what I learned from a Sunday School song ...

Actually, it struck me as I was reading the devotional put out by Proverbs31.org. If you're not signed up for those, you should be. They are great little devotionals that are easy to read and really make you think. I'm a little behind, so I was reading one from this week, and it was talking about spiritual revival, and she discussed how she was taking such good care of this plant because she didn't want it to die and comparing it to how our relationship with God would flourish if we would just take that much time and care.

When I taught Cubbies back when Katelyn was little, there was a song we learned that was so fun ... the kids love it ... and the words are, read your Bible, "pray every day and you'll grow, grow, grow." And then next verse goes, "neglect your Bible, forget to pray, and you'll shrink, shrink, shrink."

I then realized that we are lucky ... we're miracle plants ... while we may shrink, shrink, shrink, we never die. God is always there when we seek His face like we're supposed to, and when we come back to Him after neglecting our daily watering. I know I need a revival in my life. Too often, other things take precedent over spending that time with God like I know I should. Think about that next time you're watering your plants (by the way, I don't have plants ... they would die in my care!).

Max, Nail Polish, and God's Love

So, I'm going through the Experiencing God workbook for my devotions, and today's study was on God's love. I've always had a hard time with love ... what is love, do I have it, do I really show it, etc., etc. I know, I'm weird, but it's a hard concept for me. And, so, when I spent time in prayer, I asked God to show me what love was.

A few minutes later a client called, and while I was on the phone with her, I hear devilish giggling in my bedroom (I had the baby monitor on in there). So, after I get off the phone, I go to my door, which I find locked of course, and hear the laughing getting louder and louder. It's a good thing there is a door to the backyard in our room, because I can go around back and unlock it with the key.

So, what do I find when I get in there? Hmmm, Max with a bottle of nail polish (empty by now) with polish all over the floor, himself and Izzy. At this point, now that I can reflect on it, I guess I'm glad it was white nail polish, as it blends in quite well to Izzy's fur, but at that time, I found NOTHING good about this. And as I'm chasing Max through the house, yelling at him, I'm also yelling at God in my head, "Is this your idea of showing me love?" I mean, come on, Steve's out of town with Katelyn and it's just me and the boys, and Max is acting like this! Can't he help me out here.

You know, God probably just laughs at me. I just learned something about His love and how it's unconditional and doesn't change with our circumstances, and I sit there questioning it because my naughty two-year-old is ...

acting like me.

God showed me today that even though Max is naughty, I don't stop loving him. Yes, I'm pretty mad at the moment and I may lose my cool (which I don't know if God gets as mad as I do ... but then again, he did want to wipe out a couple cities!), but I still love him and when he tells me he's sorry, my heart breaks because it's so sweet.

God's the same way. I'm pretty naughty in my own ways (laziness, impatience, gossip, and on and on and on) and God probably looks at me like I looked at Max ... "she's so naughty, but I still love her."

Off to clean nail polish off the dog and floors. Now that's my lesson on love for today. Anita