Go with the Flow!

About a month ago our family drove 3 1/2 hours to Green Mill Run in Greenville, NC to dig fossils in the little creek. Mallory's teacher had invited the kids from her class and their families to meet her up there. We were digging for bones and shark teeth. The day was perfect, it was maybe 70 degrees that day, there were no bugs, the creek was loaded with finds and it was so pretty. There was maybe 15 of us there and we did end up finding some really cool stuff. Lots of whale bone, plenty of shark teeth, one kid found a HUGE shark tooth and it was in perfect condition. I found lots of pretty stones to go around an outdoor fishpond we have. It was a great day, the kids loved it, Rusty loved and I loved it.


At the time I considered this outing an expanded territory for me. I, of course, had reservations about going. I decided that it was going to be really hot, mosquitos everywhere, and snakes swimming by. I envisioned my whole family loving the adventure and me hating every minute of it. I realize that I'm a wild and crazy girl, it just seems the older I get the less adventure I seek in my life. So when I looked back on the great time we had, I thought, wow, the Lord has done it again. He took me out of my comfort zone, made me trust Him and He never let me down. He's building my trust in him. He's giving me something to look forward to occasionally and giving my children some experiences they can grow with.

That's what I thought until today. I was at work and reading, Me and My Big Mouth (I know you wish I would finish that book already). She started talking about when her children were small how everytime they sat down to eat, they would spill their drink. Then she would throw an adult sized temper tantrum as she cleaned it up. She considered it her children ruining supper because of obvious reasons. She said that one night as she was on her knees cleaning up the spilt milk and ranting and raving the Lord spoke to her. He explained to her that it was just spilled milk and that no matter how mad she got, no matter how angry she became, no matter how impatient, no matter the rage she got into or what kind of fit she pitched she was still going to have to clean that milk up. She might as well accept it with joy and SHE should stop ruining their dinner.

I sat there squirming in my chair and recalling yesterday morning when I had to get Mallory to tennis practice in 15 minutes and she still didn't have all her stuff ready. She was whining and getting frustrated over what I put her water in and before I knew it I had done the terrible! I told her to just shut up! I still hear those spitefilled words as I sit here cringing just thinking about it. I lost my cool and was extremely ugly over a water bottle. What difference does it make now what water bottle she took? I've got to learn to accept the situation with joy, take a deep breath, not speak until I'm under control and GO WITH THE FLOW. Instead of getting angry and arguing with her, I should have fixed the drink and told her to let's go. Of course, that's a little different situation than spilled milk but you get what I'm saying...don't you?

As I was recalling the incident and reading the Lord called to my mind the day of the Green Mill Run trip. My friend Mindi took her three children too and her oldest daughter was sick of it all and wanted to go to the car. Mindi handed over the car keys to her 14 year old and said "Be careful with those and don't lose them! It's a long way to have to walk home."

After everyone was done the daughter ran up to Mindi and told her frantically I can't find the car keys! What was Mindi's reaction? Nothing. She didn't say anything. She walked purposely to the car, ignoring her daughter's frantic explainations and finally she turned to her daughter and said, "Let's get our stuff and change. I'll bet we'll find them when we clean up the back of the car." Wow, I was in shock. I would have flipped my lid but not Mindi, she was cool as a cucumber. She didn't speak immediately, she had to do some breathing and get herself under control and honestly once she said those words to her daughter she wouldn't speak for awhile BUT she didn't say one word out of the way. Impressive. I was impressed then but as I read this morning it hit me why I had witnessed that. That's the way we should handle our little frustrations. Her daughter didn't mean to misplace the keys and if Mindi had freaked out it wouldn't have helped the situation at all. It would have made things worse.

They did find those keys after they had straightened out the back of the car. They were just buried under drinks, snacks and clothes. Mindi was right and I was right there to witness that Godly wisdom.

Angry and impatient words lead to trouble and hurt feelings. They don't do anything else. We never know who we are teaching and changing when we act out in anger. I pray that the Lord will teach me to act as Mindi did. I praise the Lord for sharing this wisdom with me and I'll be in constant prayer that the Lord will teach me to be "Slow to speak, slow to anger, quick to listen and to go with the flow!"