Tip of My Iceberg

We’ve had the indescribable joy of watching six of our grands for most of this week. Each has a schedule of “must do’s”, activities that require transportation, and unique preferences for food and free time. 

The three oldest have an independent spirit I deeply appreciate. They have either a driver’s license or a friend that can get them places. The younger three, however, still require attention.

Bathroom doors need to stay closed because the youngest has a predilection for throwing things into the toilet and trying to flush them. His interests now center around volcanoes and fire. I can humor him by lighting candles or showing him videos of flowing lava. 

The second to youngest is clever beyond his years and tries to rationalize with me over the things he should and shouldn’t do. What’s scary is his logic is impeccable–at six years of age.

The third youngest is dramatic. The theater is in her blood–and no one knows where that blood came from. She’s creative, writing her own songs and creating tunes using her sister’s ukelele. We have very adult conversations; she, too, has a grand ability to process logically.

The three oldest are just fun. We talk about everything from politics (our oldest grand is entering into his first election season and is thoroughly thinking through options) to soccer teams to life issues. Their ability to converse on several subjects in a very erudite manner never ceases to amaze me.

I am, however, exhausted. I’ve nicknamed Cal “Houdini” because he’s able to disappear in the blink of an eye. If the doors aren’t all closed, he escapes. We’ve managed to catch him each time. And logically engaging young children with an incredible gift of reasoning can be overwhelming.

Our quiet domicile has become a scene of chaos. Cal likes to dump all containers of toys in the middle of the floor and then decide what he wants to play with. Mess exists, and no one seems bothered by it. 

The bigs are incredibly helpful, but it takes a village to keep things orderly.

Sometimes the village doesn’t want to engage in order.

So much of life is chaotic right now, with everybody wanting to do what is right in their own eyes. The problem is it rarely takes into account how one person’s “right” can conflict with the “right” of another.

How do we choose what is best for everyone? How do we evaluate everyone else’s choices against our own?

There must be absolute truth and goodness that are a foundation for whatever decisions we need to make. A place to begin to make healthy decisions people can agree on.

Absolute goodness and truth are in God.

He sees everyone as equal; He doesn’t choose one people group, one race, one gender over another. All have been made in His image and have equal value in His eyes. Each person is someone He loves and longs to connect with.

If we could see people as He does and choose to treat them with the respect He does, we’d reduce our chaos considerably.

Peace would be an option.

Apart from agreeing on what is good, we will exist in chaos.

It’s a mess no one is dealing with well.