Noodling around
Good Morning, God June 22nd, 2009
Dear God,
It is precisely 4ish in the afternoon as I write, “Good Morning, God.” But like that country song about it being five o’clock somewhere, it is morning somewhere too. So, Good Morning, God is always appropriate even on the rare occasion that I don’t put my fingers to the prayer until the afternoon.
I would pray something brilliant right now but, I’m not feeling inspired to great prayer or brilliance of any kind. It has been an ordinary day full of ordinary things. Up at 4:30am for morning mediation, 6:30 am on the elliptical trainer, 8am weight lifting with Personal Trainer, Jen. Then office work. In between dogs and bunnies and a call from Texas where April was looking for a fax machine and wanted me to make one appear. Naturally. Because I am Mom. I can do anything. Really! I can! I’m not hanging noodles on your ears!!!
When April was a child, I used to tell her, “Mom has magical eyes (with an extra pair in the back of my head) and magical ears. Mom sees all. Mom knows all. I know what you are thinking!” Even though now she is 26 – almost 27 - sometimes I think she still believes it. As well she should. Moms are endowed by You, God with supernatural powers.
When she called, I knew right away “this is not about the fax machine.” April has been studying for weeks, months actually, for her first round of medical boards. The test was completed last Monday. On Tuesday she packed up the dogs, bunnies and herself and arrived at my house. On Wednesday morning, she flew to Texas to see her husband, Jared (who is in training for Air Force Reserve duties). By Friday, they were headed to Austin to celebrate their 2nd wedding anniversary, and today, she calls me with a bad attitude because she can’t locate a fax machine. Right. Not about the fax machine.
My daughter is a powerhouse of energy and drive. She is all about being the best she can be and “being there” for the people and animals in her life. So, what she didn’t understand today is that when all the tests are over, the dogs stop barking, and the noise stops, she, we (I) still have to be ok with ourselves and with You. And she is ok with herself and with You. But sometimes when she, we, (I!) give too much of ourselves away in the world, we become lost and separated from ourselves and You. That’s when we have to stop looking for the fax machine and breathe, laugh out loud, catch a sunbeam, cultivate an unexpected friendship, smell the honeysuckles, smile at the stars and peek at the brilliant blueness of a single blue June day. Then instead of being a live-wire of stress and struggle, we can become a live-wire of wonderment.
Now I confess God my own wonderment was triggered today by the kooky phrase that came in my email box this morning: “I’m not just hanging noodles on your ears.” In Moscow, this curious, engagingly colorful assertion is common parlance, but most people would probably say “Say what?” The same idea in English is equally odd: “I’m not pulling your leg.” Both mean: Believe me.
Can You believe it? The whole day that strange phrase made me smile and I just had to find a way to use it. Some days wonder can be that simple! No noodles. I’m not pulling Your leg. Believe me.
