Spring Soccer and Hockey

Finally some less soggy weekends for soccer! Tristan had a great time in his first scrimmage games of the season. He is a lot of fun to watch. Adam had his first hockey game of the spring season and he got to be goalie at the last minute. We lost 4-6 but the kids played great.

The Easter Turkey

So today a new tradition was born, The Easter Turkey. Robert was putting up his hunting equipment from another turkey hunt when the kids followed him downstairs and found the Easter baskets that my Mother in Law had forgotten to tell me about. So it took me a couple of minutes to distract them, hide the baskets and come up with a story about the Easter Turkey who plays tricks on little boys. Tristan took the story and expanded on it. Adam was inconsolable and wants his Easter treats NOW!!! Hopefully Dadddy will get that Easter Turkey before it can play any more mean tricks on little boys!!

Scarcity vs. Abundance

I have been thinking a lot lately about scarcity vs. abundance. It has become more and more clear to me that most of the world's conflicts are spurred on by the philosophy of scarcity. If we only believe there is enough to go around for a limited number than we are likely to be fearful, greedy, racist and prideful. I have seen this both in my personal life and on the world stage.

When my patients need help if I were to believe I only have 20 minutes of time and a limited amount of emotional energy then the office visit becomes impossible. If I go into the room believing that God will give me the tools I need at the appropriate time then the impossible becomes possible. If I learn to draw my energy from above then God can use me as the healing instrument.

When I play with my kids and all three of us believe that we have to split my love and attention in half then there arises great conflict and jealousy. For some reason experiencing God's abundance with my kids is much more difficult than in any other area of my life. Perhaps it is because they only can understand love in portions or maybe because my own fears and anxieties are so much greater when dealing with them.

What I do know is that God's abundance is not the same as our idea of abundance. Our idea of abundance is chopping, stacking, planting and sowing. Our idea of abundance is the parable of the ant and the grasshopper. That is, if you don't store up and work all summer then you won't eat. Jesus told a different parable, one of feeding 5000 people with just a few loaves of bread and a few small fish. Somewhere therein must lie a balance between industry and grace. Is it possible to live in these two worlds. That is what I am trying to figure out. Stay tuned...