Appearances Can Be Deceiving

"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

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

Killing Mom

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

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

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love chocolate chip cookies!  I especially love them fresh out of the oven when the chips are soft and gooey and the delicious smell of warm chocolate lingers in the air. I am immediately transported to my childhood. 

My mother created a loving home filled with lots of good food but no other culinary memory left such a lasting impression as this one.  Many times I remember running up the steps of our house after school and as I got closer to the door, my senses would be attacked with the intoxicating fragrances coming from inside.  I would enter the kitchen and see warm chocolate chip cookies sitting on the cooling racks waiting for my siblings and me to gobble them up.   While the smell was delightful, the taste was sublime!

Perhaps because of this, I love to bake cookies for my own children and grandchildren.

One day, as my grandchildren were playing downstairs, I quickly threw together a batch of these delectable morsels.  The kids would periodically run up the stairs to see if they were ready yet but my answer would always be, "I'll call you when they’re ready.  Go play!" 

When all was prepared, I stacked a dinner plate full of cookies and set them on the dining room table.  I called for the kids to come and waited for them as I finished cleaning up my mess. 

Only one child came immediately.  Caleb, age two, saw the cookies and sat down directly in front of them.  His eyes grew large as he gazed at the treat before him.  Grabbing one, he took a bite and I heard a satisfying sigh escape his lips.

Selma and Gabe came running into the room and tried to snatch a cookie off the plate.  Caleb reached out and swatted their hands away from the full plate as he cried, “No! Mine!  All mine!”

"Grandma!"  I heard the wails fly.  "Caleb won't let us have a cookie!"

I glanced at Caleb and realized that the look of satisfaction on his face was a result of believing that the entire heaping mound of cookies was for him and him alone!  There was no way that I was going to destroy that look of pure delight so I promised the other two their own full to overflowing plate of cookies.  They went downstairs and continued to play while they waited for me to deliver them. 

As I took the rest of the cookies out of the oven and placed them on the cooling racks, I thought about how much joy it gives me to bless, richly bless, my grandchildren.  If I, as a lowly human grandmother feel that way, how much more does the all-mighty, all-knowing, all-loving, all-caring Father in heaven want to bless us, His children!

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

Ephesians 3:17-19

                                                 Have a good day!   Love, Sue

Amazing Day

Of all the days of your life, which ones do you remember?  I have many days that I can recall bits and pieces from but I have only a handful of entire days that were truly memorable from start to finish.  One of those times occurred in July of 1994.  My husband and I, along with some of our children traveled down the coast of Washington state to a campground near the town of Ilwaco.  After we set up our travel trailer in the state park, we climbed over a ridge to play on the Pacific Ocean beach.  We also arranged to go ocean fishing the next day.

Before sunrise the next morning we drove to Ilwaco and boarded the charter fishing boat.  Once aboard, my four year old daughter, Rachel and I sat inside but my husband, John and our sons, Carl and Erik perched outside near the front of the boat as we made our way past the mouth of the Columbia River.   The water was very, very bumpy and we all began to wonder if we would be able to last throughout the entire day!  But, we soon passed over that area where hundreds of early ships had lost their battles and, with relative ease, we launched into the great unknown - the great Pacific! 

As the fishing boat went a short way out to sea, a school of dolphins leaped through the water along side the boat.  Birds swished by and the sun slowly burned off the light fog that encompassed us.  Finally we were at our destination and the boys let out their lines.  I don’t remember what was caught exactly but I do remember someone on the boat caught a small shark and another person caught a skate.  All of it was very unusual and exciting. 

After we got back to shore and took our catch to the trailer to eat, we slipped back to the same beach from the night before and built sandcastles.  Shortly before sunset, we raced to the end of the beach and climbed a short ridge to the base of the lighthouse that guards the harbor at Ilwaco.  When we got to the top, a blazing sunset was forming to the West across the Pacific.  We stood on the steps of the lighthouse and sang songs about sunsets.  I know that it sounds kind of corny but as I write this, it is hard to express what a truly magical time that was.  I have rarely felt so at peace and full of joy. 

The sun was down and we realized to our dismay that we didn’t have a flashlight or any way to see our way back to our little home away from home.  Reluctantly, I followed the kids and John through a very dark path in the woods. Night was quickly upon us so we kind of half felt/half stumbled our way along.  At one point in the impeding darkness John whispered, “Quiet!  Look there!”  Through the trees we could barely make out the shapes of a herd of deer standing watching us.

  Finally, we made it to the small camp road and I knew that we were only a block or two from our campsite.  As we began to walk, my son, Carl, who at fifteen was now taller than I, reached back and grabbed my hand.  For a few minutes we held hands as we walked and talked in the darkness.  I remember thinking that I needed to consciously cherish this time because he was fast becoming a man.

We continued walking until we found our trailer.  We climbed into our beds and the children quickly fell asleep.  In the few minutes before I too shut my eyes, I remember thinking that it had been one of the best days of my life.  And so it was….

Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and that more abundantly.”   John 10:10. 

                                                       Have a good day!  Love, Sue