Maggie May

This weekend I discovered 2 things about myself:

1) that this Episcopalian sometimes wishes she was a Jew...

and

2) that I often learn more from children than adults...

I can explain both statements by simply telling you that I attended a Bat Mitzvah this weekend.

But there is more to it than just saying I went to it and I love the child and I loved the service and I am proud of her...

Let's go back to Saturday:

The Cutest Boy in the World (TCBITW) and I are rushing out the door...late as usual. I hate being late...but I often am...

So we get to the synagogue and as we pull up TCBITW notices The Ragin Cajun catering truck in the parking lot. It is parked next to the tent set up for the luncheon...

TCBITW: "Only with Maggie can you say the words "Bat Mitzvah" and Cajun food in the same sentence!".

We make it into the synogogue and the service has started...Maggie is standing at the Bimah ("altar" for us Christians) and is reciting the service.

She did an amazing job...

Earlier in the week I told her not to be nervous or worry about it...because:
1) none of us could speak Hebrew
2) all the people in that room loved her and were there to love her...

There was nary a sign of nervousness in our Magnificent Mags...

And, being Maggie, she was wearing a gray dress...with purple tights...

So then comes the part where she reads from the Torah...and her Torah portion was about the Jews, while wandering in the wilderness, becoming quite impatient with Moses (and God) and building the false idol.

After reading the Torah, the Bat Mitzvah then gives a speech explaining the Torah reading and its relevance to her life.

Mags is a very good speaker.

Mags is an excellent writer.

Her speech was awesome. She talked about patience. And how easy it is to be impatient. And how we all have to wait. And how sometimes we feel like God has abandoned us and we wonder why God has not protected us from the bad things in life.

It was like an arrow right to me...a message I needed to hear.

And I was hearing it from a 13 year old girl.

I needed that message, delivered by a very special girl, 5 years ago...and I need it every day.

I am now going to quote part of her speech...her mom gave me a copy:

"The idea the God has abandoned us can be scary. We can start to have doubts, but that is when we need God the most. By showing our willingness to be faithful and patient, we truly find that God is all around us."

Wow...great message, Maggie!

Maggie is a very special child.

Her mother was told she wouldn't make it...she would not be born...

At 5 months gestation, her mother's membranes broke. She was hospitalized for over 2 months trying to keep Maggie from pushing herself into this world all too soon. As her mother tells it, Maggie gave the nurses "hell" even in utero...

Maggie's story is not mine to tell. She has overcome many obstacles. My son was remarking on the way to the service that he remembered when he was in first grade with Maggie and she could barely walk very far.

Now...

Maggie plays sports...she plays field hockey, people...not a lot of standing around in field hockey...

I always think of Maggie in this way:
When you tell Maggie "no"...to her it means "go"...

So the Magnificent Maggie stood before a synogogue full of people who loved her...and there wasn't a dry eye in the house...(shhhhh...don't tell, but even some of the boys cried...)

I marveled at her poise, her grace, her style...and her great insight into paitence...

I am terrbily impatient.

I hate to stand in line.

I hate to wait.

I have lost 117 pounds (and counting) in about 50 weeks and I still don't think it was fast enough.

Poor Dimples has to perform healing rituals (joking...he really doesn't) and therapy (that he DOES have to do) all the time with me...

Like Maggie, to me sometimes "no" means "go" and I take off without thinking.

Like putting clip pedals on my bike without considering that I might need to ride with REAL shoes.

I fixed that...I now have dual pedals.

And this morning I took off on said bike and rode but in my impatience to make a turn I turned too quickly and slid into some muddy gravel and my road tires didn't hold...and I fell...and I have the boo-boos to prove it.

I get impatient with a lot of things...and I need to take some time and remember that I am not on my own clock but I am on God's clock. And I need to let Him guide me, surround me, and journey me through.

I loved the beauty of the Bat Mitzvah service...I admire how hard the Magnificent Mags had to work to stand up on the Bimah and read from the Torah. Maggie made the committment to the work and did it.

The Rabbi summed it up perfectly with one word that I think really defines Maggie...

Maggie

has

MOXIE

yes, that is the perfect word for it...moxie...

She's never been afraid of what is hard to do...

Never been afraid to face a challenge...

Never let something stop her...

And neither should I...

And I might just have to take a fashion tip from her and see if I can't rock some purple tights too...because she looked amazing.

Inspiration Song: "Maggie May" by Rod Stewart...2 very different Maggies...but they share a name so I used it...

Bye Darlings...let someone with moxie inspire you...and she just might be 13...