WHY?

It's a simple question..."why?"  Yet it speaks volumes.  Maaaaany years ago, I was loaned a book to read called "When You Ask God Why" (which was written by Dan Johnson - the dad of a friend of mine!)   It is a thin - very easy to read - book, which I highly recommend.   I really need to get my own copy!  There is an illustration in that book that I have re-played in my mind many, many times over the years.  It doesn't give an answer the question "why?", but it does provide a little insight.  Now, it has been almost 20 years since I read this book ( yeah - I was only 5 at the time -- I've always been an advanced reader...ha!), so the details may not be exact, but you can still get the gist.

Imagine that you are sitting in a movie theatre and the screen in front of you is covered by a big velvet curtain.  The lights dim and the curtain opens - but only a little bit.  You see what appears to be a mother, father and young child walking along a road.  It's snowing.  The parents stop every few feet to shake the child...slap his face a little....yet it is obvious that he is tired and wants to sleep.  "How cruel!"  you think.  "I can't believe a parent would treat their child like that - that's awful!"  You are horrified at what you are witnessing.  This makes no sense...why not let the child just sleep?  Why doesn't one of the parents carry him? 

Then -- when you don't think you can watch anymore -- the curtain opens to reveal the entire screen.  You see a car trapped in a snow bank.  It's getting dark.  It's obviously freezing.  The family is heading toward what appears to be a house in the distance.  Well now it makes sense! These people aren't out in the cold and snow by choice - they are trying to survive!  They shake their child and slap his face to keep him awake.  It would be dangerous for him to fall asleep in conditions such as this.  They aren't trying to harm him -- they are trying to protect him!

When the curtain was opened all the way, the pieces all came together.  Our perception was wrong.  That's the problem.  As Christians, we rarely get to see our "curtain" opened all the way.  We are shown only a little bit of the screen.  God is the only One who sees the whole picture.  Don't get me wrong.  There are times when our "why?" question is answered, but it might take weeks, months, or even years.  I have found that about 99% of the time, I don't get my answer and that is fine.  God knows the whole situation, and that is the most important.  Oh, I'm still going to ask why...and try to make my own assumptions....don't we all?  I just have to keep reminding myself that I can't see the whole picture - that maybe it is not meant for me to know the answer to the "why?"  It's okay for me to ask.  Don't all kids ask "why?"  (and as a mom is say YES!  I should know!)

There is no need to get into the drama leading up to these thoughts.  I've been thinking about this for a few days now, so I thought I would share what is on my heart.   Don't focus on the little bit of the screen you are able to see - your view is distorted!  Take comfort in the fact that there is ALWAYS a bigger picture and someone bigger than you is fully aware of what is going on "behind the curtain"!

Well..I'm wiped out!  Zachary & Josh are spending the night at my mom's, so that leaves my & the girls to spend the morning together (Charles has to work).  I feel "out of sorts" when I don't have all my little "chicks" under one roof at night.  It's a mom thing.  I'm so glad they all love to go -- they are NOT home- bodies by any means!  Like I said, it's just a mom thing.  What am I going to do when they leave the nest?   AAAAGH!

  

Life is never dull at the Robertson house!

This is my first blog, so I'm still a little wobbly!  I've been inspired by my friend Jennifer to start this (and she doesn't even know it!)  Like her, I love to write but never get a chance to, so this is now my new "therapy" - and I'm pretty excited about it!  To my friends, I hope you find it funny, enlightening, and at times encouraging....please feel free to share your comments!

I'm going to start by telling you about our week.  Monday, I was at work (I'm a rad tech at Methodist Minor Med at Hacks & Winchester - I take x-rays and do LOTS of other stuff).  My mom watches the girls on the days I work.  Mom called me and said that Sarah had put a raisin up her nose.  I just laughed but mom was a little panicky.  Long story short -- she brought the girls up to the clinic and after 2 nurses, 1 nurse practitioner, and 1 doctor looked at her, we all determined that there was no raisin -- at least as far as we could see!  Sarah was very clear that a raisin had been in her nose, but not a clue as to where it was now.  That was Monday.....this past weekend, Charles and his dad had to take apart one of our toilets because this same little darling had stuffed it with a bar of soap, a toilet paper roll, an ear from "Larry Boy" (a Veggie Tale character), a marble, and numerous other items.  Let me just add that this isn't the first time we have had to do this!  She is quite the little ball of fire - to put it mildly!  Needless to say, all bathroom doors must be closed at all times.  Ava is now toddling around and her radar hones in on open toilet seats.  She thinks they are finger bowls and LOVES to splash around in them.  What's this?  Toilet paper?  Why this goes in there too I do believe...let's fill it up!  (Sigh)  Ava has cat-like reflexes.  Those little hands can be in the middle of something in a nanosecond!  I can just hear what she is thinking, "Wait for it........wait for it.........NOW!"

I hate to leave out Zachary & Josh, but now that school has started, they miss all of these "little" things.  I miss having them around during the day.  Sarah & Ava are almost too much for them to handle, but they are awesome big brothers.  Even though they get frustrated with Sarah (she is ALWAYS trying to get into their stuff), they love their sisters dearly and are forever at their beck-and-call.  

So -- that is our week so far.  Hopefully you will enjoy the happenings going on in our house.  Like I said in the beginning, this is my "therapy", so I'm sure to share the not-so-glamorous side as well.  I know you find it hard to believe that we aren't perfect!  :-)  Below is actually my FIRST blog I started right after we got back from vacation.  I just never got around to setting up my page.  I still need to update photos & such - just be patient and check back frequently!

Back From Vacation!

We had a great time in Branson! Charles, the boys & I met Rick, Sherri & Tyler for a whirlwind visit. (The girls had to stay home--they barely make it 45 minutes across town - much less 5 hours!) We went to Silver Dollar City (2x), Celebration City, White Water Water Park, The Titanic Museum, not to mention the food and outlet mall! We ate at Fudruckers...which was an awesome burger joint. They had the best fries!

The boys got a kick out of seeing the Ozarks. We would top a hill with an incredible view and they would ooooh and aaaaah.....Josh said the tops of the trees looked like broccoli! He has so many "Joshisms" that crack us up. We saw signs for "Toad Suck Park" - not sure I want to visit there - but we did stop to see the "Worlds Largest Natural Bridge" - basically a huge rock, but it was cool to see. Our first day at Silver Dollar City, Zachary tore up his legs on the swinging bridge. We had not even been in the park 10 minutes! It was so bad that the EMT guy had us go back to the nurses station to clean him off. He had blood everywhere....it looked like he had been mauled by a bear! He was a trooper though. After they cleaned and bandaged him up, he was great - went on to ride every roller coaster in the park! Nothing scares him! Josh on the other hand....he likes to keep his feet on the ground! He tried though. He and I were in line to get on a "kiddie coaster", but it started raining and they shut the ride down. We had also gotten in line to ride this water/raft ride (just like the old Grizzly River Rampage that Opryland had). We sort of "forgot" to tell him that he would get wet (heehee!) We get all the way up to the front and they shut the ride down. Let's just say someone had one too many corn dogs!


The last day we went to White Water and everyone had a blast -- at least I heard they did! I stayed with Josh the whole day, which means we stayed at the wave pool -- no slides for him! We left from there and stopped at the Croc outlet (a must-see if you are in Branson!) and ate at Fudruckers once more before starting the long trek home. We all had a great time and the boys really loved getting to see Tyler again. They want to see him for vacation next year, and the year after that, and the year after that! It was fun to catch up with friends, and we can't wait to do it again!