Sunrise With A Six Pack - Blog

May 11, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

Balance

How do you balance a six pack? I have been asked this question a few times… more like…

how do you do it?

there’s no way I could do it

you sure do have your hands full…

Well, the answer is…

How do you not? Yes, you could do it and you would do it – if it were your path to travel. Yes, my hands are full, and I thank God my arms are not empty.

I have had my moments, my days, of sheer madness… when, at the end of the day, I actually feel myself buzzing. When, I don’t want to hear one more word from one more person. Haven’t all mothers had this feeling of complete mental fullness, of over-stimulation to the point of vibration… the feeling that it really has to be 5 o’clock somewhere? It is right here. It’s 5 o’clock (even at noon) and I have a six pack. A whining, bickering, question-asking, demanding six pack.

At the end of the day, that wonderful time of utter silence, when those six precious heads gently indent sleep beckoning pillows… I feel the buzzing come to a sudden… stop.

The silence is almost startling. I realize how full my days are… how full my house is… how full I am.

I do enjoy the silence… the silence, for now, is brief.

I have spent a decade learning how to balance one addition after another… until the six pack was complete. It’s the act of balance… that’s where the learning lives. That’s where the lessons are learned… patience, strength, wisdom, forgiveness, joy, love.

How do you balance a six pack?

Believe that you are right where you are supposed to be

Accept that you will mess up ~ every day ~ and try again

Let them make mistakes ~ and watch you make mistakes

Ask for forgiveness ~ show them how to give it

Nourish their hearts, minds, bodies and souls (and mama’s too)

Communicate ~ the good, the bad, and the ugly

Embrace every moment (even the “5 o’clock somewhere” ones) ~ and every little soul ~ every day

Balance the six beautiful gifts, with arms wide open…

in these long days…

of these too short years.

Proverbs 22:6

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

May 9, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

The Burn

Fevers. I hate when my little ones get fevers. The burning skin radiates heat.

I look into those glassy eyes and wish I could cool the little body with a touch.

mama, I’m cold

A hot body, strangely, shivers. Working furiously to heat itself, but feeling cold. The body burns in order to shed the invader.

Fevers are actually quite brilliant. My medical brain tells me that my child’s hypothalamus is working as it should… raising the temperature to chase away the virus.

burning away the bad

My mommy brain just wants my little one to feel better… wants the heat to go down, just to let my child sleep… comfortably. I just want comfort.

I offer my baby a dose of relief. A sweet, oozing sip of liquid comfort. The taste makes my child smile. It takes time, but relief comes soon. My sleepy child’s eyes close and peaceful sleep overtakes.

I have read some studies that indicate that the use of medications to lower a fever actually delay the viral shedding.

comfort can delay the burning of the bad

I think this must be the way it is for all of us. God burning away the bad… to get to the good… to get us to where we are supposed to be. Whole and healthy. The way there is not, I suppose, through comfort.

It’s easy enough to take the path of comfort, and as mommy I provide it.

Should the soul take the way of comfort? Avoid the fire? The burning of the bad?
This burning brings shivering… touches a cold corner of a heart, burning away the invading sin… warming to open to God’s will. The shivering soul burns away the invader. The invading human qualities… burning to clear the path toward godliness.

My child asks for one thing… a cold drink. A cold drink of water… the refreshing water of life to cool the burning of the bad.

John 4:14

but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

I give my little one the water to drink…

just as I am given the water.

May 8, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

Follow the leader

Kid feet. Every few weeks I trim 60 toenails on 12 little feet. The assembly line of feet in the blur of bath time drive home the realization that I am responsible for mothering a six pack of children into adulthood. My little bath time ducklings.

I have been given six little ones to lead through this world… until they are big enough to walk on their own feet…

their own 12 little feet

I am the mother duck, smoothly gliding across a pond. Six babies paddling furiously behind… trying with all their might to keep up… what you can’t see… mother duck is paddling just as furiously beneath the smooth water’s surface…

Mama duck is exerting tremendous amounts of energy to stay ahead of her little flock… to show them the way to the water. It’s her purpose, this leading of her little ducklings.

I look at these 12 little feet and wonder… who is leading whom?

who is leading?

A little girl ran to her mother, concern written across her face… worried for her new friends next door…

mommy, I’m afraid they don’t know God!

Two mothers were talking at the fence. The mother tried to reassure her ~ we know God…

The little girl persisted (her mom feeling… awkward)

they only go to church on Christmas!

Awkward! It reminds me of where I have been. Half asleep… until my own little children asked… who is God? Oh…

My little ones’ question lead us back… to church… to God.

who is leading whom?

I see the answer… in 12 little feet… 60 little toes

Luke 18:16-17

But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

May 7, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

Grace – how much is too much?

It’s not fair!
How many times have I heard that line? I try not to roll my eyes thinking,

if you only knew sweet child… nothing is fair

I then, sometimes calmly, sometimes not quite as calmly as I long to be, explain again to my crying child

life is not fair. it just isn’t.

Sometimes things work out fairly, but most of the time, at least one soul leaves feeling wronged.
Then it happens… it happens to me. It’s not fair! That’s when it hits me… just what I told my sweet, whiny child

life is not fair.

Easy lessons to teach, but not so easy to learn. Why is it that the things we want to teach our kids, we have to painfully learn ourselves? The real question is this … is “fair” the important lesson?
It’s a nice idea, this idea of things being equal, balanced, and just. We only see the justice through our eyes.

Then, the real lesson grabs me and shakes me. It peels a few more scales from my eyes.

It’s not about “fair” … it’s about grace.

That gem given to us in the midst of it all ~ in the midst of the beauty

and the mess…That undeserved grace that we are freely given, but clutch with a greedy hand, only to release when we feel it’s deserved. The lesson is a difficult one – one that we can only teach by example, not by well-thought-out words. Monkey see. Monkey do. My little monkeys will only do it, if they see it. This is a hard one. A tough lesson of reaching deep, to where the spirit lives, and releasing that which is not mine anyway. Grace… a beautiful, saving, undeserved gift. A gift we are called to give forward, not in fairness, but in love.

2 Corinthians 12:9

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

God’s grace is sufficient…

May 2, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

move

So, what do you do?

That’s the question we all get. That’s the question we all ask. We meet someone new…

what do you do?

Many years ago, I replied to that question… I’m a speech pathologist.
After our first child, I replied… I’m a speech pathologist… but, I stay home with my son.
After our second little one, my answer… I’m a speech pathologist… but, I haven’t worked for a while. (What a joke! Actually, I had never worked this hard before.)
After our third, well… I may have mentioned that I was a speech pathologist, but usually I didn’t get the question anymore. After all, my kids were right there with me (evidence of what I do).
Then, four, five, and sweet six…

what don’t you do?

The question changed… so, what does your husband do? (Pretty funny. I actually ask the same question. I know what the mommy does.)

Here is what stumps me. What stumps so many of us.

what do you want to do?

Of course, the first items on my “want list” are mom and wife. I am grateful beyond words for those blessings. Now, beyond that. I really had not thought much beyond that… yet, I had felt a nagging. A nagging that there is more. Raising and taking care of a family is plenty ~ my cup does runneth over. However, I am referring to the desire deep down inside to create.

We are given so many gifts. I wonder if we don’t even skim the surface of some of our gifts. We feel as though we should be grateful for what we have… and not ask for more. Maybe it’s not asking for more. Maybe the prodding voice is trying to move us forward… maybe He is asking us to do more.
Our Creator… well, He creates. He has created us to create. When we create ~ we grow.
He wants us to grow.

The question… the question is actually this…

what does He want you to do?

The answer doesn’t always come clearly. The waiting is difficult. The waiting involves movement!
Moving toward Him, moving in service for Him, moving out of the comfort zone, moving…

and being still… all at the same time.

Not so simple. Moving into new areas, unknown areas… waiting for Him to do His work.
All this while… He’s been waiting for me to move.
He will mark the path.

Matthew 17:20-21

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Balance

The Burn

Follow the leader

Grace – how much is too much?

move

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