Despite the mess

Our daughter was nursing our grandson.

When she suddenly realized there was a problem.

Without being too graphic, anyone who knows babies understands: sometimes it gets messy.

I grabbed two old towels and wrapped him in one.

As she handed him over he spit up.

More mess.

I left her to cleaning herself and carried the baby to the other bathroom.

I put another towel on the floor and began to remove soiled clothes.

I changed his diaper.

In a fresh diaper and clean from all mess, he was laying on his back looking up at me.

He smiled.

Of course I smiled back.

We had several minutes of smiles and babytalk before his mom and dad came in with fresh clothes.

Much later I was blessed to sit in the rocking chair and rock him to sleep wrapped carefully in a blanket.

This morning I was reflecting upon our day yesterday.

And the Lord brought to mind this moment I shared with our grandson.

As a baby he’s completely unaware of the fact that he stopped all other activities with his mess.

He wasn’t embarrassed by his mess.

He was completely oblivious.

He’s not old enough to understand how his life suddenly stepped in and made our lives change.

What he was aware of was the love.

His little face when I was talking with him up held joy and security.

He obviously also felt better, but his smile said so much more.

His little smile said, “I’m happy to see you”.

Later, as he drifted off to sleep, his little face held peace and comfort.

And I see a beautiful picture of God’s love.

He loves me so much, that He cleaned me up from the stains of sin and death.

And it’s a continually thing, because I am a sinner and I need His cleansing daily.

As our grandson grows, he will become aware of his messes, like our granddaughter already has.

And when she’s made a mess she runs for the loving arms of her parents.

I too get to run to my Savior.

His arms are open.

His Word is ready to clean me, to shine truth into my mess and teach me how to put off those things which lead me to sin.

His voice is speaking to me, honing my heart, changing my perspective of the circumstance, and giving me guidance to live by.

And I can smile at Him, because I know He loves me.

Despite the mess I might have made, He loves me.

Because my favorite place to be is clean and warm, wrapped safely in His grace, resting in His peace.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You for Your salvation. Thank You for shining Your truth into my heart and mind. Lord Jesus, please continue to teach me and hone my heart that I might not sin against You. Let nothing stand between us, but remove whatever would hinder our relationship, because You alone are worthy of all praise, honor, and glory. I never want to miss a moment with You, nor to have my walk with You hindered. Thank You for our family and the lessons I’m learning. Thank You for Your faithfulness and unending love. Lord Jesus, You alone are worthy. I praise Your holy name! Amen.

This morning’s teachable moment

Anne and I spent some time painting yesterday evening.

I hung this on the wall in our bathroom yesterday.

This morning as I was busy about the house I realized I hadn’t signed it.

So, I grabbed a pen I’d found in the bottom of my Bible bag and took down the painting.

The ink didn’t flow very well and I figured the pen was nearly out, but managed to get my initials on the corner.

As I replaced the picture I noticed a blob of black ink on the painting.

“Oh no!”

I got the painting back off the wall and saw black ink all over the back of the canvas and on the wall.

I grabbed a wash cloth and wiped up the mess.

Unfortunately some paint came off the painting as well as the ink, but I expected as much.

Once, I turned to the sink to wash the ink off my hands I saw my dress.

Black ink on the front.

“Uhg!”

I took off the dress and began trying to remove the stain.

Most of it came out.

I turned to head back into the closet and there was black ink on the tile!

“Yikes!”

Again I began cleaning as fast as possible.

Thankfully it all came up.

I got what I needed from the closet, took my dress to the laundry room and treated the ink.

Then I went to the kitchen.

I’d forgotten my pot of boiling potatoes due to the ink mess.

I quickly turned it off and removed the lid.

The topmost spud was so cooked it was beginning to fall apart which would greatly hinder me pouring the water off without sending potato down my drain.

I grabbed a utensil and tried to get the potato.

Of course it broke and splashed boiling water all over my right hand.

I dropped the potato which went to pieces.

More mess.

Eventually the potatoes were cooling in a bowl.

My hand felt better after running cool water over it and I decided to take a break.

Not long after this I received a text:

“I pray your day is well.”

-smile-

“Thank You, Jesus.”

The Lord knew I was going to have all this occurring and He had put me on someone’s heart.

As I related the story to our daughter she commented.

“I’m so glad all that ink didn’t happen to the carpet.”

-Wow-

I hadn’t even thought of that!

With this came several other things to be thankful for.

To name a few:

I’d almost worn my white linen top and cream colored skirt this morning, but felt I should go with the grey dress instead.

The boiling pot of potatoes could have burned me much more if potato had plastered my hand instead of water.

My attitude could have degenerated into frustration and anger, but throughout I felt comfort, that everything really would be fine.

And there is the lesson I learned in my teachable moment.

Jesus doesn’t act as a safety bubble, cushioning me from every discomfort.

Instead, Jesus walks with me, guiding and speaking with me, training through the circumstances.

Because pain can be an incredible teacher.

Thankfulness can bloom into praise.

Life is a wonderful gift, given by God.

And He’s using every part to teach my heart.

Psalm 86:11 KJV — Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You so much for walking with me this morning. Thank You for keeping me in all these things. Lord, please continue to help me walk with you through each circumstance. Please shine Your truth into my life daily. Lord, thank You so much for teachable moments. May Your name be glorified throughout the whole Earth. Amen.

Just a mess

Yes, this isn’t what we want.

No, it’s not going to stay this way.

But this kind of mess is easier to deal with than others.

This week at work I had a child lie to my face.

When I called them on it they weren’t even a little remorseful.

My first feeling was of shock and anger.

Not deep or fiery, but the anger when wrong is committed and the person does not care.

I was still thinking about the child after work and praying for God to show me what the deal was.

The mess is on the inside.

I thought about that for a long while.

Up until the Lord spoke I had been focused on the event and how to handle the next one if it should occur.

I’d missed the actual issue.

For a child to feel completely at ease with such behavior when I know they have been taught it’s wrong, means something.

So, I’ve been praying for the heart of this little one.

There is a mess inside which needs God’s hands to clean and throughly place in order.

However, the child needs to want to change.

They need to realize they are a mess before anything can happen.

The same is true for me.

Without my realization of a mess and my willingness to fix it, I’ll live with the inside out of place.

Messes happen, but we don’t have to live in them.

Jesus is waiting for an invitation to change the mess into a masterpiece.

“Dear Lord,

Thank You for showing me the mess inside this child whom You love so much. Please help me to continue to pray for and encourage them every chance I get. Thank You for all the messes You have cleaned up in my own heart. Thank You for continuing to help me be aware of the status of my heart. I want to be Your masterpiece, please continue to form my heart with Your hands. I love You, Jesus.♡”

Praising the Lord when…

Those moments happen.

This was one of them.

I knew I wanted to use this frame as part of the decor for the bathroom.

It’s been a table decoration at Sis’s grad party.

Before that it was part of the bedroom decor.

With all the room changes after Sis moved it’s been sitting in a corner waiting for me to figure out what to do with it.

Then I had one of those moments.

I was painting and cooking.

(Not a good plan by the way.)

Something needed my attention in the kitchen so I put down my roller.

When I came back it was there.

An awful run right in the middle of the wall.

I tried to fix it and…

Well, to put it simply I was unable.

Next option: cover it.

So you probably figured out this frame is useful, cute, and covering a major mistake.

Just like my life.

Jesus takes my messes and makes beautiful useful lessons.

So I’m praising the Lord when I mess up and He makes new.