Mom Taxi

Way back a hundred years or so ago when I was in high school, my closest friends and I poked fun of a male friend who drove a car with the license plate, "Mom Taxi." We laughed and laughed. I mean, poor guy, motoring around town with that advertisement?

They say what comes around goes around.

Yep. Here I am...the mom taxi.

Between catechism classes, the array of sports for two kids, and the endless social pick-ups/drop-offs, I'm in my mom-mobile a lot. Yesterday I enjoyed five tween boys who were singing it up--or screaming it up--on the way home from baseball practice. Yeah, we've already started baseball practice. Indoors, thank goodness!

I don't mind being the mom-taxi most days. When there's a wait, I get to read. Or journal. Or stare out of a coffee shop while sipping coffee. Who doesn't like that?

The days I do mind are when I have a headache, when the roads are bad, when I'm missing a good football game on TV, or when we have three things to get to in a row.

A few things I do to keep my sanity intact:

- Pack a bag to take with me. I always include my journal, a book, a magazine, and a bottle of water.

- Do an Internet search of the route first if I'm not familiar with the area.

- Figure out how long between drop-off and pick-up and decide if I'll find a coffee shop to wait it out or go back home.

- Make sure my cell phone is charged.

- Never think about what I could be doing. That kind of thinking leads to resentment. My kids are growing so fast, I'm glad to be able to be the mom taxi!

So what has come around that went around when you were younger?

Have a terrific day!!

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Answering God's Call and Imperfection

All week I spent my mornings with twelve to sixteen preschoolers at our church. You know how sometimes your soul just smiles? That's how mine felt--all lit up! But yesterday afternoon I spent some time in prayer because even though I answered the call to teach this year, I was painfully aware of my shortcomings.


Reminders of my imperfection:

Monday ~ Scrambled to keep twelve different personalities occupied and in the right place all day. This led to "thinking on my feet." Did I handle each situation correctly? Uh, no!

Tuesday ~ Woke up with a killer migraine and had to ask another volunteer to cover the class for me. There are few things in my life as humbling as a migraine. I felt terrible for not being able to teach the little ones, but God's grace is sufficient, and our pastor's wife took over--a blessing in disguise!

Wednesday ~  With two more children in the class, I struggled to contain the handful of high-energy kids and ended up not being able to give our precious low-maintenance ones the attention they deserved. My daughter helped with this, reminding me how blessed I am to have her.

Thursday ~ Oh boy. All the kids were more rambunctious and tired than usual. I put out a lot of "fires" so to speak and by the time our coloring contest winner was announced, I had four bawling little girls. I felt bad about having to discipline two of our other girls that day (those babies melt me!!), and, to top it off, I was pretty short with a few older kids who seemed to think I'd taken their suckers when I only wanted to put the final polish of cleaning on my room so we could leave.

Basically, answering God's call opens my eyes to how imperfect I really am. Sure, I can hide behind my daily routine and think I'm a pretty good Christian, but at the end of the day, even my best intentions and efforts fall far short of God's will.

It's funny, though, last night, my soul was still smiling--still all lit up. Do you know why? Because God's grace IS sufficient. God doesn't expect us to be perfect. He knows every obstacle we will face, and He's there, holding our hands, whispering suggestions, applauding us in our efforts. He wants us to show up, to answer His call. He took care of the "perfect" part with Jesus.

Did the children in my class have a good time this week? Yes. Did they come away with a good memory of VBS? I hope so! But it was by God's mercy, not my works. I pray each of their little lights shines brighter, and I'm so thankful to parents who send their kids to learn of God's goodness.

Does answering God's call ever reveal your imperfections?

Have a fabulous weekend!

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