Driving along in the van yesterday, Punk was pointing out (AGAIN!) where Pence and Pea will sit when they get here. Then he got his quizzical expression on his cocked head. "Will Pence tickle me?"
I smile, "Yep! I'm sure he will."
Brief pause for thought. "Can I tickle Pence?"
Another smile, "Yes you can!"
"I tickle Pea?"
"Sure, honey."
"Be careful. Be gentle."
"That's right, Punk. You'll all tickle each other, and you'll all be careful not to hurt each other when you do." :)

A few weeks ago (in the van) I got my first introduction to "the Duck." I don't think I ever had an imaginary friend growing up--my twin sister was enough to deal with! But, Punk has invented this duck who does and says all kinds of funny things. Mostly he shows up riding in "Pea's seat" in the van, but he's made appearances at dinner and other places as well. It is sooo fun to get a window into Punky's awesome developing imagination. Again, I say, "What's so bad about 2?!!" We do have our fits and tantrums and my boy is growing an oversized sense of independence, but the fun times are much more frequent and far outweigh the difficulties. Maybe I'm just blessed with one of the good ones. :)

I went to a leadership class at church over the weekend and gleaned a few good things to ponder over. For instance:

"Before the judgment seat of Christ, my service will be judged not by how much I have done, but by how much I could have done. In God's sight, my giving is measured not by how much I have given, but by how much I could have given and how much I had left after I made my gift."--A.W. Tozer, The Incredible Christian

Or, you could say, the gift is measured not by what was given, but what was kept back. Ouch. A mentor of mine tells about a day in her life while she was serving as a missionary in Asia. She and her roommate rushed back to their room to find clothing to donate to women they'd met on the street. Both young women separated their closets into favorite and less favorite categories. My mentor was ashamed when she grabbed the less favored pile while her friend took her very best things to give away.

I'm afraid I hold onto my best most of the time. I've been confronted with my selfishness and self-centeredness several times in the last week or so. Oh brother, I still have a BIG, dead, rotting flesh. Sometimes it seems like the "cheap-meat" I had when I was a kid that made me think steak was "yucky" even when I grew up. You know the stuff--the more you chew it, the bigger it gets so that you are finally driven to the insanity of trying to hide it in your glass of milk when your parents think you're taking a drink or asking to be excused to the bathroom so you can spit it into the toilet where it really belongs!

For a dead man, this old self is awfully active! I keep having to confront him everywhere! In my pity-party last week (okay, well, there was actually more than one), in my withdrawl from the special speaker Sunday (he was with Voice of the Martyrs), in my dealings with Aaron and Punk (and every 2-legged creature I meet), in my blogging (you haven't noticed yet that this is always all about me, have you?!)...Praise God there's an end to this battle and I (the real me!) win! Yay!