When I was a Child......

"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.

When I became a man/woman, I put childish ways behind me."

1 Cor. 13:11

Maturity, it's a beautiful thing. It changes you, makes you think more clearly, usually makes you a better decision maker. I need a little lightheartedness in my life right now so I am going to talk about being childish.

In 3rd or 4th grade, when "failure notices"
 were my biggest worry in life.

In 3rd-5th, at The Kings Christian School, started my struggle with academics. I couldn't quite keep up with the other kids. It didn't help that my best friend, Susan Wright,  and I were more concerned with boys and goofing off than school work. We used to clear out throats to get each others attention. Yes, I know, very clever. "Failure Notices" were issued mid-way through the marking period. They are now called "Warning Notices" or "Progress Reports". Telling a kid they are failing now a days is taboo. When the notices were being sent home, I would watch the mail that whole week. When I saw something from the school I would take it and open it. Usually, it wasn't good news. Ahh, my nemisis Math! I would hid the notices in the trash can, never showing my parents. For some reason this one time I got a great idea. I took the failure notice upstairs in MY PARENTS bathroom. (Ohh, I was a smart one!) And I crumpled it up and flushed it down the toilet, envelope and all. And it clogged their toilet. DUH! Caught red-handed. Can't blame a girl for trying.



In 6th grade, with my BFF Stacey Joy,
 about the time of the Big Lie

My sisters and I were all born in Philadelphia. We moved to Willingboro, NJ when Brenda was a baby and we moved again when I was going into 6th grade to Mt.Ephraim, NJ. When we lived in Phila we were friends with a family down the street who had a lot of kids. And a Saint Bernard dog. I remember the dog stunk up the house. My sister Sarah was good friends with one of their daughters, Lillian and when we moved to Willingboro Lillian would come and stay with us for a good portion of the summer. From row homes in Phila, to a big house with a big yard and lots of green grass, and a pool around the block at the school. Going to Vacation Bible School and getting dressed up in  my sisters dresses for church was magical for her. She was one in a big family and with us she felt special because we looked up to her. When we moved to Mt. Ephraim Sarah was going into 8th grade. She got a letter in the mail from Lillian. My dad put it on the kitchen counter waiting to tell Sarah when she got home that Lillian had written her. I got home from school first and saw the letter. I was a nosy and impatient little one, so I took the letter and went in the bathroom. TORE it open, not even trying to be neat. I read it and stuffed it back in the enevelope. Since my dad was waiting to tell Sarah she had a letter from Lillian he noticed it wasn't on the counter. He's asking me where the letter was, I'm lying saying I don't know. He's getting mad telling my mom he left it right on the counter. He starts to realize I must have taken it and asks me again where it is, I lie again. He turned his back and I threw the letter behind the counter. Then in a minute or so I nonchalantly 'find' it behind the counter. "Here it is!" I handed it to my dad and he asks why is it ripped open. Oh, crap. I forgot about that. I told him I didn't know. He wants to know if I opened it, no I tell him. Then how is it ripped open? Beats me. You know if Judge Judy was on TV back then I may have realized what she says is sooo true. "If something doesn't make sense, it's probably because it's not true!" Liar, Liar pants on fire.

Alright, last story. We spent a lot of time in church as little kids. Maranatha Tabernacle, I loved that church. We had a lot of good friends from church. I loved watching the families. I remember there were two sisters, one was a blonde and one a brunette. They were in about their 20's and both single. The blonde was heavier and prettier than the brunette sister. The brunette sister was slim with not as pretty of a face. I used to think if they switched heads one sister would look perfect. Shallow, shallow child I was. I also used to think (apparently before I knew specifics about the birds and bees) that the number of kids a couple had was the amount of times they "did it". So I would look at families around the church and think, "They have 3 kids, they did it 3 times." or, "They only have one kid, they only did it once." 

So you see, when I post all the ridiculous things my boys do and say, it's all just PAYBACKS!