Urgently, we seek out comfort. Sometimes a bathroom will do. When my youngest, Abigail, issues a backseat warning, I know to act quickly, or else it won’t be pretty. Often, we are in traffic.
“Let’s pray we get all green lights!” I will insist. Then we three, Abbey (4), Rosey (6) and I (OK, almost 45) begin our entreaties. If it’s important to you, it’s important to God; pray at anytime.
Recently, our prayers were answered with one green light after another, as we returned from “baby ballet.” We rushed into a fast-food parking lot, urged on by Abbey’s “Please hurry,
Mommy!” As I opened the van door, I was met by my beautiful ballerina, Abbey, all smiles. With shrugged shoulders and outstretched hands, she sighed, “It’s too late now, Mommy.”
All we could do was laugh! Ya gotta go when ya gotta go, and sometimes the best efforts are too late.
Moms are good at using life’s lessons.
“But we prayed for all green lights,” Rosey reminded. “Did God not hear us?”
We know that God does not sleep, that He is everywhere at all times, that He sees you, no matter where you might try to hide. Surely, God hears your “gotta go” problem. And we learn that He’s always working things out for our good, even in disappointment. After her accident, Abbey advised that an ice cream cone might make her feel better. We began to laugh again. Turning turmoil into triumph is what mommies do best.
Each day is a learning opportunity. Who is teaching your kids about God? Is it the Sunday School teacher alone? Or does the media play a part in shaping your family life? I encourage you to become an educator, to intertwine God’s Word.
“Do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.’’ –Ephesians 6:4
I am, indeed, challenged by our busy household. My “six pack” is not my abdomen; it describes the personalities of our six family members. And, as scripture advises, I try to take things in stride. God likely smiles at the mayhem the little ones create. It is our reaction to confusion that sets an upbeat tone.
Yes, anger can be a powerful tool. Jesus, in anger, overturned tables in the Temple where people had made a “garage sale” out of the place of worship, (He was angry, but did not sin.) And yet, on the cross, He asked His Father to forgive those who transgressed. Always, “WWJD” can be employed; “What would Jesus do?” We can conform to the image of
Christ every day, reflecting His actions. We all fail at this, of course, but need not stay in the muck of failure. “Be strong, all you people of the land," says the Lord, "and work; for I am with you." –Haggai 2:4
Thus, driving in South Florida gives me a chance to hold in the sin of anger. I have prayed for the wretched drivers who nearly hit me. And, I have learned to have compassion for those moms in mini-vans in a panic.
For my ballerina, and girls, I have had to make the best of a situation. We enjoyed our ice cream treat, and were reminded that the soggy seat of the baby ballerina Abbey was something that “would all come out in the wash.”
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