This morning I got up a little earlier than normal and spent a few hours at my local Starbucks.
As I was reading I overheard a lady with her two children. She had a boy who looked about 6 and a girl who was probably 3 and she was pregnant with what I presume is her 3rd child. After she ordered and came over toward where I was sitting to the condiment rack her son asked "Mom, can I help?" and the daughter said "Yeah, mom can I stir it this time?"
The mother snapped back with "NO!" The boy didn't fuss but he asked "How come?" She said "Because when you help, you really don't help."
OUCH
I don't know if the kid will remember those remarks or not. I'm surprised at the words I recall in my life that left a scar. I then quickly thought "God, thank you for letting me stir."
God is so good to us. He's truly the perfect father. He allows us the privilege to "help" him.
Have you ever seen a young child attempt to help his father push-mow the grass? The child can hardly reach the handle of the mower but he believes he's doing what daddy does. As he stands on his tip-toes and walks he gets the joy of seeing the job done. All the while the father (who holds the mower handles on the outside of his son's hands) is doing all of the work.
In your Christian walk I encourage you to praise God for what you get to help Him with. Also remember that no matter your success, it's your daddy who's pushing the mower... you just get to "help".
4 comments:
I see these things all the time, even from families in my own church,and it just breaks my heart. My wife and I work hard to nurture our boys like we beleive they deserve, and God desires for them. I have a host of those memories from my past and they are hard to shake. It's scary, but I often think that parents today have really abandoned their kids, not by leaving them, but by the way they parent.
PS-I let my 3-year-old mow the lawn with me. I feel crazy when I do it, but he LOVES it!
I'm not sure who to pray for the hardest, the mom, or the children and child coming. This breaks my heart. When you lose a child, these types of things make me want to shake a mother to the core and say, "Stop and look at what you are doing! Can't you see, he/she just wants to be like you! Show them the love God shows to us! Unequivicable, un-biased, never failing, and un-deserved."
PEOPLE, LOVE YOUR KIDS LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORROW CUZ SOMETIMES THERE ISN'T. This I know first hand.
Tally -
Thanks for the post - as painful as it is. Our self-protective tendancies extend beyond our kids, too. How often I've done it myself, because I didn't want the "hassle", the "mess" ... or because I didn't trust.
Ouch.
Great post Tally. I'm very encouraged! I'm so glad God pushes the mower for us because I would make a real mess of His yard if He didn't.
Post a Comment