I never was good at juggling. I continue to try thinking I’ll get it…catch one, throw the other, catch the next one, easy toss, not too hard…but inevitably I end up dropping, throwing, or losing one of the objects I was tossing. This week proved no different with the various events that were vying for position in my hands of daily life juggling. As I was mentally reviewing this week to see what I’ve learned I dropped each clumsy thought in turn like a novice clown!
There were meetings with friends about life, doing flag ceremony each morning, everyday teaching, getting chapel stuff ready by myself, an entire day of meetings, student birthday parties, baby shower, youth stuff, and planning, planning, planning! There was the dinner with Pii Sii, movie with the girls, talks with SJ and her mom, church meetings, and my favorite phone conversations with Barrett. Then there was trying to run and go to aerobics to keep up with the various people in the community. Ah sweet juggles of life!
In all of this one particular thing sticks out in my mind. A talk with my student Lukpad at her birthday party. She showed me pictures of she and her sister while they were in Thai school and told me that if she wanted to go there now, she would have to cut off all her beautiful long hair. “Why do all the girls have bobs?” Kids come from each class…high, medium, and low and they don’t want anyone to know who is above the other. “Huh!” I answered intelligently. She then told me about her church that tells her she shouldn’t speak because she is too young and not mature enough. About how only THEY know how she can grow and then they don’t invite them to the wedding on Saturday because the church has a problem with them. They told her she and her family can’t leave the church because they were their spiritual family. Oh, if we as a church family could bob our hair and wear the uniform of Christ! Why do we beat our own and discourage those that are seeking Biblical truth with our own traditions that come from emotions rather than scripture? Why do we veer from the uniform, thinking we can add some flare that would impress our God, Creator, and Savior? What has happened to the simple truth of the gospel that leads us to realize our sin, seek and believe in our Savior, and then live a life that glorifies Him and not our own thoughts and desires?
My students have been lazy in keeping their uniform neat. They come with the wrong shoes, their shirts not tucked in, no belt, and sometimes even the wrong shirt. We’ve gotten lazy as teachers to tell them to tuck in their shirt and wear the right shoes thinking there are more important things to worry about. Huh. Lord, in my daily juggling of life (even with the dropped objects), help me to put your uniform on correctly and in love, come alongside others whose shirts are wagging in the wind.