Who is this guy and who does He think He is?

Otherwise know as, gee thanks Jesus, I needed conviction for breakfast this morning.

This morning I read the story of the blind man in John 9; the one where, on the Sabbath, Jesus made mud with his spit and slapped on the guy's face, then told him to go wash it off.  (Kinda gives new meaning to, eh, throw some dirt on it, you'll be fine).  After this happens, the man's neighbors go and turn him into the Pharisees (thanks ya'll, I mean really...).  And of course the Pharisees want to know what happened, they drag the guys parents in to verify that their child was, in fact, blind at birth.  The parents answer yes, but they're so afraid of being kicked out of the synagogue they kind of throw their hands up and say, 'hey don't question us, ask our son, he's old enough to speak for himself.'

Don't we still do that to this day?  Believers, all of us, have at one point or another said, 'not me, not me, ask this person, they know!'  Think about it, we (myself very much included) are so afraid of rocking the boat sometimes that we miss out on the fact that Jesus just opened the eyes of our son, metaphorically speaking.

 Right now in our home we are fixing to begin planning for our new homeschool year and trying to decide whether or not to go in a new direction as far as our curriculum.  It's different from the mainly traditional stuff we have been doing, but it could be great.  It has the potential to force us out of our box.  I know this is probably insignificant in the grand scheme of things but it could be great. 

But it's different, in the same way Jesus is different.  And when the parents were paralyzed with fear, the son that had been blind answered the Pharisees, "Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." (John 9:25)  Then, after he was booted out of the synagogue, Jesus found him, don't miss that-Jesus found him, and asked if he believed in the Son of Man.  The blind man, that could now see said "Lord, I believe.' And he worshipped Him." v.35

Lord, I believe

Don't use your brother's brush to clean the bathtub

Being a parent is hard!!  I find myself saying things I never in my life thought I would say.  Things like, "No, you may not use your baby brother as a football."

"Quit licking the wall; quit licking your sister; quit licking the dog; quit licking the playground; quit licking me; FOR THE LOVE OF ALL QUIT LICKING YOUR SISTER!"  You get the picture...  Or things like, "don't call your sister shake a booty."
"Quit rolling your little brother and sister into burritos.  No they don't like it; that's why they're crying."
"Pull your pants up, no one wants to see your butt."
"Don't wipe your boogers on my face, your sister's face, your brother's face, et cetera."  I mean really?  In what social situation is it okay to wipe boogers on someone?!

I never in my wildest dreams thought I would have to have a serious conversation, with a child approaching 10, about why it is not appropriate to try to breastfeed.  Maybe bottle feeding gave her issues, who knows?  Or to watch that same child push their sister, sees you watch them push their sister, and still denies pushing their sister.

Also, the number of times I have to repeat myself is astounding,
"take out the trash."
"What?"
"Take out the trash."
"What?"
Grrrr....."TAKE OUT the trash!"
"Geez, I don't understand why you are so upset Mom; I'm taking out the trash."

My favorite is when they say, "I heard you the first time."  You know, after the third or fourth time.

See that face?  Yeah he's adorable, even when I barely made it to the bathroom in time to stop him from throwing a dictionary in the toilet.  He's also adorable when he's ripping out handfuls of his sister's hair, or when he's stomping his feet, screeching, because I won't let him stick forks in the dog's eye.  How on earth did this child even get a fork???

Don't get me wrong, I would not change one second of this life we have been called to.  But ya'll, it's hard.  There is probably a spiritual lesson to be learned in all of this; I mean, God has probably told us to quit licking things a time or two and we just didn't listen.  But right now?  Right now I'm not trying to hear all that; I just want a minute to breathe!  These kids are amazing and wonderful and so, so funny!!  But I'm exhausted!  

Until next time, don't use your brother's brush to clean the bathtub.

And Yet

In the Old Testament there are numerous examples of various nations (think Philistine, Ammorites, Moabites, etc.) that are confronted with the God of the Israelites, and become fearful.

See, word travels fast when you're hanging with the Guy that parts seas and sends plagues.  And yet, did they ever stop and think, hmm, maybe we're serving the wrong gods?  Even when they honored the God of the Israelites, they never forsook their own gods to follow Him.  King Darius even made a decree in Daniel chapter 6 that "all the dominion of my kingdom men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel; For He is the living God and enduring forever, And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, And His dominion will be forever." (v.26).  History tells us that the Median never brought the Hebrew faith to the world when they took over the Babylonian empire, why not?  The ancient peoples of the Middle East had seen God do great and wondrous things for His people; even when God took the hedge of protection away and let His people fail, there were still wondrous things going on that couldn't be denied.  And yet they still chose to follow idols.

Even in today's modern age, Christians bear witness the the Good News of the resurrection of Christ, and yet....  And yet, two words that can mean the difference between life and death.  I believe, and yet I follow the gods of this world when I choose the easy path.  When I choose to force my will because it's faster, more efficient.  And yet, God still calls.  And yet, God still loves.  And yet, God still lives.

Redemption is a beautiful thing.  Oh but for the grace of God, the Holy One of Israel.  One of the verses from the well known "Roman road to salvation" is Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."  You see beloved, God knows how messed up we are; He knows that we often fail and chase idols; and yet He loves us anyway.  The Creator God created you, created me, and He wants you back.  He just wants to love you.  My prayer is that you know that, and that you know Truth.