sweet swordfish

Micah is working on his ocean unit in science class, and that means it's Ocean Creature Creation time again! This is our third go-around at paper mache creature creating, and Micah did an amazing job! I must admit, when the project began, I thought I'd have a panic attack. Maddie was in one room, gluing Easter egg halves onto poster board to create a helium atom model, calling for me to help her with the hot glue gun, Nate and Caleb were telling me about their football schedule for the next few days, and Micah was asking me to help him blow up balloons to create the base for his swordfish! I had worked all day, and I was at the end of my reserves, so when the balloons popped, so did I!

"I can't do this! How does this help you learn about swordfish?! I don't know how to do this! Why do teachers assign this kind of project anyway??!!!" Kind of lost my cool.

Then, my level-headed 13-year-old coolly said, "Mom, it's no big deal. He can just make it out of foil and call it done."

His words brought me back down to earth, I realized how ridiculous I was, and Micah pulled out the foil and formed a swordfish that was amazing! We mixed up some paper mache, tore newspaper into strips, and worked together to cover his foil form in sloppy paper. And, guess what? We had fun!

The next day, I mixed paint colors while Micah and his friend Michael brought the swordfish to life with color. And, guess what? They had fun!

Why do I make such a big deal out of little things and take the fun out of it? Why do I take things on as my own when it really isn't mine to take on? And why, oh why, do I make things a reflection of me that have nothing to do with me?

I'm learning. I'm growing. And I'm working on changing the way I think.

"Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." Romans 12:2