{"id":1509,"date":"2013-10-09T00:08:30","date_gmt":"2013-10-09T04:08:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oshetablogs.wordpress.com\/?p=1509"},"modified":"2013-10-09T00:08:30","modified_gmt":"2013-10-09T04:08:30","slug":"the-odd-life-of-certainty-pt-1-day-eight-of-finding-my-tribe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/shalominthecity\/2013\/10\/the-odd-life-of-certainty-pt-1-day-eight-of-finding-my-tribe\/","title":{"rendered":"The Odd Life of Certainty pt.1: Day Eight of Finding My Tribe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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Today my daughter stayed home from school so we can have a mommy\/daughter day.\u00a0 We had breakfast together, we went for a walk, and we watched Disney movies ALL DAY LONG. It was lovely\u2014completely unproductive in all the ways I wanted to be\u2014but lovely.<\/p>\n

At lunchtime we watched, \u201cThe Odd Life of Timothy Green\u201d.<\/p>\n

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While I don\u2019t love, \u201cOdd Life\u201d it is definitely on my \u201cfolding laundry flicks\u201d list.\u00a0 It has a sweet soundtrack, a precocious and endearing lead actor, an interesting storyline, JENNIFER GARNER, and wicked awesome New England autumn foliage.\u00a0 So, we cuddled up on the couch with our minestrone and watched Cindy and Jim Green, a couple unable to have children, fumble their way through parenthood with their fresh from the garden son, Timothy.\u00a0\u00a0 A son, who sprang from their very careful, explicit list of an ideal child.<\/p>\n

As a way to combat the sorrow of realizing they will never have children of their own, the Greens dream together about their ideal child. They write these dreams on slips of paper and plant them in their backyard. \u00a0Some of the characteristics include he\u2019d \u201chave a good heart\u201d,\u201d would never give up\u201d,\u201d would be funny\u201d, honest, and artistic and some of the experiences they\u2019d want to have with their son would be \u201cto rock\u201d or for him to\u00a0 \u201cscore the winning goal\u201d.\u00a0 This reminded me of crafting extensive future husband lists on Lisa Frank stationery and lots of pink hearts in the margins, after signing my \u201cTrue Love Waits\u201d pledge.<\/p>\n

The next morning after a mysterious thunderstorm that only affected their property, they wake to find a soil covered, well-spoken, ten year old boy at their kitchen table.\u00a0 As the movie progresses, the Greens soon realize that Timothy is the child of their dreams. He literally sprung up from their imaginations.\u00a0 He meets or exceeds every expectation and because they, in a sense, created him with their guidelines<\/strong>, they knew exactly what to expect from him.<\/p>\n

As they realized they could expect Timothy to fulfill their wishes, their certainty as parents grew, they drew so much confidence from what they knew to be true of Timothy.\u00a0 Until he deviated from the list and caused them to doubt.\u00a0 This scene caught my attention today and revealed how invested the Greens became in their dream child list.<\/p>\n