This past weekend was Easter... a time of rebirth - images of Spring chicks, flowering gardens and of course, the Risen Savior. I had an Easter weekend unlike any other, and I believe it will stick with me for some time to come. A rebirth of my way of thinking about the simple things, I guess you could say.
Good Friday was not so "good" for my 7 year old, Mason. He had woken up that morning complaining of a stomach ache all night, but in the end decided to go to schools. Immediately upon arriving home he told me that he visited the School Nurse saying that he didn't feel well. She took his temp and like any Elementary School nurse would do, she sent him back to class. Anyways, he made it home only to end up tossing his cookies an hour later. And 15 minutes after that. And 20 minutes after that. And 15 minutes after that.... you get the idea.
This went on for 28 hours. It was because of this illness, and the fact that daddy was at the fire house on shift that day, that I was homebound on Saturday - I would not be leaving the house so that I could nurse my "baby" back to health.While Mason slept, I got to spend some quality one-on-one time with my youngest, my 18-month old Gavin.
The weather was beautiful on Saturday and we retreated to the backyard. Gavin grabbed the bubbles and thrust them into my hands with a grin. How could I resist? I mean, who DOESN'T like bubbles? So as I sat there getting light-headed from blowing so many bubbles, I watched Gavin as he methodically went to reach for them. I could see he was trying to "catch" one. It was this image that struck a chord with me...
...Gavin went after each bubble intently. His face showed a concentration and a determination while at the same time a feeling of "I can totally catch this bubble". If he were any other age, it would have been a different story. Older kids knew that bubble could not be "caught". Older kids run crazily after them, flailing their arms trying to pop as many as they can. They wouldn't try to catch a bubble anymore - they knew they would pop on contact. But with my 18-month old I learned a lesson from this simple little exercise.
I learned that Gavin didn't KNOW ANY BETTER. He had a goal - to "catch" a bubble - and he believed he could do it. There wasn't anyone there to tell him he couldn't do it. Or that he was being crazy. You could only see the wheels turning in his head - constantly adjusting his strategy of how he could do things better. What different approach could he take that would lead him to victory? He was steadfast. For at least 15 minutes. Hey, that's like 4 hours in our adult equivalent attention span!
Gavin reminded me that when I have a goal I need to go after it assuming that I would reach it. I need to keep the negative images from entering my mind. I need to constantly readjust my approach. Look at things from different angles. I need to BELIEVE I could do it.
Just the same day I heard an interesting remark on the local Christian station - it went something like this: God wants to bless us. If we put up our umbrella of self-doubt and worry then we prevent ourselves from feeling the blessings God wants to rain down on us.
With the start of my new business in December, I have been lucky to not feel my "umbrella" come up very often. In fact, I have felt the "rain" of blessings. I feel it today as I line up the workload coming my way this Spring and early Summer. I felt it at our Grand Opening 2 weeks ago. But there are those days when it will come up. The "doubt" umbrella will open. And it's at those times I'll need to remember the bubbles and my baby plotting to catch one....and I'll need to remember the rain of blessings God wants to shower each of us with.
I'll never look at bubbles the same way again...
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