for his vast array of political interest at the tender age of three.

Needless to say, he was ecstatic to get to vote with me today.

But, his bubble was burst a bit when we walked into the designated elementary school where our ballot would be cast.

"Where are they?" he asked.

"Who, baby?" I inquired.

"Is that one of them?" he asked loudly, while pointing wildly at an older gentleman.

"Who?" I repeated, quite confused.

"John McCain and Barack Obama!" he exclaimed.

Poor little man was so excited to go vote because he thought we would be meeting the presidential candidates. After stifling my laughter I explained that they were not here, to which he disgustedly responded, "Well, how are we supposed to vote for them if they don't even show up on collection (AKA, Election) day?!"

But, his disappointment was short lived after I let him push the "Cast Vote" button. One look at the American flag waving on the computer screen and he cheered, "We won! We won! I voted all by myself and we won, Mommy!

Apparently, one vote really does make all the difference.