Month: August 2023

Another story from my trip with the grandkids

The highlight of the trip was saved until the last day. I found a place called Trammel Park outside Cincinnati, where you could dig fossils and keep them. Anyone who knows a child between the ages of 5 and 8 has bought them a “Future Paleontologist” t-shirt. This park would be the crowning moment of our adventure.

In fact, my grandson told me with sincerity this had been his dream for years, digging fossils. I knew they would be excited. I also knew they would probably be bored. As the discussion about what this experience might be like progressed, it became clear they expected dinosaur bones, preferably large and preferably as part of a fully formed skeleton buried just under the surface of the dirt. In other words, that this would be easy.

Expectations Meet Reality

We arrived, pail of tools and gloves and brushes in hand. We climbed to a place that didn’t look like it had been recently worked. They started randomly clawing at the hard earth and were rather shocked when nothing happened. And then irritated. And then discouraged.

In the meantime, I wandered around picking through the thousands of rocks just laying there to be examined. I found bird skeletons imprinted in rock, sea creatures that had been captured somehow in the rock, all kinds of interesting things. I’d pick it up and show it to them. After affirming me, they would keep digging. You have great eyes Grandma, they would say.

We lasted about an hour. They divided up the few things they found and my ample collection and we headed home. They were satisfied and hot and hungry, so it was a good day.

There are many lessons and metaphors to take from this story. Here is mine: it isn’t that hard to find good things. You just have to look and be open to finding them. There might be some really great things that you don’t find but there is plenty of good out there. Sometimes you have to accept the smaller victories, appreciate the little things. You will essentially find what you expect to find. So expect good things.

Last week I was with my grandkids for a few days, and we inevitably found ourselves in a gift shop. There was a spending cap so anxiety was high. They were trying to find the item that cost the most while still having some value to them. They are savvy shoppers.

At one point my 7-year old granddaughter, who loves to shop, came to me in tears. I don’t know what to do Grandma, she said. I want this dinosaur stuffed animal, but girls aren’t supposed to like dinosaurs. Should I get a necklace instead? Or should I be true to myself?

In that moment, I was immensely grateful to Disney for presenting a multitude of female characters who make the choice to be true to themselves. I was also feeling compassion that such a little kid had to make these emotionally exhausting choices, and will for the rest of her life. And finally I was furious at a culture that defines who and what a female is to be, rather than letting her be who she really is. So much packed into that one moment.

I told her that whatever she chose was fine with me, but that I hoped she was always brave enough to be true to herself. That I would always support her in that. She went back and forth several times. This decision was hard for her, she was weighing it carefully. Both items were nice, but what they represented was the issue.

In the end, she chose to be true to herself. And she specifically thanked me for supporting that. And what really broke my heart was at the end of the day, when we were saying the best thing about the day, she said being true to herself was the best thing she did.

It matters. Supporting girls in becoming themselves matters. Empowering women to be who they want to be matters. And frankly empowering boys is also critical. It should not be so hard to live as we are made, to use the gifts we have been given. Society should recognize that whole, fulfilled people make better neighbors.

Let’s pray for all children to have the support and encouragement that they need to become healthy and productive adults on their terms. That we all learn to respect the dignity and integrity of every person. And that we love our neighbors as they are, not as we think they should be.

This is why kids need church and the church needs kids:

In July we held our yearly collection for the Taft Elementary Mobile Pantry. During the school year, we purchase good food-vegetables, fruit, meat, selections to make a meal- and deliver them already bagged to families at the school in the most need. This a great system, and really helps people who can’t drive to the school to access healthy food. We work with United Way and First Presbyterian Church, our fantastic community partners.

People are wonderful, and by the end of the month we had what we needed. I never worry about having enough money to feed kids. God always provides that. We care about our neighbors.

But one donation really stood out. One of our young kids, probably about 8 by now, came to the office a few weeks ago. He handed a wad of money to our parish administrator. He told her that he had a lemonade stand and wanted a portion of the proceeds to go to Taft.

What a sweet kid right??

We inspire one another. We provide each other opportunities to be generous. If we pay attention, we see love in action over and over again.

Thank you to everyone who donated. You have made people’s lives better. And a special thank you to that lovely young man who is developing a heart to serve his neighbors by paying attention to his wonderful family and his generous church.

Watch for happy endings!! God provides good things every day.