Electric Toothbrush

I am making a list of '100 of my Favorite Things'.  Someday, I want to make a collage with all 100 things and give it to my kiddos, just as another way to help them remember who I am.  I'm sure it will surprise you to find out that one of those items on my list is my Electric Toothbrush.  I LOVE how clean it makes my teeth feel.
I recently went on an 8 day trip to Nevada for some ADR work on the film PITCHING HOPE.  I chose not to take it with me, but instead I took a manual toothbrush and carried it in my purse.  When I returned, I tried to use my wonderful Electric one but for some reason, the bristles would not spin with the same power as before I left. In fact, the spin was sooooo weak, that it almost became a useless item. I cleaned it off, thinking it was just dirty, but to no avail.  It still wouldn't work.  I concluded that maybe it became slightly unplugged while I was gone, and therefore, just needed to be recharged.  So, I secured the electric cord back into the wall as tight as it would go, wiped it down again and went to bed.
The first thing that I do every morning is brush my teeth.  I love the feeling of fresh breath and for whatever reason, brushing my teeth first thing wakens me up and refreshes not just my teeth, but my mind. So, I woke up, went to turn it on, and found that it STILL would not work. No amount of recharging had helped.  The power on the spin was so weak that there was really no use in even using it.
I wiped it down yet AGAIN, checked it with my eyes and still, no measurable difference in the spin.  My disappointment surmounted as I handed one of my favorite gadgets to my hubby, explaining my challenges. He took it, examined it, and did something that I had not thought of doing.  He removed the top bristle section, twisted the control, wiped the inside down, put the bristle section back on, and pushed the power button.  WHOA!!!!!!! The power of the spinning was resumed all with a tiny twist from the inside.  He told me that there were pieces of dried toothpaste stuck in there, clogging it up.
After pondering the story of my Electric toothbrush, I wondered if there were any pieces of 'dried toothpaste' in me, keeping me from having all of the potential and power that I am capable of having in my life.  All it takes is a little adjustment.  A new perspective.  A fresh outlook on life - to revive us and help bring about our purpose on this earth.
I hope as you read this, that you remember my Electric Toothbrush story.  I pray that as you are living out your day, that you would allow God to show you the areas that are maybe dried, crusty, or that need to be wiped away. Living out our full potential can be scary, hard, challenging, but yet, oh soooooo fulfilling.  As long as God is on my side, I know I'll get there.  

Growth Spurts

When my teenager was about 7 or 8 years old, she would often have leg pains at night. I remember waking up to her tears and sweet, innocent voice asking me why her legs hurt her so much.  There were no set time frames to the occurrences, so we could never speculate when the pains would come and when they would go.  It was truly strange, until I started learning about growth spurts.  Her body was growing at a different pace than her muscles were and what we believe happened was that her muscles were playing catchup in the growth process, causing her aches and pains. It hurt my heart when it occurred.

I've never forgotten about that season in our lives and I often refer back to that story when I am going through something tough.  Sometimes, growth isn't so bad, though, as long as we embrace it and grow stronger from it.

My child is now a teenager and her growth spurts look quite different these days.  They are emotional more so than bodily. And, I, might add, have growth spurts, as well.  The ones that I've experienced in life are caused by various factors.  Sometimes people cause them, sometimes my own choices cause them, sometimes things occur outside of anyone's control that cause them.  But, the reality of it all is, I've learned to take those opportunities and look at them in such a fashion to try and be positive in my life journey.  I try to actually GROW from them. It's a choice of either getting bitter or getting better. I hope we ALL get better!

Today, I'm having a growth spurt. I wonder what the other side will look like. I wonder how much emotional and spiritual growth I will have from this. I really feel like 2011 is going to be a growing year for me. I'm excited, and yet, a little unsure of what the growth will look like. I don't like aches and pain, but I like growth. Let's all choose to make this a GREAT year, despite how our growth spurts look like.