That I might spare her.

Olivia can be the most outrageous-ly funny girl. She knows how to laugh at life and herself and her silliness can definitely be contagious. And then? She can also be a hard head like her mother (it's another family gift). This past Sunday, I came to her rescue. I rescued my spirited girl from her determination to be "right" at any cost. In all honesty though, the visual on this near mishap has kept me ha ha-ing for the better part of three days now. It has also blasted me into my own past and a similar faux paux. I'll start with Liv.

So, her church class had prepared to minister to us through a little performance of reciting memorized bible verses, a skit and a little song. Nice enough, right? Sure, but my Olivia insisted she was to wear "hiking gear."

Now I know her teacher. She's the pastor's wife and she has always been very thorough in advising us parents about such matters. The fact is, the need for a costume was not brought to my attention. No note. No verbal. Nothing. Yes, she has sent notes home in the past about changes in meeting times and so forth. But never has she requested us to dress our children up in any garb other than the standard "sailor suit" the kids already wear each week.

And yet,...Liv insisted.
"Seriously, Mom. I need to look like a hiker."
"But Liv, Mrs. K didn't say so. And your memory verse and skit have nothing at all to do with hiking. Why on earth would you need to wear hiking gear?"
"I don't know, Mom," said Liv as she began to gather hiker stuff in a plastic bag, "but I know I'm allowed to wear it for tonight's performance if I want to and I do want to."

By this time, she had packed a large Australian sun hat and a khaki "Junior zookeeper" shirt in the bag she was holding. She actually tried to wear the items but I got her to pack them instead, "just in case there's some misunderstanding." She confidently assured me there was not.

Trust me. You can't convince Liv she's wrong when she's determined that she's right. I don't want to break her bullheaded streak spirit but I do desire that she learn to lay down that strong will sometimes (it's a crucial necessity in order to take up our cross daily and follow after Jesus after all). Thus, the compromise was that she would bag the items and put them on after arriving at church.

Okay, so she went to her meeting spot and we headed into the sanctuary as service began. Finally, the time for her performance arrived and the kids filed onto the stage in three neat rows.

Not a one in hiking garb.

Not. A. One.

And Liv was spared the discomfort of looking like a tourist lost in the Outback. But I have to say, my warped sense of humor would have had a terrible time containing itself if I had seen her on that stage as the only kid in a hiking costume among dozens of kids in sailor hats and white shirts.

This near miss reminds me of the time that Carl and I were on a cruise and had gone "all out" to dress for a 50's theme night. Gosh, we looked good! I had on cropped jeans, a white button down cotton shirt, a ponytail with scarf tied around it and white pointy sneakers with bobby socks. Carl had his hair greased back, a white men's undershirt with a faux cigarette box rolled up in the sleeve, cuffed jeans and loafers. We walked into the ship's dining room with all the confidence of a sock hop couple blasting out of the past..........
only to..........(prepare to laugh with the rest of the dining room's occupants).......only to discover that everyone else had on paper Viking hats supplied by the cruise line. You see, it was Viking night, not 50's night. And it was too late to walk out. The entire dining room was staring at us and stifling laughs until Dave, one of our assigned table mates, clapped and called out, "The smokes are a nice touch, Carl. Ni....ce!"

Uh, so can you see why I was so determined to spare Olivia the same humiliation?
Someday she'll love me for it. Either that or she'll join the rest of the world in laughing at the fact that Carl and I were so not spared.

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me."
Mark 8:34b