Mirror, mirror

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I have a magnifying mirror in my bathroom, not because I’m so vain that I need to apply my makeup in fine detail, but because if I had to rely on the vanity mirror 2′ away, I might as well get ready without any mirror at all; I’m that near-sighted.

Before I got the magnifying one, I used a hand-held mirror that I frequently smudged with a mascara wand because I had to hold it so close to my face to see what I was doing. I still have to get rather close to the magnifying mirror; in fact, I often make accidental fog spots where I exhale. But, once I’m near enough to see it, then – wow! – I can really see up close.

funky mirror

This is how close I normally have to get to see in the magnifying mirror. I think it’s funky how the camera perspective makes the reflection looked warped.

All that is to set the stage for something peculiar that happened the other day. I had stepped away from the mirror to pick up something from the vanity, and I happened to glance back up at it. I was much too far away to see my reflection, but what I did see was my open closet door behind me, with my red bathrobe hanging on the hook inside the door. It was as clear as if I was wearing my glasses, only the image was inverted.

I was still standing there perplexed by the perfectly 20/20 reflection of my upside-down bathrobe when my 13yo walked in and asked what in the world I was doing.

I explained the phenomenon to him, and seeing as his prescription is as bad as mine (if not worse, poor dominant-gene child), he wanted to see if it happened to him, as well. It did! I tried to make sense of it, but I’m baffled. I know that convex and concave mirrors reflect differently (hence, the mirror rooms in carnival fun houses), but I’ve never experienced a reflection that was perfectly adjusted for my near-sightedness.

Unanimous decision

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I mentioned earlier this fall about how we saved coins all year with the intention of donating the money to charity around the holidays, and I promised to report back on the final decision. When all was said and done, we had collected almost $120 in loose change!

The boys discussed what to do with the money, and they came to a unanimous agreement (shocking, I know!) about how to divvy it up. One of the things that warmed my heart as we were bouncing around ideas is that they wanted to support everything we could think of. But, even $120 doesn’t go very far when you spread it too thin, so they had to narrow down their choices. Here’s what they finally decided:

  • A gift of baby chicks for a family through Samaritan’s Purse
  • Our church’s inner-city ministry (we used this portion to buy gifts for our angel tree family)
  • Run For Life: Haiti, to support a maternity center where some friends of ours serve as missionaries
  • Lastly, they wanted to support the local mammoth exhibits, but they couldn’t decide between the Waco Mammoth Site or the Mayborn Museum, so they split the difference between the two.

I’m proud of them for thinking so broadly about how to help others. We’ve already started saving change for next year’s donation, so hopefully we’ll collect even more to give away!

Being on Silence (Prayer Devotional for the week of December 16, 2012)

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One of my discipline tactics with the kids is something we call “being on silence.” If you are put on silence, it is probably because you back-talked me one too many times or will not stop making annoying noises after being asked to quit. When you are on silence, you can’t speak or make any sounds until you are told it’s ok to talk again. It is very frustrating (to them … blissful to me! Ha!), but effective, for kiddos who need to stop and think twice about the words that come out of their mouths.

Apparently, being on silence is a pretty useful disciplinary tool for grownups, too! In Luke 1, we read the beautiful story about the angel Gabriel visiting Mary to tell her that she will become pregnant with Jesus. Mary then skedaddles to her relative Elizabeth’s house to share the good news. Elizabeth just so happens also to be miraculously pregnant, and her child is John the Baptist. Well, earlier in the chapter, we learn a little more about John’s against-all-odds conception and the subsequent silent treatment.

Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah were up in years and had not been able to have any children. Before Gabriel appeared to Mary, he paid a visit to Zechariah to let him know that he and Elizabeth would have a son together. Bumfuzzled, Zechariah questioned (interpretation: back-talked) the angel’s statement, so Gabriel put Zechariah on silence … for the duration of Elizabeth’s pregnancy! (The next time one of my kids complains about having to endure 10 minutes of silence, perhaps I’ll offer 10 months as an alternative.)

There’s something about the Christmas season that seems quiet and reflective. Rather than thinking of silence as a punishment to be endured (or ended with noise just to fill the void), why not be purposeful about spending quiet time with the Lord during these few weeks? I imagine that Zechariah had some in-depth prayer time during his many months without speaking. You and I could learn a lot from him by turning our attention to the silent moments and spending time getting to know God better.