Lauren Sparks

The Sparks Notes

Joy: A Lesson Learned From My Teenaged Daugher

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Immaturity, selfishness, thoughtlessness and carelessness.  These are the fairly universal traits of an American teenager.  This all seems to come built into the undeveloped prefrontal cortex and raging hormones of the emerging adult.  Now, I will 100% believe you if you tell me your pubescent angel is amazing.  And I believe you without sarcasm.  But I also know that, at times, the aforementioned character traits come out to play.  And they play so hard that it can get easy to focus on those things and the failings of the younger generation.  But I’d like to tell you about a lesson learned in my life, and the credit goes to my 18 year old daughter. 

 

 “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” John 15:11-12 NIV

 

A few weeks ago, a staff member at our church asked me to consider a challenging ministry opportunity.  For the sake of privacy and the dignity of others, I won’t get much more descriptive than that.  I didn’t even have to think about it.  With my Allie moving out and moving on to college I needed a new challenge and something to throw my extra emotional energy into.  But after dipping my first toe in, I immediately started to regret this commitment.

 

All the doubts I carry about myself crept back in.  Am I strong enough?  Do I know enough?  Will I be effective?  Can I handle it?  And to be honest, my selfishness came to the table as well (it’s not just for teenagers!).  It felt hard and I didn’t want to be bothered or sacrifice my time.  Really Christ-like thoughts.  But then I saw more pictures on social media from Camp Blessing.a lesson learned

 

My daughter Allie served on staff at Camp Blessing, a sleep-away camp for children and adults with special needs, for the first 6 weeks of the summer.  She did wheelchair transfers and changed adult diapers and bathed those who couldn’t shower themselves.  Allie (camp name Birdie) dealt with severe behavior issues and stayed up countless hours at night tending her flock of campers.  She oversaw hygiene routines and feeding challenges of the mildly to severely physically and mentally handicapped.  And she pushed wheelchairs all over campground terrain in the 100+ degree Texas heat.

 

 

A Lesson Learned From a Joy Observed

 

I have one at home with severe impairment.  And it’s tough.  Allie served 100’s during her tenure at camp.  And that is how my teen daughter challenged and motivated me.  I found myself thinking, if she can do all of that, I can certainly do this thing that won’t be nearly as physically and emotionally draining.  I could sacrifice my time and love others well, just as my girl was doing.  And do you know what?  She did it with such joy.a lesson learned

 

Birdie radiated a God given joy and Christ-like love in every picture posted.  In our weekend conversations she would tell me about some of the issues she faced and times she was pushed to her limit.  My response was, “I’m sorry it wasn’t a good week.”  Her response, “I didn’t say that.  It was hard, but every week is a good week.”  And she meant it.  This is what it means to have true joy in serving the Lord.  Even when the times or tasks are really tough.  And I’m so grateful for a lesson learned through this extraordinary girl.  God is so good, and when I grow up (spiritually) I want to be just like her.a lesson learned

 

And now for this week’s featured post from the link up!  There was a lesson learned for me here, too!

 

Grace and Truth’s own Tammy Kennington gave me the scriptural basis to handle a troubling circumstance right now.  Maybe you could use it too.  How to Find Peace in Troubled Times.  Thank you, Tammy.

 

The Link Up

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).

Grace and Truth_Meet Hosts

We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
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LAUREN SPARKS
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LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
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TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
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 Now Let’s Link Up!

 

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May Had No Margin!

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Busy, busy, busy.  That is the life of every mother of school-aged kids during the month of May.  But having a graduating senior kicks up the activity and brings the down time to zilch.  I kept reminding myself through it all that I shouldn’t complain.  In a week’s time I’ll be wondering if there is ANYTHING on the calendar.  But right now it feels like there is no margin.  And did I mention I have a graduating senior? It may take me awhile to get through this post.  Please send chocolate!

 

I started off the month helping plan a baccalaureate service for our seniors, explained in a previous post.  Then helped feed Allie’s musical theatre class as they practiced for her last theatre show of the year – Musical Revue.  Such a fun show from a talented group of kids.  I was unprepared for the seniors to take the stage and sing “Thank You for the Music” by ABBA to their parents and teachers.  My daughter’s solo line?  “She says I began to sing long before I could talk…” sang while looking at me!  And it’s pretty much true.  I may or may not have gone back and listened to that song again when I needed a good cry.

 

More Activities

 

At Senior Awards night, my girl received a scholarship from our district’s education foundation and an AP Distinguished scholar award.  (Please don’t turn this post into a drinking game with the word “senior”.  I would fear for your health.)  And at the theatre banquet she won the Super Singer superlative and another scholarship!  Along with the distinction of being in the cast of the best show of the year.  So fun!  And the next night she was directing a one act play of Tangled, which was darling.  No coasting toward graduation for this girl.  She is packing in as much as possible before she goes.  No margin!

 

After church on Mother’s Day Allie and I went shopping for gear she needs to work at a summer camp for kids and adults with special needs.  A six week commitment.  Right after graduation.  But I’m okay.  It’s all fine.  I didn’t get what I wanted for Mother’s Day (to veg on the couch after church and have a Gilmore Girls marathon) but I did get to spend some time with her, which is at a premium these days.

 

And More Activities

 

Allie had a banquet for her Peer Assisted Leadership group.  The hubs and I didn’t get to go to that one, but were beaming with pride at the superlative she got:  “Most Likely to Put God First”.  I think some of the kids meant it as a jab.  Little did they know it’s the ultimate compliment.  And the choir booster awarded her another scholarship at the final concert of the year.  So grateful.

 

We all had fun at Allie’s choir banquet.  Even Shelby!  She got to go for the first time and loved the dancing and mashed potatoes!  We were invited to and attended several graduation parties for our daughter’s friends.  Always a fun time to celebrate these great kids.

 

Allie Rose and two of her longtime friends and fellow choir members led worship for their senior baccalaureate.  They did amazing and God was glorified.  Pray with me that anyone there who does not know Jesus received a message and will seek Him.

 

And on Monday my girl left for her summer job at Camp Blessing – one of the special needs camps that her sister attends.  Graduation wasn’t until Thursday.  So she’s missed the last few days of school for training and came back to graduate, went back for 1 day of training and will drive back home for her graduation party tomorrow, after which she will go back to camp for the next 5 weeks.  And camp is 3 hours away.  I’m praying for a drop in gas prices by the end of the week.

 

What’s Keeping Me Distracted

 

On a recommendation Chuck and I started watching the tv show New Amsterdam because (spoiler alert) the main character has the same cancer my husband beat.  There are many good story lines, but many I don’t appreciate and it’s pretty sad.  We also watched the documentary series Waco:  American Apocalypse on Netflix.  The Branch Davidians fascinate me all these years later since I lived about 15 minutes away from their compound and worked with one of David Koresh’s wives.  And on a night we needed a good laugh, Leanne Morgan‘s Netflix special had me howling in a way that would embarrass me with anyone other than my husband.

 

On audio I listened to Beth Moore’s book All My Knotted-Up Life:  A Memoir, Out of the Dark:  My Journey Through the Shadows to Find God’s Joy by Mandisa and Funny How Life Works by comedian Michael Jr.  And I would recommend them in that order.  I actually read on paper The Baxters by Karen Kingsbury.  I used to read all of her books, but now only keep up with this particular fictional family.

 

And now I’ll sign off and finish up preparations for the graduate’s blow out tomorrow.  I love you, I thank you and I hope June treats you well!

 

And now for this week’s featured post from the link up!

 

Stephanie Carter’s post on difficulty in prayer is real, transparent and helpful for anyone who has had similar struggles.  We do battle in prayer – and sometimes it’s with ourselves!  Thanks, Stephanie.

 

The Link Up

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).

Grace and Truth_Meet Hosts

We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LAUREN SPARKS
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

 Now Let’s Link Up!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

 

If you liked this post, do me the huge honor of using the buttons below to share it to your favorite social media accounts. And if you want to get these essays emailed to you once a week, subscribe!  Lastly, my posts may contain affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases. If you buy anything from one of these links, I will receive a few pennies to help offset the cost of this website at no additional charge to you. Thank you in advance for your help.

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