Wednesday, April 1st, 2009...12:08 pm
Speedometer
My husband told me, “You think you can do it all, but it’s too
much. You’re not engaging with the kids as you should.”
Another friend told me, “Potential does not equal calling.” (Just because I can doesn’t mean I should.)
I read an article that told me to slow down.
And then, I had a real-life demonstration of why good children’s
writers advise, “Show, don’t tell.” God showed me (not for the first time) through my just-turned-eight-year-old what others told…
“Mommy, I’m making speedometers!” Titus’s project yesterday:
1. Use Play-Doh jar lids to trace circles on blue card stock.
2. Draw lots of little lines inside the circumference.
3. Label lines periodically with numbers.
4. Draw the needle to show the speed.
5. Cut them out and give them away.
“I made one for you and one for Byron [his little brother], see?” The needle on Byron’s pointed at 58 mph.
“And this one is for you.” When I saw the speedometer Titus made as a gift for me, I recognized it was also a gift from God.
Mine showed I was going 190.
So, for this week’s Random Act of Poetry (my first haiku attempt):
speed gauge just for me
needle right at one-ninety
gentle reminder
(I taped my speedometer in my quiet time journal and recorded all this…so that I would remember.)
Father, I got the message You showed me. I’ve been doing too much, going too fast. Thank you for pulling the reins on me (again).
...to Know-Love-Obey God
7 Comments
April 1st, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Oh that is wonderful! God help me slow down to a reasonable speed. There are kids in my neighborhood.
April 1st, 2009 at 3:20 pm
I can definitely relate the need to “slow down”! Thanks for this post.
April 1st, 2009 at 3:38 pm
JoAnn, so glad to visit The Heavens Declare. (I sometimes have trouble leaving comments, so I hope the one I left there went through.) I share your excitement not only about God’s Word but astronomy, too. (I went to Caltech and worked for 2 summers at JPL.) Thanks for posting your data!
Monica
April 1st, 2009 at 3:45 pm
It’s great to know that another person from Caltech/JPL is part of the High Calling Blogs! Thanks for visiting and commenting!
April 5th, 2009 at 9:31 am
I love it when God speaks to us through our children. Your haiku was really cool. The first two lines “moved” in a rhythm that felt fast and then the final line broke that rhythm and slowed it down, so the poem’s feel matched the content. Very nice.
April 6th, 2009 at 1:40 am
Oh, I didn’t even notice until you mentioned it! (More evidence of my need to slow down…)
April 7th, 2009 at 1:24 am
[...] Accept others’ admonitions. Thank God; He helps me through other people. [...]
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