Let's go fly a kite - even if it is December!

 Monday was December 4.  But because this is Chicago and you just never know what the weather will be, it was a really wild weather day!  It had been very unseasonably warm during the week before.  Like weather in the 50's - where you didn't even need a jacket.  But then on Sunday night we had a really odd weather shift.  The winter weather literally BLEW in!  The wind was just ridiculous!
Ken texted me very early on Monday morning (like 5:35am) to warn me to be careful driving up to Gwen's house because of the high winds.

But when you are a six year year old boy and you hear the wind blowing, what is the first thing on your mind?  Flying a kite!  So, even though it was December, we dragged out the kites from the garage and did some assembly.  Zeke's tractor kite did not come with a tail, and my years of (attempting) kite flying, I knew we had to find some way to add a tail.  So we tied two winter scarfs together and tied them to the kite and stepped out into the wind tunnel (back yard)!  Now when I say wind tunnel, I am not really exaggerating very much.  There were 50 mile an hour winds with even higher gusts.  I warned Zeke that it just might be too much wind.  He was determined to see that kite fly!

I just had to include this cropped close up of Zeke's face in this picture.  What a look of shear joy and wonder at that kite actually flying!   And boy did it ever fly!  Ellie found a much smaller plastic kite that came with very long tails attached.  This kite also managed to fly - at least for a little while!

By the end of two hours of mostly watching the kites dive bomb into the grass, the kids and the kites were pretty well done in.  And so was this grandma! We retreated into the house with somewhat crumpled kites, plastic pieces that were bent and frayed from the wind and lots of tangled kite string.  But also three very happy, smiling kids and one grandma (who looked like she had been standing in a wind tunnel for a couple of hours)!

It was a wonderful way to spend two hours on a Monday morning - when you are blessed enough to be home schooled so you are not sitting in a classroom, stuck in a desk.  This is especially true given the fact that by Tuesday morning, snow was blanketing the ground.  There will not be another chance to fly kites for several months.

You can sure learn a lot from a determined six year old boy (and equally determined 8 and 11 year old girls).  The rational adult in me said "It is too windy to fly a kite." and "It is December so we should not be flying kites."  These determined kids found the kites, got them assembled, figured out a tail for Zeke's kite, untangled some kite string, and then worked together to get these kites up in the air and flying.  What an accomplishment!

I have to confess that it is not only the adult thing that would have kept me from flying those kites.  I would have been very sure that it just would not work.  I like to think of myself as a realist, but actually I am more of a pessimist.  Thinking that things will never work.  And I am often so fearful, that I would not even try something.  What a blessing it is that I have been given the opportunity to be with my grandchildren.  They push me into situations that bring me so much joy and wonder.  Things that I would have missed out on, if I wasn't around them.

To recap some lessons that I learned from this....
*It is never too windy to fly kites!
*It is good to fly kites when you also have winter scarfs (for kite tails) and winter gloves (to keep that kite string from burning your hands) readily available!
*Never pass up an opportunity to do something slightly "out of season".  (That may mean running through the sprinkler when it is 70 in October OR flying kites when it is December)
*Don't be afraid to take chances.  You just might actually succeed!

Looking at Zeke's face in that picture gives me a little insight into why God so often used children to accomplish his plans.  When David was facing Goliath, he didn't think about the difference in their size.  He just knew that if God had told him to do it, he could do it.  The little boy with the loaves and fish didn't look at his lunch and think it was worthless.  He took a chance and brought it to Jesus.  I want to approach life with that same attitude - no matter how windy or stormy it is - no matter how impossible the situation might seem. I want that "Can Do" attitude! Yes, I will be remembering this kite-flying day in the future.

Jesus, thank you for giving us the chance to learn from children.  Keep our eyes and ears and hearts open to all that you have to teach us.  Holy Spirit, help us all to move when you give us that prompting to go and give us more courage to step outside of "normal" into your perfect plan for us.  Thank you for kids and kites and very windy days in December.  Amen