Sometimes we need to take smaller bites….

Since my two front teeth were broken playing sports as a kid (not hockey), I got very familiar with the song “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth.” Well, our 10 year old son was munching on a gift of holiday trail mix (for lack of a better term) for dessert after dinner and said, “Ow, my teeth hurt!” Knowing the pain of broken teeth, (and cursing under my breath about having to try to see a dentist over the holidays) I was alarmed until he showed me the tooth.

It wiggled.

Sigh…it is the first of his baby molars to be loose!

Thrilled, he went right to the bathroom mirror to check it out…and returned in about 15 seconds with the tooth in his hand!

Offhandedly, I said “Say, why don’t you see if the tooth on the other side is loose,  too?” Well…off to the mirror again…and in another 20 seconds, he was back with that tooth in his hand as well!

Two teeth within about two minutes! We’ve never had anything like this happen before….

Then came breakfast this morning. And the pain. It was very tender chewing with two gaping holes in the lineup! He decided that he just couldn’t eat–it hurt too much.

And so I suggested that maybe he just needed to take smaller bites. (With a flashback to Mrs. Piggle Wiggle.) And his face just lit up! So…he nibbled his way through his breakfast just fine.

…but I was pondering….

How often do I react to adaptive challenges (the kind that come with natural, to-be-expected losses) with “I can’t do this….” And perhaps the lesson is that I just need to slow down and take smaller bites and chew more thoroughly.

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I’m praying that each of us will move into the New Year with an awareness that sometimes we just need to slow down and take smaller bites as we figure out ways to “eat the elephant” we call missional living.

Do you have any stories about “taking smaller bites” to share? I’d love to hear them….

Abi