You don’t have to be so serious! 🥸

My Grandmother (my Dad’s Mom) was serious all the time - at least whenever I was around her. She was prim and proper - well dressed, had her hair done every week, and no fun. None of her grandchildren enjoyed spending time with her. But my Grandfather was a different story. He worked as hard as his wife but instead of a scowl, he wore a smile on his face - singing and whistling through his day. All of their grandchildren adored our Grandpa. Any music played in their home was generally a collection of old time hymns - except when my Grandmother left to run an errand and then our Grandpa would sneak in a record of Hank Williams (https://youtu.be/pyiGHFGCf2U).

Don’t get me wrong, on Sunday mornings I am ALWAYS in the mood for deeply meaningful hymns of worship and praise. Hymns like The Deep Deep Love of Jesus, How Great Thou Art, Worthy Is the Lamb, It is Well With My Soul, etc. There are countless hymns that I adore - that often run through my mind while I read my Bible throughout the week. However, there is a REASON I love How Great Thou Art and that reason is that I can still hear my Grandpa’s tenor voice belting out that hymn next to me in church and I loved my Grandpa because he lived a joyous life! I loved my Grandma too but she wasn’t a warm person and she wasn’t full of joy like my Grandpa was.

My favorite music is upbeat music. I have a very eclectic list of songs I enjoy from across multiple genres. My mood determines what music I choose to listen to and most often, the music I choose is upbeat. I have only 2 playlists on Spotify - one for upbeat music of all types and one for the rest - slower, more contemplative music.

More than anything else, I love to laugh. So music that makes me laugh is pretty high on my list. First on my list is the upbeat Gospel and Contemporary Christian music that moves my soul to a position of praise and worship that strengthens and energizes me. But a close second are the silly songs that make me laugh. The parodies of Weird Al Yankovic can be a great way to induce laughter - a favorite in our house is Word Crimes (https://youtu.be/8Gv0H-vPoDc). And the hilarious Christian song parodies of Tim Hawkins will have our family rolling with laughter!

My Mom is probably to blame for my love of silly songs. She and I have a lot in common in this regard. She likes classical music but mostly the upbeat music from the album “Hooked on Classics” that she listened to while doing aerobics. She played and sang so many hilarious songs to us as kids.

Songs my Mom exposed me to were songs like The Witch Doctor (https://youtu.be/cmjrTcYMqBM), Transfusion (https://youtu.be/HbhvZ2y1V80), The Crazy Banana (https://youtu.be/oq79Z-4AfCg) and Ape Call (https://youtu.be/ueMoGDqHchU) to name just a few!😂

In elementary school our music teacher taught us fun songs like Don Gato about a cat who gets a letter from a female cat and is so happy he falls off the roof and dies but comes back to life at the smell of fish. Another song was called Grandma’s Feather Bed about how it was so big that it could hold eight kids, four hound dogs and a piggie they stole from the shed. 😂 Our high school choir sang some fun songs like Jack der Sprat - a funny song with German sounding English words about Jack Sprat and his wife from the nursery rhyme. We also sang a song called “ The Sow Died in the Spring.”

A friend of mine in high school taught me a silly little song, one verse of which goes like this:

Magalina Pagalina Supersonna Ronna Ronna Chugga Lugga Lugga was her name.

She had two teeth in her mouth, one pointed North and the other pointed South

Oh Magalina Pagalina Supersonna Ronna Ronna Chugga Lugga Lugga was her name.

I, of course, have passed these songs and the love of silliness and laughter to my children. As a result, my children have exposed me to new songs to add to my tickle-your-funny bone list. More modern songs that make me laugh. Songs like I’m A Burrito (https://youtu.be/QzpXCbk9OWc) and The Fruit of the Spirit’s Not A Coconut (https://youtu.be/pB2WmMcBNks).

When I still was feeding my children before they could operate a spoon, there were times they didn’t want to eat something I was feeding them. So I sang this song to them:

M (with my mouth closed) M (sticking my tongue out) said the little green frog one day

M (with my mouth closed) M (sticking my tongue out) said the little green frog

M (with my mouth closed) M (sticking my tongue out) said the little green frog one day

‘Til they all went M (with my mouth closed) M (sticking my tongue out) Ah (my mouth wide open)

It’s funny how kids copy your mouth when you do funny things like that and I would be able to sneak a spoon full if food into their open mouths. 😂

When my kids were young I used to sing a song to them to help remind them to be patient when they were struggling to wait for something. Patience (https://youtu.be/iL1BRPEjMZA). I played the whole song for them and then would sing just the chorus if they were whining while standing in a long line or in some other patience-testing situation. It was remarkably effective - probably because of the embarrassment factor of having their Mom sing to them in public (my voice isn’t THAT bad!🤣) but after a few times all I had to say once the whining started was “Do I need to sing the Patience song?” Even today, as teenagers, my kids adjust their impatient attitudes when I threaten to sing that song!

My favorite Christmas song is I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas (https://youtu.be/33QcgQdjfSs). And from the first year it came out, Matthew West’s Gobble Gobble song has been a fun addition to our Thanksgiving celebrations (https://youtu.be/wqAjWUAlJ-0).

Having a creative youth pastor who teamed up with a singer and songwriter when I was a teen also contributed to my fondness for silly songs. I remember one song they made up about traveling all over the world to places like Owha, Tagoo and Siam. They had us singing the chorus which, when put all together makes the phrase “Oh what a goose I am!” And we used to sing fun songs with creative verses that I sang to my own children when they were young. Songs like I’ve Been Redeemed with verses like:

Oh, you can’t get to heaven (repeat)

On roller skates (repeat)

No you can’t get to heaven on roller skates

You’ll roll right past those pearly gates

I’ve been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb

etc.

We also sang songs like this one:

Give me gas for my Ford, keep me truckin’ for the Lord

Give me gas for my Ford I pray

Give me gas for my Ford, keep me truckin’ for the Lord

Keep me truckin’ til the break of day

Sing hosanna, sing hosanna sing hosanna to the King of Kings

This song also has multiple fun verses.

As you are aware, I have Multiple Sclerosis. It makes my disease and my weaknesses much more bearable if I can laugh at myself. I am increasingly dizzy which means I lose my balance at random - while I’m standing still. Crazy to think that I could fall just because I am standing still and suddenly lose my balance! WHAT? Now I find that hilarious! My Grandmother would not have found it funny and there are members of my family who cannot find the humor in my condition. But I have to ignore the negativity and drown it out with joy and laughter - it’s how I deal with a debilitating illness. The Lord didn’t allow MS into my life so I would mope around and feel sorry for myself. He expects me to USE it for His glory!

If I struggle for a word, I often just insert any old word that comes to mind to keep the conversation flowing. For example, the other day I needed to fill a muffin tin with batter but couldn’t think of either word so I just said that I needed to put the “stuff“ in the “thing.” And I laughed but my family knew what I was talking about, thankfully so no one was confused.😂

Laughter and singing is all over the Bible.

There are a LOT more verses about singing, joy and laughter. These are just a few. But they emphasize my point. The Christian life is supposed to be lived joyously! We are supposed to be broadcasting how wonderful it is to be saved by grace - to know our destination and draw people to us! We want people to be caught up in our joy! Attracted to the amazing promises of Jesus Christ! And we can’t effectively do this if our lives are lived in solemn, joyless seriousness.

A little silliness and joy goes a long way - don’t take yourself so seriously. God doesn’t. He likens us to dumb sheep - and we ARE! Sheep are silly and cute but they aren’t smart. Lean in to your role as a sheep - be innocent, secure in the knowledge you are being watched out for by the Shepherd - but be sure to follow the right voice!

Adjustments

I love my children! They are such gifts and they bring me so much joy!

There was a time when summer breaks were much more difficult- as the kids went through their “no” phases and sneaky phases and they were too young to help out around the house in any significant way I would be exhausted at the end of the summer and would be ready for school to start. The kids were constantly asking to do things and go places - parks were frequent destinations but so were mall play areas and often just fun outside in our own neighborhood jumping in puddles. All fun but also a lot of work for me- planning out destinations, meals, snacks, driving, keeping watch and playing with them as they explored new places, and the clean-up afterwards (especially after puddle jumping). I enjoyed every moment of it and watching the kids have fun together more than made up for the work associated with a given activity. But I was ready for them to go back to school when September rolled around.

Things are different now. The kids are older and capable of entertaining themselves when necessary. They can get their own snacks and, if I’m feeling weak and fatigued, they can fix family meals and clean up afterward too. My daughter has her driver’s license now so she can get herself to birthday parties and friend hangouts and I don’t need to be there to supervise because she has made good choices in selecting friends and is responsible. The kids have taken on most of the household chores between the two of them too and they are not only a huge help but they are fun to be around.

So when my daughter went back to school on Tuesday, I wasn’t ready. She packs her own lunches now and she drives herself to school and back. I am watching her develop into a responsible, independent young woman and it’s AWESOME! But also I am having to make adjustments in my habits and thinking and I’m having to let go little by little.

Change can be sort of unsettling and I have to make adjustments or my children won’t be able to “adult” as they say these days - as if it’s a verb.

My son starts school today and I don’t know which of us is dreading it more! He doesn’t enjoy school the way I did when I was a kid. He is a procrastinator and he struggles to focus in class when the material is uninteresting- which, honestly, is MOST of what schools teach. The point of school is really to learn the mechanics of how to study, how to meet deadlines, how to do your best work, how to write legibly, how to read and comprehend the material you are reading, how to work with others (those in authority and your peers), time management, organizational skills, critical thinking, self advocacy and work ethic. The actual details of a particular book you might read in English are not important in adulthood. You should gain some basic knowledge of how things work and how history impacts the future but you will forget the nitty gritty details like dates important battles happened, etc. Basic math is important but higher levels of math aren’t unless you go in to a field that uses it like engineering or math teacher. But I digress…

I like it better when my kids are home. Our home is just happier with them in it and I know my time with them is limited. My daughter has only 2 years of high school left and then she’s off to college. My son has only 5 years of school left. I want to soak up every experience I can with them because I know it won’t last.

Just as things have changed as they have gotten older, taller and more capable, more adjustments will need to be made as they gain in responsibility and march toward independence.

I feel less prepared for this school year than ever before. I’m not ready! But I had better GET ready because it’s here and there’s no stopping it!

I reminds me of a song that makes me cry every time I hear it called “Slow Down.” The lyrics are:

"Slow Down"

https://youtu.be/clcNB_EUao8

Here's to you

You were pink or blue

And everything I wanted

Here's to you

Never sleeping through

From midnight till the morning

Had to crawl before you walked

Before you ran

Before I knew it

You were trying to free your fingers from my hand

'Cause you could do it on your own now

Somehow

Slow down

Won't you stay here a minute more

I know you want to walk through the door

But it's all too fast

Let's make it last a little while

I pointed to the sky and now you wanna fly

I am your biggest fan

I hope you know I am

But do you think you can somehow

Slow down

Here's to you

Every missing tooth

Every bedtime story

Here's to Barbie cars, light saber wars

Sleeping in on Sunday

Had to crawl

Before you walked

Before you ran

Before I knew it

You were teaching me

The only thing love can

Hold hands through it

When it's scary, you've got me

Slow down

Won't you stay here a minute more

I know you want to walk through the door

But it's all too fast

Let's make it last a little while

I pointed to the sky and now you wanna fly

I am your biggest fan

I hope you know I am

But do you think you can somehow

Slow down

Please don't roll your eyes at me

I know I'm embarrassing

But someday you'll understand

You'll hold a little hand

Ask them if they can...

Oh oh ho Oooh

'Cause it's all too fast

Oh oh ho Oooh

I am your biggest fan

I hope you know I am

But do you think you can

Somehow

Slow down

Slow down

But time doesn’t slow down and nothing is going to wait until I’m ready. I made a deal with my son when he was little that if he would just stay little, I wouldn’t get old. He was struggling with the idea that I would get old and die some day. But, just like a disobedient child, he got bigger - so I have gotten older because he didn’t hold up his end of the bargain!😂😉

Be Careful…

In Sunday School we learned a song that I carry with me today:

Be careful little eyes what you see,

Oh be careful little eyes what you see,

For the Father up above, He is looking down in love,

So be careful little eyes what you see.

The other verses are similar:

Be careful little ears what you hear…

Be careful little hands what you do…

Be careful little feet where you go…

This weekend my thoughts began to focus on the verse of this song that says Be careful little mouth what you say…

We went to a wedding on Saturday. It was a simple wedding and the focus was on Jesus first and the happy couple second. The entire ceremony, including the venue, was designed to be a testimony to many unsaved wedding guests. It was a beautiful, God-honoring wedding and I pray it touched hearts and that some might be saved as a result of the clear message of the Gospel woven throughout the wedding ceremony. The couple was very intentional about what was being spoken to the attendees.

At the wedding, my daughter overheard someone from our church disparaging another member of our church. A critical remark that had no place in any conversation amongst believers. After we talked about how inappropriate and out of place that conversation was, I felt immediate conviction. I had to stop and confess that I have been similarly careless in conversations before. We are ALL guilty of this at times. We have ALL participated in conversations like this and we have ALL overheard conversations like this. This critical spirit is running rampant in our society and it is corrupting our churches. We have to be SO careful about what we say. We have no idea who is listening. We have no idea how many times our words will be repeated to others. We can so quickly usher in a spirit of discouragement through our careless conversations. And we destroy our credibility by the things we choose to talk about - our words betray our hearts. “… For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”Matthew‬ ‭12‬:‭34‬ “Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭4‬:‭23‬ ‭

Aside from preservation of our testimony among unbelievers, we need to be mindful of our attitudes toward our brothers and sisters in Christ and the example we are showing to the younger generation of believers. I have a suggestion. When someone’s habits irritate you, don’t express that irritation to anyone except the Lord. Pray for the person you are frustrated by and pray about your attitude toward that person. Then, find something praiseworthy about that frustrating person and share THAT instead. Maybe even go so far as to send the person a quick note of encouragement. This is how we defeat the critical spirit that Satan has planted among us.

In addition, we have the Holy Spirit living inside us. He sees and hears everything we see, hear and say. A speaker at our church really drove this home one Sunday this summer. What are we exposing the Holy Spirit to at any given moment? Are we grieving Him with our chosen conversations? Are we building each other up as we fellowship with other believers?

We need to guard our hearts and constantly evaluate our own thoughts and attitudes in order to effectively represent Christ.

Be careful little mouth what you say…

I Survived the Fair!!

Our area has 2 State Fairs every year. The biggest is the Washington State Fair in Puyallup. As a kid, our school took us to enjoy the fair right at the beginning of every school year! Younger kids toured the animal barns and all the produce displays, etc and reported back on things like how much the biggest pumpkin weighed and how many varieties of cows were there, etc. Older grades had more freedom to roam the fair and ride the rides. My sister and I started a tradition in high school of taking a series of pictures together in the Photo Booth. We continued the annual tradition of attending the Washington State Fair and getting our Photo Booth pictures well into adulthood.

But Puyallup is quite a drive from where we live and the traffic has gotten so much worse! Parking near the fair became difficult to find and quite expensive as well. So we stopped going to the fair.

Then I got married and had children of my own. When they were old enough, I started taking the kids to the other local State Fair - the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe. It’s a smaller fair and it’s closer to where we live. This fair starts at the end of August and runs into the first couple of days in September- just before the fair in Puyallup opens. I think probably most people prefer the bigger, more widely known and advertised fair but for younger kids or for people with disabilities and/or limited energy like me the smaller fair and very close disabled parking lot is perfect! It’s just as fun and easier to navigate!

This has become a fun final hoorah before the beginning of the school year. I used to be able to keep up with the kids. When my son was really young he used to just take off running in whatever direction fascinated him and to keep him safe and to avoid losing him to the crowds, I had to chase after him. Thankfully, I was able to stay on his heels and keep him from getting lost or hurt.

The fair is a different experience now than it was when the kids were young. My sister used to come with me to help with the kids because they couldn’t go on any of the rides without an adult and I was already having a little difficulty with balance so the REALLY aggressive rides were not ones I could go on. In addition, my young son was either not tall enough or not brave enough for the rides his older sister wanted to try so I really needed another adult!

As the kids got older, taller and braver and my sister and I got older and less able to tolerate spinning rides, the kids could ride most rides together and didn’t need an adult. But there were several rides my son (who has a fear of heights and hates being upside down) refused to go on with his more adventuresome older sister. So, I started inviting a friend for our daughter to bring to the fair - a ride buddy if you will. Each year for 3 or 4 years in a row we brought one of her friends.

The last couple of years have been a very different experience. My daughter has a whole group of friends who make plans to meet at the fair.

Last year I let my daughter roam around on her own with her friends while I rode some of the rides with my son. There were still rides I couldn’t do but my daughter and some of her amazing friends were willing to ride some of the more dizzying rides with him.

This year, we met my daughter’s friends at the fair and it was my son who wanted to invite a friend. I didn’t ride ANY rides because at this point it’s just too hard for me and I don’t recover well (Which is also why my sister stopped coming to the fair with us). But, as my abilities have diminished, my children’s abilities have grown to the point that they don’t need me as much. And that’s the way it’s SUPPOSED to work.😁

That doesn’t make the fair experience easy for me. When the kids were younger, they tired out easier and were ready to go home after a few hours. Starting last year though, the kids now want to spend the entire day at the fair and don’t want to leave until it closes at 10pm.

This year I was responsible for my son’s friend too who is autistic and has ADHD as well as a sensory processing disorder. My son has a touch of all of that but not nearly to the level of his friend. But the bigger challenge for me was that my son didn’t want to go on all the rides his friend did so I had to keep coordinating with my daughter and her friends who were also sweet to ride those rides with him. Also, his mom told me that he might not want to stay at the fair until it closed so his dad was on standby to come get him if he got overwhelmed. So I needed to keep an eye on him and make sure he was doing okay. He rode almost every ride. I was impressed by his stamina! He finally had enough and called his dad to come get him. He left at a little after 6pm - 7 hours after we got there so I’d say he did pretty well given his health challenges!

One thing I MUST celebrate though is that this friend of my son did something truly amazing at the fair that day - something to be excited about. His family has a confusing spiritual background. His mom was raised Catholic but converted to Mormonism after reconnecting with her Mormon mother (she was raised by her Catholic aunt). His dad was raised Mormon. They attended a Mormon “church” when their kids were little but their oldest, and only son (this friend of our son) screamed through every service so they stopped attending (thankfully). They identify as Christians but I had an honest conversation with his mom about some of the big differences between a Christian and a Mormon.

This friend has told my son in the past that he doesn’t really believe in God. But every year at the fair we stop at the booth where people do a “salvation test” and hand out gospel tracts, candy and New Testament Bibles. Well, I prepared them ahead of time as I waited for my son and his friend to meet me near that booth. Once they arrived and after going through the whole gospel presentation and reading it aloud for himself, they asked him if he wanted to pray that prayer and ask Jesus to forgive him and he said YES!!!😃. They gave him a New Testament Bible with the date in it and had him write his name in it and encouraged him to read it - starting with the book of John. I hope and pray it was impactful for him and genuine. It is REALLY hard to tell with him. He doesn’t talk much and he doesn’t show much emotion. But it was so encouraging that he didn’t reject the message and seemed genuinely interested in hearing it!

We had been praying about how we could find ways to speak God’s truth to this boy and his family but I honestly hadn’t even remotely considered that he might find Jesus at the fair! I didn’t seek this opportunity out either. It was the Lord’s doing all the way. I was waiting near a ride for the boys to meet me and there was a bench nearby that I was sitting at. I noticed the “Jesus booth” and knew my son would want to spin their prize wheel as he has done every year. I didn’t approach them but when I stood to see if the boys were coming, the men at the booth reached out to me and I told them about our friend who needed Jesus. They were primed and ready when the boys arrived and I was blown away that the Lord so obviously was chasing after this boy - to save him.

That seems like it should be the whole point to this post! But there’s more so bear with me!

I really struggled this year because it was over 85 degrees and I have just this summer started feeling some of that heat intolerance MS patients are prone to. For me, it fatigues me and makes my legs feel heavy - like they each weigh a hundred pounds.

I thought I had to follow my son and his friend around because this was his friend’s first time hanging out with a friend without at least one of his parents with him. So for about 2 hours I went everywhere they did until I just needed to sit down. I decided it was lunchtime. My son’s friend wasn’t hungry and kept asking if he could just go on the rides by himself. So I texted his mom and she said it was fine. So he took off and that gave me little more freedom to get the rest I needed. My son WAS hungry so he sat with me and ate lunch. 🙂

We have a policy in our family that our children don’t get cell phones until they start high school. So our son does not have a phone, making it important that I know where he is - unless he is with someone who has a phone. Thankfully, his friend has a phone and I had gotten the number from his mom. That made it so much easier to let them go off by themselves. Normally, I would say that waiting until high school to trust a child with a phone has benefits that far outweigh the inconvenience at times. But having MS, I can definitely understand why it would be necessary, in certain circumstances, to give younger children a phone - as long as there are age appropriate restrictions and they are taught how to properly use and care for their phones. Our son has only a year left before high school and his friend is in the same grade - and I was grateful for a way to contact the boys at the fair this week!

After his friend left, my son and I traveled the length of the fair as he went from ride to ride. I found convenient benches and he rode alone. Only once did he need to have our daughter ride with him because the ride required two passengers per seat.

The sun started to set and the temperature cooled down, thankfully! At almost 10pm there was one final ride my son wanted to go on - a giant slide located near the exit. As we approached the ride we found my daughter and all her friends hanging out on a couple of benches. I told them I had passed a food vendor giving away food if people were willing to sing a song for the crowd. 6 of the 8 teens rushed off to sing while my son went on his last ride. At 10pm, we were all ready to go home but the singing teens had to wait in a long line before they could perform their songs. They came back to the gate smiling and happy. Another group of unrelated teens sang to my daughter and her friends and the two groups left singing - songs prompted by my son, of all people! He was singing with them which is something he rarely does - even in church.

In the parking lot the other group of teens asked my son to “knight” them with a pool noodle he had won in a contest. He happily obliged!🤣

It was probably the best fair experience yet. But for me it was also on of the worst. I had really struggled throughout the day. I know I had people praying for me because I was able to do it all and I have LOTS of pictures! That and also… I SURVIVED!