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My family recently had a week off for spring break.  We had intended to go camping, but there were no campgrounds open yet and the weather was calling for rain mid-week.  I decided to come up with a list of family activities and try to do one or two a day.  I couldn’t tell my kids what the activities were ahead of time or when we might be doing them, because my kids are those set-in-stone type of people that can’t deviate from a plan, (don’t know where they get that!)  My idea worked fairly well, the children enjoyed the surprise of ice cream on Monday and s’mores later that evening.  The thing I saw as the week went on though, was that it was hard to convince them to stop one fun activity so we could do a different one.

We tried to explain it to them: my oldest told a younger sibling that it is like being at Disneyland and the next day not being able to be at Disneyland again because you get to go to Lego Land.  It started me thinking about God and all the things He has in store for us.  I knew all the fun things I had planned for my kids, but I couldn’t tell them, I just needed them to trust that I had their best interests at heart.  I know we are familiar with Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  These words are so true!  God has so much planned for me, and like my kids, there are times I can’t let go of what I see in front of me right now in order for Him to give me something even better.

Later, when I look back at a surprise God has given me, I can imagine Him being excited, having a hard time waiting until the time was right for me to have it.  He delights to give us good gifts, fun times even, just as I love to surprise my children and see the looks of delight on their faces.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  James 1:17

“I’m sorry, but the forecast is calling for pouring rain all weekend.”  My thirteen year old fisherman did not take the canceling of his camping/fishing trip well.  He had spent two days preparing already.  Sorting fishing gear, carefully finding and counting worms to make sure he had enough.  He was basically ready for two weeks of back country survival, (the canceled trip was for two days at a local lake.)

I hate to see my children disappointed.  I know life has so many disappointments in store for them.  In the grand scheme of things, a canceled fishing trip is nothing, however, it was everything to my son this day.  In the future, I will not always be able to make things better for my children when life is hard, but for now I try to find ways to soften the blows.  I am also queen of, “When life hands you lemons make lemonade. No lemons?  Well, we’ll find something else.”  Sometimes my children are so loudly bemoaning their change of plans, that it is hard to get them to calm down a moment so I can think of an alternative solution.  I try to remind them that I am there for them even as they are sad.

Occasionally though, when my own plans are disrupted, I can throw a fit every bit as intense as my children.  It might look different, but believe me it’s not pretty.  When I calm down for a minute I remember, just like my children can hand their disappointments to me, I can bring mine to God.  He is our good Father who hates to see us sad.  Sometimes He has to say no to something we really thought we wanted, but He is always there to hold us when our plans are upset.  And when He reveals His ultimate plan in the situation, it is always better than the one we thought we wanted.  Unlike me, God is never surprised at things getting canceled.  My plan “B” was His plan “A”, and He had planned on us having lemonade all along.

So on this day I loaded up my son and took him fishing before it started to rain.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29:11

“We missed again!”  Every year on St. Patrick’s day our home has been invaded by small mischief makers.  Drawing on schoolwork, getting into our sugar canisters, and leaving notes about our inability to catch them.  To combat this problem my children set increasingly complicated traps.  Somehow those pesky leprechauns continue to evade them year after year.  The disappointment of the leprechauns’ escape is tempered however, by the fact that as they flee they drop chocolate gold coins from their pockets.  Somehow they always drop just the right amount to be divided evenly among my children.

This year my oldest happened upon the sprung traps and scattered gold early in the morning before anyone else was awake.  Carefully counting the coins, he determined that each person would receive three.  He went back to bed, not disturbing the crime scene in any way.  Somehow between his visit and the waking up of the whole group of children, one of our own leprechauns quietly got up, ate three coins and went back to bed.  This might not sound surprising, but there is something deeper going on in this particular child.

If you have more than one child, you already know how different kids can be even while being raised in the same home.  For this child of mine, for some reason there is a sense of lack, of maybe missing out.  It comes out in a lot of different ways, one being sneaking treats.  It is difficult to see her feel this way.  As her mother I want her to feel abundantly taken care of, abundantly loved, even to the point of being spoiled.  What I don’t want her to miss out on is this love and abundance that is actually right in front of her.

As always, when I see something in my children God shows me it in myself.  I too have struggled with a sense of lack.  I have to remind myself all the time that God is my good father and He lavishes His provisions on me.  In the same way I want my daughter to have a sense of abundance, He wants me to feel the same way.  He doesn’t want me to not be able to see what is right in front of me already.

There was a point in the Israelites’ travels through the desert that they cried out for meat.  They had what they felt was a lack, they thought God was keeping something from them.  They failed to see God’s provision already in front of them in the form of manna.  There are so many times I am like that.  Something triggers in me and I feel I am missing out.  When God gently reminds me of His goodness and I turn my eyes back to Him as my ultimate provider, I can again see the “manna” blessings in front of me, God’s lavish, abundant, provision in my life and I realize I am not lacking anything.

“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”  Matthew 7:9-11

 

Is it your child’s first day on Earth?  No, I’m not talking about that special, exciting moment when you first lay eyes on your new baby.  I’m talking about that wondrous mystery that happens every night while your child sleeps.  The inexplicable wiping of the hard drive of their minds that causes them to wake up in the morning completely forgetting any previous skills they have learned.  Skills such as how to get dressed and how to make, eat, and clean up breakfast.  Schoolwork is baffling, spelling and multiplication tables are gone overnight!

As a new parent, I thought that my babies would learn skills one at a time, gradually adding to them as they grew.  I did not realize that it is more of a one step forward and ten steps back, (or sideways) type of growth.  I had also thought that as my children got older they would be able to retain information and life skills for longer periods of time.  Nope.  An older child of mine has had the same chore for six and a half YEARS simply because he cannot do the job without being reminded.

Recently I have been reading the Old Testament in the Bible.  I noticed that God calls the Israelites “children”.  I also noticed that like my own children, the Israelites seemed to forget things overnight too.  Things like obeying God’s laws and letting God lead them.  They also forgot God’s promises that He would provide for them, fight for them, and that He loved them very much.

This is where my own trouble with amnesia comes in.  I too can forget overnight God’s provision of the day before.  His manna that He provided or a battle He won while all I had to do was be still.  I also forget how much He loves me and how much grace He has for me.  Much more than I have for my children when they have again forgotten how to do a simple chore.  And the things God asks of us are simple: believe I love you, let me take care of you, rest in me.

Again, like my children and the Israelites, I take one step of faith forward and ten steps back.  And God has grace.

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live.  Teach them to your children and to their children after them.  Deuteronomy 4:9

“Are there sharks in that water?”  Ever since I became a mother and my first child could speak, this is a question I get EVERY time a little one spies a body of water of any size.  We are blessed to live near many lakes so they get this opportunity frequently.  I used to be able to say with assurance that no, there are no sharks in the water.  But, thank you Discovery Channel, now my older ones will pipe up that bull sharks can live in fresh water for a little while.

It reminds me of the lake of my family.  Yes, there are sharks there.  A cranky teenager, a distraught toddler, or a tired mommy comes swimming into the peaceful waters and suddenly there is thrashing, screaming, and blood in the water.  It is startling how fast it can happen.

Now I could do everything in my power to prevent these attacks.  I could watch for them, try to head them off.  In fact I’ve been there, done that.  What I discovered though is that I am no shark whisperer and it’s exhausting.

However, I have found when I acknowledge how powerless I feel, and I give up control to God, then He comes in with His powerful peace, and suddenly calm returns.

Then by His grace, it is safe to go back in the water.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.  But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”  Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.  Matthew 14:29-31

Do you live with a news reporter?  Every morning I am greeted with a weather report, “Mommy it’s raining!”  We have a giant picture window in the living room so I have already easily seen this fact.  “Mommy, sister is making breakfast!”  Again, I can see sister mixing up batter.  “Mommy, brother already left for work and he’ll be home for dinner!”  Yup, knew that one too.

Something happens as they get older however, I find out information, usually important information, hours late.  Nine o’clock at night my oldest remembers, “Oh yeah, Mom, Mrs. Smith called this morning.  She said it’s important and to call her as soon as you can.”  Really.  “When did she call?”  “Oh, maybe around ten?”  Must have been when I had the audacity to run to the bathroom for two minutes.  I probably couldn’t hear the phone through the little ones knocking on the door and asking what I was doing and when would I be out!

Like my little one stating the obvious news in his life, sometimes I need to be reminded of the obvious in my life.  God is good, all the time.  I am blessed with great kids.  Hey, I have a roof over my head!  It seems as though it is when things appear the most difficult that I have the hardest time seeing these things.  I don’t want to forget until nine o’clock at night that yes, God was with me all day, just waiting for me to call.

Psalm 16:6  “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.”