Saturday, January 22, 2011

Turn That Frown...

God is good. He works on behalf of those who love and seek after Him. He makes all things work together for good for those who love and seek Him. He never gives us more than we can handle. He promises to walk beside us in the valleys. He listens and works things out. He does. I know. I know because I love Him. I trust Him. There's a lot of NOT FUN stuff going on in my life right now, VALLEY stuff. But I trust Him. I love Him. I tell Him all day long, every day how much He means to me. How He has changed my life for the better. That He makes life worth living. For Him I will persevere. To Him I owe the best of everything I can give. He asks nothing of me other than my complete and sincere love and devotion to Him. That is all He wants, He does the rest. 


My kids see this lived out in me. Please don't hear this as bragging...or a lack of humility. It's how we live. We mess up A LOT. I mess something up royally at least daily if not more. But my love for my Lord Jesus is evident in the way I live. My kids see it. They know that it's something they don't have to question. When things seem off or bad to them, they pick up on it very easily. Very quickly. Thursday night after the HORRID scene at basketball practice, they overheard Jason and I talking about what happened. They had seen me crying and heard me say that I trust God even though I was upset. I said that I knew He was just trying to show me something about how to treat people. How NOT to treat people. We prayed that night as a family and Jason prayed for me to just be comforted and reassured that God would provide friends for us (he feels the same way I do). We told the kids afterward, for the 4th time this week, that when we are in need, God wants us to tell Him all about it. When we need prayer for something, He prays for us too. He wants to talk to us about our problems and our joys so we should not only tell Him what we're feeling and thinking, but listen to Him for answers and guidance. Then we went to bed and woke up Friday and went about our day as usual...


So I'm sitting today watching Ryan's basketball game. Alone for about 20 minutes while Jas ran to the store for water (forgot to bring it for my very thirsty children). Instantly, as I sat RIGHT beside some of those moms from Thursday, I started feeling defensive. I was thinking to myself, "here we go again. We're gonna play the 'I don't see you' game." But I immediately caught myself and asked the Lord to quiet my spirit and be with me. Jas would be back ANY minute and I'd not feel the need to focus on anything other than Ryan's game. So, he got back and I was fine. Then almost as soon as he sat down, I looked up to see Ryan's teacher wave at me. She came to where we were (right next to all the other moms) and asked if she could sit with me...I know, right?? So I am automatically tearing up that God sent her, and I'm thinking she DOESN'T EVEN KNOW how much this means to me when SHE says..."Ryan requested prayer for you yesterday at school. He said that you were sad at basketball because the other moms were not being your friend and that you cried a lot about it."  


My sweet son. Words cannot describe how very PROUD I am that he knew to go to God with his problems. You see, he was burdened for his mother. And I wish you could have seen his face when he saw Mrs. Reyes sitting there beside me. He was BEAMING. And he played really well, making sure she was watching his every move:) I don't know a lot of 6 year old boys who would be so in tune with others' needs. And YES, here I am bragging a little. But not on myself. On God. He has given me a very special little man to raise. I pray that I do my job well. And I must say, he has a WONDERFUL father to teach him how to be a good, Godly man. In fact, I heard him tell Ryan this afternoon, "son, that's what I was talking about, being a man...what you did for your Momma today is what a REAL man does. He takes care of his family. He protects what belongs to him. He prays for people who are hurting. You acted like a man and I'm really proud of you." How awesome is that?? I didn't even know he had been talking to him about what it means to be a man...I mean, he's 6! But I guess it's never too early. Did I mention how awesome my husband is? :) 


So, today was amazing for us. So many good things happen in the middle of badness. I fear that if I were to lose my "Attitude of Gratitude" I'd miss a lot of the good and focus WAY too much on the bad. I don't want to do that. I want to leave a legacy of grace and love and goodness. A legacy of thankfulness and loving kindness. Gentle and long suffering. I want to grow my children up to be Peacemakers...and that takes some serious Spirit-led and filled patience and persistence. But ya know what? The Battle belongs to the Lord. He is capable. When I'm weak I'm strong. He teaches me SO much about His love for me through the sweet and simple love of my children. 


Thank you, Lord Jesus. 

1 comments:

Robin said...

We serve an amazing God! Children are truly a blessing, and that is a wonderful story. Good job, Ryan! Yeah, Jesus!

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