Today's Monday Moment with Mimi--"Where Did the Flags Go?"

Hi! It's Monday again! Time for another Monday Moment with Mimi!  As I told you on Saturday, Mimi and I took the grandchildren to our local Aviation Museum.  Sadly, my favorite area of the museum was in disrepair...Read today's inspirational post from Mimi entitled, "Where Did the Flags Go?"  Enjoy and thanks so much for stopping by!  Shannon :-)

Where Did the Flags Go?

 

This is another one of those busy weekends when I have been more than blessed to be on an outing/adventure with all five of my precious grandchildren. My oldest daughter decided for this particular adventuresome afternoon, we would visit the Aviation Museum in Warner Robins. It matters little that this was trip number four, because it is still a worthwhile investment to visit the 50 acres of various hangars and exhibits.

All 5 of the kids truly did enjoy, learn, and play. I took pleasure in the 4 oldest deciding what mission they would go on in the Flight Simulator – and they chose Desert Storm. I held back the littlest of the five, my small 3 year old, because I was anxious that she would not understand the ride. And turns out, I made the wise choice. She was a little confused as she apprehensively watched the Simulator turn and lean with the others inside, while watching on the computer screen outside the exhibit. She finally repositioned herself, lifted her little arms, and wanted me to move her from her bird’s eye view off the stool she was perched on. She needed me to hold her. (I assume she rationed if we were fixing to nosedive into Iraq, she wanted me to be close with her, and I was.)

As we were going from one hangar to another across the grounds, my daughter exclaimed, “What has happened to all the flags?” She explained that when she had been there before, the states’ flags were flying all around the Outdoor Amphitheater. She reminisced that they were quite picturesque. There was only flag flying now, however—the POW flag.

I replied that I didn’t know, but agreed with her that it looked a little bare. We watched as the kids ran and played on the steps and grassy area of the large amphitheater.  My grandchildren never once noticed that the states’ flags and poles that used to be flying there were now missing. Later, my daughter approached one of the attendants and asked what had happened to the display. Her explanation was that there had been a bad storm that had come through, and some of the flags were torn. Respectfully, they just pulled them all down. Limited funding did not provide enough to replace them.

In reflecting now about my day at the Aviation Museum, a couple of things troubled me. One was that my grandchildren would never pause to see the many states’ flags flying and have conversations and ask questions about them. Secondly, and most prominently—like I said previously—it just looked a little bare. Some of the apparent gaiety of the area was gone, ie, some of the life with excitement was missing from the amphitheater area
 

And actually, it didn’t just look a little bare, it was bare. It wasn’t bare because of any political debacle or any philosophical controversy or even any religious stance—a bad storm had simply come through. When the storm passed, the flags were removed and the area fell into disrepair. 

I don’t intend to pick a battle beyond my fire power, but really??? But more importantly, is there a life reminder in this for us? Yes, I would like a flag to be flying above the kiddoes playing, so that they will have something to talk about and use as a teachable historical moment. But more importantly, I would like to remember and tell them that…yes a storm came through and tore up the flags, but…oh how quickly they were replaced, one by one.  The area was restored.

Is there a point of reflection in this for me? Yes! I honestly, somewhat proudly, began to reflect on my own children’s lives. They too have had storms come…storms of great magnitude with damaging winds blowing the gamete... but they did not let their lives stay bare, exposed and void of gaiety and life for long.  Piece by piece they reattached what was precious, reclothed their lives, and wove their life back into something beautiful.  They replaced, repaired, and endured.  In doing so, they brought fullness, laughter, and excitement back for all of us. What area could have potentially been left bare with only 1 wounded flag flying is now full of all the riches of a new found joy and way of life – because of the storm.  What could have been, was not, and because of that, in the present tense, I now had the opportunity to be privy to a wonderful Saturday full of laughter and love.

The flag poles that are bare at the Aviation Museum are just markers on real estate, but the flags that are flying for our personal lives metaphorically wave high in our hearts waiting to have another fun Saturday.  Restoration...it is a beautiful sight indeed!  For that I am blessed.
 

Blessings, Anne (Mimi)

Romans 5:3-4 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.