Usually I take the direct approach when I am concerned about something, but this time I decided to try a different tactic. This is how the conversation went:

“So, son, I have a question for you. What are your plans for when you are an adult? I mean, it  seems that all of your favorite characters are bad guys, and so I am just wondering what do you plan to do when you are grown up?”

“Mom, I promise, I am going to have a good job. I am going to mow lawns. I will work really hard mowing lawns every day. I will have breakfast, lunch and supper and mow lawns.

(Note: About six months ago my son was asking for jobs to make money for a toy he wanted. I told him that next summer he would be old enough to mow lawns for us or maybe even for the neighbors, and that he could make good money that way, for a ten-year-old!)

And, Mom, I am going to have a wife, and when I come home from mowing lawns there will be chicken fries waiting for me at the door. Well, not right at the door, but you know what I mean.”

(I’ll have to let his future wife know about that – hopefully Schwans will still be making his favorite food!)

“Well, that sounds like a great plan, son. I’ll stop worrying.”

Later that evening he started talking about his favorite Star Wars character again, but this time, he was talking about one of the good guys.

Thanks, God, for the wisdom I needed to help him think things through without being a nag!

Years later, when episodes 1 – 3 came out, it was fascinating, then tragic to watch Anakin change from a promising young jedi into the bitter Darth Vader.

I am going to try to keep Darth Vader in mind when I run into people who are bitter and mean. I realize that not every tyrant changes for the better, but maybe, with a little bit of extra patience and love, the ones we run into might soften and change.

1 Corinthians 13: 8 “Love never fails.”

While I definitely agree that  God is first and foremost loving and forgiving, He very clearly disciplines those He loves (Hebrews 12:6). I have experienced both His mercy and His discipline.

I understand that the author does not want us to consider all of life’s bad experiences to be a result of God disciplining us. I also appreciate the author’s reminder that God forgives and restores us. But those two things do not discount the fact that God does discipline us using tough situations sometimes.

Just like I sometimes give my children mercy, and other times they need to endure some discipline based on what I believe will be the most helpful to them in the long run, so God works to help us become the best that we can be.

There were a lot of beautiful sculptures: a whole pride of lions, mythical creatures prancing inside a castle, a whimsical snow-making machine.

The first sculpture we saw was made up of several totem poles. There was a traditional Native American-style pole, one with a chef at the bottom holding a tower of vegetables, and a third pole made up of the three wise monkeys.

My Aspie-son piped up immediately, “Oh, I know what those monkeys mean: I don’t want to see you, I don’t want to hear you, and I don’t want to speak to you!”

I like to look forward to a yummy meal or a fun time out. Maybe a vacation, or a project with one of my kids.

But some days nothing gets me through except for clinging to promises like the one found in the Bible, in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 29, verse 11:

“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you a hope and a future.”

Several months ago this promise came up in conversation with a friend (I don’t remember how). His response was that it is funny how everyone claims that promise when it is not one that we can use anymore. Why? Because it is an Old Testament promise to the Jews, and since Jesus came, none of those are in effect any longer.

I had to agree that Jesus did change a lot with the New Testament, Jeremiah is definitely in the Old Testament, and I was not born a Jew, but something didn’t seem quite right with my friends’ comment. However it was made off-handedly at the start of a social function, so I had little time to ponder it. And with the buzz of the holidays, it was pushed from my mind.

Last week, I was found to be in need of that promise at the end of a particularly mundane day, and wondered, can I really claim it?

Then I remembered what the Bible says about me being grafted into all of the promises given to the Jews since I have become part of God’s family by trusting in Jesus death and resurrection. The Bible also says that Jesus came to fulfill all of the Old Testament promises, not to get rid of them. Therefore, the promise in Jeremiah that God is for me and has good things for me still stands.

Thanks, God, for not letting anyone take your promises away from us!

What’s one of your favorite promises in the Bible?

I learned this imortant information today from my 10-year-old Aspie during lunch, and thought I would pass it along.

He is learning about volcanoes in science class right now, so asked Friday if we would be able to make some lava at home. I had to inform him that, unfortunately (thankfully!) we do not have equipment capable of generating enough heat to melt rocks. “But it sure would be cool if we could,” was my supportive response.

“Cats take things way too seriously!”

And so do people with ASD. Actually, just like cats, we take the wrong things seriously, and don’t take the right things seriously, at least according to a neurotypical person’s point of view.

There is a book called, “All Cats Have Asperger’s Syndrome.” I have not read it, but have heard that it is wonderfully funny. I know my cat definitely does!

My grandfather’s father immigrated there from Italy, along with a lot of fellow Italians from Cosenza. He married a French – Canadian gal whose family had immigrated from Quebec. He worked in a mattress factory and never learned how to read or write in English, but after he retired, he spent his time biking around the city bringing flowers and visiting with people in the local hospitals. His son, my grandpa has followed his example and has always been very involved in making the city of Kenosha a wonderful place to live through his hard work, and involvement in numerous civic groups. And he always had time to joke with us when we came to visit.

My grandmother, too has spent her life making Kenosha a wonderful place by teaching preschool for years, and always having a welcoming, spotless home with scrumptious spaghetti and meatballs. And don’t forget the Knox blocks waiting for us when were kids. I am so proud  of my grandparents, if you can’t tell. So Kenosha will always be one of my hometowns!

Never mind that I have always lived in Minnesota.

“More and more environmentalists and scientists talk about the planet as a complex system, one that human beings must aggressively monitor, manage and sometimes re-engineer.”

I don’t know about the whole “re-engineer” idea, but the “manage” part sure sounds familiar:

Then God said, ”Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So  God created humans in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Genesis 1:26 – 28

That term, “rule,” sounds a little harsh, unless we remember what God means by that.

Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise autority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.”

Luke 22:25 – 26

I hope you had a good holiday season. Ours went remarkably well this year – no illnesses, everyone likes their gifts and we were able to hang out a lot with family and friends, but still had plenty of time to just relax.

The new excitement this year is the kitten we are babysitting for a friend. She just arrived two days ago, so she and our cat are still trying to adjust to each other, but no fur has flown yet. I think that is a good sign.

Anyway, at the end of the first day Puka (“Pooka” – it is Hawaiian, but I don’t remember for what), was very tired. She is a sociable cat, which our cat is not, so my kids were thrilled to have a pet that actually wanted to play. I helped her find her bed, which she happily flopped down in.

Our ten-year-old Aspie hurried over to the piano and began picking out the sweetest rendition of Brahms Lullaby. He has never played the song before, never even seen music for it and has only been studying piano for a little over a year. He may struggle in some areas, but music is not one of them! It was so sweet to see him sharing his gift.