It seems like all the lessons I've learned about God from my kids has come from what they do that drives me crazy. They drive me crazier and crazier until I finally look at it and say, "Wow, God! Is that what I do to you?" It gets a bit disheartening to think that I act like a five year old towards God.
I was thinking about that today when God opened my eyes to help me see that I don't only learn about what I'm doing wrong through my kids. He has also shown me what I've done right.
At least twice in the past week, complete strangers have approached Keith and told him how well behaved our kids were. I'm not talking about him passing someone in line, the kids saying, "Excuse me," and the stranger saying, "Oh, how polite they are!" I mean Keith has been in a business establishment for an hour or more and a worker at the place has sought him out to say, "I just want you to know I have seen a lot of kids in here today and your children are by far the most well-behaved."
Wow! Keith and I talked about this and came to the same conclusion: The other person must have really meant it. How many times have you been in a restaurant and saw a kid acting out and thought to yourself, "If that were my kid...!?" I have never thought, "Wow! That kid is very polite. I should tell his mother." We notice the bad, but seldom the good. Even when we notice, rarely do we say anything. But two people, within days of each other, took the time to point out what good people our kids are.
This Momma is proud! Of them, not of what I've done, but really truly of them. When I taught them their manners, they learned. When I taught them why we show respect to others and think of others first, they learned. When I taught them why when Mom says "no" it means "no", they learned. But not only did they learn it and make it head knowledge, they made it a part of who they are. They could have learned it, made it head knowledge, then knowingly decided to defy what they know is right. (See any analogies here for Christians???) That's why I'm proud.
Here's a perfect example from a few weeks ago. I'm in charge of the prayer chain at our church. When I get an e-mail with a request I stop right then and pray. Well, I had my laptop out at the kitchen table. Jaedon was sitting beside me playing with his legos. I read my e-mail, closed my eyes, and prayed silently. When I looked up, Jaedon was beside me with his head bowed. He looked up and asked, "Mom, what did we just pray for?" I never taught him that! But he has seen me pray often enough that he knows what it is and who I'm talking to. He chose, for himself, to stop and join me - even though he knew no specifics. Wow! To me that is a Godly man in the making!
So, what does all this teach me about my relationship with God? That He is a proud parent too! God gave me this visual image (I love it when he does this) of God on his throne with Jesus by his side. The devil is pacing back and forth before him. Hatred spews from his mouth. "But Lord," he hisses, "Didn't you see her sin yesterday? It was right before your eyes!"
Jesus answers, "My sister has asked me for forgiveness. I have washed her clean."
The devils face flushes with anger as he continues to pace.
Then angels chime in (I'm not sure why I have angels in my mind - maybe to represent the strangers): "Oh Lord, your daughter has done so much for you. I saw her working for the kingdom and it was amazing! She has such love for your people. You must be so proud."
To which God answers with a smile, "Yes. Yes I am!"
Friday, February 18, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
A Spiritual Spanking
We never listen the first time do we?
I tell my kids it’s time to get ready for bed so they need to go brush their teeth. Ten minutes later they’re still standing at the sink playing with who knows what.
“Brush your teeth!” I yell.
They quickly act like I had just caught them in the middle of getting their toothbrushes ready as they yell back, “I am.” Or they have some excuse like, “I had to go potty.”
Uh, huh.
So, another minute passes and I don’t hear their toothbrushes. “Brush your teeth!”
“Ok!” Then some jabbering and giggling, but no toothbrush.
“You can’t talk and brush your teeth at the same time. Brush your teeth!”
“Okay!” Still no toothbrush sounds, only quieter jabbering and giggling.
“If I have to tell you one more time, you’re getting a spanking!”
“Okay!” and immediately I hear the toothbrushes roar to life.
Why is it they take so much time getting done what they know has to get done? It’s not like it’s something new, we do this every night. It isn’t as if they didn’t know it was time to brush their teeth, they had been told at least four times. And every night it’s the same routine. I don’t want to spank them, so I just keep yelling. Maybe if I would spank them the first time it would be done, and hopefully they’d learn their lesson and would brush their teeth from then on whenever I told them to. Maybe not.
But how often do we do this with God? He reminds us to read his word. “Okay,” we say, and then we go on our merry way without opening our Bible even once during the day. The next Sunday at church the sermon is on the importance of staying in God’s word. “Okay,” we say again, “I really need to get in the habit of reading.” But another week passes without our Bibles being opened. At Bible study we hear about a scripture that God used to really touch something in one of our sisters lives and we think, “Wow! God spoke to her through scripture. I need to get into the Word so I can have that kind of experience.” But yet, more time passes and our Bibles stay closed. God loves us so he’s going to discipline us to get us to do what we need to do. Staying out of His word when he has revealed to us, through the Holy Spirit and our circumstances, that we need to be in the word is disobedience. It’s sin. So, maybe he’s going to give us a spiritual spanking to get our attention once and for all. I don’t know what this would look like for each individual, but I know what it looked like and felt like to me.
I was on a short-term mission trip in Gonaives, Haiti and we spent one lunch period at a feeding center. While there, we saw a little girl, maybe 3 or 4 years old who was malnourished and severely dehydrated. As we passed out food, one of the women (Anna) in our group held this little girl who had passed out. She tried to wake her up to eat, but the little girl wouldn’t awaken. The few times she was able to open her eyes, her eyes just rolled back into her head. One of the workers at the feeding center came over and took the little girl’s pulse. I remember thinking, “I’m watching a child die!” Someone handed over a water bottle to Anna who was able to get some water into the little girl’s mouth. At first nothing happened. But then slowly the girl came around and started sucking down the water like she hadn’t had any for days.
That night as I journaled the events of the day, I asked God why He had shown me that little girl. I knew there had to be a reason. Well, God gave me a spiritual pop on my spiritual behind. He reminded me that before leaving for the trip I had been deep in His word, pouring over it for an hour or two each day, but since arriving in Haiti, I hadn’t opened my Bible. “Child,” I felt him telling me, “just like that girl, you are malnourished. She may be dying physically from lack of physical food, but you are dying spiritually from lack of spiritual food.” Immediately the words of Mark 4:4 came to mind. “Jesus replied, ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” And then I was led to John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word and the word was with God and the word was God.” (Emphasis mine). “Child,” he told me, “I am the word and you are not living in the word, therefore you are not filling your spiritual gut up with sustenance. You may be here in this place on a spiritual mission that I sent you on, but if you do not remain in me I cannot remain in you and you will starve to death.”
I wish I could say that I now spend time every day in the Word. But I don't. Just like my kids don't always brush their teeth immediately upon being told to do so. But I try. I am better. And when I start to slide backwards God gets my attention by bringing this spiritual spanking to mind. It is a lesson I will never forget.
I tell my kids it’s time to get ready for bed so they need to go brush their teeth. Ten minutes later they’re still standing at the sink playing with who knows what.
“Brush your teeth!” I yell.
They quickly act like I had just caught them in the middle of getting their toothbrushes ready as they yell back, “I am.” Or they have some excuse like, “I had to go potty.”
Uh, huh.
So, another minute passes and I don’t hear their toothbrushes. “Brush your teeth!”
“Ok!” Then some jabbering and giggling, but no toothbrush.
“You can’t talk and brush your teeth at the same time. Brush your teeth!”
“Okay!” Still no toothbrush sounds, only quieter jabbering and giggling.
“If I have to tell you one more time, you’re getting a spanking!”
“Okay!” and immediately I hear the toothbrushes roar to life.
Why is it they take so much time getting done what they know has to get done? It’s not like it’s something new, we do this every night. It isn’t as if they didn’t know it was time to brush their teeth, they had been told at least four times. And every night it’s the same routine. I don’t want to spank them, so I just keep yelling. Maybe if I would spank them the first time it would be done, and hopefully they’d learn their lesson and would brush their teeth from then on whenever I told them to. Maybe not.
But how often do we do this with God? He reminds us to read his word. “Okay,” we say, and then we go on our merry way without opening our Bible even once during the day. The next Sunday at church the sermon is on the importance of staying in God’s word. “Okay,” we say again, “I really need to get in the habit of reading.” But another week passes without our Bibles being opened. At Bible study we hear about a scripture that God used to really touch something in one of our sisters lives and we think, “Wow! God spoke to her through scripture. I need to get into the Word so I can have that kind of experience.” But yet, more time passes and our Bibles stay closed. God loves us so he’s going to discipline us to get us to do what we need to do. Staying out of His word when he has revealed to us, through the Holy Spirit and our circumstances, that we need to be in the word is disobedience. It’s sin. So, maybe he’s going to give us a spiritual spanking to get our attention once and for all. I don’t know what this would look like for each individual, but I know what it looked like and felt like to me.
I was on a short-term mission trip in Gonaives, Haiti and we spent one lunch period at a feeding center. While there, we saw a little girl, maybe 3 or 4 years old who was malnourished and severely dehydrated. As we passed out food, one of the women (Anna) in our group held this little girl who had passed out. She tried to wake her up to eat, but the little girl wouldn’t awaken. The few times she was able to open her eyes, her eyes just rolled back into her head. One of the workers at the feeding center came over and took the little girl’s pulse. I remember thinking, “I’m watching a child die!” Someone handed over a water bottle to Anna who was able to get some water into the little girl’s mouth. At first nothing happened. But then slowly the girl came around and started sucking down the water like she hadn’t had any for days.
That night as I journaled the events of the day, I asked God why He had shown me that little girl. I knew there had to be a reason. Well, God gave me a spiritual pop on my spiritual behind. He reminded me that before leaving for the trip I had been deep in His word, pouring over it for an hour or two each day, but since arriving in Haiti, I hadn’t opened my Bible. “Child,” I felt him telling me, “just like that girl, you are malnourished. She may be dying physically from lack of physical food, but you are dying spiritually from lack of spiritual food.” Immediately the words of Mark 4:4 came to mind. “Jesus replied, ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” And then I was led to John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word and the word was with God and the word was God.” (Emphasis mine). “Child,” he told me, “I am the word and you are not living in the word, therefore you are not filling your spiritual gut up with sustenance. You may be here in this place on a spiritual mission that I sent you on, but if you do not remain in me I cannot remain in you and you will starve to death.”
I wish I could say that I now spend time every day in the Word. But I don't. Just like my kids don't always brush their teeth immediately upon being told to do so. But I try. I am better. And when I start to slide backwards God gets my attention by bringing this spiritual spanking to mind. It is a lesson I will never forget.
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