"No!" That single word expressed so much. My three year old granddaughter, Selma, stood in front of her mommy, chubby little hands placed firmly on her hips, glaring eyes flaming with defiance. "No!" She cried. With that, she stuck out her tongue and stomped away!
Selma looked like a little angel. Curly white blond hair perfectly framed her big blue eyes. Often she wore cute little outfits that made her look like a princess. As she walked past, random people would reach out and try to pat her hair or poke each other and smile at the picture she presented. Absolutely every time they would go out someone would comment on her hair or how sweet she looked. That was the word most commonly used to describe this little munchkin....."Oh, how sweet!"
Unfortunately, at the time, she was occasionally anything but sweet. There was a dark side to this littlest angel. She had a strong will, a will of iron that surrounded her like an impenetrable fortress.
That was the situation this day. I watched and tried to hide my amusement at the sight of this small toddler, fresh out of babyhood, standing up to her grown up mommy without fear. Fortunately, she did receive a consequence for this action.
She began to recognize her stubbornness though and observing her was an impressive lesson in what repentance should be.
One day after a particularly strong bout of disobedience, she drew her chubby little fists together and started to claw at her chest. When asked what she was doing, she exclaimed, "I'm trying to get all that yucky stuff out of my heart and stomp on it!" With that, she pretended to throw something down on the ground and stomp on it, hard!!!
Slowly, she began to understand the concept of disobedience and repentance. Also, she learned that Jesus Christ loved her even though she struggled inside. One day, during her fourth birthday party, she turned to her mother and said, "I'm so happy that I feel like God is throwing flowers at me!" Giggling with delight, she ran off to play, totally at ease and carefree.
As I think about sin from a toddler's perspective, I am amazed at how simple it is. God did not make it hard to understand. Once you are aware of sin, stop it, ask forgiveness, and try not to do it again. Then....go play....cause God is throwing flowers of joy at you!!!
"If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9
Have a good day! Love, Sue
Monday, April 22, 2013
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Christmas Eve Surprise
Many years ago....
At about 3:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve I walked through the door of my home after working for six hours. I was tired and ready to sit down and relax a minute but my aching feet would have to wait. My husband and children and I had been asked to provide special music for the holiday service at my parent's church. The service was due to start at 5 p.m. giving us less than two hours to make the one hour and thirty-five minute trip. I was hopeful that everyone would have heeded the instructions that I'd given that morning and be ready to leave.
As I entered the kitchen I found chaos. My family was coming and going in various stages of undress. One child was asking the other if he had seen his tie and my husband was trying to figure what to do about the missing button on my daughter's new dress. My youngest son was hungry and making himself a sandwich. I glanced at the clock and realized that we had no more than twenty-five minutes to pile into the van and be on our way. I still had to clean up and change my clothes. I had hoped to have time to fix my hair but that began to look like a hopeless dream.
My "General" mode overtook me and I started barking orders before I even greeted anyone. In an effort to light a fire of urgency underneath my dragging family, my normally quiet voice began rising with each new order. Do this...do that...grab this and get out the door.....
There was still the problem of the missing button so in the midst of speaking as fast as I possibly could and trying to remember what still had to be done before we could leave, I reached up and opened the door of the upper kitchen cabinet where my sewing kit was located. I lifted my arm and reached out for the familiar handle at the top of the green rectangular box. Much to my horror, as I brought my hand down I realized that it was filled with the soft fur of a dead mouse!
I threw that horrible, horrible thing out of my hand as fast as I could and began to realize that the very loud screaming resounding in the kitchen was coming from me! I quickly ran to the bathroom and scrubbed my hands with soap and water. I ran back to the kitchen screaming the whole way and began turning around and around as my family erupted with laughter. I kept crying out and returned to the bathroom to scrub the germs off of my hands. I didn't know how to stop the panic that threatened within me. I hated mice but I absolutely, positively despised dead mice!!!! Especially unexpected ones!!!
The kitchen became a very loud place as my husband and children continued to laugh hysterically at the spectacle of their usually somewhat calm wife and mother becoming totally unglued!
Finally, commonsense returned and I realized that there was no time for hysterics. We hurried out to the van and arrived at the front door of the church as the service began. We all looked "normal" as we calmly entered the church....But....I think it took until about noon the next day for my insides to settle down and relax.....
Years later this story still brings laughter to my husband and kids... and now also to me....
Have a good day! Love, Sue
P.S. Years have gone by and living in the country has given me great opportunities to conquer my fear of dead mice. God has been faithful to give me courage! Sometimes He allows us to face the very things that cause us great fear simply to prove to us that He is near and cares about us. He is near to you this day.
"Cast all your cares upon Him for He cares about you." 1 Peter 5:7
At about 3:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve I walked through the door of my home after working for six hours. I was tired and ready to sit down and relax a minute but my aching feet would have to wait. My husband and children and I had been asked to provide special music for the holiday service at my parent's church. The service was due to start at 5 p.m. giving us less than two hours to make the one hour and thirty-five minute trip. I was hopeful that everyone would have heeded the instructions that I'd given that morning and be ready to leave.
As I entered the kitchen I found chaos. My family was coming and going in various stages of undress. One child was asking the other if he had seen his tie and my husband was trying to figure what to do about the missing button on my daughter's new dress. My youngest son was hungry and making himself a sandwich. I glanced at the clock and realized that we had no more than twenty-five minutes to pile into the van and be on our way. I still had to clean up and change my clothes. I had hoped to have time to fix my hair but that began to look like a hopeless dream.
My "General" mode overtook me and I started barking orders before I even greeted anyone. In an effort to light a fire of urgency underneath my dragging family, my normally quiet voice began rising with each new order. Do this...do that...grab this and get out the door.....
There was still the problem of the missing button so in the midst of speaking as fast as I possibly could and trying to remember what still had to be done before we could leave, I reached up and opened the door of the upper kitchen cabinet where my sewing kit was located. I lifted my arm and reached out for the familiar handle at the top of the green rectangular box. Much to my horror, as I brought my hand down I realized that it was filled with the soft fur of a dead mouse!
I threw that horrible, horrible thing out of my hand as fast as I could and began to realize that the very loud screaming resounding in the kitchen was coming from me! I quickly ran to the bathroom and scrubbed my hands with soap and water. I ran back to the kitchen screaming the whole way and began turning around and around as my family erupted with laughter. I kept crying out and returned to the bathroom to scrub the germs off of my hands. I didn't know how to stop the panic that threatened within me. I hated mice but I absolutely, positively despised dead mice!!!! Especially unexpected ones!!!
The kitchen became a very loud place as my husband and children continued to laugh hysterically at the spectacle of their usually somewhat calm wife and mother becoming totally unglued!
Finally, commonsense returned and I realized that there was no time for hysterics. We hurried out to the van and arrived at the front door of the church as the service began. We all looked "normal" as we calmly entered the church....But....I think it took until about noon the next day for my insides to settle down and relax.....
Years later this story still brings laughter to my husband and kids... and now also to me....
Have a good day! Love, Sue
P.S. Years have gone by and living in the country has given me great opportunities to conquer my fear of dead mice. God has been faithful to give me courage! Sometimes He allows us to face the very things that cause us great fear simply to prove to us that He is near and cares about us. He is near to you this day.
"Cast all your cares upon Him for He cares about you." 1 Peter 5:7
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Super Grandma
I
love my grandchildren and often try to meet both their needs and desires when
they come to visit. Usually, that means
that we make a special breakfast, play a game of Skip-Bo or make a fort in the
dining room. But one time, I outdid myself and entered into the
"super-grandma" mode!
Gabe
had just received a new spider Lego set shortly before coming to visit our
house. At seven, he was still too young
to read all of the involved directions that came with the box so Sarah, his
mom, lay down on the floor to help him.
Shortly, the multitude of little plastic pieces began to resemble a
spider and Gabe was excited.
The
lazy afternoon sun streamed through the leaded glass window above the piano
creating sparkling little prisms of light.
While waiting for his mom to plan his next move, Gabe spent his time
gazing at the rainbows they created. “Look,
Grandma! Look!” he exclaimed, “You gave
my spider it’s very own web! It’s
beautiful! He’ll love to live there!
Thank you, Grandma!”
I
couldn’t imagine what he was talking about until I spotted it. There in the archway between the dining room
and the living room was a magnificently large and intricately beautiful spider
web!
Proudly
I replied, “You’re sure welcome, Gabe! I’m just thinking of you because I love
you!!!”
“A
merry heart doeth good like a medicine but a broken spirit dries up the
bones.” Proverbs 17:22
Enjoy
today for all it is worth! I challenge
you to look around with fresh eyes for the blessings that surround you. They are there even in the darkest moments if
we just look! Sometimes they are hidden
in spider webs!
Have a good day! Love, Sue
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
How To Choose A Wife
One
day, my grandson, Gabe rode with me to pick up some groceries at Costco. As we were driving along he began talking
about his future wife. At seven, he had already picked out the girl
he wanted to spend his life with and, since stranger things have happened, I
wasn't about to belittle that claim!
But on this day, Gabe was very concerned
because his little girlfriend seemed to be paying attention to some of the
other boys in their class. As we were
walking through the parking lot on our way into the store, I turned to him and
told him that any girl would be crazy not to like him because he was such a
wonderful and caring young man. The
sweet, shy look that he gave me in return was priceless.
We
entered the massive doors of the store and began to fill the big metal cart
with the supplies that I needed. Gabe
was quick to find ways to make this experience fun and by the time we left he
was full of enthusiasm and eager to get back home to play with his friends.
As we were driving back to his house I asked
the question, “Gabe, what qualities do you want in a wife?"
He
paused for just a second and piped up, “That she is a Christian!”
“Good
answer, Gabe! What else would be
important in a wife?”
A
longer pause came this time as he pondered the question. “Well, maybe that she goes to heaven?”
“That’s
kind of the same thing isn’t it? If she
is a Christian, she will go to heaven when she dies.” I replied.
He
got a quizzical look on his face as he thought harder, finally beaming as he
replied, “That she like me!”
We
laughed and I thought about those two little statements – that she is a
Christian and that she likes him. That she – love God and love him. Gabe had intuitively known what creates a
good and solid foundation for a marriage relationship! He had discovered at a very young age the
tried and true; absolutely never fail formula for a long and healthy communion
between two individual people. I know
this for a fact because Jesus Christ, in an amazing statement, boiled down all
of the truths of the Old Testament into two small phrases.
He
said,
“You
shall love the Lord, your God, with all of your heart and soul and mind” and
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
From His
instruction book – Matthew 22:37-40
Have a good day! Love, Sue
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