Catching a Glimpse

It happened again...  something in daily life happens, and I do a double take as I pause and think about how it is a picture of God right here on earth.  Sometimes it's little, sometimes it's profound.  Here's what happened today.

Jude was reaching up to grab a snack off of the table.  I took his hands down off of the table and told him to wait.  He LOST it. He was hungry (I suppose) and wanted that snack NOW!  I wanted him to wait, because we had just gotten home from church, where he had been in the nursery for several hours and I wanted to wash his hands off.  I had every intention of giving him the snack he desired, but I wanted to protect him by washing away potential germs first.  

And then it happened.  I saw a picture right then of how we might ask God for something or desire something, and He doesn't give it to us.  We fret, maybe even whine, or perhaps throw a fit.  We assume God doesn't want us to have it, or it was wrong to ask for it, when all the while, He was having us wait, because He was doing something in the meantime to protect and help.  He didn't mind that we asked or desired.  In fact, He is eager to give it and wants to make it better by helping us receive it safely.

Yep.... He loves us.  He really loves us.  And He is merciful to reveal Himself through every day events.  Be looking!

Angry Birds and the Gospel of Grace

Our almost four year old son, Jeremiah, is an Angry Birds fanatic. Actually, I am not sure that someone this young should be as proficient at the game as he is. He has taught multiple adults how to play and we get a kick out of watching him play. This kid is passionate about Angry Birds. So, we gave in and bought him an Angry Birds stuffed animal for Christmas. Also for Christmas, my good friend, knowing Jeremiah's slight obsession, bought him a box (which later turned into several boxes) of Angry Birds fruit snacks. (He feels compelled to call her and let him know when his supply is out-- we are working on that). This same friend often comes over and lets my kids play Angry Birds on her iPhone, and this Tuesday was no different. As she was leaving, there was talk about Jeremiah being upset over "deleting" Angry Birds. Sure enough, she checked her phone and he must have held down the icon too long, and had a 50/50 chance to answer "Are you sure you want to delete this app?" correctly since he can't read yet. It seems he went with the three letter choice and thus, Angry Birds was deleted. At dinner that night, we asked the kids what their "high" for the day was and what their "low" for the day was. Jeremiah quickly said his low was "'downloading' Angry Birds from (our friend's) iPhone."

It turns out, that syncing did re-install the app, but all of her husband's extensive Angry Birds' achievement over the last several months was lost for good. I gently shared this with Jeremiah the next morning-- that the levels completed had been lost and our friend was sad. Quickly, he got up from the breakfast table and came back with a Ziplock bag full of the cardboard Angry Birds images he had cut out from the fruit snacks boxes and had been saving. With urgency, he said, "I will give him these!" It was as if to say, "I want to fix it and make it right and this will do it!" It almost brought me to tears and I told him I thought it was a great idea to give those to him to say he was sorry.

Later that night, he chose to pray about the Angry Birds situation. Today, first thing in the morning and unprompted by me, he brought out the bag of cardboard Angry Birds images and asked me to write a note on it saying he was sorry and asking for forgiveness. And then, he said that he wanted us to take it to our friend's house. He was very specific that he wanted to go in the house and see him and hand this package over himself. He then turned as if we were going to go do this right now. I explained it would have to wait until later. He then brought out something more expensive and more precious to him that the same couple had given him, to which I said, "Sweet boy, (our friend) would not want you to give that back to him. He wants you to enjoy this good gift he has given you. This gift of a toy is not going to get all of those completed Angry Birds levels back. Yes, you have done something that you cannot fix, but you can ask him to forgive you. And I know he will. He loves you. And he is able to fix it." You have to understand that these are our very good friends, like an aunt and an uncle to our kids and some of the most charitable people I know.

As I saw this turmoil unfolding in Jeremiah's heart, I started thinking about and thanking God for His amazing gospel of grace. As our pastor recently said, "God is holy. We are not. That's a problem." I thought about how we try to bring pieces of cardboard to God to atone for our sin. Not only does cardboard not fix our separation from a holy God, just like it doesn't fix losing completed levels of an iPhone game, but God doesn't want our cardboard. He doesn't want our better gift. He wants us to acknowledge our sin, and to turn to Him. He is the only One who has the ability to fix our sin problem and He wants to give us the solution-- His forgiveness, mercy and grace through Jesus' death and resurrection. He is an unbelievably good God who truly loves us and really wants us to be with Him. He is FOR us unholy, sinful people. And that, is incredible to me. I am thankful.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast."

Titus 3:4-7 says, "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life."

Andi

Here is a link to our pastor's sermon:

http://www.yourchurch.com/sermon/the-mystery-of-godliness/

Here is a simple, but helpful website:

http://www.getchristiananswers.com/articles/what-romans-road-salvation#.T0jlOIcgeSo

So much theology in this picture...

We are Dust

As a father has compassion on his children,

So the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

for he knows how we are formed,

he remembers that we are dust.

Psalm 103:13-14

Reading Psalm 103 recently, this part stuck out to me. It made me think about my kids. Sometimes we can can be hard on our kids, frustrated with them and momentarily wishing we were somewhere else... like a beach... without them. After reading this Psalm, I was reminded that my kids are just beginning to form and to shape into "big people." Really, when you think about it, most of these kids we get frustrated with, have only been on the earth 300-3000 days.... TOTAL. That is not much time for experience. Part of that time, they spent lying on their backs or in someones arms, or crawling around on the floor finding pieces of lint you didn't know existed. So, when my 2 year old STILL spills water every time he fills his cup, or my 6 year old forgets to wash her hands after using the restroom, or my 9 year old can't seem to sit still at times, let me remember that Jesus has compassion on me, remembering how I was formed and that I am dust. And let me have compassion on these little ones, remembering that they are very much still learning even the basics of life... and that their lives thus far can still be numbered by a few thousand days or even a few hundred days (now go calculate your age and experience).

Details, details

My kids (one in particular) often badger me with questions regarding whatever it is that we are getting ready to do. If we are going somewhere, they ask questions such as, "How long will it take to get there? What is it like there? Have you been there before? How long are we going to stay there? Can I push Jane's stroller while we are there? Is there a bathroom? Will we get a snack? Who else will be there?" And on and on it goes. Often times, Jack or I will say, "Trust us. We've got it under control and all figured out. Let's get going!" Today, I was thinking, "Why do you have to know everything? Can you just go experience what we are getting ready to do (today it was errands to Sally's Beauty Supply, the Carwash and the County Extension office regarding our lovely ant friends)? WHY DO YOU HAVE TO KNOW EVERY LITTLE DETAIL AHEAD OF TIME??? I have thoroughly thought through and planned this day-- let's go already!

And then it hit me like a ton of bricks...

This is what I do to my Lord and Savior... often. The Creator of this world I live in, the Good Shepherd, the only One who is truly trustworthy in this world-- and yet, I think I need to be let in on all of the details. When this thought came to my mind today, I just stood there. I'm still reflecting on this little analogy God saw fit to send my way. It reminds me of a book I read a few years ago, "Do You Think I'm Beautiful?" by Angela Thomas. One of the main themes of the book is regarding trusting Jesus. She likens our life with Him as a dance. He is the lead partner and His arms are wrapped around each of us. He knows the steps to the dance. All you have to do is look in His face, rest in His arms and He has the rest taken care of. Even when it seems scary-- you are spinning or dipping, He's got you. Another book I read recently, "Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret" has a similar theme of what resting in Jesus looks like.

Isaiah 55:9
As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Ephesians 4:6
...one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.