On the way out the door this morning, I yelled at our teenager. She blamed me for making her make us late to church, because I forgot her phone. Seriously??! I'll spare you the details about why Jon wasn't with us to help wrangle the kids, or why being late to church this time was anything out of the ordinary. There are no valid excuses, I shouldn't lose my cool.
Does anyone else put too much stock in the New Year to start with a clean slate? Then at like 9AM, I've smudged that slate and have to wait 365 days to start fresh again.
The past couple years I've had a Word of the Year. For 2016, I was inspired by an article in National Geographic about Pope Francis to choose the word "Warm." I found myself regretting this choice often, while seething under my breath, "The Pope doesn't have children. I'd be plenty warm if it weren't for these ungrateful kids."
And while I'm throwing myself under the bus, I may as well add, that sometimes I feel that way about Jesus too. I know He suffered all the temptations we do, and He is the ultimate example of how to rise above the little things that drive us crazy on a daily basis, but sometimes I just wish He had children so I could watch how He balanced grace and truth when it's really hard.
If I can't observe His interactions with His disrespectful teenager, or his fussy toddler, I'll remember instead His patience with His disciples, His honesty with the Pharisees, and His forgiveness of the Roman soldiers, and all of us, who nailed Him to the cross.
And I'll try to remember that there's nothing actually special about the first day of the year that allows me to start again.
"Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning." -Lamentations 3:23
Praise the Lord for that!
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| Don't be fooled by their innocent appearances, even the one in utero and the furry one are a handful these days! |
It's January 1st, how are you doing on your resolutions? Have you blown it yet? If so, there's grace for us!
1 comment:
Jess was never pregnant with a 2 yr old and a teenager. Don't be too hard on yourself that is why we have tomorrows
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