Author: Michele Minehart (Page 195 of 311)

guess who won’t get re-elected

September 21, 2011 / Michele Minehart

I’ve written before that parenthood offers a new perspective on life, such as God’s love. Today I’ve decided that being a mommy echos that of a politician. Why, you ask?

Mutiny.

It’s fun to blog about all the small joys of parenthood – the funny things kids say, the way they explore the world and offer creativity and new perspective. The giggles, the playfulness. And we’re good at complaining about late nights, tempter tantrums and expensive diapers. And stories of going to the grocery. But we say little about how exhausting it is to be in charge all the time and come off seeming like the bad guy. And when you have 2 close in age, often in cahoots, it seems you’re always redirecting to an activity a bit less hazardous or refereeing over stolen toys. No matter how much you allow them to direct themselves in play and conflict resolution, it seems they always want a 3rd party opinion.

So during a recent non-existent nap time, I decided that perhaps we need to give our elected officials a bit of a break. Much like parenting, I’m sure their goal really is the greater good. But with that comes asking citizens to do things they don’t like to do. Like clean up their messes. Authorities are often caught in the middle of differing interests, both of which are quite valid. And there’s just not enough time or money to do what everyone wants to do, all the time.

Some try to govern and keep peace, and then there are those who think they have a better idea. And the “better idea” rarely has anything to do with looking at it from all angles. Yes, perhaps the peacekeeper does have an agenda: sanity. A large group of relatively happy, healthy, well-adjusted citizens. So next time we’re griping about the state of the nation, I’ll have a few thoughts.

Yes, it may seem as if the younger one gets what she wants at the expense of the older one, simply because we can ask more of him. That’s part of being the oldest. You’ve got a better chance of being a CEO or President because of it.
Sometimes you have to take care of disagreements yourself because others are busy TRYING TO PUT THE BABY TO SLEEP FOR THE 11TH TIME.
Even when you ask and use your nice words, others might simply not want to do what you’re doing because you have differing interests. This is allowed, so please don’t throw a fit when everyone isn’t doing what you find most stimulating and rewarding.
You are able – even encouraged – to find solutions all by yourself. Need more milk? Go find the cup. Ready for a new activity? Look in the toy box. Change begins with you, my friend.

I wonder about my ability to run a household of 5, let alone an entire community or country, of thousands. Hats off to you, my public official friends. The office is all yours.

dig in

September 20, 2011 / Michele Minehart

At the end of the day, one of measuring sticks of a good day is the fact that my family ate and slept well. I feel that life is best enjoyed when you’re physically feeling good, so I do everything I can to help my kids in that way. Then they can play hard, their minds are ready to see new opportunities for adventure. For the past several weeks, since we’ve settled in from the move and I’ve been on maternity leave, it’s been very easy to establish a pattern for making sure dinner is on the table and ready to be enjoyed. I’ve actually enjoyed this part of my day and feel a sense of pride at doing it well.
Yesterday, I just didn’t feel like it.
Blame it on the rain (yeah, yeah). Blame it on the Mondays. Blame it on the whiney children and the infant getting into new sleep patterns. But whatever be the case, I was done with yesterday by 11:30am with no intentions of wanting to restart. Thank goodness the kids were overdue to have a long nap and obliged.
But we still needed something to eat for dinner. We had the innerds of potatoes, leftover from the skins we made for game night on Saturday (the best part of the game, I must say), so I told myself to use them up in some form of mashed potato. So I “fried” some chicken a la my mom, which is actually browning it and putting it in the oven. Then I attempted some gravy. The potatoes were lumpy, the gravy too thick, but it was filling and wholesome. Mission accomplished.
I started thinking how often faith is like dinner. Sometimes you have to dig in because you need to eat. Faith is easy at the extremes – when prayers are answered or when life seems to be falling apart. That’s when we know where to look. But for those times that simply “blah”, we’re tempted to sit around and sulk and then order in. The good and the bad aren’t there to propel us into action so we become spiritually sedentary.
Sometimes we don’t feel like being faithful. But that’s the work of faith; living outside of our feelings at times. Not that we can’t take a break from normal routines; not that sometimes faith calls for us to change things up. I’m not saying that if you fail to open the Bible one morning that you’re stumbling in your faith. But it’s much like love; some days we just don’t feel like doing the loving thing; selfishness is easier and appears to meet our needs at the moment. But love is about much more than how I feel at a given moment in time. At least, if I want the love to last, it is.
I’m all for creating space; I understand the need for refueling. But sometimes the thing that will fill your tank is to dig in and do what you don’t want to do.

oh, I’ve got friends in [high] places….

September 19, 2011 / Michele Minehart

Over the years I’ve begun compiling a list of reasons why we need good friends. For example:
1. To proof read your resume. Seriously, have someone make sure you’re not putting stupid stuff on there.

2. Calorie-laden food and beverage is best enjoyed in pleasant company. The calories diminish with laughter. Which is why book club and girls night are a means of exercise for me.

3. Your kids don’t become your identity. Because to true friends you’re not H/M/C’s mommy, that is just an element of your identity. You’re YOU to good friends.

4. Friends provide occasion to put on pants with real zippers and get out of the house, even if just for a walk. They also help you decide if you’re to a point that you can pull off horizontal stripes, jeggings or a fun hat. In short, friends are crucial to the shopping and wearing process. Because we all know husbands just don’t know how to answer the epic questions centered around how we really look in particular garments.

5. Friends straighten a crooked theology.

Though the first 4 reasons to have friends have been quite important to me as of late, number 5 poked his head in to say hello this past week. One of my favorite parts about being a youth director was our monthly cluster/cohort meeting with other area (NW Ohio) youth directors. I loved who I worked with, we had a great mix of personalities and perspectives and they always helped fulfill my hankering for thoughtful conversation. I’ve really missed several of these individuals over the years, as I’ve become further removed and as others have moved on to other positions and callings as well. My youth director friends landed a position in my Top 5 Groups I wish I could have a Reunion with list (also mentioned: college friends and my youth group kids).

So when I posted the other day about some wonderings I had about God “moving into the neighborhood”, I asked a friend to educate me about a related topic. You know, Luther and the entire movement of the Reformation. Nothing big. And my friend was good to offer up some resources for me to be enlightened.

He was also kind enough to call up my Trinitarian theology and show me some holes in my thinking. I was thrilled.

The essence of blogging, for me, is to ponder; I’m such a verbal processor that this more or less keeps KLR from having to set the phone down while I rattle off umpteen different thoughts while she gets the dishes done or pays attention to her husband. I never hold that any post is absolute, but rather a beginning point. I’m not in a pulpit (nor do I want to be. Nor should I be). But if I were, my bloggy thoughts aren’t the place to begin.They’re more of the chatter over coffee “what if” variety. So, apologies if anyone ever thinks that they’re much more than that.

Perhaps that’s why there are some pretty heated debates in the bloggy/social networking world. Others don’t have friends, like I do, who will simply converse and correct. Ask, differ and question but in a loving and considerate way. I’ve had more than one spiritual conversation over my meanderings, and I appreciate each one. Well, the ones in which I’m not simply trying to be converted to another way of thinking… but most of my conversational partners also enjoy a level of cerebral exercise, so it’s a mutual understanding that agreeing isn’t necessarily the goal. But sharpening, opening the eyes, or even heart, is paramount.

I hope you have friends like that. Good friends that ask you to think, reconsider, or even go back to the drawing board. Friends that say, “what if…”. Yes, I hope you have friends like that.

Author: Michele Minehart (Page 195 of 311)

guess who won’t get re-elected

dig in

oh, I’ve got friends in [high] places….

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