Say Yes

     Women's magazines are full of advise about learning to say, "no." The gist of it is that women over commit themselves and as a result are overwhelmed with responsibilities and have no time for the things that are important in life. This is often true. Certainly no one should sit on committees, serve on boards and volunteer for worthy causes just because they are asked and to the deteriment of themselves or their relationships. There is an exception I see to this stern warning of too many yes's and that is when given the opportunity to break out of a rut.

     Too often we reflexively say, "no" to activities that are out of the normal run of things. When presented with an offer to do or see or experience something that is novel and without a guarantee of the outcome, the knee jerk reaction is to say, "no" or ,"No of course not" or "No I don't do that, or haven't done that or have never considered doing that." Just because we have never done something doesn't mean we can't give it a try.

     Jesus asked his disciples to do all sorts of things they had never done before. Leave their families and follow him being a starting point, followed by healing the sick, dining with the outcasts, walking on water, among others. Jesus expects us to say, "Yes." Yes to serving in a way we have never served before, yes to praying when it feels awkward, yes to going places we have never gone.

     As parents, a simple way to practice saying yes is to say yes to our children when they want us to try something new or different with them. Yes to joining them in a camp out on the living room floor. Yes to playing pretend restaurant at dinner instead of watching TV. Yes to building a sheet fort in the dinning room. (Here are some fort ideas.)Yes to making some messy concoction in the kitchen.(I recommend homemade gak. Here is the recipe.)

     Staying in our routines is safe and comfortable, but limiting. Experiences that are different open our minds and souls to new possibilities. They foster growth and renewal. Some of these adventures will be failures, some will be a great new success and most will be a combination of the two.

     Have a summer of "Yes" adventures.

God's peace be with you,
Michelle