Lauren Sparks

The Sparks Notes

The Prodigal Hamster

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Originally published July 25, 2013

Snowflake got loose. Allie and her BFFIF (that stands for Best Friend in Family), Cousin Bethany, built a habitat for Allie’s hamster out of an empty case of Diet Dr Pepper, paper towel rolls and duck tape. They made a huge mess, but it entertained them for a long time (that’s worth a lot in the summer) and they were awfully proud of it upon completion. They put Snowflake in it and she seemed to enjoy the change of scenery. What we didn’t realize, was that Allie and Bethany left Snowflake in this redneck contraption when they went to bed. It never occurred to me that they would believe she was secure in there overnight. So we didn’t check. The next morning, we woke up to one worried little girl standing over us. Snowflake had flown the new coop and was no where to be found. We frantically searched, but could not find her. We finally had to give up and go to church. More hunting later in the day produced no fruit and we began to doubt that our pet would be found alive. In addition to our 2 dogs, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law’s 2 dogs were visiting. I was terrified that we would eventually walk in on a feast.

What to do?  Chuck decided that we should get a live mouse trap to lure her out. He and Allie headed to the store, but it was too late and the store was closed by the time they got around to it. So Allie formulated a plan. She decided that if she left Snowflake’s cage on the ground with the door open, that she might crawl back in to find food and water after being on the lam for 24 hours. And it worked. The next morning, a very relieved Allie found her little critter contentedly sitting in her comfy cage with the door wide open.

As you can probably tell from the title of this blog, this incident reminded me of the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 of the bible. The son decided he no longer wanted to live under his father’s roof and father’s rules. He asked for his share of his inheritance and took off on his own, partying and squandering his money. When it was all gone and he was literally living in a pig pen, he remembered how good he had it at home with his father. Verse 17 says, “he came to his senses”. “I am dying here with hunger,” he said. I can imagine Snowflake thinking the same thing.  The son went home, groveling, but his father wasn’t angry. He was so relieved and happy to see him that he ran to him, embraced him, lavished him with gifts and threw him a party. Don’t you know that your Heavenly Father feels the same way about us?  When we decide that the grass looks greener if we venture off on our own, we soon find how wrong we are. When we refuse to live under God’s rules, we also remove ourselves from under His protection.  But no matter how long we stay away, Abba is waiting for us with open arms. And when we return to His will, He will celebrate and rejoice, just like the father did in verse 32. Cue the party music and bring out the cake and balloons!

Warning: Post Comes from a Place of Frustration

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Originally Published on July 21, 2013

The laundry (dishes, vacuuming, grocery shopping, etc,) will wait. Your kids are only young once. So much wisdom here. So much frustration. Raise your hand if you have ever read a blog or a facebook post with this message. Now raise the other hand if you have ever felt guilty after reading such a post. Now, I realize I can’t see you, but I am imagining more hands up all over the cyber world than there are praising Jesus in a charismatic church on Sunday. I mean, I can’t be the only one. I am officially over this line of thinking and it’s not just because my to-do list is currently longer than a sermon in the aforementioned charismatic church. I blame modern convenience. Travel back with me 100 years ago… If our grandmothers spent the entire day playing with their kids, their families didn’t eat that night. Right? But now, we can cater to every little whim of our darlings and just drive our car right up to a window to get dinner since we didn’t have time to cook. And now, instead of feeling guilty for not spending quality time with our children, we feel guilty about the unhealthy meals we are feeding them. We don’t want that. So the next day, we tackle the grocery shopping, cooking and other household chores with gusto so that the kidlets live in a clean, healthy environment. We all sit down at the polished dinner table and eat grilled fish, steamed veggies, homemade 7 grain bread and fresh picked berries with cream for dessert. As our kids and hubands begin to wonder who we are and what we have done with mom, we begin to feel guilty because the darlings have watched TV and played video games all day. 100 years ago while grandma was doing her chores, she didn’t have to feel guilty about what the kids were doing to entertain themselves. They were reading a book, playing imaginatively with their corn husk doll, or running and jumping outside getting exercise. The only thing to worry about was whether Sally would play so hard that she sullied her new bloomers. Ok. Maybe there was an occasional worry about bears or wolves of something. But guilt? No guilt. And here we are caught in a vicious cycle of it. If it’s not one thing we feel bad about, it’s another. What’s a modern mom to do? I mean, already our kids are less imaginative and more dependent on us than ever. We plan camps and play dates, museum trips, movies, programs and tours to fill up summer days so we don’t have to hear the words, “I’m bored.” I think all of these activities are great, but when we NEVER give our children any down time, we take away their initiative. They don’t have to brainstorm and plan for entertaining themselves. They don’t have to make up games or get out art supplies or read a book. Most kids aren’t entertained by the simple things, because we have given them so many big experiences. Let that sink in for a minute.
I spew all that to admit that I am NOT throwing out my microwave or the kids’ ipads, or our swimming pool passes so that I can play Ma Ingalls on the prairie. I also don’t envision that you are having an Oprahesque AHA moment about joining me on a backwards, backwoods commune. I just wanted to paint a picture (for myself more than anything) as a reminder that my daughters will not die if I don’t take them to 2 activities a day and execute 4 big Martha Stewart crafts with them before summer’s end. In fact, it might even be good for them. The only change I am advocating for is change we can all believe in. NO MORE GUILT. Plan some entertainment, do your chores, and leave the little rascals to their own accord sometimes. We all need balance. Your children included. So make your choices (mostly mindfully, but sometimes out of desperation) and then feel good about them. We are all doing the best we can. Yes, our kids are only young once, but I don’t want my sanity to go the way of their youth.


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