Finding God at Chuck E. Cheese

I had the weirdest night last night. Totally one of those I was NEVER expecting. We had a birthday party to go to at Chuck E. Cheese. The tought of going to C.E.C. with my family can tend to be a nightmare. "Give me more tokens!" "I want more candy!" All the whines and crys of the kids competing with other kids for turns on rides to win a minimal amount of tickets to "buy" crap prizes at astronomical prices. Needless to say I was tired from teaching summer camp that afternoon and I wasn't looking forward to our time at the party. But I did want to go primarily because it was Chris's party. And I just ADORE little Chris! Chris and Carter were in the same kindergarten class at Heart of the Valley and I've been working at building a relationship with Chris's mom, Claudia. She is fabulous and I really like her. She is a single mom who is living with her family and working hard to put Chris in private school. She is so sweet. I think she is like 23. Which means she was probably like 17 when she got pregnant with Chris. The first time I met her on the fieldtrip to the Zoo, she basically opened up her life and shared a lot of her story with me. Since then we've hung out a few times and have taken the kids to breakfast. So being at the party last night was very important to me.

Once we got to C.E.C. the kids ran off and played. Carter's little "girlfriend" Genesis (who is 6), ran around with Sophie and basically babysat her all night. The boys had a blast with Chris and their buddy Joshua. Johnny & I were able to have a great conversation with Ray and Lori. (I REALLY like that family!) But the highlight of my nght was meeting Cathy. Cathy is Claudia's next door neighbor. She is a cute girl, tatoos all up the arms and across the back. She seemed pretty fun just from looking at her. Claudia introduced us and as the night went on (we were there for 3 1/2 hours!) we grabbed moments here and there to chat. Finally as the cake was being served I noticed she was in a booth by herself - so I went and joined her and we just talked and shared stories. She is totally awesome. Talking to her was like talking to Dale & Kimmy in Chicago. It was just so easy and there was just such a connection between us.

As it turns out Cathy is 32. Her oldest son, Lenny, is 14 and is autistic. He seems 'normal' just by looking at him, he is "high functioning". And such a sweet kid! He was playing Star Wars video games with Taylor. Cathy shared that he just graduated from Pacoima Middle School and is probably gonna be at Reseda High School next year. (Which she is a bit nervous about since he's in special ed.) Then Joey is 13, and is a cute kid who wore sunglasses all night and had green hair (Sophie loved that!) Cathy was telling me how Joey got in fights at Pacoima because kids would tease Lenny and Joey would get into fights sticking up for his brother. It turns out she was married to Lenny & Joey's dad for awhile...but it just didn't work out. Then her third little boy, Billy (2 1/2 - Sophie's age) was the sweetest thing. He looked a lot like Jack Hodgson. He would ride the marry-go-round with Sophie. Cathy is currently living with Billy's dad (who I think is a general contractor). She stays at home with the kids and wants to wait until Billy is older before she goes back to work. She adores her boys. She said she had the dream of being married and having a ton of kids...but it just hasn't work out that way. Man, talk about "Death of a Dream".

I just walked away from last night amazed. I just loved getting to know this girl. My heart just broke for her. This morning it hit me - I am wallowing about friends I've lost lately who I barely talk to and who I have to pull teeth to find time to be together. ... I guess I just realized here are these other people (who I totally like- which is a BONUS!) that are just hurting. I know Claudia is saved. I assume Cathy is not...but I have no idea. I just want to live my life messy. I want to love these girls and others the Lord has laid on my heart. I want to have Christ build into me and be my strength - instead of seeming so "needy" for other Christian relationships. To some degree I feel like this is the banquet feast that I invited all my friends to and no one showed up - so I go out to the street and find some really cool people out there that I would love to party with! (Not the exact interpretation of the Bible I know...but there's a paralell.) I just want to live Jesus to these girls with dreams dashed and hope far away. To be real...to be authentic...to be me! And I think they just want a friend and some one that really cares. Christ has enabled me to care...I can do that!


(And it turns our Cathy is a tatoo artist - so maybe I can get her to do that tatoo I've been wanting to get for three years!)