Crossing

Standard lunchtime conversation:

Mister: "Why didn't the dinosaur cross the road?"
Sis: "I don't know. Why?"
Mister: "He didn't have a tiny shooter gun! Is that a tricky one? Okay, here is a tricky one. Why didn't the quesadilla cross the road?"
Sis: "You say this every time!"
Mister: "Because he didn't have a big shooter gun! Ha!"

The shooter gun is the consistent component in all of Mister's jokes. He is convinced that crossing the road without it is disastrous. In fact, chickens, dinosaurs, quesadillas, dump trucks and ButterJelly toast all refuse to make the trek unless they are armed for what is on the other side.

I often find myself in the chilly dusk without a jacket; or in a waiting room with time to read and no glasses; or far from home with a poopie baby and a diaper bag stocked with extra clothes, wipes, ointment, sunscreen, crackers, toys, a camera, paperwork for last year's picture day, but no diapers. Lots of extras, but no essentials. Adventures on a rainy afternoon are better with a jacket. Reading without glasses gives me a headache. The cuteness of a baby is profoundly dampered when pants that need to be changed aren't.

And so I pray, Lord help me to dress myself properly with the things you have put in my closet. May I see clearly through the lens of your love. Help me to remember the sword of the spirit and the belt of truth. Make me ready for battle, or at least daily life.

"Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Ephesians 6:14-17