wish list...
Fourteen months, Annabeth! (Actually, you were a week ago!) We're almost to the end of the year, too! We have officially made it through all of the seasons together. These last few months have gone by especially fast. I think the older you get, the faster time passes. I don't know if you feel the same way I do, but one day you'll find yourself declaring this very statement and you'll be surprised at how quickly you got there.
All of your one year molars have come through, which surprised me! I was looking in your mouth one day as you protested your diaper changed, and I spotted them poking out of your gums. As with all of your other teeth, they didn't seem to bother you and I just have to say, thank you for being such a good teether! Your personality is growing by leaps and bounds, and you've become quite a little chatter box. No surprise there. You've also started walking, and I am so glad that I was able to witness your first steps. I am constantly impressed at how smart you are and how quickly you learn. You have finally learned how to properly feed and pet Scout. I didn't anticipate happening anytime soon. I think she's starting to change her mind about you. I'm still holding out that you two will be best buds in a few years.
We are a couple of weeks out from Christmas, which is a wonderful time of the year. One thing I like to indulge in during December is Hallmark Christmas movies. Honestly, they all have the same plot and highly predictable endings, but they're so heartwarming. Plus, the scenery and fake snow really makes it feel like Christmas for those of us who have yet to pull out winter coats. I'm not sure if you'll enjoy romantic comedies, but I hope that one day down the road we find ourselves watching sappy Christmas movies together while decorating the tree or drinking hot chocolate. I always did that with Grammy, and I loved every minute of it!
I began a movie the other night about a girl who went home for the holidays to visit her family because she had been laid off from her acting job on Broadway in New York. She and her mother stopped at the local Christmas tree lot and ran into Santa. He asked her what her Christmas wish was and she told him what she thought she wanted at the time. Anyway, I won't spoil the rest of the movie by telling you that she fell in love with a hometown guy who had been her friend for years and gave up her dream of making it big on Broadway so she could marry him and become the school's choir teacher. This was not her wish, by the way, but it was much better than her original wish. And as I watched this movie, and thought about this time of year, the idea of a wish list rolled around in my mind along with the thought of something I wanted to share with you.
Wishes aren't exclusive to Christmas. People make wish lists at Christmas, but they do the same for pretty much every holiday that is accompanied with gifts. When new homes are bought or car hunting ensues, wish lists are made of what the buyer is looking for. And if wishing was only relegated to lists, that would make it easy, but wishes are made in many ways. People make wishes when they blow out their birthday candles or throw pennies into a wishing well. I remember wishing on lost eyelashes when I was a child. If you just so happened to find a lost lash on your cheek and could wrangle it before it fell away, you'd place it on your finger tip and blow it off with a wish. The same with those little white dandelions, too. There are nursery rhymes and songs about wishes.
Star light, star bright
The first star I see tonight
I wish I may, I wish I might
Have this wish I wish tonight
People wish on shooting stars. In fact, according to Disney, "When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are. When you wish upon a star your dreams come true."
And maybe we don't find ourselves wishing in superstitious ways on stars, eyelashes, and birthday candles, but maybe we find ourselves wishing with our words. Saying things like, "I wish I had hair like that. I wish I had long, skinny legs. I wish I had her job or their house. I wish I was taller, faster, stronger, or smarter. I wish I lived there. I wish I could visit that place. I wish I had more of this or less of that. I wish, I wish, I wish...". You get the idea here. Wishing for things we don't have or wishing away what we do. Of course, I'd be lying to if you I said I haven't made these statements before. Actually, I probably say it more often than I think I do. I find myself wishing for "the days" or wishing to fit comfortably in my jeans. Wishing for more sleep, for different weather, for new opportunities, or for changes. Clearly, wishes come in all shapes and sizes. But what happens when your wishes don't come true?
The Bible doesn't speak of wishes. God doesn't work in superstitious ways. Rather, He masters in the supernatural. God tells us that we should pray about everything. That's right, everything. That we should ask and expect to receive. But here's my thought, often times rather than asking, we need to give thanks. That's what we supposed to do anyway. Give thanks in all things. Pray about everything and give thanks in all things! (Philippians 4:6 & 1 Thessalonians 5:18) We need to shift our perspective off of ourselves and open our eyes to see all that God has done and is doing for us. And rather than wishing for things, we either pray about them or we praise God for them. Maybe we do wish for a new job, and so we pray for it and then we thank God for the job that He has currently provided us. Or maybe we wish for different hair and then we giggle because we've got own on head of custom, God designed hair, we just need to learn better how to manage it. Because when we begin to present our requests to God, and when we step back and look at our lives through the lens of gratitude, we see that God is so faithful to take care of us and lavish his love on us. He meets our needs and then goes above and beyond in blessing us more than we deserve. But when we let envy and coveting (this means you want what other people have and not what you have....or you want even more than you already have) become a part of our lives, we end up thinking we don't have enough or that what we've got isn't really good enough. We think that we deserve more, should be given more, and in return we want more, more, more.
But contentment is a good thing, Annabeth. Being content and grateful for what God has given you. For the healthy body that you have, for the family that loves you, for the roof over your head and the food that fills your belly. Grateful for the opportunities you are and will be afforded, but most of all for the fact that God loves you so much that He sent Jesus to be born in a manger and die on a cross so that you have the opportunity to know Him and receive the gift of eternal life. No amount of wishing could ever accomplish something as great as that!
All of your one year molars have come through, which surprised me! I was looking in your mouth one day as you protested your diaper changed, and I spotted them poking out of your gums. As with all of your other teeth, they didn't seem to bother you and I just have to say, thank you for being such a good teether! Your personality is growing by leaps and bounds, and you've become quite a little chatter box. No surprise there. You've also started walking, and I am so glad that I was able to witness your first steps. I am constantly impressed at how smart you are and how quickly you learn. You have finally learned how to properly feed and pet Scout. I didn't anticipate happening anytime soon. I think she's starting to change her mind about you. I'm still holding out that you two will be best buds in a few years.
We are a couple of weeks out from Christmas, which is a wonderful time of the year. One thing I like to indulge in during December is Hallmark Christmas movies. Honestly, they all have the same plot and highly predictable endings, but they're so heartwarming. Plus, the scenery and fake snow really makes it feel like Christmas for those of us who have yet to pull out winter coats. I'm not sure if you'll enjoy romantic comedies, but I hope that one day down the road we find ourselves watching sappy Christmas movies together while decorating the tree or drinking hot chocolate. I always did that with Grammy, and I loved every minute of it!
I began a movie the other night about a girl who went home for the holidays to visit her family because she had been laid off from her acting job on Broadway in New York. She and her mother stopped at the local Christmas tree lot and ran into Santa. He asked her what her Christmas wish was and she told him what she thought she wanted at the time. Anyway, I won't spoil the rest of the movie by telling you that she fell in love with a hometown guy who had been her friend for years and gave up her dream of making it big on Broadway so she could marry him and become the school's choir teacher. This was not her wish, by the way, but it was much better than her original wish. And as I watched this movie, and thought about this time of year, the idea of a wish list rolled around in my mind along with the thought of something I wanted to share with you.
Wishes aren't exclusive to Christmas. People make wish lists at Christmas, but they do the same for pretty much every holiday that is accompanied with gifts. When new homes are bought or car hunting ensues, wish lists are made of what the buyer is looking for. And if wishing was only relegated to lists, that would make it easy, but wishes are made in many ways. People make wishes when they blow out their birthday candles or throw pennies into a wishing well. I remember wishing on lost eyelashes when I was a child. If you just so happened to find a lost lash on your cheek and could wrangle it before it fell away, you'd place it on your finger tip and blow it off with a wish. The same with those little white dandelions, too. There are nursery rhymes and songs about wishes.
Star light, star bright
The first star I see tonight
I wish I may, I wish I might
Have this wish I wish tonight
People wish on shooting stars. In fact, according to Disney, "When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are. When you wish upon a star your dreams come true."
And maybe we don't find ourselves wishing in superstitious ways on stars, eyelashes, and birthday candles, but maybe we find ourselves wishing with our words. Saying things like, "I wish I had hair like that. I wish I had long, skinny legs. I wish I had her job or their house. I wish I was taller, faster, stronger, or smarter. I wish I lived there. I wish I could visit that place. I wish I had more of this or less of that. I wish, I wish, I wish...". You get the idea here. Wishing for things we don't have or wishing away what we do. Of course, I'd be lying to if you I said I haven't made these statements before. Actually, I probably say it more often than I think I do. I find myself wishing for "the days" or wishing to fit comfortably in my jeans. Wishing for more sleep, for different weather, for new opportunities, or for changes. Clearly, wishes come in all shapes and sizes. But what happens when your wishes don't come true?
The Bible doesn't speak of wishes. God doesn't work in superstitious ways. Rather, He masters in the supernatural. God tells us that we should pray about everything. That's right, everything. That we should ask and expect to receive. But here's my thought, often times rather than asking, we need to give thanks. That's what we supposed to do anyway. Give thanks in all things. Pray about everything and give thanks in all things! (Philippians 4:6 & 1 Thessalonians 5:18) We need to shift our perspective off of ourselves and open our eyes to see all that God has done and is doing for us. And rather than wishing for things, we either pray about them or we praise God for them. Maybe we do wish for a new job, and so we pray for it and then we thank God for the job that He has currently provided us. Or maybe we wish for different hair and then we giggle because we've got own on head of custom, God designed hair, we just need to learn better how to manage it. Because when we begin to present our requests to God, and when we step back and look at our lives through the lens of gratitude, we see that God is so faithful to take care of us and lavish his love on us. He meets our needs and then goes above and beyond in blessing us more than we deserve. But when we let envy and coveting (this means you want what other people have and not what you have....or you want even more than you already have) become a part of our lives, we end up thinking we don't have enough or that what we've got isn't really good enough. We think that we deserve more, should be given more, and in return we want more, more, more.
But contentment is a good thing, Annabeth. Being content and grateful for what God has given you. For the healthy body that you have, for the family that loves you, for the roof over your head and the food that fills your belly. Grateful for the opportunities you are and will be afforded, but most of all for the fact that God loves you so much that He sent Jesus to be born in a manger and die on a cross so that you have the opportunity to know Him and receive the gift of eternal life. No amount of wishing could ever accomplish something as great as that!
Comments
Post a Comment