Fear Not

The kids were at summer camp last week. Outside in the blazing sun all day. With a heat index of 110. Sweating on top of nylon sleeping bags in screened-in "cabins" at night.

I prayed that they would have a safe, amazing, louse-free week and they did.

I figured Jake would enjoy it, because it's his 3rd year. He loves camp and says he feels closer to God there.

But if you remember Molly's... er... bumpy re-entry earlier this summer when she returned from a week with her cousins, you'll know that I was braced for a very tired girl with Linda-Blair-like tendencies. I wanted to tread lightly in case the whole summer camp thing was just too, too much.

Imagine our surprise and relief when, as soon as they got home, she and Jake were already talking about what they wanted to do at camp next summer. And dinner started with an unusual request from Molly, to lead the blessing of our meal. We held hands, and instead of moaning and munching through "God is great; God is good," Molly prayed a short, sincere prayer from the heart. Wow.

This morning she was up reading her Bible and highlighting passages that stood out to her.

Here's the thing: I don't think you are a "good Christian" for reading your Bible and a "bad Christian" for not. Truth be told, much of the time my Bible serves more as a bedside coaster than a life-line for me. Does that mean God loves me less? Absolutely not. I do know the life-giving, powerful words the Bible contains, but more often than not, I seek a million other forms of solace and counsel before turning to it.

So you can imagine how touched I was when she, of her own volition, started searching for key passages to guide her through life.

She said as she did this, the words "Isaiah 43" came to her. Now you know as well as I that Isaiah 43 could have ended up saying something about 2 donkeys costing x number of shekels, or something like that, but it didn't.

Here are the verses she felt guided to in Isaiah 43. For Molly, for me, and maybe for you:

"But now, this is what the Lord says-- he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze."

And you know what she said after sharing this with me? "Mom, I'm so glad God led me to those encouraging verses, but it makes me nervous because I wonder if that means I'm going to go through a lot of hardship in life and REALLY need them to lean on."

I hear you, daughter, and I understand. You are your mom's little girl, all right.

Playing Catch-up

Since our last chat, I've been up to, well, about 5 feet, 5 1/2 inches. Yeah, if my dear colleague answers with his height one more time when I ask him what he's been up to, I'll... I'll... I just don't know what I'll do.

Here's a random recap of what I really have been up to. After reading it, you may wish I'd just stuck with my vital statistics:

1. Reading spiritual memoirs. I'm in LOVE with authors Don Miller and Anne Lamott. I know I'm about a zillion years late falling in love with these two, of Blue Like Jazz and Traveling Mercies, fame, but I just gobbled up Miller's new book:

and an older one by Anne Lamott:

Love, love, love the way they write and the way they make me think about my life and my story. They remind me of one of my favorite bloggers, Glennon.

2. Homeschooling and negotiating. Okay, not really. My poor daughter has only been out of school 3 days and we've already lost her summer math packet. We also haven't decided where to send her to school next year. So much for stability.

We are, however, reading a book about Women's Suffrage from the Dear America historical book series. She's loving it and I guess has taken some lessons to heart, because after a huge blow-up with her dad last night (over stuffed zucchini), she marched down the stairs carrying her "picket" as they say in the book.

Fortunately, I intercepted her and used my crack negotiating skills to talk her back up to her bedroom banishment. Somehow a hate note on the very same white board he took her to buy at Michael's earlier that day didn't seem like it would further her case for justice.

3. Buying ill-filling pants at the thrift store. Yep, in an effort to save money, I've made the brilliant move of buying used pants. Without a dressing room. The question is, is it really a bargain when I suddenly look like I have BIFF--"butt in front?"

4. Watching movies! Grand Torino was awesome! Acting? Meh. Story? Stellar. Tom and I discovered after an electrical storm that for some reason we now have Cinemax and Showtime. I hope to watch a few more movies before it goes back wherever it came from.

5. Avoiding my bathing suit. Yep, we canceled our pool membership this summer to save a little money. Happily, that means no bathing suit for me. Sadly, it means no fun for the kids, who have been hanging out in our driveway wearing suits and goggles hoping neighbors with a pool with have pity on them.

6. Sending kids to 9 hour a day church camp without sun or insect protection. Crap. I hope to remedy this tomorrow. Tick check will be tonight at 9.

7. Watching TV! The four of us are hooked on "America's Got Talent." An early contestant who billed himself as a "Genital Daredevil" and put his privates in a bucket with a firecracker really grabbed our attention AND expanded our vocabulary. It was a real teachable moment. The other acts have either horrified or inspired us, too.

8. Admiring my hair. To the average person, my hair is not doing anything that special. But after my hairdresser gave me a straightening treatment, I look less like this:

and more like, well, a normal person.


A normal person who just smelled something icky, but still.

So I guess that's about it in my little kingdom-- apart from doing laundry, going to work and trying to discover my hidden talent-- definitely not genital daredevil-dom--What about you?

Do I dare ask?

What have YOU been up to?