Picture This

Here Kitty, Kitty!

Ace Hardware is a fun store with a vast array of items to purchase. 

Including this cute and slightly creepy cat.  

Mason and Marshal both wanted toys, and we said no. 

There was no need for any more plastic toys in our already toy-filled home.

You can have a bag of popcorn instead.

Free, another perk of Ace Hardware.

We got home, and Mason and Mac went down for a nap.

Marsh got to stay up - big boy.

Marshal, sheepish, comes up, quietly,"Mom, I have to tell you something." 

He then produces said creepy cat in his palm, 

and continues as FAST as his words could spill:

"Mason brought this cat home in his popcorn bag."

And there you have it! Thrown under the honesty bus by his brother. 

So when Mason woke up, he was given the opportunity to be honest, and he was.

He was solomn and contrite. And totally busted. 

Because he chose to be honest when whe asked what he did, 

his punishment was less than if he had chosen to lie and deny it.

BUT, we told him, 

part of his consequences included returning the creepy cat back to the store, 

telling them you stole it, and apologizing.

The next day.

It was a long and quiet ride. 

He said he didn't think he could do it.

I said I thought he could.

We sat in the parking lot for a while, quiet.

I reminded him, all he had to say was he stole it and was sorry.

I reminded him that stealing doesn't honor God. 

We walked in, and a group of employees were chatting together near a register.

"Can I help you?" A young man asked.

"We are here because we have something to tell you," I said.  

And Mason took the floor.

It took him a sec, and a whisper in his ear that he could do it.

"I stole this yesterday," Mason said, "I'm sorry."

The young employee looked shocked.

"Good job buddy. Coming back was the right thing to do."

We said thanks, and left. 

And we told him how very proud we were that he was willing to do the right thing.  

We told him thank you again for owning up to it, 

and not trying to lie his way around it.

We told him he was brave for going back. 

We told him to never, ever steal again. 

Creepy cat.

A popcorn stow-away. 

The Unanswerable... what an adventure

Yesterday as we were driving (where all deep theological questions happen lately), Marshal said it confused him a bit - how God is God, and God is Jesus' dad, and Jesus is ALSO God.  

He's five, mind you. 

And I gave him some slightly lame explanation about an egg having three parts, but all still being an egg.  "Does that make sense?" I asked him.  "No, not really," he said.  

I was trying to explain to him a concept that has baffled people for ages.  I was trying to define an infinite God.  Trying to explain the unfathomable.  Trying to box into our own understanding that which cannot be understood.  In a way, stopping his critically thinking heart from embracing the wonder of God.  

I went back to Marsh today.  I told him I was sorry.  "For what?" He asked.  For making it seem like I have God all figured out.  "God is big and smart and amazing. And there are lots of things that I can't quite make sense of." And that's what makes God GOD. And that's ok.  

And if I think about it... It makes for an amazing adventure. All the things I crave: purpose, love, revelation, the supernatural - are all found in a loving, passionate, and very real God. And I don't understand everything.  I don't have to repackage the unknown into something explainable.  Actually, in doing so, I take the wonder out of God completely. 

But there are some things I DO understand.  Like that HE knows and understands EVERYTHING.  That he can be trusted, because he is good and because he loves me.  I don't have to grasp the ins and out of eternity and the godhead.  But wow, what an amazing God.  He leaves me in wonder.  Awestruck, way-cool, worshipful, wonder.