RoslynReynolds.com

“You can take this one back to the store now…”

Sunday, June 14th, 2009 | Overcoming Disappointment, The Power of a Positive Outlook, Uncategorized, Unshaken Faith in Trials | 2 Comments

Little three-year-old Jefferson looked a little downhearted when he muttered those words.

It was his birthday. He’d been so excited – even thrilled – when he had seen the “skuut” bike he’d received. He squealed, “A bike?! A bike?!”

He put on the helmet immediately and began to walk the bike around and around the living room.

His father, (my son-in-law, Grant), capturing it all on video, asked Jefferson, “Do you want to go outside and ride your bike?”

Jefferson answered with his enthusiastic phrase that always makes me smile: “Of COURSE!”

I followed as Grant took him down the three flights of stairs to the sidewalk that winds through their apartment complex, and showed Jefferson how he could sit on the bike seat and push with his feet, but Jeff wasn’t interested. He was comfortable with straddling the bike and walking, step-by-step traversing the concrete pathway circling the apartment building.

“Jeff, don’t you want to try riding it? You can sit down and push with your feet,” I encouraged.

“No, it’s okay,” he responded, his eyes on the sidewalk ahead, and intently walking forward.

Grant and I smiled at each other. It couldn’t be very fun. Ahead we saw a small playground with a slide and a swing, and Jefferson headed straight toward it, gladly abandoning his bike to climb up the ladder, slide down the slide, and then go for a swing.

After awhile, Grant asked, “Are you ready to ride your bike back home?”

Jefferson slid down out of the swing and walked over to the bike. With noticeably less excitement than the first time, he dutifully buckled on his helmet, and straddled the bike for the uphill trip home.

What must he have been experiencing? I wondered what he was thinking. As we were finally approaching the stairs leading to his apartment, he stopped, started to unbuckle his helmet, sighed, and said,

“You can take this one back to the store now.”

It was so sweetly said. He appreciated the thought – but it had been nothing like his expectations. It just hadn’t been fun, and he wanted to trade it in on something better!

It reminded me of so much of life. We think of something we want, and we build up expectations of what it will be like. We have such high hopes!

Then, when we get what we wanted, and it’s less exciting or more work than we expected, and it’s just not fun anymore, we want to trade it in. We want to make a change, give up, or move on.

However, we know something that Jefferson has yet to learn. There isn’t anyplace where we can take what life dishes up and say, “You can have this back. Could I please have a better one?”

We have to deal with what we are given. Thoreau reminded us of that when he said, “Man is the artificer of his own happiness.” We can choose to be happy even when circumstances aren’t ideal. We can learn new things that will help us find the good in our situation.

Grant didn’t return the bike. He knows that Jefferson will soon come to love his bike. As he learns how to balance, and how to make it go, he will find some of his happiest moments sailing along the pavement.

We need to decide to make the best of life – whatever circumstances come to pass – and have faith that if God allowed it, He will also give us the courage and strength to live through it – and learn and grow from it.

I have always loved Victor Hugo’s words:

Be like the bird

That, pausing in her flight

Awhile on boughs too slight,

Feels them give way

Beneath her and yet sings,

Knowing that she hath wings.

We, too, have wings! Our faith in God allows us to rise above life’s challenges and difficulties and not be lost in the fog of despair and discouragement.

When we want to trade in what we’ve been given, we must remember: “With God, nothing is impossible.” And, “I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me.” We can find the good, in any place God puts us.

“Ah, great it is to believe the dream

As we stand in youth by the starry stream;

But a greater thing is to fight life through,

And say at the end, “The dream is true!”

-Edwin Markham

Seeking the good in every day,

-Roslyn

Tears – and a Prayer

Thursday, June 4th, 2009 | Death of a loved one, Grieving, Healing after Loss | No Comments

This past month began with tears and a prayer. When I received the phone call that my two-year-old grandson had fallen out the third-story window and was in the emergency room, tears sprang to my eyes, and I immediately gathered my family in a prayer, pleading with God to help that little boy.
The next forty-eight hours were filled with tears and prayers, as we waited anxiously for each update on his condition, praying for miracles.
The miracles, one by one, were granted. No broken bones, no head trauma, no spinal damage – just  a lacerated liver and a nearly-severed tongue, both injuries that could heal with time and proper care.

Now our tears were tears of relief – and our prayers were filled with expressions of gratitude.

Of course he would need extra care for the next few weeks, and I wanted to be there to help. His mother was expecting their second child in three weeks, and my plans had been to fly out to help when that baby was born. Now my daughter asked, could I come help now?

I made my plans – and then came another phone call. My dear mother-in-law, 90 years old, just had a stroke. She could no longer swallow, and wasn’t expected to live more than a few days.

Again, tears came to my eyes. I remembered the many years she had devoted herself to being the sweet “Grandma” that my children loved to spend time with, always planning some excursion or adventure, never complete without her little cooler of freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies.
As I remembered, I offered a prayer of thanks for such a wonderful mother-in-law and “Grandma”.

My plans to leave put on hold, and in tears, I called each child, attempting to make arrangements for each child to talk to her one last time. Would it be possible? With one daughter on the East coast, one in Idaho, a son serving a church mission in Argentina, another daughter working a temporary assignment in South-Eastern Utah, and the other three at work or school, would it be possible to gather them in time?

I offered a prayer – and things began to fall into place.

By the end of the day, each child had been able to talk to Mom, either by phone, through a video chat, or in person. Sweet words of appreciation, remembrance, and love had been exchanged, and every child had been able to say a tender good-bye to their dear grandmother.

We all wept tears of grief, realizing the void that will now be in our lives, but also tears of gratitude that we had experienced her love in our lives for so long, and that we have the chance to see her again after this life. The funeral was beautiful, honoring the life of a sweet soul who had devoted her life to serving others.
I made new flight arrangements, and soon arrived in Washington, DC. I cried tears of joy when I saw my grandson for the first time since his accident, realizing that we very well could have lost him. Instead, God granted a miracle, and here he was, well on his way to total recovery.

I have spent the last three weeks here, as my grandson continued to heal, as the family moved to a new home, and as, just last week, they welcomed baby #2 to the family – a healthy eight-pound six-ounce boy. Again, tears of joy filled my eyes. Holding him has been a sweet reminder of the miracle of birth, and the joy of being near a soul so recently in the arms of God.

This month is ending with tears and a prayer, also. I will be flying out early Monday morning, back to my home, back to mothering my twenty-eight-year-old daughter (who herself has been “mother” in my absence,) my sixteen-year-old son (who doesn’t necessarily feel he needs mothering at this point, but I know better) and my fourteen-year-old daughter, whose sweet hugs I have missed dearly.
I leave with tears of tenderness. I will miss this sweet little family. And I leave with a prayer that God will continue to watch over them, and keep them safe. And I pray that I will be ever more aware of the miracles God performs in my that, if I am not careful, might go unnoticed and unappreciated.

May you see His miracles in your life – and may your tears be those of gratitude, and your prayers be filled with renewed devotion!

With tears, and a prayer,

Roslyn