John, here. Cristin has been on me to write on the blog from time to time and I haven't. No reason, I'm just not the blogging type. But God used a cicumstance with Caleb today, to teach a pretty valuable lesson that she insisted I share, so here it goes...
Caleb, Jack and I were playing in the backyard after dinner with their favorite giant blue ball. The game is pretty simple, I hit the ball as high as I can into the air, and they look on in awe and wonder. Caleb kept retrieving the ball and bringing it back to me, but Jack was growing impatient after a while that he didn't get to have a turn. So I purposefully hit the ball in Jack's direction, but as he was picking it up...you guessed it...Caleb was right there to rip it from his little hands. *sigh* This is usually where I would bark out "Caleb!" and give him some command pertaining to sharing. But something inside of me (call it wisdom, call it curiosity....yeah, wisdom sounds better), the 'wisdom' inside of me blurted out calmly, "Caleb, why did you do that?" And to my surprise, he very eloquently stated that Jack couldn't hit the ball high like daddy or Caleb, so he shouldn't have the ball. Hmm...I was taken back by two things, 1) The eloquence of my stuttering 3-year-old and 2) The obvious lesson. I had the opportunity to teach my boy that it's not about Jack's ability or inability to hit the ball high, but it's about Caleb's ability to love Jack. And I shared that, after all, Caleb can't hit as high as daddy, but daddy freely offers the ball to Caleb to share and enjoy. So why can't Caleb share with Jack? He freely agreed and the fun went on, with a happy Jack.
But I walked away convicted...I have to reflect on my own heart for all the snubbing I do subconsciously and (cringe) consciously everyday towards those who just 'don't get it' or who aren't 'worthy'. It's not about their ability to be worth loving, but it's about my ability to love the unworthy. After all, if I'm honest, God freely loved me when I was an unworthy brute, hostile toward Him and hating the good. So who am I to hold back what has been freely given to me? It's these 3-year-old Sunday School lessons that we claim to 'know', but do we really? Is it in our bloodstream and acted out daily? God's lessons are everywhere and I'm so grateful to Him for this one, in the most unlikely of places. "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." Rom. 12:3.
5 comments:
Amen!! I felt convicted the minute you wrote what Caleb said. I love how God uses the lessons we teach our kids to show us where we have to practice what we preach. Thanks for sharing this lesson, hey and nice to hear from you!
Good post. :)
John you are so wonderful in your writing, so clearly expressing God's lessons to us. I was crying at the moment I could so clearly see and hear as you shared what happened. I am so excited to see what journey He takes you on next. I must confess I usually don't read a church newsletter article that the pastor might write....but if it was by you...it would truly be the first thing I would read. God has given you an amazing gift for writing as well as speaking....keep it up! Love your mom-in-law
I agree with your mother-in-law, God has gifted you in writing and speaking.....when i saw it was a post from you, i imediately was interested in what you might say knowing it would challenge my thinking......I am looking forward to sunday morning! Connie
:)
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