Embarrassing

We all have had those moments of blushing – when the blood flows to our face from an experience that makes us feel embarrassed. I think I’ve had my fair share of them actually – most recently Sunday at our family gathering.

We had church, then a gathering at 1 pm – the ongoing festivities of seeing family and gorging on good food. Sophie typically falls asleep on the short drive home from church, so we let her sleep up until the last minute as we loaded our food up in the van, changed clothes, let out the dog, Steve was doing his last minute page printing of the legal sized family addresses that he procrastinates on yearly so I didn’t want to wake Soph up until I knew he was done – then it was the mad rush of changing her from her church dress and diaper…..pulling off tights, etc.

Phew – we made it about 10 minutes late but got there. I set Sophia up in a high chair after the family prayer….got my plate of “shared” food for Soph and me – had her happily eating, went to shift her position in the antique high chair…..thought, “What is wet?” “Didn’t her diaper hold?” “Wow – this is really wet, did something spill?” Only to discover I’d pulled on her tights and pants WITHOUT a diaper! Poor gal – so Steve ran home for clothes, I wrapped her in a blanket and some of the family we only see yearly watched us in wonder!

This wasn’t as bad as the time Anthony was a toddler at the dentist, when I picked him up to leave and poo balls fell out of his shorts – that was fun picking them up and seeing the look of horror of the hygienist's face who was unmarried and hadn’t experienced the things kids can do or say!

Then there was the time I had a gas attack right during a prayer when leading a group and my natural instinct was to pause, it ripped, I continued praying when all I wanted to do was crack up and die of embarrassment all at the same time! Then no one said anything which made it more awkward so I couldn’t even laugh until I got to my car alone - I let the laughter roll - better that then to cry....I don't think I've ever seen those folks again!

Anthony recently remembered a time when he was 2 that he fell face first into a mud puddle when playing in dirt at a baseball game of Steve’s and someone brought him to me crying and the friends around me said “Hug him!”

The kids used to watch Sponge Bob a bunch and one episode has Sponge Bob being coached to over come his low self esteem from bad breath by yelling from the top of his pineapple house “I’m ugly and I’m proud.” A while later on a venture to Walmart – Anthony (who was about 4) yells out in a crowded area “I’m ugly and I’m proud” – all those old ladies looked at me like I taught him that and how could I teach such a cute child to say that! Actually – that cracked me up too, once I quit blushing. I've many more stories - I'll spare you for now.

I wonder – did Mary ever feel embarrassed by her children? Did they feel that way in the Bible? Did Jesus do things that Mary and Joseph couldn’t understand and did they feel embarrassed with their peers? I’m sure as parents of Jesus, they had experiences their friends didn’t – how then did they relate with others? Did Mary blush at Jesus’s antics as a child? Did he kill an animal and bring it to life as practise? Did he know his powers? What things did he do as a child, that aren’t written about? Why did God make us so that we can blush? Hmmm