Pondering a Parable

I woke this morning, thinking I had shed my cranky pants of yesterday only to find them back on after my visit to the chiropractor this afternoon. How did these get back on? I wondered. Traffic! Construction! A hideous drive through the city. That's how!

So, upon arriving back home I decided I would pack my knapsack with my Bible, a notebook and some sheets I'd printed of helpful advice on how to write a parable. I hopped back into my car and head southwest, to a park along Lake Ontario where I could ponder my next writing assignment - writing a parable.

If you know me, I generally speak in word pictures, thinking of common visuals to explain the point I'm trying to get across. Do you think I can think of one now that I need to for this assignment? Of course not!

Sitting on a bench in the park I watched and listened as people wandered along the water's edge. I read Jesus' parables in the Gospels. Still nothing!

The air is much cooler along the lake front so I decided to move out of the wind and chose to sit on the far side of the children's jungle gym in the park. Not having kids, I don't spend much time in this section of a park but I chose to sit here because we can learn so much from children.

One little girl was wandering around the playground seeking out a "friend". Eventually, she began talking to a woman with a little girl somewhere around 1 yr old. The "new" Mommy decided to trust this older stranger with her wee one as she placed her in the little girl's lap to slide down the slide.

Another little girl, who I could tell was a tomboy, was climbing up on this white climby-thing (not even sure what to call it really) and she slide down, bumping her chin. I could tell she had either stunned herself or jarred her chin. She ran off to her Mom for a few minutes and then was back to running down the slide (instead of sliding down).

Joy shone through the faces of little ones as they played. They were so carefree and full of adventure. When do we lose that?

As I sat observing, many thoughts ran through my mind but no real "a-ha" moments came to help me with my parable. I think I'll need to spend a little more time out in the "real world" watching and listening and looking. I know it's in my head somewhere but God just needs to bring it to the forefront!

After my adventure at the park I met my niece for dinner and then head to Book Club. I was co-leading the group tonight and although I didn't feel nervous externally, apparently internally I was because after dinner my stomach got really upset. I used to experience this when I used to sing solos in church 15+ years ago. I haven't experienced it since so needless to say I was shocked by this revelation. I immediately upon departing the bathroom a second time, called Hubby to ask him to pray for me.

Being the transparent person I am I casually mentioned it to the couple of women waiting for book club to start as I took my seat at the front of the room. My co-leader, K, was running a little late so I began promptly at 7pm. Long story short, I actually had a great time leading the club and wasn't nervous at all. My tummy settled down as soon as I sat down and the 90 minutes flew by! Everyone participated and it seemed everyone enjoyed themselves. So what was all that about? Crazy body!