I Feel a Little Cheated

Drew wrote a letter to God and he wanted to send it up to Heaven. So we went to the Dollar Tree to buy a balloon (the dollar, courtesy of Grandma). Since Nick always wants to do everything Drew does, we got him one too, and we helped him "write" his own letter to God.

We then went into the backyard to let them loose. I was already feeling a little cheated on the weather... instead of beautiful, warm, spring-like sunshine, we had mostly high clouds all day. Well, the boys quickly felt a little cheated as well. First it was when the balloons wouldn't fly. If you can imagine this, that one lone piece of paper attached to each balloon was enough to weight the balloon down. I couldn't believe it!






We finally got Drew's to start a slow ascent. We were so excited. We had purposely chosen the backyard so there would be no trees in the way.

Hmmm, can you guess why Drew felt a little cheated? Just when we finally get that balloon off the ground, it goes and finds the nearest tree and gets stuck way up out of our reach.

Next it was Nick's turn. His balloon didn't take quite as long to get off the ground. However, we realized rather quickly that there might be trouble when it sailed right over the roof toward the front of the house.

Sure enough, it found an even taller tree and made itself at home.

Although the boys were disappointed, I know that God saw those letters and had a huge smile on His face.

Ever since reading "The Shack" I've been thinking so much more about God and Who He is and my relationship with him. Imagine my shock when I learned from my dad on Monday that the book is not based on a true story at all but is rather theological fiction. I was stunned. The copy I read even said "Inspired by a true story" right on the front cover. The author had reasons for that, I now know; however, I have spent this entire week feeling somewhat betrayed and cheated. It's still a good book. I just would have read it with a whole different frame of mind if I had known I was reading "theological fiction". Some of what was one man's version of what God might be like I was taking as potential truth. That's why I feel so cheated. If you haven't read it, you should still get a copy and form your own opinion.

I borrowed my parents' lawn mower and spent two hours today mowing both yards. My hands have blisters, my feet hurt, and I am so tired....