Wildflower Writes

My son inherited his mother's perfectionistic tendencies.  When he is unable to accomplish something, he gets frustrated easily and concludes he is horrible at the task and will never be able to do it.  He gets angry and cries. Today we tackled the bike again.  Before the snow fell last fall, he was able to go short distances as long as I got him started.  That's how it began this afternoon. By the time we got to the next-door neighbor's driveway, he had already fallen once.  By the time we got around the corner, I threatened to take him home if he was going to cry every time the bike went off the sidewalk and into the grass.  Little by little, with encouragement, and letting him pick himself up and start over a hundred times, he started to get the hang of it.  After cruising around the basketball court at the elementary school for awhile, he was completely confident in his ability to start, stop, and steer in the direction he wanted to go. ...

It was a leadership retreat.  It had been an amazing day- gourmet food, a ropes course, getting to know the others in the group.  I had stayed up late chatting by the fire with some of the guys, and made my way back to the women's cabins alone, about a half mile back through the woods in the pitch dark. I had my flashlight, and I used it to stay out of the small puddles that lined the path.  I also made sure I didn't run into any trees on the way, and that I made it to the right cabin. This was the image I had as I was reading Charles Stanley's new book, " How to Reach your Full Potential for God ", where he draws a mental picture of using your flashlight or lantern to get through the woods in the middle of the night.  He makes these points: You need the light to see in the distance, to be able to know your goal and the direction you are headed. You need the light to see either side of the path, to make sure you are not wandering into t...

“For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.” –Proverbs 8:11 Wisdom is difficult to understand or appreciate. In a society where truth is considered an arbitrary subject, and tolerance is valued more highly than what is right, wisdom becomes something of past generations, gained merely be life experience. Even though I seek wisdom, I don’t ever feel wise. It seems like daily I have decisions to make and I rarely feel confident that I’m choosing the right path. I have this twisted desire to interfere in the lives of others- to give them advice or provide for them- and never know for sure what the right thing to do is. I am also horrible at organizing my time, things, or finances. I know what I value, but it’s difficult to make tough decisions. For example, I play flute in the church orchestra. I originally signed up to get my husband involved. The problem is, I haven’t played in a group since sixth grade. It’s like a 12 year old trying t...

He asked to talk to me on the phone. I’m not sure why. He’s a former nursing home resident, known for his sexual innuendos, talking to himself, and refusing treatment for his schizophrenia for fear of impotence. He left against medical advice almost a year ago, and is back at the psychiatric hospital, needing a long term situation. As an employee at a nursing home, we often have to consider the issue of “competence.” At what point does a person lose his or her right to make decisions because they are no longer mentally capable of making them? Who makes the determination? How can nursing home residents lose their rights to choose treatment due to incompetence when they are lots of “incompetent” people living in our community who do not make decisions that serve their own best interests. Ray Sandford of St. Paul, Minnesota, is fighting for his right to forego his monthly electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) treatments. A lot of people don’t know that some mental health professionals still use...

I don’t have prejudices. I see all people as the same- without distinction in their color, gender, or religion. Yeah, right. Is that even possible? My entire life I’ve been influenced by friends, family, television, magazines, and an entire culture. Beyond whatever I want to believe or think, there are constant voices whispering in my ear from a thousand directions to influence me otherwise. All I can do is act on what I know is right, and true, and fair. Even when I’m the one being discriminated against. “You the one who put us all in the dirtiest, greasiest jobs out there,” he said. Our newest nursing home resident was accusing me personally of relegating his entire race to the worst jobs available at the time he earned a living in a factory. I was speechless. What do you say to something like that? “You been white all your life, ain’t you?” he asked. “Afraid so,” I said, trying to make light of the situation. It really was a silly question. “That’s kinda beyond my contro...

I’ve always heard it said, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” I always took it as a truism, just like, “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.” But tonight, I was challenged to think differently. Still in study of “The Truth Project,” God is the originator of creativity. He bestowed various gifts upon humankind to use for His glory. He gave us a desire to use these gifts- to design, to create, to express truths, to create order out of chaos. That is what work is supposed to be, an expression of who God created you to be. So if someone creates something, does that make it beautiful? Is it truly a decision of the beholder whether or not something is beautiful? No. I now believe beauty is a quality in and of itself, like truth, goodness, righteousness, or love. The human body is beautiful, but pornography is ugly. Language is beautiful, but hate is ugly. Music is beautiful, but profanity is ugly. The beauty we are able to see in other people represents God’s ha...