I Just Wanna Go Home

 I was in seventh grade. The entire school  (1st through 12th grade) was on one campus. Sure there were different buildings for the elementary, junior high and high school – but they were all on the same property.

I was surprised and a little nervous when I heard my name called over the intercom. “Robin Wigginton please come to office.” The walk down the hall seemed to take forever and to rush by at the same time.

I tried to recall every detail of my day. to see what I had done to warrant a summons to the principal’s office. What could it be? Was I really in trouble?

When I walked into the secretary’s part of the office, the principal was standing at his doorway. “Are you Robin?” he asked.

“Yes sir.”

“Do you have a little brother in first grade?”

“Yes sir,” I answered again.

“Go down to the elementary building to your little brother’s classroom. It seems he is upset about something and is asking to go home. His teacher wants you to talk to him.”

I breathed a huge sigh of relief! I wasn’t in trouble at all. The principal told me to check in at the elementary office first. Someone there showed me where John’s classroom was. I knocked softly on the door and his teacher came out first.

“Oh he is not happy at all right now and he keeps asking to go home,” said his teacher. “Talk to him to see if you can calm him down a little.”

The teacher called John out in the hallway. He had this sad but determined look on his face. Our conversation went something like this:

“What’s wrong, John?”

“I wanna go home.”

“Why do you want to go home?”

“I just do. That’s all. Go call Mom.”

“I can’t call Mom. She doesn’t have a way to come get you.”

“Well call Dad then. I wanna go home.”

“Dad is working. What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“Are you sick?”

“No”

“Did you get in a fight with someone?”

“No. I just wanna go home.”

“Did someone make fun of you or hurt your feelings?”

“No, Robin. I. Just. Want. To go. Home.”

I was getting nowhere. Clearly, John was upset. Tears were in his eyes, but he kept fighting them back. My heart went out to him. I sighed heavily. What could I do or say?

I wanted to hug him up and tell him everything would be OK. But he would be so embarrassed if I did that, even if there was no one in the hall to see it.

Finally, I said “Look John. You can’t go home right now. There’s not much school time left. It is already way after lunch, and we will get to leave soon. The time will go by really fast and we’ll be home before you know it.”

John pulled himself together. We opened the door and he went back to his desk. But the teacher called me to hers. “ I think I see what the problem is, but I didn’t think about it until just now.”

She showed me some board work from early this morning. There were like four lines on the sheet of paper. One line had a frown face on it. He messed up something – but all the other lines were smiley faces. As soon as I saw that, I knew that was why he wanted to go home.

Even at that age, John was a perfectionist. He got upset with himself when he didn’t do everything right. That one frowny face did a number on him. He wanted to go to a place where he felt safe and confident. That was home. His safe place was home.

When the storms of trouble seem to rage on all sides… when we are hurt or suffer loss .. when we are disappointed in ourselves or when someone has betrayed us – where do we look forward to going?

Aren’t all of us looking for the place where we will be safe at last and forever? The place where we will be loved and feel confident? Don’t we all long for that beautiful place called heaven?

Hang in there ladies. For most of us, it is already way after lunch. For the others who are still in the early part of their day, the time will go by fast. We will all be home before we know it.

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4

Christ above all things - Robin

It's Cheese

Good morning! Let us rise and shine and give God the glory He deserves as we worship Him today. He is our all-powerful Creator and loving Heavenly Father.

Have a glorious Sunday everyone. “To the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.” Romans 16:27

It’s Cheese

When I attended camp as a camper (ages ago) there was a fun song I loved. It is sung to the tune of “The Farmer in the Dell.” Some of you probably sang it too.

Here is the first verse – “It’s cheese, It’s cheese – It’s cheese that makes the mice go around. It’s cheese, it’s cheese, it’s cheese that makes the mice go around. It’s cheese, it’s cheese, it’s cheese that makes the mice go around. It’s cheese that makes the mice go around.”

The song goes from mice to cats, from cats to dogs and dogs to boys. From boys to girls and girls to love. The last verse is It’s love that makes the world go around. A silly song, but it was one of my favorites.

Flash forward several years later. Now I am a counselor at Maywood Christian Camp. My sisters-in-law allow their daughters to attend camp with me. It is one of the special joys of my life. My nieces, (cousins to one another) and I are in the cabin together. Several other girls and another counselor are also with us.

One afternoon during free time, I teach the girls this song. To my great delight, they all love it. When we finish – one of my nieces said, “So basically, it’s cheese that makes the world go around.” All the other girls laughed.

We know what makes the world go around, and it isn’t cheese. It is love. It is the love of God. The world was designed and created with us in mind all along. God made it the perfect place for humans to live. His creation is beautiful to behold. That is love.

God created us in His image and gave us the capacity to love – which enhances our lives and brings untold blessings. That is love.

God gave us free will. He gave us intelligence and the freedom to choose many things about how we live. That is love.

The free will He gave us includes the choice to follow Him or to follow the world. In His infinite wisdom He knew some of us would realize we should have chosen Him all along, so He provided a way for us to be reconciled to Him. God gave His only begotten Son for us. That truly is love – a love we cannot understand.

Christ willingly submitted to the shame and agony of the cross for us – this is an amazing love which was planned before time began.

Those of us who believe in God know His love makes the world go round. We know there are so many in the world who choose not to believe. It is very sad that they make that deliberate choice. And yet, the rain still falls. The sun still shines.

We all – believers and non-believers alike have air to breathe. We all still have the same beautiful sky. The same seasons of the year, each with its particular beauty and wonder.

God’s love makes the world go around. Everything else falls far beneath that.

Christ above all things -- Robin

The Radio In My Car

 

Good morning, good morning! I certainly hope everyone enjoys the day and chooses to be a blessing to all those around you! Think about all the wonderful things God has done for us.

“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

The Radio in Our Car

My husband and my youngest son both love to listen to the radio when they are in a vehicle. To the consternation of both of them, I do not. I would much rather drive in silence. To me, the radio is an intrusion on my thoughts.

I tolerate it when Robert and I go anywhere together, just as I used to when I was with Aaron. He used to say, “Why don’t you like music, Mom? That’s just weird.”

Actually, I do like music – especially the oldies from back in the day. But when I am in the car I enjoy being alone with my own thoughts. That is just the way I am.

Did you know today was National Radio Day? If you ever google holidays you can find something to celebrate just about every day of the year. I’m sure Aaron and Robert will both enjoy this little tidbit of trivia.

The radio was and still is a great invention for many reasons. Of course one of the first we think of is entertainment because of the music many like to hear. This is the primary reason my husband and son both like their radios.

They also broadcast the news. The radio brought information to people much more quickly. People were aware of events much more quickly than ever before. Police and military personnel as well as pilots and boat captains all still use the radio today.

Christians use this method of communicating in a very positive way. They share the word of God. It may be that because of the radio some people heard – or will hear- the gospel for the very first time. Imagine how priceless that is to those souls!!

We are told to teach the gospel to lost souls. The radio is a great tool we can use in that endeavor. God wants us to use every tool available to spread the gospel wherever we can.

Now let’s bring this a little closer to home. If you were a radio what channel or station would we broadcast? Would it be the Whiners and Complainers station? God said “Do all things without grumbling or disputing” Philippians 2:14

Would we be the station all the procrastinators tuned in for? “Therefore to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” James 4:17 I will tell you this one hits home for me. I always think I have plenty of time to do this or that – and then before I realize it, I’ve lost my opportunity!

The point is -we broadcast something with every thing we do and with every word we say. Are we careful to send the love of God out over the airwaves?

Christ above all things – Robin

 

I Don't Know How

Happy Saturday!  I hope everyone is ready for a great day today. 

I can't believe it has been three weeks since I posted here - the time has gotten away with me for sure.  I will do my best not be so long before I post again.  

I pray we all are blessed with peace, health and joy this weekend.  

I Don’t Know How

I don’t remember what we were doing that day so long ago. I only remember parts of the conversation – the parts that made my heart go out to him. It was when Alex was younger – before he started kindergarten. I think I had just finished reading a story to him. Anyway, it was just him and me.

We were talking and I mentioned how fast he was growing and that soon he would be in school and reading all kinds of books. He burst into tears and said, “I don’t want to go to school.” I was quite taken aback by this. It certainly wasn’t the reaction I expected.

“Why don’t you want to go to school?” I asked.

Still crying he said, “I don’t know how to read. Other kids will laugh because I don’t know how.”

Oh how my heart ached for my baby boy. What could I say? How would I ease his fears? I hugged him tightly and pulled him onto my lap. “Sweetheart, you will learn to read. Just like everyone else. The teachers will teach you letters and sounds and you will be reading before you know it.”

Remember this was thirty years ago. Back then things weren’t the way they are now. Children weren’t expected to walk into kindergarten reading already. The world has changed a lot since then.

God is our Heavenly Father and although we cannot comprehend it, he loves us so much more than we love our own children. Our Lord does not want us to hurt or worry or be afraid. There are things in our lives we don’t know how to handle. We can go to Him. God will help us.

When we first become Christians, we don’t always know how to act or what to do in certain situations. This is especially true during times we are tempted to go back to our old ways – to fall back into the same habits of sin. But scripture tells us God is faithful. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

We can rest on the assurance that our Father will not let us be tempted past our limits. He will always provide a way of escape. So when we are tempted, and we don’t think we know how we will resist – trust what His word says. Trust His promise, for He will help you “know how” to get past it.

Through the Holy Spirit we have the word of God. It tells us how to live and do what God would have us do. It is from the Bible we learn the commandments of Christ.

When we don’t know how to have peace, He will give us peace. When we don’t know how we will get through our times of heartache, God will give us comfort. When we are frightened because of our situation – (whatever it is) and we don’t know where to turn, God will be there.

When we don’t know how – God has promised to be there.

“The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.” Psalm 145:18

Christ above all things – Robin