..."can you tell me how to get, how to get to ...."

When I was in labor with our first son I was given Stadol for pain .... a side effect for me, were hallucinations....

Between contractions I would fall into a deep sleep... dreaming of being a kid... playing with my cousins....  on Sesame Street.... crazy, I know....  but one of my strongest childhood memories is of Sesame Street, brought to popularity on PBS  in the 1970's... comparable in fame to today's Dora or Thomas .... Sesame Street was the 'cartoon of the times in my childhood.... available to everyone on public television... spending millions on research and development ...


I am guessing that my body's way of dealing with extreme pain and distress, was to revert back... reverting to my childhood...

I have been on a spiritual journey over the past 5 years, facilitating courses for http://www.vantagepoint3.org/

Their materials specialize in spiritual formation & Christian leadership... looking at your life and creating a timeline of the events of it... the good, the bad, and the 'ugly'.... and what the Lord was doing through them... through all the events of our life the Lord is trying to teach us something... a life lesson... if we ignore Him, another lesson will pop up later in our time line to reinforce the Lords 'point' until we understand his lesson....

All of this 'life reflection' has made me reminiscent of my childhood... my childhood was fun, lots of time spent playing with cousins on the farm... building and sleeping in tents of sheet on the clothes line... building forts out of hay bales... riding horses and four wheelers... sledding on car hoods behind a pickup...

... sliding down the stairs in a sleeping bag "toboggan" with my sister... playing hide and seek in the yard at night... riding bikes to the grocery store for snacks... packing lunchbox picnics to consume at the park, at the top of the 'tornado' slide...

... bringing home my baby brother... my dad teasing we should name him "Spot".... dressing my brother in my cabbage patch's clothes.... dressing him up as "cookie monster" complete with blue spiked hair.... my mom sewing my clothes with matching frock for my doll... mom baking chip-less chocolate chip cookies, because I liked them that way...

The most important lesson that I realized through my life timeline is that as a child I loved the Lord completely.... as a kindergartner I had to make a book about ME... I drew my best friend as Jesus and my parents enrolled me in Catholic school... I had a fondness and friendship with the Lord...

At church this Sunday an elementary boy was singing to the worship songs with his arms wide open.... HIGH AND LIFTED UP.... uninhibited.... connecting with the Holy Spirit & the Lord...

At what age did I become inhibited... by society... by peers... at what age did I stop freely connecting with God?

I help in my kindergartners class giving reading quizzes... this week a little boy burst through the door and said, "Mrs. Peterson, I have a song for you.... 'Our God is and awesome God'.... wait, I know the sign language, this means God (signs hand in front of nose)...." then he belted out the rest... uninhibited...

What an amazing display of joy in his heart....

In the Old Testament Joshua tells us about love...

Joshua 22:5 ... "5Love the Lord your God, walk in all his ways, obey his commands, hold firmly to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul.”

Moses tells us the law of the Lord too...

Deuteronomy 6:5 ..."5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength."

... love the Lord with ALL your heart... with your arm wide open, connecting with him, uninhibited... just like a child....

As a child Sesame Street taught me preschool skills... but it also taught life lessons in love, joy, and kindness ... Big Bird, Oscar and Grover treated each other with respect... loving their neighbors .... the basic principles of the Gospel of Jesus...

So this has me thinking of myself as an adult believer ... do I love the Lord with ALL my heart? ... do I love the Lord with ALL my soul? ... do I love the Lord with ALL my strength?

I think I have a lot to learn from the two boys the Lord placed in my path this week.... I need to worship my God with open arms, voice belting... uninhibited... with all my heart, soul & strength ...