The Worst Day Ever!

     Sometimes when I'm trying to teach my kids an important lesson, God uses my own words to convict me on that exact same lesson as it applies to my life.   This happened to me this past week.  I was explaining the importance of obedience to Aidan, when BAM...God hit me with the same truth in my own life...using my OWN words!  Does this ever happen to anyone else?

   It was the first day of school; Aidan had a great day at school.  He loved his teacher and all the kids.  He said second grade was going to be easy and fun.  To celebrate, we went to his friend's house to swim.  We all had lots of fun at the pool.  But, as you know, all good things must come to an end.  Take a 7 year old, mix in a little first day of school exhaustion, dinner time hunger, and a command to get out of the pool and dry off, and you end up with a crying mess in the back seat of the van, declaring this "the worst day ever!"

    First, I told Aidan to get out of the pool and dry off so we could go home and cook dinner.  He resisted, but got out and started to run in the house dripping wet.  I made him come back and dry off.  This was met with much complaining.  Why is drying off such a chore for kids anyway?  I know it takes a little bit of time, but putting clothes onto wet skin is much more difficult and time consuming!  As he went inside to change clothes, I told him he could come outside when he was done to have a lemon slushy before we went home.  I went in to get Ella dressed.  When I came back outside, AIDAN WAS BACK IN THE POOL!  This sent Ella into fits because she wanted to get back in the pool too.  So, start over...out of the pool, more drying off, more whining, etc.  While Ella and I were waiting on Aidan, she was offered some watermelon.  Ella ate her watermelon and we waited and waited...and waited some more.  I went to check on Aidan.  He was half dressed and playing in his friend's room.  Seriously?
  
     Several minutes later, we were finally all dressed and in the van.  Ella was finishing her last piece of watermelon.  Then, the crying began.  Aidan wanted to know why he didn't get any watermelon.  Next, he realized he never got a lemon slushy either, so he kicked the sobbing up a notch.  At the height of his distress he declared this the "worst day ever," and that "everyone was mean to him," and the classic, "Ella gets EVERYthing and I never get ANYthing."

    I explained to Aidan that sometimes when you're disobedient, you miss out on some really good stuff. He didn't get the lemon slushy because he got back in the pool instead.  He didn't get watermelon because he was playing instead of changing clothes.  No one purposely withheld anything from him, he just wasn't in the right place at the right time because he was not listening and obeying.  And that's when it hit me.  Like a rock.  How many blessings do I miss because I'm not listening and obeying?  It's not that God is punishing me, I am just not where I need to be, so I miss out.

   Life is never as fulfilling and adventurous as it is when we are living in complete surrender to God's will.  Some of the most challenging, yet most invigorating times in my life have been when I've stepped away from the cultural norm and done what I knew God was calling me to do instead.  Sometimes, being obedient requires us to go against society's norms.  I love how Kelly Minter states it in her Bible study, Ruth:  Loss, Love and Legacy.  "Normal is a very insidious trap to fall into when you're talking about having the Spirit of God living inside you.  I'm afraid it's where I too often reside, though I'm more and more discontented there.  Especially after I've ventured out by the leading of the Holy Spirit, and I do the unconventional or even the "foolish" and experience the invigorating excitement of being about the things Christ is passionate about; and I remember that, yes, this is where I want to live."


     The more I surrender to God, the more I learn about him.  He is not a boring God.  Being obedient to God is not about sitting in a pew with a dozen blue-haired grandmas listening to sermons, reciting prayers and singing hymns.  Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."  God wants to give us abundant life!  If we all fully understood that, the self help industry would be out of business, no one would need it anymore.
     I've also learned that God is good.  He's not waiting for us to mess up so that he can punish us.  He is waiting for us to be obedient so He can bless us.  It doesn't matter how you've messed up in the past...only that you're willing to be obedient now.
  
     The life he is calling us to live is the one He made us for...it is the one where we will find joy, excitement, and the rush that we're all seeking.  It may be scary at times, and it may make people think you're a little crazy, but it's never boring.  I don't want to just get through life.  I want to live the life I was created to live.  I don't want to miss a single blessing or sit on the sidelines watching everyone else reap the benefits of a life submitted to God.  God uses the willing, and  I can think of no greater honor than to be used by God.

"This is how we know that we love the children of God:  by loving God and carrying out his commands.  This is love for God:  to obey his commands.  And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world."  1 John 5: 2-4