Watch It!

Yay! This one is a funny... I love it when God shows me things through humor rather than personal, brutal, experience...

A week or so ago my two daughters and I attended a wedding. There were lots of friends and family in attendance. I have a dear cousin whom I adore and really, she is a role model to me. She is the mother of three beautiful children who have all grown up and married godly mates and now are raising their families in church! Can I get an AMEN to that! I often seek her counsel on child rearing issues. I so want my family to have that closeness she shares with hers.

Any way, so these three children all had babies of their own a couple of years ago. Her daughter has another child a little older than the two year old(as of tomorrow, Happy Birthday Kloee!) She is the most adorable child with her chocolate brown eyes and head full of dark hair. I don't get to see these babies often, Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc. I was talking to Nonie, my cousin and admiring Kloee and patting her on the back when she looked me dead in the eye and said "Watch It!". You can imagine my surprise and then, of course, we all broke into laughter. You see, Kloee had been "taught" to say this to a particular pesky family member. I'm sure Kloee found me pesky in that moment and just reacted naturally.

I was in no way offended. You see, I had first hand experience of the same. My mother taught my Shanna, as a toddler, to tell Papa to "Get Gone" when he was bothering her. One day we were seated in Arby's near the door eating when a gentleman entered. My then adorable 2 year old smiled and waved "Hi!" to the stranger. Charmed by her dimples and friendliness the man approached the table and patted her on the back. Well, apparently she felt he had gotten a little too close. She threw up her hand, as if pushing him away and told the man to "Get Gone!"

As I reflected over these moments, I wondered how often my natural reaction is driven by past experience with no real maturity or truth. The brokenness caused during the traumatic experiences of life developed certain self defense mechanisms. For my own protection, I lived in walls or should I say live within walls that are often hard to break through. When I have not dealt with the real issue, I have held on to the brokenness and thus not learned the truth God so wanted to reveal.

Praise God, I don't have to stay there. Jehovah Rapha is ready, willing and so able to heal me and teach me truth. I don't have to live the victim any more. During those moments God gave meJeremiah 17:14 "Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise." Sadly, I don't always live it, but God gently reminds me through little mouths like Kloee's.

I have issues to deal with and if I will give them to Him, He will open my eyes and show me His truth and how to apply it. Armed with His Word, I can then more appropriately respond to those life moments rather than simply reacting. I want to be so filled with Jesus His way is my natural reaction.

Awed by His mercy and grace,

Arla