The Day I Fired Toddler Jesus

From the instant you discover you're going to be a parent, you develop crazy ideas about your child. Ludacris expectations, really. If you've been on social media for 2 seconds you know this is true. One semester on the A/B honor roll and your kid is the next Rhodes Scholar. A touchdown scored and parents are negotiating with college scouts. Of course, there are some parents who would say "Oh, I'm not like that! I just want my kids to be themselves and to be happy." Maybe so, but way back in the deep recesses of their minds, even those parents are hoping that their happy, self aware children will be successful enough to not live on their couch forever. 

As parents we have the absolute right and privilege to insure they do well, encourage them in areas they enjoy or are good at, and promote them and their successes, but every so often even the best parenting goes slightly off the rails. 

For example...

A few months ago, the drama director at our church asked if we would allow Benjamin to be "toddler Jesus" in our church Christmas musical. Just to clarify the role...according to the Bible the Wise Men who followed the Star to see the Christ Child didn't arrive until He was, at minimum, two years old. Tradition, of course, has them at the manger, but that really couldn't be possible if the "East" that they travelled from was more than a few miles away. Therefore, our drama team needed someone in the 2-3 year old age range to receive the Magi in Act 2 of the musical. All he had to do was stand on a bench and look adorable while the gift bearing visitors and their entourages kneel in adoration. Easy peasy. 

I agreed in a heartbeat because who doesn't want their three year old to be the center of attention and generally adored by man and Christmas beast? (They might not have been at the manger, but they still had camels!) From the beginning Benjamin did not want the part. I believe his words were "I don't want to be toddler Jesus." I suppose I should have known we might have a problem, but, good gracious, he was supposed to be the Christ Child, for goodness sake, so HE WAS GOING TO DO IT.  

Before the first rehearsal, I had a little chat with him about obeying the director and doing what he was asked to do. Again he repeated, "I don't want to be toddler Jesus." Clearly he didn't understand how awesome this was going to be, so I had a little more emphatic chat about how he would be great and the play would be fun and how he was GOING TO DO IT. Pretty sure all my parenting neurosis were fully on display at this point. 

He did what he was asked, looking as miserable and angst ridden as possible. If he was trying to portray sullen, annoyed teenager Jesus, he nailed it.

After the rehearsal, the director asked if Benjamin wanted out. It was ok, she said, he doesn't have to do it. 

Oh no, I said, he'll be fine, he was just tired. 

Ahem.

I'm pretty sure the Bible frowns on bold faced lies even if your child was picked to play toddler Jesus....

At the next rehearsal when it was time for him to go on stage, he broke down in to full on sobs repeating "I don't want to be toddler Jesus!" I peeled him off my body and handed him to the director anyway, hoping that some distance from me would give him proper prospective on the whole matter. (Go ahead and feel superior about your own parenting at this point. You would be absolutely entitled and correct.) A few minutes later a slightly defeated director returned with him declaring it a bust. Apparently, he just stood on the stage steps crying and saying he was too scared. Oh. my. word. 

I came to my senses and went ahead and fired toddler Jesus. He was elated and my parental pride slowly deflated to a more rational size. There is something slightly horrifying about the realization that you've become a crazed stage mom. High expectations are one thing, but total disregard for your three year old feelings is pretty bad.

Sometimes it's so easy to forget that our kids are still figuring themselves out. They are small and the world is so big and full of so many possibilities. Just like us, they are wonderfully complex and God has

great things in store for them despite our crazy expectations.

He didn't want to be toddler Jesus but he was more than willing
to do somersaults and jump off the risers and say "ribbit"
as a cow in the preschool nativity play. Go figure.

The stage may not be Benjamin's thing now or ever, but it's my job to assess his desires, see his needs and understand his personality so that I can guide him to find something that it is his thing. 

Even if it's not toddler Jesus.

Cake Balls for a Cause: the Final Tally

When I threw out the Cake Balls for a Cause idea a couple of weeks ago, I had no idea what the response would be. Truthfully I hoped that a couple of people besides the grandmas would order some cake balls, but beyond that....

Well, it turns out a lot of people love Christmas and cake balls and especially love helping those who need to see what love looks like this Christmas. 

A. LOT. OF. PEOPLE.

So many people, in fact, that I had to cut off the orders or we would have been making cake balls until Valentine's Day! What a fantastic problem to have!!

How does all that love translate into numbers? Here you go!

814 Cake Balls Made & Delivered = $475 Worth of Items Purchased From

 the Bread of Life Catalog

What was purchased? Well.....

11 Bibles

7 Sets of Clothing

5 Nights at the New Life Center

4 Pairs of Glasses

3 Christmas Dinners

3 Egg Laying Hens
1 Beehive 

All of this proves what I already knew....my family is surrounded by an incredible community of people who love Jesus and want to share that love with as many people as possible (and who, apparently, really like cake balls). 

Thank you to everyone who participated and for helping my boys understand the power of community and how that power can be harnessed to bring light and love to a dark world. We are so very grateful.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Cake Balls for a Cause

Do you love Christmas? Do you love cake balls? Do you want to help three adorable little boys help the poor and the homeless? You do?? Fantastic! Here's how you can help..

These are our good friends Brooke and Richard. 

You may remember them because they are Max's parents. They are awesome. And brave. And amazing. On top of that, they run a ministry in Poland called Bread of Life that serves the destitute and homeless. It started twelve years ago with a thermos of tea and a handful of sandwiches and is now, not only in Poland, but also in Moldova and the Ivory Coast.  

This year Bread of Life published a Christmas catalog from which items can be purchased to help those they serve. My kids already chose a couple of things they wanted to buy with some money they earned, but wanted to do more. The problem is they are only 9, 5, and 3 years old and, until the child labor laws change, they are dependent on big people for their cash flow. So, together, we've concocted a plan: I will make oodles of cake balls with their help and, after you purchase them, all of the proceeds will go to Bread of Life. 

Here's the skinny:

$10 for 20 cake balls in a lovely bakery style box

OR

$8 for a dozen cake balls in a decorative mason jar with Christmas greeting (teacher's gift?)

The cake balls are hand rolled and dipped with love and Christmas cheer in your choice of flavor:

Vanilla Cake w/ Chocolate or Vanilla Covering

Chocolate Cake w/ Chocolate or Vanilla Covering

Red Velvet Cake w/ Vanilla Covering

Take them to a party! Give them to neighbors! Eat them all yourself (we don't judge)....

Questions? Orders? Contact me at monica_henry@hotmail.com or send me a FaceBook message

Learn More About Bread of Life at http://www.intouchmission.org/projects/poland/bread-of-life-homeless-ministry/

or 

Follow Brooke On Her Blog:

http://and2makescrazy.wordpress.com/

Merry Christmas!!

When More Than the Turkey was Dry

Thanksgiving was fantastic. The days leading up to it, however, were terrible. I was drained, weary, dry, and just done.

The holidays are rapidly approaching and so are the vast number of activities that accompany it. All of them are good and fun, but all of them require something from me: time, attention, energy, and/ or money, and by the week before Thanksgiving, I had nothing left to give. Nothing. Nada. Zip. I was spiritually, emotionally, physically impoverished. Then, God drops this gem in my lap:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. -Matthew 5:3 (ESV)

I've never identified with the poor in spirit. Not sure who I identified with, but it wasn't them. That week, however, I was a card carrying member of broke spirit club. With pockets turned out and shoulders slumped, I sat before the throne. Jesus reminded me that only when I lack something, does He have an opportunity to give and He's never a cheapskate. 

Matthew records that the poor in spirit receive the kingdom. THE KINGDOM. Not an acre or a mile, but the whole shebang. They get the good stuff because they have the space to receive it. When all of the junk that occupies us and, seemingly keeps us going, drains away are we in a position to receive the abundance that He wants to give us to live a full life.

This doesn't mean that a check for a million dollars showed up in my mailbox or that the oatmeal cookies and corn for the Thanksgiving feast cooked themselves or even that schedule for the week magically thinned out, but the source of my strength to face all those things was reestablished. 

Bit by bit, my emaciated spirit came back to life and by that Thursday night I was feeling restored. (The brownie sundae I ate helped, but I'm pretty sure it was mostly Jesus.)

Lean in to Jesus during this season when the world around you demands so much. He never tires or sleeps and desperately wants to give you what you need to live your life more abundantly than you could ever imagine.