On The Same Page: Frankie Stein

On The Same Page: Frankie Stein: Prolific children's author Lola M. Schaefer teams up with Kevan Atteberry to create this adorable tale about learning to accept who y...
Gotta check out this book! :)

Parable of Time

Four-year-old Joey pouted in his car seat. The short shopping trip had not gone at all well. Mom would not buy Joey candy or toys or even a balloon!

As Mom emptied the car of boring stuff like milk, eggs, and chicken, Joey sulked.

"I'm staying in here forever!" he said.

Mom smiled. She had seen this sort of fit throwing before. "Come on Little Guy," she coaxed, "I'll make you a circle sandwich."

 

Joey looked at his mom. "Peanut butter and jelly?"

"Of course."

Joey's forever suddenly came to an end.

 

Like Joey's shopping trip, things don't always go the way we want them to. In fact, some of our trials can be downright discouraging, and they seem to last forever.

But just like Joey, our definition of forever is very different from our Heavenly Father's. What seems to be so hard and so long, is really "but a moment" in God's eyes. And what is so insurmountable to us, can be overcome quite easily with our Savior's help.

 

So, we can rebel when trials come. We can throw a fit when we see others with things we don't have. Or we can endure with patience and faith. We can notice God's blessings with gratitude. We can realign our definitions of time with His eternal perspective.

And somehow, doing that will make it easier. 

*All pics of this post came from Microsoft Clip Art

Parable of Technology

About 100 years ago, Thomas "John" Crapper helped popularize an idea so odd, some thought it came from the devil.

While indoor plumbing, with all its conveniences, was really cool to the youngsters, their elders wondered why you would bring that "business" into the house.

Many were afraid and annoyed by the very idea, and rightly so. When someone flushed the new-fangled john, everyone in the house could hear it. And those pipes made downright scary sounds in the walls. As if that wasn't enough, the boiler behind the furnace also had the unsettling tendency to explode.

 

Today, a different kind of new-fangled technology is worming its way into the household. We youngsters think it's really neat, and it is, but those of a greater generation can see all too well the pitfalls and glitches of our techy toys. They consider social media evil, and not without valid argument.

To help younger eyes understand this parable, here's a parable within a parable:

Recently, I attended a writer's group to listen to a guest speaker. The group meets in an enclosed cubical within an art gallery.

During the meeting, a cell phone started ringing.

 

The guilty party, a well-seasoned gentleman, apologized for the intrusion and stepped out of the room to take the call. Unfortunately, the cardboard walls of the cubical did little to muffle his voice, and the high roof made the acoustics incredible. We heard every word.

When the gentleman stepped back in, the speaker tactfully asked the man to turn off his phone for the rest of the meeting.

"Oh, I doubt it will ring again." he said. And he sat down.

 I don't think he knew.

Like this gentleman's conversation, our online exchanges - no matter how private they feel - are going to be overheard.  

Does this mean the online social arena is dangerous? Most definitely. But evil? No.

 

So when you feel afraid of this foreign piece of technology, walk into your "water closet." Look at your porcelain throne, a modern version of the crapper. Or maybe turn on the shower and marvel how quickly and conveniently the water becomes hot.

That's what social media will feel like a hundred years from now.
*all pics in this blog came from Microsoft Clipart collection.

Parable of the Momentum of Faith

   Having faith is like riding a bike on a hilly trail.
   Nobody understands this better than 6-year-old Judi. Every day she rides her bike to and from school on a rather hilly bike trail. She knows that in order to propel her pink Road Princess forward, she must pedal a certain direction. She also knows that pedaling backwards will put the breaks on her wheels.
   Usually Judi pedals with confidence, finding the strength to climb uphill, with the aid of her momentum built up on the downhill parts. The minute Judi begins to doubt herself, though, and pedal backwards, the hills suddenly overwhelm her, and Judi struggles to continue.
   One day, Judi's older brother, Tom, who liked to run alongside the bike, looked back and saw their mom about 20 feet in their wake. Worried that they were getting too far ahead, Tom reached out and stopped Judi's bike. What the young boy could not have understood was that they were standing in the middle of an uphill climb.
   Once their mom caught up, and the two children started again toward the school. Judi, however, found it extremely difficult to pedal the rest of the way up the hill. Without her mom lending an occasional push, Judi might have failed completely.
   Faith is like that, you know.
   Each day you and I are on very hilly road through Life. As long as we pedal forward with faith, we build a momentum of strength that eases our challenges during the uphill battles. If we allow doubts or fear to slow, and even stop, our faithful trek, the task of moving forward again can be overwhelming. In fact, we may need an extra push - or three - to get us to a position where we can continue ourselves.