Calling Poison Control

So tonight we had to call the poison control hotline. Again. This is the third time I’ve had to do it. Once was because Tiger had taken some of the antibiotics meant for Monkey. Another was because one of the kids decided to eat half a tube of toothpaste. Tonight Bear found the kids gummy multi-vitamins and decided to feast on about half of the bottle – around 50-80 of the little guys. Little guy is getting more and more clever I tell you, he’s a good kid but I think I’m going to have a handful managing his curiosity.

Anyways, the people on the hotline are awesome. They really are. Each time they’ve calmly checked everything out and thankfully each time we’ve been told everything would be all right. Somehow they even manage to not laugh at my paranoia. At least not while I'm on the line. I bet they have some funny stories to tell though. Tonight was the closest call because Bear is so little but thankfully there’s no iron in the vitamins so the worst they said should be a really upset stomach with maybe some constipation or vomiting. All in all, he enjoyed his feast and hasn’t shown any signs of it having phased him at all yet!

So any parents out there – have you had to call poison control for something random like toothpaste or vitamins?

If you haven't had to call yet, be thankful but just remember the number is usually in the front pages of any phone book and don't be afraid just to check things out even if it seems crazy. Better safe than sorry. 

Finding Our Voice

Lately there was a video shared on Facebook that really made me think. A lot. It looked at history and some of the wars and problems that have happened and talked about how many of the most tragic events have happened because a small number of people were given power or allowed to take power by a greater number of people and through their actions made the other (larger) part of the people almost insignificant. I’m not sure what the percentages are but one example was how the small group of Nazi’s in Germany caused the devastation of Europe and death of millions.

Anyways, like I said, it made me think. Does that still happen today? Obviously it does. The Taliban is great at showing the same kind of fear power that the Nazi’s thrived on. There are other examples as well though. Most of the time on television and the news we see the reports about people who are speaking out and protesting for change. We see so many of these reports that we feel like they must be the overwhelming majority and eventually we begin to think there must be something to what they’re saying since it seems that so many people are in agreement. In actuality many of these people are just part of a small but very vocal and motivated minority. It’s easy to forget that truth and facts are what they are independent of who may or may not believe them.

I know I’ve said it before here but I’m proud to live in America. I’m proud that we have the ability to vote and change and affect laws. I’m glad that minorities are part of that vote. I think that their voices absolutely need to be heard. What I don’t agree with however is when a minority group gets to determine policy for a larger group. This is something that goes far beyond national laws. It happens all the time in all sorts of ways. It’s the age old concept that the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

So what is there to be done? We let our voices be heard. Sometimes this isn’t easy. Especially for me, from the time that I was in middle school I can remember my goal being invisibility. I hated when I had attention brought to me. I couldn’t stand to be thought of as different or to have anyone not like me. That meant that usually I kept my mouth shut and tried to hide away in the corner.  I’ve come to realize however that my goal didn’t really get me very far. In the end it didn’t really make me happy either. If we want to have a positive impact in our homes, communities, nations, and the world, first we have to speak up. It doesn’t mean that we should be rude or derogatory. It just means that when we have an opinion we should be willing to share it. That opinion may be right, it may be wrong, it really doesn’t matter. I love when I’m proven wrong (really proven – not just told), it means I’ve learned something. If we can start thoughtful and open discussions where groups of people bring together a variety of ideas, information, and experiences and actually listen to each other then maybe we’ll be able to learn something. We might even be able to come up with laws or programs that work and are fair to everyone instead of just the same few people that seem naturally gifted with the ability to speak up and be heard.

Musings on this Topsy-Turvy Thing Called Life

So the past few weeks around here have been some of the most topsy-turvy that I can recall. Although over all things have gone really well and it’s been a really good summer, so far it’s just been absolutely nothing like I had expected. No really, it feels like every time that I feel like I’ve got a plan for the day or some expectation of how things should work out it doesn’t go anything like I had imagined.

Time and time again our best laid plans have had to been abandoned completely or altered significantly. I finally got to the point on Saturday when we had another day that ended up taking a completely different direction where I could laugh and just go with the flow. It’s interesting because the first couple of times that stuff like this started happening I was full of all sorts of negative emotions. I even spent almost a whole day needing to physically distance myself from one of the kids because I was so upset with them because their actions caused us to have to completely give up on the plans we had made for the day. I knew it wasn’t really altogether their fault but it took a while for me to get to that point where I could handle it like an adult instead of wanting to throw a temper tantrum!

When stuff like this happens I try and distance myself a bit from the situation and think about what it is that I can learn from it. I’m still not sure really why but I’ve got a few ideas.

First, I need to remember that God is in control – not me. This one can be hard for me at times. I’m what you might call a wee bit of a control freak. Which basically means I freak out when I don’t feel in control. Which usually means I spend a lot of time freaking out. Somewhere in the back of my mind though I know that His ways and plans are always much better than mine and I’ve got to learn to let go and trust in Him.

Second, sometimes it’s the effort that counts. So many of the things that I felt went really wrong were times that I had really wanted to do something good and it just didn’t happen the way I thought it would. I got really frustrated focusing on the time, energy, and resources that went into these things was wasted. In the end I have to believe that in someway those good efforts are never really wasted. The Apostle Paul put it this way, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” Romans 8:28.

Third, it’s important to be able to be flexible. I once heard the saying, “blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape.” Like it or not stuff does just seem to happen. If we can learn to make the most of whatever it is that we’re given and enjoy it then we’ll be much better off than if we complain and grumble about it. It also brings to mind the lines from the serenity prayer. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change…”

In the end I think God makes the most of whatever we give Him. It’s not our job to try and figure everything out and plan it all perfectly – because we can’t. We don’t know what those twists and turns will be or how something may affect things in the future. It’s our job to give our best to Him and allow Him to make the most of it. I know that I’m not done learning from the twists and challenges we’ve faced over the past little while but I think I’ll take some advice from Kronk and put my hands in the air the next time that roller coaster of life catches me off guard!

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