MESSAGES!

It's the MOST wonderful time of the year! Can't you just hear Andy Williams flexing the golden pipes? Oh yeah! And to date, indeed it has been a wonderful holiday season. My parents came in from Ohio for Thanksgiving, Mom's first year in decades where she was not the primary cook. And in fact, she was such a good teacher that I had very little for her to help with while here. She did make us some awesome gravy, but more importantly, she and my Dad poured lots of love into our active bunch. Nothing measures up to that (even if I did make a good turkey.)

I have some Christmas "duties" out of the way and our outside lights are up. Trust me, this is muy early for my procrastinating nature. I mean, lights up before December 1st? Check me for the fever, y'all. But it's true. And it feels GREAT to have it done. A little more Christmas "duty" in the next few days is in order. I'm thrilled with our more timely approach this year (don't even pit me against those "I'm done in June" folks; I'm simply not from that realm, ya know?)

But not everything is going as smooth as butter. Take a few weeks ago in church, for example. I was standing there talking to my dear friend, Sniz, after service. My four kids were on short leashes, chomping at the bit to throw self control to the wind but knowing we expected them to mind us. So, Sniz and I were deep in conversation when what happened next left me momentarily speechless (I assure you, this does not often happen to me.)

Apparently, I had burned up my allotted "mom chat" time (you know, that magical child determined time where a mom can talk without interruption or embarrassment at the mercy of her accomodating little darlings). And to drive the point home, my sweet babes entered into a battle of sorts. A battle over who would claim the coveted seat next to Miss "K", a lovely teen girl whom my kids adore. In their efforts to WIN said coveted seat, a little creativity was in order. I mean, hey, mom's not watchin', right?

So child "A" came up with a plan to trip up child "B".

Yes, literally.

And since Child "B" was up wandering around (instead of remaining seated as we had asked) child "A"s plan met with success and child "B" went flying across the floor. The proof was in the wave of destruction that followed.
A loud "CRASH!" was heard.
Followed by several gasps.
Then several raised eyebrows and concerned expressions.
Because,...well,....okay, yes.

I give up.

It was my sweet little darlings,mine, mind you, who busted the church message board to smithereens. Fragments of what once was a means of communication amongst our members lay scattered about Sniz and I on the floor.
A frame edge here.
A few decorative fall leaves there.
Another frame edge.
And another.
And the other (yes, that's all four framing pieces, but who's counting?)

Sadly true! My little angels made big time wrestling out of church property and all eyes were on us to witness it.
Uuuuh,...I'm ready for my closeup??? (Toni smiles like a nervous Chesire.)
Those who watched SNL back in the day, think Mary Catherine. "Super star!"

Hubs and I did the only thing we could think of. We picked up the remains of the message board and made for the door, promising to fix and return the board later.

Fast forward to the following Saturday night. I had been up late, pressing clothes and getting ready for church again the next day. Hubs was off at "man camp" (a Christian men's retreat). I had bathed 4 kids, showered myself, and was now ready to turn in for the night. Only.....

RATS!

There sat the boogered up board on a chair in the corner of my bedroom. In the business of our week (Thanksgiving grocery shopping, dance and art lessons, picking up a few things for Hubs for man camp, packing him, etc.), we had completely forgotten to fix the board. Knowing it would be needed the next day in church, the task fell soley on me.

At midnight. Swell!

I ran down to the garage and gathered much needed supplies. A heavy duty staple gun. And a hammer and finishing nails "just in case." It took the better part of fifteen minutes for me to figure out how to reframe the corkboard with just one pair of hands. But I finally got the four sides reassembled and thus reached for my staple gun.

P-tink, p-tink!
Oh for crying out loud!

Those staples would NOT pass through the tough particle board frame. And worse yet? I couldn't get them back out. They were stuck reeeeal good. I was afraid to pull, afraid to damage the board even more. I was not at ALL opposed to simply buying a replacement, mind you. It's just that it was after midnight, I was home alone with the kids, and it was too late to implement that plan. Naturally.
Ever so gingerly, I tugged and tugged. A good 20 or so times and FINALLY out came the staple. Sheesh!

Okay then. Hammer and finishing nails it is.
Oh!
No!
It!
Isn't!
I could have bam-bam-bammed 'til the cows came home, but those nails weren't going any deeper than the staples had gone, no matter how hard I pounded.

What to do, what to do???

You crafty types know where I'm going with this. Because fact is, in the crafting world, a girl's gotta have her tools.
Get....me....my....glue gun!
I filled the tracks along each framing piece and I did the only thing I could do.
I glued 'er on reeeeeeal good. Then I stepped back and examined my work. It was holding. I was happy. But at the same time, I was very concerned.
Concerned that the job was fragile.
Concerned that the glue might only work in the short run.
Concerned that I'd carry that baby back to church and gently sit it back on the display tripod, only to find myself stuck in my own version of a scene in the movie A Christmas Story. You know the scene I mean. Where the leg lamp gets "accidentally" broken and the Dad glues all the pieces back together. But when he gently replaces the shade, the whole thing falls apart again. Uh huh, I had visions of that happening as I ever so gently carried the glued message board back into church last Sunday.

Only,....


It ended up being totally unnecessary.
The staples.
The finishing nails.
The hot glue gun.
The worrying about my personal "leg lamp" moment.
It was all unnecessary because, as I approached the tripod, my eyes fixed on a new and beautiful message board.
Whole, sturdy and unflawed.

And isn't that just like our great God and Father? We are so broken before Him. And yet He can pick up any little shard of us and use it to let His light shine through our brokenness. He can make us whole and sturdy and unflawed, if only we allow Him. If only we are willing to be made new in Jesus His Son, who died for all sin for all time. Oh, that He CAN make us whole. That only He can. And that we should discover that for ourselves. Just as I discovered the message board made whole again, not of my own efforts but of another, just as we are redeemed not because of our own efforts, but because of what Jesus did for us. Now that's a message worth sharing. Happy holidays!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Toni