Category Archives: My Munchkin Moments

Shine Bright Like a Diamond

There’s so much going on in our world today that thinking about it, processing it, and experiencing it can feel heavy on both our hearts and our minds. With war, inflation, and yet another school shooting, last night I felt heavy from the weight of the collective, national sorrow. In fact, I felt buried by it. (Do you sometimes feel that way too?)

Just as I was beginning to entertain hopelessness, God reminded me that He doesn’t want us burdened by that negative weight.

“Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” ~Psalm 55:2

In fact, when you read His word, you learn that God says that we aren’t supposed to carry any of it… because He already carried it all to the cross with Him over 2000 years ago.

“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” ~1 Peter 2:24

He carried it all in complete love for each of us. Oh, how it brings me to my knees to remember what He did on Calvary that day. Knowing this truth, I still get caught up from time to time in the knowledge of the pain of the world. That’s hard enough, but what of the people who don’t even know the truth? Some people have no idea of the peace that’s available to them in full surrender to Christ Jesus. Imagine… it’s right there for them, yet some hide from it thinking that they can fix the problem of sin and sorrow in their lives all by themselves. 

Years ago, I captured a conversation with my son that I think sums up what we need to be doing right now for our equally stressed-out neighbors. It’s important to remind people that Jesus is the source of all our Hope. It’s important to share His Peace with others. It’s important to shine His light in this world.

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” ~John 8:12

March 28, 2014 — Diamonds (By: Rihanna) “Shine bright like a diamond. Shine bright like a diamond.”

At a random moment, 5yo Connor asked me, “Why does she say, ‘Shine bright like a diamond’ over and over in that song?”

“Well…” I answered, “She’s encouraging us to shine bright like this diamond in my wedding ring. See?” Connor leaned in to look.

I continued, “See, we need to share our light. It makes people smile when you are kind, loving, giving – when you shine bright like a diamond.”

Looking up at me, Connor said, “But the diamond doesn’t have any light. It only reflects the light coming from that lightbulb up there.”

(Suddenly this random moment became a divinely inspired moment.)

“You are absolutely right, Connor!” I answered. “…and like this diamond, we reflect the light that God gives us.”

“So the light that people see in us, is God’s light shining through us?” He asked.

“Yes, because our light comes from Him. And it’s important that we let it shine. For some people, it might be the only light they ever see.”

He thought a little more about that, then said, “Mommy… some people don’t want to see God’s light. Some people run from it.”

“That is true for some. They’ve been in their darkness for so long, the light seems too bright. But you don’t let that change you, Connor. You keep shining God’s light. And you never know, your shine might be the very thing they need to come back out of the darkness.”

“That sounds like a good idea, Mommy.”

“I think so too, honey.”

Rihanna – Diamonds (Lyrics Video)

Education Is the Key

…and now…. another episode of:
“EDUCATING CONNOR”

While trying to teach Proper Sentence Structure…

Connor: Mom, don’t you think cheese was actually invented by mice? I mean, a person invents things that they like or need. But yeah… a mouse is not a person. So, I guess you have a point. Hey Mom! I think if someone is scared to speak in front of a crowd, they can just tape themselves beforehand and then walk up to the stage and press “play”. Of course, they’d have to move their lips, or everyone would know. MOM! This Thursday is Turkey-day, right? No, no, it’s Thanksgiving Day, I forgot. Oh Mom! Isn’t that funny? I said, “Turkey Day” instead of “Thanksgiving Day”. Maybe we should re-name Thursday to “Turkey-day”. But, you’re right, then we’d have to pick a different day to be Thanksgiving Day, because we have to give thanks. That’s important. Mom! Did you know it’s 10:19 AM. I can just look at my watch and see the time any time I want to. Watches are cool. MOM! Who invented the watch?

Me: Dude! You are killing me with all this!

Connor: Nevermind, mom. (To himself) She probably doesn’t even know.

Me: Dude!

No Backup Plan

One of my favorite worship songs is by Hillsong called “Oceans: Where Feet May Fail”.

It’s a beautiful song influenced by the Biblical account in Matthew 14:22-33 where Peter was called out onto the water to walk with Jesus, but he quickly became distracted by the storm.

Imagine that. He was walking on water, defying all that he knows to be true of his experience thus far on this planet. Clearly, his natural mind trusted in Christ enough to make room for this water walking experience. Yet his faith was stretched beyond what he could comprehend when he began to focus on the storm. A storm that was restrained by the very laws he was transcending through the power of Christ.

It’s as though he thought, “God is making it possible for me to walk on this water, but He can’t prevent the storm from overpowering me. *That’s* too much for Him.”

At this point, Peter’s faith wobbles a bit, and he begins to sink into the water. But Peter knows who holds the power to save him, and he calls out to God for help.
Verse 31 reads, “Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’”

It’s such a big lesson for us. A lesson we need to remember.
Don’t doubt. Trust in Him, no matter what.

The other day, we were listening to the “Oceans” song together over breakfast, when my children asked to hear of Peter’s experience once again. I started to share it, but I remembered that they have already heard this account many times; so in the midst of the message, I began looking for another angle – another lesson within the original experience.

We had reached a part of the song that says,
“Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior”

I decided to pause, and ask them a question:
“What if you guys were Peter? How would you walk on the water?”
They smiled as the picture began to form in their minds.
My 4yo daughter spoke first, “What do you mean ‘how’?”

I got up to demonstrate, “I mean, would you walk gingerly on the water, looking down into the sea at all of the fish below your feet? Would you run out there, leaping and jumping in the excitement of it all? Would you tap dance or do the Moonwalk?” I was acting out all of the possibilities, as my daughter jumped down from the table to show me her ideas.

“Mom! I would do ballerina twirls and karate kicks all over the top of that water!”
Losing my mind in the moment, I said, “What about The Robot! Wouldn’t it be cool to do The Robot on the water?”
We both broke out with The Robot and then went back to twirling around the kitchen floor.

That’s when my 6yo son, who was deep in thought up until this point, scooted to the edge of his chair and said,
“If I were Peter, I would jump out of the boat…”
He jumped off of the chair and slowly lifted his foot.
“Then, I would take a step out towards Jesus.”
He took a step and then he stopped fast!
“No! Wait… wait… wait! The very first thing I would do is turn around and destroy the boat!”

In mid-twirl, both Cayden and I stopped and turned to him in complete confusion.
He had begun bashing the imaginary boat with his imaginary sledgehammer.

“Now why would you destroy the boat?” I asked.

Without even a pause, he answered, “I’m destroying this boat so that I have no choice but to run to God!”

There it was. The new lesson in the Biblical account.
As long as there is a boat, there is a choice to turn around, a backup plan… a “just in case God isn’t enough”.
But consider the faith it takes to make the choice to trust in God so much that you choose to destroy the boat.
You remove the temptation to trust in anything other than Him.
No back up… just God. And THEN you walk (and dance) in your faith with Jesus.
Wow!

What is your “boat”?
What is it in your life that you are using as a backup plan – as a fail safe?
What is preventing you from trusting *The* Creator as your only safety net?

He called you out upon the water.
Trust that HE has you, no matter what.
Walk in your faith.
Destroy the boat!

UPDATE!

This happening has been such a beautiful blessing to so many people. “Destroy the Boat” has become a slogan and a spiritual focus within our circle. We are constantly looking for different ways to remind each other to rely solely on the Lord, in all things.

So we thought, “Why not wear it on a t-shirt?”

We pray that when you wear your t-shirt, a seeking heart will ask you to explain what it means to “Destroy the Boat”.  Many ears have heard the Biblical account of Peter walking on water. Maybe, Connor’s 7yo perspective will give you a new opportunity to share God’s everlasting love with someone who desperately needs His comfort.

All Glory and Honor to our Heavenly Father.
~The Pearson Family

*** “Destroy the Boat” t-shirts ***

Are a Bunch of Butts Really Taking Over the World?

My children were playing tag; running with glee through every inch of the house. I love hearing the sound of fun and happiness.

In the middle of all of the squealing and laughing, Cayden suddenly stopped and calmly said,
“Ok. I have had enough fun with this game. I’m moving on to other things.”
And with that, the game was over.

I took one look at Connor’s face and I couldn’t help the chuckle that bubbled up from my heart. We smiled at each other, and just shook our heads together with a “knowing” gaze. That was Cayden, and we loved her.

Our shared moment was interrupted by her question.
“Why did you laugh, Mommy?” Cayden was confused.

“Oh, sweetie…” I answered. “I laughed because I just love how you are completely comfortable speaking your mind. That’s really a beautiful thing.”

She smiled, satisfied with my answer, and started to walk away.

But now, Connor was puzzled.
“Do you love it when I speak my mind, Mommy?” he asked.

“Of course I do, son.”

“Well actually,” he said, changing his tone. “I don’t ever speak my mind. I speak the truth, and they are not the same things.”

Moved by the intellectual level of this exchange, I agreed with my six-year-old genius.
“You are absolutely right. The truth, and what is in your mind, are not necessarily the same things. Wow, son. That is really deep.”

“Yeah. So that’s why I don’t speak my mind. I speak the truth.” he repeated.

I was hoping he’d continue, but he chose silence instead. He had nothing more to say on the matter.
I watched him. No, I stared at him in awe as he put his toy in its place on the shelf. He is so wise, and I get to be his mom.
The feeling kept growing inside of my heart until it was overwhelming. So, I opened my mouth to give him another compliment, but I was interrupted by the sound of my daughter’s voice.

“Wait mom. He doesn’t speak his mind, he speaks the truth. What does that mean?” she asked.

Encouraged by Connor’s example, and fully expecting equivalent brilliance to come out of my mouth, I started to answer her.
“You see, our brains are full of many random, wonderful, creative thoughts. And some of those thoughts are not real in this world.”

“But what does that mean?” she asked, sending my response back to the beginning.

“Well…” I started again. “If I imagine that the world is suddenly being taken over by…”
“…by a bunch of butts!” Connor shouted, exposing yet another layer of his 6-year-old wisdom.

“Yeah,” I said smiling and lifting my arms to add emphasis to the story. “If I imagine in my mind that the entire world around us is being taken over…”

“…by a bunch of butts!” Connor interrupted again, with a burst of laughter.
“…a bunch of butts!” Cayden repeated.
The laughter was contagious.

“Yes kids, butts,” I said, with as much maturity as I could muster. “Close your eyes, and let your brain show you all of the butts that are taking over the world. Can you see them? Can you see the butts?”

There was a moment of silence and then we all burst out with laughter.

“Too many butts!” Connor hollered, rolling onto the floor.
“Butts!” Cayden repeated, just to say the word.
“Butts!” Connor shouted again for good measure.

“Ok!” I finally caught my breath. “You can see the butts, and they are taking over the whole world, right?”
“Yes.” they answered in unison through closed eyes, big grins, and deep breaths.

“See what your imagination can do? Your mind can create amazing pictures and events. But is it the truth? Are a bunch of butts really taking over the world?”
We looked at each other for a moment and then started laughing again.

They were laughing at all of the butts that they could still see in their minds.
I was laughing at the urge to blow my whole point with an ironic, political twist.

“Well?” I asked through giggles. “Are butts taking over the world?” (Yes!)
“No,” Cayden answered, holding her tummy from the muscle burn. “Butts are not taking over the world. That’s silly.”

I looked over towards my son who was still trying to recover from the laugh-fest. “Connor? Are they taking over the world?”

“No,” Connor answered, “No they aren’t.”
After a deep breath, he turned to his sister and continued,
“So Cayden, if we chose to speak what is on our minds right now, we would not be speaking the truth. See Cayden? Do you see how they aren’t the same thing?”

“Yes. I see,” she answered with apparent understanding.

“So, that’s what I meant. I don’t speak my mind, I speak the truth,” he said, putting a period on his point.

In an effort towards closure (or just to end with a bit of sophistication) I got their attention again and said,
“Kids, I love how you both use your inventive minds. What we just shared together was so beautiful. Remember, you can always share your imagination with me because I love every bit of your creativity.”

I paused for emphasis and then continued with even more passion,
“Connor and Cayden, outside of ‘play’, I absolutely LOVE how you speak the truth. You are truthful people, and that is precious to me.”

We smiled at one another, absorbing the emotion in the air.

I intentionally made solid eye contact with each child moving from Connor’s eyes to Cayden’s, and then back to Connor’s again.
Our smiles grew stronger with each shared second, and the silence in the room was a warm hug over the moment.

Then, Connor turned to his sister, smiled really big and shouted, “Butts!”
And they both fell out laughing at the “sophistication” of it all.

“They Pushed God Right Out of the Room!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07x88Hgj1vM

This incident started with one of these family members slashing the tires on the car of another family member. And from there, (I know you won’t expect the rest of this sentence) …It was a GREAT lesson for my kids! Sure it’s a video of people acting a hott mess and no one wants to show their kids a video of adults acting a hott mess… but what if they can learn about energy from the example? And since there is no sound on the actual video – that makes this video a GOLD MIND!!! (Gold for the Mind :))

I watched the video first… making notes of all the points I wanted to cover for my kids. Then, I prefaced the viewing with all the things I wanted them to observe. (I felt that just letting them watch it would be an attack on their senses. I wanted to make this a positive lesson, not an action movie for entertainment.) After I told them what they were about to see – Adults making bad choices and creating BAD energy – I shared the video with them, stopping it at various parts and pointing out the points I wanted them to “see”.

“Watch the actions of the Big Dog on the right hand side as the wave of energy builds in the front.” We concluded that the “good guys” recognized that the energy was shifting and they made their way to the back, away from it.

I also pointed out that when energy is building like that, people stop caring about safety. I pointed out how everyone, even the small children, had to look out for themselves. “That is not a loving environment,” I said, “and when we see this stuff building up… we find a way out until the energy changes.”

At one point in the escalation I paused the video to ask, “Now where is God in this?”

And my son said, “He’s in the back, in a Dog Suit rescuing the kids from all that craziness!”

Then, Cayden said quickly, “Mommy, they pushed God right out of the room!”

I said, “That is absolutely right! They pushed God right out of the room with their drama. So where do we want to be?”

They both answered, “Wherever God is!”

I reinforced that idea. I told them, “If we were in that room while all the energy was building in the front, I would start making my way to the back with the Big Dog!” They agreed.

Then I asked them what THEY saw. I was careful to listen to what they were taking inside their hearts and minds. One thing I didn’t notice was a child who ran forward, from the safety of the back to observe more of the fight. My son caught that and asked, “Why would you run back into it if you were safe away from it?” I told him that some people are attracted to this kind of energy. Some people create it, and seek it out. “But we aren’t those people.”

I asked one last time if they had any more questions on what they saw. And my son, knowing the cause of the fight said, “I know what I would do after I got out of the room. I would pump up the slashed tires and then run back in and yell, ‘Ok everybody! You can stop fighting! The tires are fixed!’ and then maybe they would be happy again. Then, maybe they would cut and eat that big cake together.”

Wow – I didn’t even see the cake!

Jesus Takes Away Your Sin

Have you ever thought about what our kids (protected from seeing violent TV shows) might be thinking when introduced to the crucifixion and resurrection of our Savior, Christ Jesus? I think about it from time to time. And I’ve told them parts of it on different occasions. But… Well, this just happened….

My kids learned a more intensive lesson on the sacrifice Christ made for our sins today in Vacation Bible School. At the end of the day, all of the children and leaders met in the sanctuary to go over the sacrifice one last time. This gathering included a visual where a man, dressed up as Jesus, walked though the crowd and the kids were suppose to give their sins to him so he could take them with Him to the cross. Since the cross was set up on the stage, the whole thing was sure to be memorable.

I looked to see if my son was understanding, and all indications told me that he was. But when I scanned the crowd for my daughter, I saw the back of her head. She was being held by her group leader. I thought maybe she was tired, but then she turned around and my heart broke. She was sobbing! I ran to her and tried to see what was going on, yet she was almost inconsolable.

I thought so many things as I tried to speak with her; way too many to capture them all here. Mostly, I traveled through the blame of wondering if this was something she was too young or too sensitive to see. I thought, maybe the idea of the whole thing was too violent for her mind. I started counting the number of mommy-failures this scene represented. The truth is, I wanted to run away. Yet here she was needing to be comforted, and here I was needing help on where to begin.

Since the leaders did such a great job of focusing on “love”, I started there in my discussion with her. We went over “why” He chose to do this for us. And when I was finished, I told her, “Precious, I know its hard to think about, but you don’t need to worry about his death, because Jesus rose from the dead!”

Cayden: I know that. But, I still don’t like it.
Mommy: Honey, I know, but Jesus did it because He loves you.
Cayden (Yelling): Mommy, I know that! I don’t like the other part!
Mommy: What other part, baby?
Cayden: The part where Jesus takes away all of my skin.
Mommy: SIN honey, He took away all of your SIN.

My daughter thought the man dressed up in the white robe walking through the crowd was coming to collect her skin. No wonder she was terrified!

They Matter

Connor: Mommy, what is a Twitter?

Mommy: Its an internet program that let’s people put their thoughts out for others to read.

Cayden: Why?

Mommy: Because people want to feel like their thoughts matter to someone.

Cayden: Why mommy?

Mommy: Its at the root of human nature, honey. People want to feel like they mean something to someone.

(Silence)

Connor: You’re thoughts matter to me mommy.

Mommy (though tears): And your thoughts matter to me, sweetie.

How’s Your Smile?

Cayden: Mommy, do you remember the “Hokey Pokey” song?
Me: Yes?
Cayden: Well, I think it should be called the “Pokey Hokey” song. That’s how I’m gonna sing it.
Me: Why do you like “Pokey Hokey” better than “Hokey Pokey”?
Cayden: Well… when I say, “Pokey Hokey” my smile gets a yiddle bigger.

Wow! When did I stop looking for ways to make my smile a yiddle BIGGER?