Strong and Brave

The title of Monday's episode of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood was "Strong and Brave."  He allowed his television neighbors to follow him to a clinic where he received a flu shot.  Has there ever been a nicer man on television than Fred Rogers?  I heard a story once about a group of young hoodlums who stole Mr. Rogers' car and later returned it with a note that read, "If we had known it was yours, we wouldn't have taken it."

Strong and brave seems to be the theme of this past week.  My book club pick for this month was Same Kind of Different As Me.  It's a true story and the main theme is that one person can make a difference.  Sometimes I hear that and think it's crap, but then I hear about people who really do and think they must be made of something different than me.  It's a great book.  You should read it.

This week  in addition to not sleeping much, Miles has been strong and brave.  Up until now, he's been afraid of grass.  I could put him on a blanket in the middle of the yard and be assured that he would stay there.  The other day I put him on a blanket and started pulling weeds.  I turned around and he had crawled off the blanket, over the lawn, to the other side of the driveway and was headed towards the street.  He also learned to climb up stairs and fall down them.  I'm very proud of him, but this ruins everything.

We moved to Missouri at the beginning of the Summer, so we had no idea how amazing it looks in the Spring.  We've never lived in an actual house until now and, therefore, never had to take care of a yard.  (My local friends will probably have a heart attack and die of not surprise when they hear that.)  I haven't taken great care of the flower beds and was very pleasantly surprised to see what has popped up over the past few weeks.  Even the weeds look beautiful.

[I love photographing flowers.  They're so cooperative.  I finally had to stop taking pictures of them and actually post them so that this wouldn't be the longest post in history.  While we were at the Botanical Gardens, I found a new flower I adore.  They're called "Lady's Earrings."  Isn't that great?  I think if I had been in charge of naming them, that's exactly what I would call these flowers.]

As I have come across many people this past week who have had to face serious illness and great grief in their lives it makes me wonder why I seem to be getting off easy.  I worry that maybe God thinks I'm too much of a wimp to handle it.  I also worry that my time for great trials is just scheduled for later on.

These feelings aren't new.  I get this way a lot.  But what is new is that I feel more prepared to tackle a great obstacle.  I'm feeling stronger and braver.  Maybe it's just the Red Bull talking, but I really do.  So, thank you Mr. Rogers and all of my neighborhood friends for your examples.