Friday, May 22, 2009

...Without the Drama, Please"

When my oldest son suggested we spend more time together, I envisioned lunches, not lunges. For seven weeks now I have been crunching and creaking my way to improved health, all under his watchful eye. When my mind says, "That's all, folks," my son vetoes that idea by saying "I want three more...two more...one more." He reminds me to focus on my form, think healthy thoughts, cut the carbs, and swallow my supplements.

On occasion, I'll respond to his training with playful resistance, such as a groan or a childish whine. He'll usually simply mutter, "Without the drama, please." That's why I was caught off guard by his response last week to my playful pouting. He lowered his dumbells, let out a long sigh, looked up from the bench where he sat, and said," Dad, I can't provide the willpower for both of us."

It's true. I had made my physical condition more his responsibility than mine. But he was working out, too. He was doing the lunges, the crunches, and the cardio machines, too. He was struggling through his reps using far heavier weights and far more resistance than I was. In fact, he was enduring my resistance.

I see this human tendency to shift responsibility all around me. Until I own my situation I will never really improve it. My kids can either expect the teacher to lighten the load, or they can step up to the plate and study harder. They can settle for a sloppy piano recital, or they can practice longer. I can feel entitled to a bailout and mope until I get it, or I can put my mind to better use by working harder and focusing on new, smarter ways to market my products. I can wait for the government to lift me over every hurdle, or I can dig deep inside and find a greater strength. American history is a gigantic collection of stories about the the pioneering spirit that overcame unscouted wilderness, mountain ranges, deserts, droughts, dust bowls, swarms of insects, attacks of violence, and much more. They pressed on and built a nation like none other in history.

I've never faced the threat of scalping, lost a crop to grasshoppers, or endured hunger on the prairie because blizzards prevented the trains from bringing supplies. I just write children's story books from a fairly comfortable chair in a fairly comfortable office. Not too dangerous. But I do face difficulties: financial weights, deadline challenges, distribution hurdles, and the always heavy responsibility of raising a large family. Friends and family, of course, can give and receive help, and this is good. Charitable organizations and government programs can offer their help to the truly needy who are in dire circumstances. But most of us are not in dire circumstances, but in uncomfortable circumstances. We may be tempted to gripe or mope rather than tap into that reserve strength. For me, that reserve is in Jesus Christ, through whom "I can do all things" (Philippians 4:13). I know that "the One who is in me is greater than the one that is in the world" (1 John 4:4). God gives me fresh ideas, tenacity, resources, and inspiration to counter the stale ruts, failure, poverty, and hopelessness that try to seize me. I have a mind. I have ideas. I have potential. I have whatever remaining days are ahead of me. I have opportunities all around me. I have a relationship with Almighty God. I can do more.

And I can do it without the drama.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

The Wonder of Waiting

Lately, the Bower family has been waiting...a lot. Waiting for the ground to warm up and for this Northern Michigan weather to get past its nasty freezes so we can plant the rest of the garden. Waiting, along with our daughter (child#3) for the arrival of our fifth grandchild. Waiting nervously as our teenage daughter (child #6) drives across five states to come home after a five month absence. Waiting for a shipment of our new book to arrive...a month later than we had hoped.

Waiting is no fun.

If waiting isn't worrying me, it's busy trying to lull me into a sort of mental/spiritual sleepiness. With my senses numb and my mind dumb, I don't always perceive what good things are actually brewing beneath the surface....what surprises are looming....what beautiful things are about to emerge. That's why when the leaves finally did appear on our trees (May 14?!) I hardly noticed. Suddenly, they were just there. Same with our granddaughter, Lucy. Once we stopped watching the "pot" on #3 it finally boiled.

No, waiting isn't fun, but it is often very good. It gave little Lucy's lungs more time to develop. It gave our teenager more highway experience. And it gave me a chance to find two typos in our new book that we had missed in our proofreading stage.

I hate to wait...but I usually love the results.

By the way, Lucy arrived May 19 (8 lbs. 4 oz.), and #6 made it home safely, better educated about how to use my GPS. And our new book? Well, The Jingle In My Pocket will be available June 9. If you've already been on the waiting list, well, sorry for the delay, but it's well worth the wait.

And the waiting game continues for my family: for #5's wedding day in August, for the first child of #1 and his wife in October, for school to be over for #s 7 through 11, and for #12 to get me in a tent in the backyard for that story night I promised him we'd have once it gets warm.

I can't wait.