Just gimme a mop and I'll park the car

"I think I just need a mop to put in the recycle can so I can see it."

Parallel parking 101.

Let that orange mop head stand like a flag as the bumper of a pretend car...

I failed my drivers test three times before I got my license at the age of 17. But I nailed parallel parking because my cousin  had just gotten her license and taught me with encouragement, confidence, perseverance, and trashcans to mark the spot in my driveway. 

Today I got to share those skills with another young driver! 

God, you make all things work together for your good. Redemption! Amen.

Lent bears fruit, and chocolate

We played Spelling Word Bingo in class today. My friend in the front row won! Miracle! So I gave her a Hershey’s Kiss.

Class moved on, but this little one unwrapped her chocolate candy and put it on her desk. Then, in her own world, she talked to it. No one observed but me.

“Oh, you look so good! I really want to eat you, but I’m not going to eat you! But I really want to eat you! I bet you taste really good!”

I watched amused, then I bent down and quietly asked her if she was talking to her chocolate.

“Yep!”

“What are you saying?”

“That I really want to eat it, but I’m not going to eat it because I gave up chocolate for Lent.”

 Wow. 

I told her she inspired me and encouraged her to give it to another classmate so she wouldn’t be tempted, so she did.

There is joy in suffering. Miracles exist! God speaks through people—especially the little ones.

Amen.

30

Thank you God for the gift of life! Jesus is my retirement fund. Let's plunge into the third decade with joy and hope for the future full of great surprises! 

Gratitude makes miracles.

Amen.

Feastin

I might not be able to eat sauerkraut right now, but I can still eat the Eucharist!

And when I'm dealin with the diseases of a 50 year old man, God still loves me!

He gives me babies and baby mamas who say, "When I feel lonely, I remind myself that feelings aren't reality." 

Cause I have a huge family of lots of people who love me, and the whole host of saints, Angels and Jesus Himself are there with me when I am feeling alone.

And God made me. So that's something to write home about. Creation. Beautiful. He takes care of it. Oh, and that probably means He kinda likes me--no HE LOVES  ME !-- and He might, no, HE WILL TAKE  CARE  OF  ME!

With a little boy who watches the priest blow out the candles with a long stick, and whisper to his dad that I'm his new friend.

Friends with a 2-year-old! Couldn't get better. Amen! Holla back! Praise the Lord! Thank you Jesus! 

Amen.

Family Love

Thank you God for friends who know when to encourage, when to help, and when to just listen. 

Thank you for family time with a friend and her children today, for the gift of snuggling with my Godson, for dancing and laughter and jokes.

And thank you for Steve Carell and his hilarious performance in Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

Amen

Baby Girl...Ba-by Girrrrllll

Oh it was a bangin’ song! So the man behind me called out: “One more time!” Which inspired the seasoned woman beside him to shout the next most obvious ejaculation, “Two more times!”

Only at Aqua Zumba.

The speakers were shoddy for one song, but we needn’t have worried. Pipes in the rear belted the whole tune with two words: “Baby girl!” Ba-by girl…ba ba ba baby girl!” Any part he didn’t know—which was every other lyric, was hum-substituted with “Baby girl!”  

My pot-bellied, tattoo plastered, union leader-type friend, with the local football team inked between his scapulas, tried his best to arabesque at the end stretch.

“I can’t do that,” he shared with me.

Hmm...

“We can only do what we can do,” I encouraged. (I affirm myself the same way).

We chatted some more after class.

“I missed class last week because I was in Arizona.”

“Oh, why were you there?”  Business trip?

“I was at the Super Bowl.”

What the what?

“I’m gonna go see how much more I can sweat off.” And he sauntered to the sauna.

I just can’t get enough of my Aqua Zumba friends.

Amen.

Weekend Reflections

I usually ask my students on Monday mornings to name one thing that happened over the weekend.

"My brother was so excited that the Patriots won that he jumped up and down and yanked his tooth out! And it wasn't even loose!"

"My sister got to see her Fairy Godmother. She didn't get to see her Fairy Godfather, just her fairy Godmother."

Super Big Lion

Katy Perry can ride a lion, but God created the roar. 

I was entertained, Katy, but I really enjoyed Missy Elliot's appearance.

"I just had a vision that I was going to make a big play and it came true," said Malcolm Butler, Patriots footballer ...I'm just blessed. I can't explain it right now. It's crazy."

God make your vision mine. Little play by little play.