Cry Out Like a Baby

April 20, 2011
It’s been a while since I last wrote on this blog. Life goes by so fast and I think of so many things that I would like to blog about as I live my life but to actually find time to sit down and write down my thoughts or leadings is a different matter.
This week I am staying with my daughter-in-law and two grandchildren while my son is out of town for the week for his job. One of my favorite privileges to get to do is to help take care of my 5 month old grandson, especially when his mother has gone to class.
As I play with him, hold him, rock him and just admire his precious face I think of a passage that makes me think of my grandson and of myself in the Lord’s presence. Matthew 18:1-4. “About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?’ Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. The he said, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins, and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.” (New Living Translation)
About a month a go I heard a speaker share that the word “children” in this passage actually means “infants” in the Greek. I didn’t think too much about it and I still would like to look it up for myself (which I would recommend you do also). Looking into my grandson’s face, meeting his needs and playing with him makes me realize how the Lord would like to spend time with me. My grandson’s face is so precious to me yet I know that as my Father looks at mine He must feel much the same way only more passionate and tender than I am even capable of.
I have to meet all the needs of my grandson while I am caring for him. As I feed him, change him and so forth thoughts crossed my mind of how our Father wants to meet all of our needs, even the little ones. He wants us to be as helpless without Him as my grandson is without me. We as humans price independence and self-reliance but I am understanding more and more that God does not. That is man’s desire separating him even farther from the Father. God said he wanted us to be as helpless and humble with Him as an infant is. Wow! That goes against my human nature!! Yet as I meet all of my grandson’s, needs the Father, who loves me more than I am capable of loving my grandson (which is hard for my human nature to comprehend!), not only desires to but tries to meet all of my needs. Yet I act more like a 2 year old and say “I do it!!” Why is that when He is so willing to meet my needs, take care of all my concerns and comfort me? I believe He desires to even “play” with me with His sense of humor and let us have a good time together.
I know I have shared a lot about my meeting my grandson’s needs and in comparison to God meeting my needs but the greatest comparison is when I watch his mother come into the room!! Oh my!! NOBODY ELSE MATTERS!! At least not until he has had HER attention. He knows above all she will be there for him in a very personal way. No comfort is the same as that which comes from Mom!! I realize that is how we should be with the Lord. We enjoy everyone and we allow the Lord to meet our needs through many others in the family of the Lord but He is the one that means the most. He is the one that will meet our needs, comfort us, love on us, and play with us the most. Our complete existence is dependant on Him and so is our very spiritual nutrition. Our hearts should be excited and our arms “fling” with excitement and our deep calmness and comfort come when we are in His presence. He will even take care of our unpleasant messes and always do what is best for us, even if we don’t like it at the time. We (meaning “I”) should be starved for His attention and His food.
As you can see this verse means so very much more as I am around my grandson and see the comparisons between him and his family and ourselves with not only our Christian family but more importantly our relationship with our Father.

Why Can't It Be Simple?

April 1, 2011 Well, this will be my first post to my blog and I’ve been scared to death as to what to write. What could I possibly say that would have any meaning to anyone else? I have realized that I think about things and sometimes I think about them differently than so many other people so I guess I could write those down whether anyone ever reads it or not. For example, last Saturday I took our 5 year old granddaughter to see the production of Noah in Branson, MO. She behaved beautifully but with the thunder, lightning and yelling of some of the actors here and I sat very close to each other. When they acted out the city of Nod and the sin that was there along with the people’s refusal to worship Jehovah God (I had to previously explain that Jehovah was another name for God and she quickly told me she preferred just the name “God”.). She leaned over to me and said “But Grandma, don’t they know they are only supposed to worship God!!” Later in the production when people were begging Noah to get into the Ark after God had shut the door she leaned over to me and said, “If they would have just believed God they wouldn’t have to die!” I just stared at her in her simplicity of a person’s relationship with God. With her life is so simple: worship only God and believe God. How hard can that be!!! At least in the mind of a 5 year old!! Then I realized that it is Satan and the fact that we are so much smarter than God that we have to complicate it. I was also impressed when Noah came off of the Ark (boat) and his family was praising God and celebrating that out of the clear blue my granddaughter raised both of her hand in pure, innocent excitement of what God had done. I quietly and quickly whispered she needed to put her hands down so not to bother those behind her and had to remind her again a moment later when she quietly raised her hands in pure excitement again. She quickly obeyed both times but then as the days have passed the real reason I had her lower her hands is because nobody else had their hands up and I was uncomfortable with the pure, innocent praise of what God had done yet my granddaughter had “gotten it” and I had missed it. Through all of these what hit me the hardest was at the end and actor came out dressed as Jesus to explain the promise of how God had promised to not destroy the world by flood again and that next time He does it will be by fire. He stated He would be coming back again to bring to Him all of those who have believed in Him. She leaned over to my with her face just glowing and said “There’s my Jesus!!” She showed a face so full of love and admiration and joy!! Then Grandma stole it from her by quickly explaining that it was just an actor pretending to be Jesus. The sad look on her face and the question that followed broke my heart, “That’s NOT my Jesus?” I said no, he was just an actor. I later explained he was an actor actually saying the same words that Jesus said and that Jesus was in our hearts and in heaven waiting on us. But it wasn’t them same. I wish I could have her simple faith to believe whatever Jesus or scripture says to me and more importantly have the same pure excitement at “seeing” my Jesus when He reveals Himself to me rather than complicate and analyzed the joy out of it. I pray my granddaughter NEVER loses her joy and passion she has for HER JESUS!!!!