Finally, a solution

I have a very sweet younger sister.  Everyone in my family (also, pretty much anyone in my whole life) knows that I don't know my left from my right.  So my dear younger sister decided she'd help solve the problem by giving me... socks.

Isn't that brilliant?  Now (as long as I put them on the correct foot) I can always just kick up a heel a read the bottom of my foot and viola! I know which foot is which.

And yes, I've included two photos, even though they're pretty much identical, because do you have any idea how hard it is to take a photograph of the bottom of your feet?  It's hard.  I'd say you should try it, only (as I said) it's hard, and unless you have a reason to take such a photo, it's probably not worth it.  So anyhow, behold, another picture of the bottom of my feet.

Be thou an example

My younger sister is learning how to drive.  Which is a good thing for her, and the rest of us, because extra drivers are always useful.  But I've noticed something about myself recently.  Not that she practices her driving with me or anything (I don't have the iron constitution required for coaching new drivers), but when she's been in the car with me as of late I find myself being much more careful about how I drive.

Not that I'm a terrible driver (others may have different opinions...) but rather that I find myself with my hands in the 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock positions, and silently mutter "hand over hand" when turning corners.  Stop bars see such complete stops they're probably confused, and I try not to just hang my arm out of the window, as per my usual preference.

Which made me start thinking about that verse in Timothy about being an example.  As Christians we're supposed to be an example to the world of what a follower of Christ is, but also an example among Christians as well.  And does being an example help us keep ourselves on track, so to speak?  By consciously remembering and choosing to show others what it is to live for Christ, does our life benefit?  I suppose so, though I'd never thought of it in so many words.  When someone is watching what we do, it seems to make sense that we'd be more cognizant of what we did.

Nothing profound, but I tell you, checking my rear view mirrors with great frequency has made me think about this a little more than I typically might.

I never did like to brush my hair...

Sometimes I have these little epiphany moments in life wherein I realize that I'm pretty much exactly the same now as I was when I was a child, only, well... taller. Most times these moments strike me due to things I do or say that remind me that you don't cease to be a child unless you're willing to put away those childish things (Paul was way ahead of me). Sometimes I find these childish vestiges of me in old essays, notebooks, or journals of mine, but I recently managed to find a quote from an old school paper of a sister of mine that made me laugh. She had done character sketches of each member of our family, stating how old they were and a little thing or two about their life at that moment (K was sixteen, just gotten her drivers license, C was a baby and just sort of hung around, etc.), and reading mine was like reading something she might have written about me today. It was in the fall of 1996, and this was her perception of me:

"Jo is six years old and in second grade. She enjoys making lunches and singing more than brushing her hair!"

Switch out "lunches" for "suppers" and "six" for "twenty," and it would be as believable now as it was then.

Of course, now I'm plagued with questions about whether or not posterity can get a grasp on what I was really like without having access to the papers and musings of all of my siblings. I've been considering staging a takeover of all relevant papers, but have determined that since the Lord is coming soon, I don't have to worry about such not-entirely-kosher activities. I shudder to consider the full extent of damage I could cause to all of my familial relationships...