Heroes and Geniis

We discuss at my house which superhero would win a fight.  Batman or Spiderman, Fantastic Four or X-Men, Joe Dirt or Nacho Libre (if you don’t know who these last two are, I’m desperately jealous of your innocence.  Serious loss of brain cells, and I’m too old to generate any new ones).  My son believes that Superman would lose to everyone, as he is the wussiest superhero ever.  I saw on facebook the other day an interview with kids asking questions about mom.  I am not brave enough to do this.  I know with my kids I wouldn’t want the answer.  My kids inherited my spiritual gift of sarcasm.  One of the questions was “If your mom were a superhero, who would she be?”  I don’t want my kids to answer.  They would create superheroes with super powers I would be embarrassed to admit I possess. Like “Burp Mom” or say that I’m like Popeye, I develop super strength after I slam a diet coke (this is linked to aforementioned “Burp Mom”).  If I did have a superpower, it would be the ability to pack 6 brown bag lunches in under 4 minutes or find a single missing baseball or volleyball sock stuck by static cling to the inside of a pair of sweats, or make a diorama of “Charlotte’s Web” out of a shoe box, a tooth pick and a spool of thread. Or most recently an edible diorama of “Into the Wild” out of gingerbread, frosting, Ritz Crackers and sour punch straws; complete with an ice cream cone-green sprinkles-marshmallow tree.  More than one day’s notice would have helped greatly, but I think she got extra credit for feeding the class her diorama so it all worked out.Once we have outgrown superheroes, who do we admire?  My 16 year old son has a baseball coach that he loves and looks up to.  I hear countless “Coach B” stories.  (My favorites are all “Coach B agrees with dad that…”).  My daughter is in 7th grade and really looks up to a senior that plays for the high school volleyball team.  Sometimes they scrimmage the 18’s team (her team is 13) and it has been the highlight of her young life.  Have you ever had someone you looked up to make you wonder why you ever admired them to begin with?  Twice in the last few years my husband has had guys that he looked up to in his youth group that are a few years older than him tell him how much they admired and respected what he has done with his life.  What a compliment to have the people you once looked up to now admire you.  Who do I admire?  My husband.  Most of the preacher’s wives I am privileged to know.   I admire my pastor, Mark, and my worship pastor, Lance, both are really great men of God.  I also admire women who are seeking to live godly lives, everyday wives and mothers who are teaching their children about God, who are fighting to raise a godly generation and support their husbands and take care of their homes.  I admire women who are investing in others.  Meredith, Cindy, Jenny, Maxine, Wendi, Dixie, I could go on, but these are a few of the women I admire.   Along with super powers come the thought of wishes, I thought of Geniis and the question if you were granted three wishes what would you wish for?  In the Bible, there were a couple of instances where God (not a genii) granted a request.  Elijah asked Elisha what he wanted.  Solomon was asked what he wanted. Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit.  Solomon asked for wisdom. I think both of these men used their request wisely. The book of Proverbs, written primarily by Solomon, is full of wisdom, practical wisdom that is applicable to our lives today.  I try to read Proverbs everyday with lunch.  It’s kind of my mid-day spiritual meal.  I don’t always get it done, and regularly renew my commitment to it, but I read the chapter that correlates to the day of the month.  This means I read the book of Proverbs in theory, 12 times a year.  It’s quite familiar, yet still fresh every time I read it.  Today was Proverbs 3 and was full of encouragement.  If you have a minute, read chapter 3.  I promise it will bless you. So what would I ask for?  Did Elisha and Solomon have an inside track to something?  James 1:5 says “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him”(NIV).  This applies to me – the whole Bible applies to me.  It’s like it was written with me in mind!  I do lack wisdom, and I could do with a generous helping without fault to go along with it.  Who needs a genii?  Who needs a super power?  WE GOT GOD!