Honors Dorm

My eldest sent me this picture from her dorm lobby. Those kids just think a little differently.

Children

My youngest did an amazing thing last night. She wrote a book report. I know, I know: it's just a book report. But the amazing thing is that she did it all by herself. This has never happened before (she is in the 5th grade.) And there was no screaming or gnashing of teeth or thrashing around on the floor. She simply sat at the kitchen table and wrote it. Occasionally she would ask how to spell a word like "souvenir" or "opinion", but all the words were hers.

This is my child who has ADD. This is my child who is now taking a medication called Adderall. I fought putting her on medication for a very long time. I watched her struggle to make passing grades. I watched her call herself stupid because the didn't make straight A's like her older sisters. Now, I have watched her do this task and finish it all by herself. And the point is not to make her like her sisters, not to get all A's. The point is to let her reach her potential - HER potential.

I always had problems with parents who "drugged" their children. I thought it was a discipline problem or a laziness problem. Now I know better. (Boy, am I glad I never SAID any of those things to those parents!) I'm watching for side effects, but what I'm seeing now is her success.

Exquisite Worship

I need a word for worship last night. Not so I can go back there, but so I can keep it with me - Present. It needs to be something like 'exquisite,' but that word seems too small, too much like a gemstone. I need something bigger, as if you took 'exquisite' and exploded it so that it was a cloud that filled the room: so that you could breathe it in and feel it fill you; so that as you moved through it, you could feel and see it gather, sparkling, on your skin. This must be what it's like to be addicted to the Presence of God.

Is that what Isaiah saw when he saw the Lord "and the train of His robe filled the Temple . . . and the entire building was filled with smoke"?

Something big is about to happen. That many people can't have been in the Presence of the Lord for things to stay the same. He changes us so that we can become more and more like Him. I'm keeping my eyes open so I won't miss what's coming.

Later today, Dr. T is going to post some pictures of last night, but they won't come close to what being there was like. I can still feel it when I breathe.

I Found It

This is the picture I was looking for. It was hanging in the hallway in the Harbor. I took a photo of it, which doesn't exactly translate well, but you get the idea.

All those things that Jesus is, we should imitate. We should let them work together, too: let them not be individual characteristics, but parts of one whole.

What Am I?

I was thinking today about all those things Jesus said "I am ..." about. The gospel of John is full of them. You know, "I am the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6) and "I am the light of the world." (John 8:12) Well, it lead me to this: If I am supposed to be imitating Him, trying to be as much like Him as I can, how much of His 'I am' am I reflecting?

Am I being a light to those around me or am I spreading darkness?

Am I showing anyone the way to life? Am I telling the truth in love? That's a really hard one, because sometimes the truth doesn't sound like love. But one without the other can be dangerous.

What about "I am the bread of life"? (John 6:35) Wow, that one works on so many levels! Am I healthy for other people to be around or am I poisoning them? Am I providing them with something that will help them grow? Do I have enough salt in me (Mark 9:50) or do I leave a bad taste in their mouth? (That one really speaks to me because I've made homemade bread and forgotten the salt. What a waste of time and ingredients! It just doesn't satisfy.)

Several years ago, I made a crossword picture of the 'I am's from John. I'll see if I can post a picture of it here this weekend.