Continue reading “Day 48: Fathers”Our Father in heaven…
Matthew 6:9a
Last summer some friends from the neighborhood came over to play with my girls. They played outside for a while before coming in to get out of the heat. Upon walking into the house, our guests spotted the Xbox and asked to play. I told them no and suggested Legos instead. Walking away, I heard the nine-year-old mutter to my daughter, “My mom is nicer than your mom.”
My son and his friends were talking around the lunch table their eighth-grade year, and one friend bemoaned, “My mom just started this new thing called ‘no phones after dinner.’” My son shot back, “Yeah, well, my mom has this thing called ‘no phones…’”
Is it bad that in both cases, I was secretly pleased?
This morning I dropped my daughters off at school and they both walked in without looking back. This is quite a change from the beginning of the year, when my kindergartner would cling to me for dear life before I left. I had to walk her down to her classroom, help her put her backpack in her cubby, and give her a dozen hugs before leaving. After a few days of that routine, we shortened it so that her big sister walked her to the classroom, so long as I stood in the entryway where she could see me until she got to her classroom. Then when she got more comfortable with school and more self-reliant, I was able to wave at her from the doorway when she turned the corner to go to her classroom. And now she doesn’t even bother to look back. She’s on her own.
Our Saturday started out as a “normal” day, whatever that means in our household. My oldest was off with marching band, I gave the dogs a bath with the assistance of my sixth grader, and the girls were riding their bikes. Nothing unusual thus far. But while I was fixing lunch, my kindergartner burst in to inform me that my third grader had fallen off her bike and was bleeding. Okay, I’ve patched scraped knees before. I can handle this. But when I saw her, it wasn’t just her knees that were scraped. Her lip was bleeding too, and when I wiped the blood away I knew we were looking at a trip to the hospital for stitches. So much for a normal day. My entire afternoon was effectively wiped out by the hour-long trip to the children’s hospital and the time spent there, and I’m sure the bill from our ER visit will be exciting when it arrives, but it was totally worth it. After all, she’s my daughter.
Have you ever felt like your life was out of control? Have you ever been tempted to think God has abandoned you? That He couldn’t possibly love you if He allows pain and hardships to come into your life? Or perhaps even—gasp—that God had lost control? Have you ever cried out to God and asked why you have to suffer? If so, you aren’t alone. And the answer is much easier to understand when you remember that God is our Heavenly Father and that we are His children.
It all started with frozen pizza. Now don’t get me wrong. I love frozen pizza, and have often turned to it in a pinch as a viable supper for my family. But you also have to understand that this was my birthday. Frozen pizza on one’s birthday is uninspiring at best…
There’s something so innocent about babies. Having had four of them myself, I know how sweet it is when a baby falls asleep on your shoulder. They’re so trusting and vulnerable, all at the same time. When a baby is fussy, all you need to do is hold them to comfort them. If you can persevere through their crying (or screaming), eventually they’ll calm down and be still. They lose this as they get older. Trust me, I know. My ten-year-old is much harder to reassure than is my almost two-year-old. He needs me to reason with him and explain things logically, which can’t always be done. My baby, on the other hand, only needs to know I’m there and that I love her.
TruthNotes 