Someone else’s awards day

Only a few weeks left of school, and the Nelson kiddos are all feeling the pressure of boosting their 4^th quarter grades in order to have a better cushion going into exam time. We dread the thought of summer school and mandatory extra help. As much as I am celebrating their efforts and achievement of making it through another year, they will not be celebrated in a bigger forum this year. It is awards season for all our young scholars and we won’t need to clear any shelf space for shiny trophies at the Nelson house. This was one of those years when we struggled to just keep our heads above water. I’m very thankful that our schools average in the A’s from P. E. class into the overall GPA.

The 2014-15 school year has been riddled with struggle. The kids, their dad and I have struggled with understanding new concepts, relationships, poor performance, healthy lifestyle, broken hearts, backsliding, diverted dreams, the frustration of repeated mistakes, insecurities and a constant drain from the lack of time in a 24 hour day.

There have been years that could have been designated as the Year of Nelson. While marching through those years, I am sure I posted more pictures on Instagram and Facebook. I probably peacocked around bowing and eloquently supplying my audience with the nauseating humble brag. I know I said things like, “Thank you, but her greatest attribute is her kind heart”, and “God is so good. I’m humbled that He chose to give these talents to my son.” Blech. I promise, I did not feel humble in my heart. When my kids got awards, I believed they earned them outright and I was thrilled that everyone was exposed to their achievements.

Please don’t misunderstand me. My kids have beautiful hearts and any talent they have is a gracious gift and responsibility from the Lord. They work hard and I am proud of their hard work. I am no less proud when their best efforts are C’s and my adoration of them is not diminished when their neck isn’t encircled with an MVP ribbon, but when I dropped my daughters off at school today, I was a little harrumphed. Today was another spring awards day and I had no reason to change out of my sweats and hustle back for the ceremony. To add to my pissy mood, I noticed that the hems of both of their uniform skirts were out and I wallowed over my constant tether to the mountain of laundry that I had plenty of time to attend to as I wouldn’t be in attendance at awards day.

With Mt. Laundry glaring at me in the den, I knew I needed to spend some quality time refocusing before wielding my laundry axe and strapping on my crampons. Today is Someone else’s awards day, but JOY is set before me.

“Whoever offers praise glorifies Me;

And to him who orders his conduct aright

I will show the salvation of God.” Psalm 50:23 (NKJV)

If you are one of those people who are instinctively able to celebrate the achievements of other people’s children, kudos to you. If you find it taxing to cheer for a kid who has been mean to your kid or difficult to add your extoling voice to the glorification of a kid who wins absolutely everything or if you find it hard to celebrate the smug, we are kindred spirits, and we need the Holy Spirit.

When we set our minds on Christ and celebrate Him, our focus is set straight. In a sinful, exhausting, unbalanced and unfair world, we cannot rejoice with sincerity unless we have a helper. We have to be purposeful about loosening our grip on our rights and entitlements. Our desire for fairness will lead to unhappiness. Our desire should be solely based in Christ and the joy of being claimed by and loved by Him.

I have been watching NBC’s “A.D.-The Bible continues” and I was intrigued by their interpretation of Pentecost. In their depiction of Pentecost, a fireball shot out of the sky like a laser and burst in and all through the room where the disciples have gathered. It was aggressive and frightening and at its conclusion, all 12 disciples were energized, empowered and full of joy. They set out with a focused purpose of telling their neighbors and enemies the great news that Jesus is alive. Before they were heated up with this fiery force, they grumbled and wobbled in fear, but with the spirit, they knew they could do anything.

I needed that reminder of how incredibly powerful the Holy Spirit is. I have been in the habit of thinking of Him as only a helper, but He is so much more. I need more than help. I need someone else to take the lead and captain the ship. I will continue to fail when I try to do everything on my own. I can’t smile about the laundry or be patient as I tutor algebra, but with the Holy Spirit, I can do these and so much more. I can rejoice in everything and love the unlovely. I can celebrate someone else’s awards day and mean it.

The real celebration is in knowing that when I am weak and I fail, Christ gets to shine. Dear friends, I hope that as your school year wraps up, you will find joy in the celebration. You have been given the greatest award that no one can ever snatch away. Today is your award’s day too.

 

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV)

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.  No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39 (NLT)