It was a rough trip to church yesterday. Cheese slices were distributed to two hungry
boys who promptly started complaining that the cheese slices weren’t big
enough. A new spring coat was handed to
a third boy who started throwing a crying tantrum over not liking new coat and
wanting to wear his sweatshirt instead.
My husband and I were left looking at one another and wondering what we
did wrong in our parenting to end up with this ungrateful brood of children. My heart hurt as we walked into church and I
looked at these beautiful little boys who had exhibited such ugly hearts.
I was sitting quietly, letting my own heart rest and thinking
up parenting tactics, when I realized how God must feel when I exhibit ugly
behavior (which is hardly ever….definitely not that morning in response to my
children’s ugly behavior!?) He surely
feels disappointment, but at the same time unconditional love for me. And He has the bonus of being
omnipotent. He knows what I’ll do before
I do it….He knows how I’ll live my life before I live it. Doesn’t that put a twist on parenting? Darin and I lay in bed many nights wondering
where our children’s lives will lead. What
type of men they will be? What type of
career they will have? If they will
always awaken in the middle of the night and need something? It was sobering and encouraging at the same
time to realize the deepness of God’s love for each of us. He loves us knowing our lifetime of mistakes
and downfalls, while I was struggling with ten minutes worth of my children’s
mistakes.
Of course the moment culminated in the perfect
song with the chorus “It’s Your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise”. Thank you God for reminding me that my
children are only suffering from the human condition, and that you love them
anyway. Thank you for reminding me that
you have given me everything I need, including the very breath in my
lungs. And may I use that breath to
praise you for your love and in turn show that love to those naughty little
boys. Amen.
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