"Bigger"

As a parent, I’ve learned many lessons from my four children. I think there is a lot we can all learn from kids of all shapes and sizes—those who speak clearly and those who can't...

"If you love [only] those who love you, what credit is that to you?”
(Luke 6:32a, The Bible)

"BIGGER"

Jacob stands at the school doors peering out at the playground. His classmates play on the gleaming blue and yellow climbing equipment. Jacob looks right; then left. He doesn't see anyone. Maybe he can make it.

Five steps from the doorway Tyler and his gang jumped in front of him. They must have been hiding around the corner. Oh, no. He groaned.

He’d sat next to Tyler his first day on the bus. Things were fine until he opened his mouth. Jacob had a speech impediment, and Tyler had laughed. “You sound like a baby!” he said. He’d been picking on Jacob ever since.

“Hello, Jakey,” Tyler jeers, as his friends jostle each other. “Did your mommy remember to put your diaper on this morning? Wouldn't want you to have an accident!”

“I don't weah diapahs, Tylah!” Jacob clenched his fists. Angry tears pooled in his eyes. .

“He doesn't weah diapahs. Did you hear that guys?” The fifth-grade boys snicker. “Maybe you should stay home until you're bigger, Jacob. You should be in play school, not grade one!”

Jacob hangs his head. He swipes tears away with his jacket sleeve and stomps back to the school doors. Tyler and his crew saunter away, laughing and slapping each other's backs.

Jacob watches everyone play as he huddles by the doors. Maybe I should be like David and use my slingshot. That would shut him up! All afternoon, Jacob tried to think of ways he could get Tyler to stop being so mean.

The next day, school opens with prayer requests. “Can you pray for my brother Tyler?” Ricky asked. “He got hit by a car. He’s in the hospital with a broken leg and he’s waiting to have an operation.” Jacob was shocked.

His thoughts play tug-of-war the whole day: Did I make Tyler get hurt just by wishing it? Should I be happy or sad? What should I do? The day takes forever to end.

When Jacob gets home, he slams the front door. He called, “Mom? Mom, wheyah ah you? I have to go to the hospital! Tylah is theyah. I need to see him.”

“I thought Tyler was the one who's been bullying you.”

“He is. That doesn't mean I don't want to see him. I want to do the 'do to others' thing. Can I, Mom?”

Mom's forehead wrinkles. "I'll take you after supper. Can you wait until then?”

Taking a deep breath of the garlic-laced air, Jacobs sighs. “Okay.”

Later that evening, Jacob shuffles into Tyler's hospital room. The first thing he sees are Tyler's feet. “Hi, Tylah. Look how puhple youah toes ah!”

“Jakey?” Tyler squeaks, “I mean, Jacob? What are you doing here?” He paused. “Did you come to say you’re glad I'm in the hospital?”

“No! I wanted you to stop being mean, not get huht. I hope youah leg gets bettah soon.”

“Thanks, Jacob. Uh--I should be back at school next week, but I think I'll be in a cast for a while.”

“I hope it's off befoah summah. You'll get a funny tan if it isn't!”

“I know,” Tyler says, chuckling. “Hey, it looks like your mom is ready to leave. I...um...I guess I'll see you at school.”

Smiling hugely, Jacob high-fives Tyler and skips out of the room. He may only be six, but he sure feels bigger!

---

Cutting the Strings

Our Heavenly Father is so unconditional in His love for us, that He attaches no strings. None.

Let that sink in...

Because we on the other hand, are so conditioned to attach something.

We play love like a marionette.

We base love on actions and reactions.

But God is God. And He is good.

Nothing we do or don't do adds to His devotion.

Can you grasp that, today?

Your moral behaviour adds nothing, and your immoral behaviour takes nothing away.

Your love and affection for God adds nothing to His love and affection for you, and your lack of it takes nothing away.

His love is unconditional. No strings attached.

It's time we cut off the lies in our lives. The ones that bind up truth.

We hear them being whispered, sneaky and quiet...

"God can't love you, you're a failure"

"God can't love you, you're an addict"

"God can't love you, you have nothing to offer"

But the truth is your worth is not based on your abilities to produce anything.

There is nothing we can do to earn the love of God. It simply is.

Let the grace of God wrap itself around you, today.

Grace cuts the strings.

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

(1 John 4:10)

An Acquired Taste

Mothers everywhere know that whiny, annoying declaration of defiance their kids make while dissecting their food. They use their forks and inspect every bite on their plate, making sure it isn't contaminated by some hated vegetable.

I used to be that way about onions. If there was an onion on my plate, I was going to find it and I was not going to eat it. If I smelt onions, tasted onions, or saw onions being used in the cooking, then by my standards, the food was unfit.

Take heart, dear mothers out there. This blog was inspired by the soup that I made for myself this afternoon! When I put down the wooden spoon and grabbed the freshly chopped onions to throw into the steamy lunch, I thought about one thing: an acquired taste.

I have learned to like onions, along with other things like celery and peas. Over the past year my diet has become revolutionized; as chocolate, cookies, chips, pizza, and fats or oils of any sort were thrown out the door along with seventy-five pounds of baggage I used to carry around. I missed the junk food at first, but it's been a year and I no longer find the majority of it appealing. The things I do find appealing - fruit smoothies, vanilla yogurt - are the very things I would once turn my nose up at.

An acquired taste. After several mouths of very strict discipline, my tastes have changed.

What if we take my situation, but substitute onions for church?

Some of us really don't like church, especially at first. We don't like getting up early. We feel we don't belong. We're bored in the pews. After a week or two, we decide to sleep in and give up on church for a while.

Church can be an acquired taste, and I'm not kidding. At first, it might not be appealing. But if we continuously go, make a commitment, and really make an effort to move closer to God through it, there will come a time when church will be enjoyable. There will come a time when getting up on Sunday morning doesn't feel like such a chore.

It might take a while. My hate for onions wasn't easily overcome. But it was worth it for me to change my eating habits. How much more worth it would it be to get closer to God, who made and cares for us, and to get closer to his people?

It's worth a shot, isn't it?