So has anyone else felt like they don't have enough hours in the day? Whew....glad I'm not alone. ;-)
I recently gave myself the challenge of reading the Bible in a year. Yea....about that. I've slacked off at times. Lets see....there was a day that I just wasn't in the mood. Then there was another day where I'd overslept, almost late for work, my son was moving slow and when I got home from my busy day "I didn't feel like it." Then once I started to miss, it became habit to miss reading.
The same time I was missing my daily reading and meditation, my son started acting up at school. We had an entire week where I thought he'd lost his ever loving mind. I corrected the behavior, explained it was not acceptable in this house and gave him positive reinforcement of "behavior goals" to which he's been doing great. Problem solved right? Nope...by this time I was used to missing the devotional time to where it was now an "inconvenience" to set aside some time to read and meditate.
Then yesterday I realized something. My son's behavior has been excellent. He's been consistent. He's even been asking to read his Bible every night. OUCH. Here I am the parent and I've been slacking and he's been striving. Then it hit me.
God wants us to have a child like disposition. For those who don't have kids, let me break it down. When you have a determined child (as I do), he/she will stop short of NOTHING to get what they want. They will disobey parent's rules to get what they've set their heart on. My child may not even be able to understand all of the concepts of the Bible yet he's made it a daily requirement to read it. He may not understand why he has to get smiley faces every day at school, yet he's made it his mission to succeed. He's done what he needed to do to get to where he needed to be.
Here I am watching this child and I realized, I want to be like my son. There was once a time I was so driven and ambitious. Here lately, I've been busy to where I haven't been seeing projects completely through. So instead of complaining, I'm cutting back. And yes, I got that idea from my son.
The other day he went to an OKC Thunder game. We stayed up pretty late (his bed time is 8:30-9:30) where we were up past 10. The next morning he woke up at 5 am, which is 2 hrs before he needs to be up. When we got home from school that day, his neighborhood friends ran to the car because they wanted to play with him. My son took one look around and told his friends "Sorry guys but I'm tired and I'm going to sleep. Can't play today." My son is 7 years old. So to him, playing with his two best friends is a daily must. I thought, surely he'll change his mind when he gets into the house. Nope. That child laid across his bed and slept for 2 hrs.
Wow....And I can't even say no to a daily glance of Facebook or Twitter or my email or a conversation. At this moment, I've learned that I need to realign and re-prioritize my life. I'm thankful for where God has brought me and doors he's opened. But if you were to look at my actions, would they show that? Why be so quick to face another day that you don't even mutter "Thank you Lord for this day"? Why be so negative that you yell "I'm never going to get ahead" when God has opened doors for you and is working on plan to elevate you?
I believe that God will show us ourselves through children sometimes. Yes, I want to be just like my son. He didn't dwell on the mistakes he made when he had a bad week. He changed his behavior to match meeting his goal. He's learned how to prioritize and to rest when he needs to. If a 7 year old child can do it, why can't I? Sounds like I need to get it together!
Many Blessings
Pretty Platinum Wings
Just lovely :-)
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