CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

Have you ever heard the phrase, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"? I never understood what that meant until today. It is a bible verse from Ecclesiastes. While reading my bible this morning I noticed I had put a question mark behind that verse. This question mark bothered me, so I read the verse over and over, but I still didn't get it. I asked my husband what he thought it meant and he said it's about being thankful for what's already in your hand instead of wishing for more.

I've been doing a lot of wishing for more lately. Maybe God was trying to tell me something. But don't all of us wish for more? What's so terrible about wanting things and dreaming of a better life? As I thought about it I realized that it gets us into trouble because it takes our focus off of what we already have. Instead of being thankful, we feel restless and frustrated by what we don't have. God wants us to have peace and there's no peace in longing for things and wishing for more.

The more we have, the more frustration we have. To maintain a life of luxury, we must work longer hours, spend less time with our children, and omit the things in life that are more meaningful than material things, things like relationships and service to others. We're forced to push these things out to have time for keeping and maintaining our stuff. So we end up too tired to even enjoy the things we're working for.

God must watch the way we run around down here, working for things instead of people. He must shake his head and wonder why we value material things so much, when one strong wind could come and take it all away. And left behind is all the things we shoved aside so we could have the things that were swept away in the wind. I think that's why God sends strong winds. It forces us to focus on what's important. When all the stuff is gone, we see our children and our families. We see the people in our lives instead of the stuff.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. I heard that saying many times. Today I realized what it means.

EGG LEMON PIZZA SUNDAY

I took my daughter and her friend to an egg hunt today. This egg hunt had been the topic of conversation for the past month. After weeks of anticipation, her expectations grew. But after it was over and we walked back to the parking lot, she said, "I thought this was going to be more fun." With about five kids attending per egg, some children walked away with not a single egg in their baskets, and my daughter was one of them. She said she did capture one egg, but someone stole it from her bag. Her friend managed to find and keep three eggs.

Sometimes life just isn't what you expect it to be. Disappointments are plentiful. We imagine wonderful outcomes, but then when the experience finally arrives we feel let down. The actual event didn't even come close to what we imagined it would be. Some people say it's life handing you lemons and they suggest you make lemonade. As we got in the car to go home, I wondered how I could turn this sour day into something sweet.

I remembered a certificate my daughter had earned for reading books. It was good for a free mini pizza at Pizza Hut. When I dug through my wallet, I discovered she had two of these. When I made the announcement, their reaction was immediate. "YES!" they shouted in unison while jumping up and down. My daughter's friend declared that I was "the best" of all her friends' moms. The day was turning sweeter already. We had two smiling, happy girls and a best mom winner on their way to Pizza Hut.

We thought the egg hunt was going to be the highlight of our day, but we had even more fun eating pizza and breadsticks, something I wasn't expecting. I thought about how I had tried to get out of taking her to that egg hunt. It was a Sunday and I just wanted to stay home. When I saw it was snowing, I was glad to have an excuse not to go. But she didn't let up and the weather didn't get me off the hook. The snow stopped and was replaced by sunshine.

As I sat across from these silly, happy girls in a booth at Pizza Hut, I thanked God for the privilege of being a mom and I felt grateful for those wonderful moments in life when we can turn lemons into lemonade. Sometimes it's the sour things that lead us to the sweet, and without those occasional disappointments in life, the good times wouldn't taste so special.