Maybe even God thinks his kids are obnoxious sometimes

I spent most of my day feeling guilty for wishing my kids weren't in the house. This isn't the first time I've ever wished this. But it was the first time I felt this way in the wake of an unexpected death of a 9 year old member of my church. Every time my kids were "in the way" I couldn't help but think of the mom that wished her son could be in the way. When they wouldn't stop asking questions I thought of the dad who would never hear his son's voice again - this side of Heaven. When they fought, I thought of the little sister who no longer has a brother to fight with. Perspective. It changes so much.

But... I still struggled to not be irritated with my kids. Even knowing that they could be taken from me at any moment, I just couldn't make myself pleased that they were around.

Oh the emotional mind games of being a woman.

Then I felt God say, "It's okay, sometimes my kids drive me nuts too."

My son, Jaedon, is intelligent and determined. Both are traits that will do him well in the future - but today they were traits that were driving me up the wall. On the one hand, he was second guessing things I had told him. On the other hand he had all these ideas of things he wanted to do today. In order to do them, I would need to stop what I was doing to help him. He didn't seem to understand that I had things I HAD to get done today. It didn't matter to him, he just wanted me to do what he wanted (in my mind I'm hearing God say, "Yep, been there - had kids that have done that!)

Emma wanted to help with everything. Though I could have used an extra pair of hands - hers aren't experienced enough to help me clean house without just making a bigger mess. I wonder how many of God's kids have tried to "help" only to create an even bigger mess that God had to clean up. Even what she could handle (cleaning up her room) took her forever because she kept getting distracted. It's like God telling one of his kids to do something that he could do himself in five minutes, but it takes his child 5 years to do - because of distractions.

So for those reading this that think none of it applies to you, remember that by our faith in Christ we are called "Children of God". Scripture even says our faith makes us co-heirs with Christ. Romans 8:17 "Now if we are children, then we are heirs - co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."

If we are children of God, I guarantee that at some point in our walk, we have annoyed him just as much as our own kids annoy us. We don't like to think that God has that emotion, but if we - who are made in his image - have that emotion, why couldn't God? Annoyance doesn't diminish our love for our kids even a tiny bit. But we do find ourselves wishing this particular phase would be over with quickly so we could move on to more enjoyable times with our kids. Christ even showed exasperation with his disciples, but he never stopped loving them and nurturing them.

So, I guess for me, that means it's okay that I didn't want to be around my kids today. It's not something I need to feel guilty about because it doesn't mean that I wish my kids didn't exist. It just means that I needed some space from them. And there is nothing wrong with that.