Ninja Turtles & Learning to Rest

"Hiiiii - ya! Who - ha! Cha! Whaaaaaa! Hiiiii- YA!" resonates in my living room as Silas and Eli perform all their best Kung Fu/Karate/Ninja moves. Eli suddenly plops down on the floor, looks up at me with his little eyes and proclaims, "Momma, I'm dead."

Silas proudly states, "I did it, mom! I killed him."

Eli reinforces the fact, "Dead."

This is the constant excitement that echoes through our condo. I found Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles this afternoon and played it for the boys, knowing they would get a kick out of it. Not to mention, watching the same movies over and over gets a little old. Silas cannot watch a movie without getting into character, so I knew exactly what was coming. "Momma, I need a Ninja Turtle Costume. We have to make one." "Alright Silas - let's do it."

Don't worry, it's not like I need to whip out a sewing machine and create a masterpiece. Really, I just need the most basic elements - which of course in this case is the mask. I showed him a picture of the Ninja Turtles with their colored masks and told him their names. With a tiny bit of persuading, we decided upon Rafael. I rummaged through their drawers and found an old, red t-shirt. I grabbed a pair of scissors, cut a piece long enough to tie around his head and proceeded to cut the eye holes. Then, I cut another piece that would tie around his waste, grabbed my trusty Sharpie and finished by writing an "R" on the front. And, voila! A costume.

I did everything in my power to persuade Eli to be a Ninja Turtle as well, but he wasn't a bit interested. I was even willing to cut up another shirt so he could be a different color, but he wanted no part in it. This was one of those rare times where he had no interest in copying Silas. Occasionally he'll do his own thing, though he definitely looks up to his big brother and loves to imitate his every move. Their interactions have been quite humorous lately. Silas will "whisper" things to Eli, giving him instructions of different things to do. This is often loud enough that I can hear exactly what he's suggesting - which has gotten him in trouble a few times when he's told Eli to do something he knows will get him in trouble. But he's also been the super protective older brother at school. They have played really well together for quite some time now, but more recently I have loved watching their relationship develop. Eli is not a baby anymore. Now, they have conversations, make up games and let their imaginations run wild. Last night a particularly funny thing happened.

Eli had been asleep for about 2 hours and Silas had already been in bed about an hour. It was a little after 9:00 p.m. and I decided I would go to bed too. I hadn't been in bed 5 minutes before I heard their bedroom door open. Really? What could Silas possibly want? I really thought he was asleep. He entered my room. "Umm, Momma. Eli is really upset. He is crying. He needs to sleep in your bed." I responded, "Silas, he's okay. I don't even hear anything. Go back to bed." "Okay, Momma. Wait a minute, I have to go tell Eli something." I tried to stop him before he darted out of my room and since he didn't turn around, my curiosity got the better of me. I had to know what he was going to tell Eli. I followed behind him and stood at the door to overhear, "Eli. It'll be okay. Momma cannot hear you. All you have to do is scream REALLY LOUD and she will come get you." At that, Eli went berserk. {SCREAM!!}

Teamwork. They're already ganging up on me. What a duo I have!

On an entirely different note, this summer has been nuts! There's no way around it. The first half of the summer consisted of Dusty being away to New York for a week and then CalBaptist for two weeks. Shortly after that, we took our 10 day vacation to Florida and the Bahamas. We were back a week and a half and took our road trip to Texas and Georgia. We came back to a whirlwind of work to do with school ready to start back in full swing. On top of all that we've had the whole experience with Dusty's job and some more personal issues going on. It's been exhausting - a lot of it has been emotionally draining. Most of it, I can't really even get into. I am so tired and would love more than anything to just close my eyes and go to sleep. Today is one of those days where I keep glancing at the clock, counting down until bed-time. Yet, in the midst of that I just came upon this verse from today's My Utmost for His Highest devotion.

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? 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 11:28-29

Here's a small excerpt from the devotion as well -

"God intends for us to live a well-rounded life in Christ Jesus, but there are times when that life is attacked from the outside. It is never God’s will that we should be anything less than absolutely complete in Him. Anything that disturbs our rest in Him must be rectified at once, and it is not rectified by being ignored but only by coming to Jesus Christ. If we will come to Him, asking Him to produce Christ-awareness in us, He will always do it, until we fully learn to abide in Him."

I'm not sure I could say it any better or more clear than that, so I won't. I must choose to rest in Him. He simply says, "Come to me." Why do we waste our time doing anything other than that?