On Today's Menu:
Anything But Chewing Gum
"I've just gotta have my purse!" Hannah wailed after we get home from church last night.
"What is so important that can't wait until Mr. J drops it off tomorrow?" I was more concerned with taking a few minutes to relax, and getting to some fresh strawberry shortcake.
"MY GUM!" The teenage drama queen reached a fever pitch.
"There is plenty--of gum--in the pantry. Someone left that pack in there." I need a vacation, I thought to myself.
"But it's not sour apple. I won't get to taste that gum for TWO--WHOLE--YEARS!!!"
Oh, the immediacy of a teen's life. You see, Hannah got braces today. She really wanted to get them and over with before high school, so two years from now just as she finishes junior high, she'll be getting them off. At least that's the plan. Last night she went on a chew-all-the-gum-she-could binge before D-Day.
Earlier this week, she looked at me and sighed. "Two years, no gum. No Jolly Ranchers. No Tootsie Rolls."
"It's going to be worth it, though." I tried to encourage her. "You'll have a perfect smile to go with that perfect profile. Good-bye, Sowell gap." (She inherited the famed front tooth "gap" from my husband's side of the family.)
"But it's such a long time."
Today is Good Friday. Sometimes I think evangelical Christianity, at least from my experience outside many of the centuries-old divisions, glosses over Good Friday. It's more fun to get to the part about Easter, the resurrection, and CELEBRATE~!! Woo, hoo!
God made us all for a purpose. Many people have heard of the book, The Purpose Driven Life. I highly recommend it. But we can't fulfill our purpose if we're not on His wavelength and on His terms. Maybe to some people that doesn't sound fair, but God went through a lot of trouble to make us good enough. A lot more than giving up sour apple gum for two years (remember Hannah's urgency?). He let His Son take the blame for everything to pull us out of the rut we were born into (the whole live, die, pay taxes scenario). God saw the end result--and to Him, it was worth it.
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1 comment:
Sorry I'm so late on this post - I just discovered your blog and I'm "catching up". I can so relate to the ortho thing AND the things our kiddos have to give up for the sake of a lifelong beautiful smile. My two guys gave up chips for - uh...I think TWO weeks and then started sneaking them. They did abstain from the gum and sticky stuff, but in the three years we only had one broken wire. Not too bad...They both began their sophomore and junior years this year braces-free! woo-hoo! (And by the way, I ran into our ortho in the grocery store parking lot a while back and he really DOES drive a big 'ol honking SUV. Same thoughts went through my head!)
Love, Staci
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