I Need a New Word for "Weird"

The word “weird” comes up in my vocabulary a lot. I use it to describe those somewhat mystical, magical, unforeseen, telepathic, miraculous, unexplainable, and just plain weird things that happen in life. Like, the times when you’re thinking about someone and they call you. Or, the times when you’re dealing with a particular problem and the answer comes to you in the scripture reading you turn to. Or, when you look at a digital clock and the time reflects a significant date in your life, like a birthday or anniversary.

I remember a priest telling the congregation not too long ago, about something that happened to him when he was in college and discerning his calling. Whenever he’d look at his watch or at a clock, the time was reflected in repeated numbers, like 11:11 or 4:44. He’d just simply smile to himself and know that it was God reminding him that He was near. My Mom often looks at the clock and sees her and my Dad’s wedding anniversary, 10:23. I’ve done a similar thing, and whenever I’d glance down at my odometer (I drive a lot . . .) the trip mileage was 111 or 222; or the total mileage was 88,888.

OK, now this is going to get a little “weirder”. As I just finished typing the 88,888 numbers above, a friend of mine called. I had ordered some products from her and I asked her how much I owed her. Are you sitting down? My total was $88.88. Weird?

Now, for the weirdest of them all. I’ve kept this weirdness to myself for awhile, but felt compelled to talk about it at a recent speaking engagement I had with a women’s group. I was talking about how, when we’re not connected to what’s going on around us and not living in the present, life just passes us by. When we make the decision to take some time to ourselves and be still and listen to what God is saying to us, all sorts of wonderful things can happen. I told them that over the last year or so, I’ve been experiencing “weird” buzzing or tingling in my lips or in my fingers when I feel like I need to “say” or “write” something. For example, early this morning, I was thinking about writing about “weirdness” but I had to first text a friend to see if, due to the bad weather, we were still meeting this morning. As soon as I hit “send”, I received a text message back that she was hoping we could reschedule due to the weather. There was no way she could have possibly received, read, and responded to my text that quickly. As soon as this happened, my fingers started buzzing/tingling (they still are right now) and I knew that I needed to write all of this down.

Weird? Maybe. Miraculous? Probably. Something I need to pay more attention to? Definitely.

What are those “weird” things in your life that you just take for granted or take as coincidence? What is God trying to tell YOU? Perhaps it’s time to give yourself permission to just be still and listen to what God is saying in your own life. And, while I might just keep calling these moments “weird”, I know that they are so much more than that. OK, my fingers just stopped tingling.

No more Pookie.

It was the day I had been dreading ever since my son became a teenager. Yesterday, my 15 year-old man-boy, in a somewhat out-of-the-blue sort of way, announced to me that it was time I stopped calling him “Pookie” (just one of my many nicknames for him) in front of his friends. And, he continued, while I was at it, I should probably stop calling him those names altogether, even if it’s not in front of his friends . . . because he is almost 16.

My response was a heavy sigh that only we Moms know how to sigh, followed by my response, “Do I really call you Pookie in front of your friends, Sweetie?”  Oh. Oops. Did I just call you Sweetie, Babe? Oops. Did it again! Well, gosh darn it, I’ve been doing it for . . . well, almost 16 years! It’s a hard habit to break!

When our kids are growing up, we know that, inevitably, they’re going to grow up for good. They’re going to move out of our homes, start their own lives, build their own dreams, and take the world on in their own way. That’s what we’ve raised them to do, after all! But, when those poignant times come throughout the growing-up-times when you see them practically grow up in an instant, the reward of “I did it – I raised a wonderful person” doesn’t seem so rewarding. It just seems like it all went much too fast.

I remember having this same feeling about our daughter who recently went away to college. How could this be happening all of a sudden, I remember thinking.  I just gave birth to her! But it does happen, they do grow up, they become independent, and we all adapt. It’s not such a bad thing, I’ve discovered, but it is different. New ways of looking at things, new ways of building your relationship with your child, and new adventures that they embark on with Mom at Dad no longer at arm’s reach.

“So, what should I call you?” I asked. “Son would be fine,” he responded. “OK, Sunshine”, I responded (sounds a little like “son”).  He smiled and hugged me. He’ll always be my Pookie.