Puff the Magic Dragon a morning in December.

Acting as Mother to my children


Investing myself into my children’s lives in the earlier times was mothering. They were with me. They were learning and doing and growing with me. Now it is appearances as mother. I dress myself up and study my responses and act as mother to my children. I am no longer, really their mother. I am part of a team of acting mothers. Maybe, I am the most influential of the mothers, maybe the lioness is more influential, maybe the prophetess and maybe the teacher, but, I am one of the mothers in their lives. I felt a little sense of some restoration of some of the influence today, that was stolen and snatched from me. I looked in my son’s eyes and performed, inadvertently Puff! I didn’t mean to perform it, I just meant for him to hear it. It was as powerful as Quiet Thing! I wasn’t expecting that response, but it was more exciting than a standing ovation. I was singing into his soul, as it were. The moment came and the tears started streaming down his face. What is wrong my son? Perhaps he thought the little boy had died. I really didn’t have the time to delve into what he was seeing while I was singing Puff. I remember in Kindergarten saying why are they making us sing this sad, sad song? This isn’t fun at all. I remember picturing Puff going into his cave with his ceiling wax and pasting up the walls and ceilings and not coming back out. I remember saying, I would go and play with Puff, even if I was grown up. I went back to the cave with my Ethan. The son of my emotions. The son born of the last of my serotonin. Tears and tears for Jackie Paper and Puff, whose love story was over, all too soon. We cried together this morning. We learned the lesson to enjoy the season where we are, perhaps it is a restoration of my maternal influences. Perhaps it is just a spark of past influences that were stolen from under me. God knows.




“Puff the Magic Dragon, ceased his fearless roar” and tears hit the ground. Hugs and kisses couldn’t comfort him at that thought. What will he do without his roar, mommy? Why didn’t Jackie Paper come back mommy? I don’t know, my son there are lessons that we will share about this, until we die, but God Bless Pete Seager, who took us to the crux of the matter this morning. Life has been given us to richly enjoy. And the children of the aged people deserve the same love as the children of the youth. God seems to bless and emphasize what we say more, now that we have less time to speak into their souls.

Making these boys see oneanother as teammates and not opponents is the goal of the season. A brother, is born for adversity. Enoch asked for one, Ethan asked for one and now there are three. My three sons. Crying and dancing in the morning, with Puff the Magic Dragon. I could not ask for more.

And I love her?

I got permission to tell the secret. Ethan has an admiration. I don't remember any of my children being so forward on such things and it is so refreshing to see love blooming at age 11. She has a powerful left hook, was the confession that was the real reason why she is Christmas present worthy. We all love her now. The cat is out of the bag.

Love in a big family is a group hug. When can I ask her to be my girlfriend? When you are 20. When can we marry? When you are thirty. The answers are in place and the communication is open. I love that we can talk about such things with human and maternal-child abandon. I think that this perfect communication beats the nursing years by a longshot. I'll keep you posted on the response to the Christmas card and gift.

Are you For Real?

The Velveteen Rabbit, discussed the question of the reality of a person or velveteen rabbit, as the case may be.
Throughout life, with trial and error to guide us, we learn that there are safe and unsafe people to expose ourselves to. Some books show us characters that can help us be discerning, as well as the Holy Spirit and the Bible's wise direction. We are all camouflaged in so many layers. God's people are camouflaged and show only a portion of their reality to the world. We are, in reality, seated in heavenly places with Christ and we look to be struggling and poor and needy and all too often sorry, yet God has chosen to cover us for His Glory, that He alone and those with Him can see the glory of the life in the presence of God.

"Tis only the glory of light, that hideth Thee"

God is hidden under the clothing of the light, which is dimness of the goodness of His true and real presence. The closer we get to His presence we realize how He is covered for our own protection. God is good and far better than He even shows Himself in our human vision. He is far more good than we can even know. His goodness is hidden. In our dark providences, it is hidden under the imagination that we think He doesn't care. In our comfortable providences it is hidden in the mistaken imagination that we deserve His goodness showered upon us. He is the best clandestine. He loves us more than we can sense. How great is the Father's love upon us, that we should be called the children of God. It is a hidden truth and no matter how many layers of that truth we uncover, there are an infinite number of layers to unwrap of His goodness.
Those who know Him not in the pardon of their sins in Christ, are hidden in His present goodness from the reality of the wrath of God hovering over their heads. God is too good to condemn them without a trial. God is too good to even give them a glimpse of their real condition without tempering it with the offer of His manifold grace in Christ.

The world is spinning and you, as the ballet dancer, through life must stay focused on your identity in Christ, to keep from tumbling down and hurting yourself.
Do not give your strength to women, says the mother in Proverbs 31. Do not think that any person on earth can hold your true identity and love you like God. He alone can know the real you. Treasure those who love you in truth and reality and do not deceive yourself that you are better than you are. There is no better place to be than redeemed. The icing of his comforts are pleasures, but He is better than that.

Why did God make you and all things? For His own glory.