blog o’ Kickrick

Good morning

We are in the midst of moving our offices to another larger location.  Of course internet access is key…  and with wireless you never really know if you are going to hit a dead spot…yeah I like those cell commercials too.

Well- I was really asking for trouble..I switched internet providers AND moved at the same time! Uh huh…not real smart…livin on the edge.  Well I got my desk set up …everything connected and come on…come on…pleaaaassseeeeese…….NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…..NO internet connection!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

After trying some things..okay lots of things…taking a cool off break..trying …breaking…then finally YES…I’m connected!!!!!

I thought -  you know…it doesn’t matter to God if we are in the basement, on the 2nd floor, main floor, 10th floor…inside , outside or somewhere in between…there are no dead spots…God says wherever you go…there I am!” We don’t have to sit there in fear and anxiety wondering if He knows where we went..knows where we relocated..wonder if He can find us.  I  always loved the story of Jacob and Esau, particularly when Jacob fled Esau in the wilderness. Jacob discovered God for himself in a place he never knew him. Such a rich. rich passage for teaching…Check out Gen. 28:15

And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

Is that cool or what?     Gotta love the KJV there…thought I would break it out for you! Are you impressed? hehehehehe  some things just sound cooler that way.

Wherever we go…He is with us! and He will continue to do that thing He called us to do in us!

Yep…no dead spots, no signal fade or obstructions, interference…always a strong signal from God’s end …whither we goest!

The inside of a mountain,,,hmmm,  Yep …these are the questions I field on the way to preschool.  I never thought about that one. I tried to give a really good answer and got tangled up as usual.  I ended up taking Seth to class…still stumbling through it and handing him off to the teacher telling them they needed to address his question ..hehehehehe. I asked a mom of a kid in my son’s class on the way out to the car…she said quickly …”tell ‘em it’s dark”  I told her that was a cop out! Another said “looks like dirt”…nah…too easy…cop out again.

You see…quick answers aren’t the ticket to being energized…renewed in your mind. Stop going for quick.. easy.. obvious…stop and think a moment. It will be fun for you and your child.  The key is thinking and musing with God’s help…come up with new information…seeing something differently you never paid attention to  or thought about…look at something differently..ask some questions to yourself …your kid and God…have fun with it!

Another one was what does a platypus eat and what continent do they live on?  I quickly hit  the internet upon returning home after the drop off. I found out so I could dazzle him on the way home. I also got a new gem to amaze him..and make him proud of  “dat” (how he says dad)  I found out male platypus have stingers on their back legs for protection. He liked that one.

My favorite game we play is “what lives in those woods?” We pass a state park/reservoir on the way to school.  Once we get past the question of what is the difference between a woods and forest..another one I trip up on and hand off to his teacher,  hehehehehe.  We each name an animal that could possibly be found in our area…fortunately platypus can’t..I don’t want to be stung.

My point is this…think like your child..look through your child’s eyes not yours to add some spark to your life. To energize your routine. Look around like he does and be amazed again at God’s creation.  Question things you pass everyday and ignore. Muse and contemplate what if…just for fun. Give some silly names to things.  Slow down and take it all in with your kid. And then again…apply it to your classroom. Dont worry about if YOU like the activity…will they? If not..change it up!

Take a walk with God and ask Him some stuff…see things though his eyes too…between looking through your child’s eyes and looking through God’s eyes…wow..talk about being renewed and excited! Try it..come on…you’ll have to slow down…you’ll have to look around…..try it..I dare you not to smile….okay?

I love having a 5 year old. Wears me out sometimes but it’s worth it. Because though I get worn out  physically sometimes – mentally I get renewed and energized. Your thinking has to change- the way you view simple things  every day things has to be altered…and thats a good thing.

here is the challenge for you. Instead of going into your classroom tomorrow or next week with the same ol’ attitude. See it through your child’s eyes. Will he be excited? What would be cool to them? If your child was in our room (and maybe they are) would they say whoa…cool…look at this..I dont wanna leave.  What can you do just a little bit above and beyond “acceptable” to putting a smile on  a kid’s face. Try something different…add some life…some sparkle…some craziness.  I challenge you to not just get your lesson done today to say you did! Go out to a garage sale and pick up a cool activity or two..I dare ya

I was talking the other day about a classic passage in James 1 (below) and how God just wants us to ask.

He wont get mad…he wont be irritated…BUT look at what follows – when you ask for wisdom…act on it! Don’t go back and forth- don’t say okay God, thanks for the input- I have several others to talk to! Often what God gives us in contrary to what the world would advise. And, in those cases, it is tough to take God’s wisdom and follow it, but that is what He requires.  Too often we just take God’s word or His Spirit prodding as just one of the options we have. When we go back and forth, as James says, we are unstable and indecisive.  God loves when we take Him at His WORD and chart our course, our plan according to what He tells and shows us.

Right now I have many directions I can go with work and projects.  I am asking God for his wisdom and to order my steps. Conventional wisdom is pushing me one way but it might not be God’s way.  You know what…it gets back to time with God in the morning BEFORE we begin doesn’t it?

James 1  – If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. ⁶ But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷ Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. ⁸ Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

mornin’!

You know, several weeks ago I started out in Proverbs talking about wisdom. And I have gone off on some trails but I am heading back there.

I was reading in James the classic verses there – often referred to – If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. ⁶ But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷ Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. ⁸ Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

I like what the NLT says- “Our generous God”  He wants to help but look at the qualifier – ASK!  I remember seeing my 5 year old..Seth, I had heard some noise in the kitchen, so I though I better check. I found him standing on a box, trying to climb up the pantry shelves in search of a granola bar.  I told him that he better get down, that wasn’t really safe. He said, “I knew you were working, I didn’t want to bother you”. Well, I assured him that I was more than heppy to get it for him, all he had to do was ask me – I would LOVE to find it for him.

You know sometimes we think we are bothering God, that maybe our requests is relatively small.  We need some help – some direction, some knowledge -  but we dont want to bother God- we’ll figure it out ourself.  The point is- and I will talk about the rest tomorrow – God WANTS to give us wisdom – He loves to! But sometimes we wait so long to ask..we  search around..climb around…look in the wrong places, sometimes in unsafe places..and God says – JUST ASK!