Shadowing.....

My girl is headed to the local veterinary office this morning. Twice a month she shadows there from 9 to 6, assisting with surgeries, calming dogs and cats and owners, feeding treats, pulling stitches, cleaning exam rooms..... You name it, she does it. She plans on being a vet someday and has the great benefit of following a friend of ours and learning from her. I am amazed by how much she's learned already. What size tubing to use during anesthesia, dosage amounts, dispensing meds, all kinds of diagnostic information...as well as the day to day details of running an office, expenses versus income, payroll, overhead, a lot of behind the scenes stuff. Shadowing has been and continues to be an invaluable experience for her and she hopes to continue through vet school---learning all she can to be the best veterinarian she can be. She is challenged and taught, there are requirements made of her, yet nothing is expected of her that she is not yet ready for. It is a phenomenal opportunity.

I need to start shadowing. I want to learn all I can to be the best Michele I can be. Come to me, get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me. Watch how I do it. learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly. Matthew 11:28

Now what?

I've been wrestling with change. I love it and hate it at the same time. I crave change on a regular basis, but am resistant to the kinds of changes that I can't control. Does that make me schizophrenic? Quite possibly.

I am the parent of four teenagers. This is a fact that I love. They are fantastic people, genuine, authentic, honest, funny. I love each one of them for who they are and how they are. But lately I've been thinking about how I parented when they were little. It seems like things of faith were a lot more concrete back in those days. We made eggshell crosses for Easter and talked about what they represented....we baked cookies and made crafts and caught bugs and fingerpainted, and managed to weave the truths of God into every project. It felt solid, right, peaceful.

Now, our days are filled with calculus and physics, college classes, kung fu, shadowing a veterinarian, running, working out, facebook, friends.....good stuff, but harder to draw clear cut lines that are tied to Truth. Harder questions. Difficult processing. It feels transient, grey, frightening.

Truth hasn't changed, nor has my love for it, the Word, the Way. Life has a funny way of changing, though, and with it children grown and change as well. Its good. Its necessary. Meat is harder to chew than milk, I guess. Parenting on the threshold of adulthood is a little harder to embrace than toddlerhood on some days. Thankfully, a pan of brownies, a good soundtrack and open conversation still work their magic.....even when the subjects have changed.