Quote from Forum Archives on January 5, 2001, 9:23 am

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

This story is so familiar to me that I had to share it with you
today. The most current memory I have is with my six year old
son and his strong-willed actions. But when I think about it
more carefully, I can see my own willful actions in this very
story, even as an adult.

Do you think, just because we are not 2 years old anymore, and we
don't go "Uh, uh, uh..." every time we don't get our way, that
we, as adults, aren' different than our children are? The more I
look at things, now seeing them clearly with three children in my
household, the more I see that I have acted the very same way.

The only thing that has happened, (and I praise God every day for
it) is that I am finally beginning to see and appreciate the ways
I have been and the things I have done. Gradually, God has
opened my eyes. --- not too quickly - He has been very gracious
to me, allowing me to open my eyes slowly, so the light and the
reality of the situations would not completely overwhelm me.
What a patient, kind, loving God we have!

Dear Lord,

How I thank You for Your patience in dealing with me, hollering,
impatient, complaining child that I have been. What a gracious
Father You have been in response to me. Help me now, as an
earthly father, to show the kind of love and patience that You
have shown to me. I cannot even imagine what challenges my
wonderful children are going to put before me today or in the
week ahead, but I do know that You teach me each day, even
through them!

Thank You for my family, Lord. What a treasure they are to me!
What an example they are, to remind me of Your attributes of
patience, grace, kindness, and forgiveness, and Your gentle,
leading ways.

Please help those who are hurting today, for whatever reason.
Bring peace and healing to broken relationships. Bring physical
healing and comfort to those in pain. Bring patience to those
who wait. Teach each one of us to wait upon You, that we may
take on Your character, and become the very essence of You: Love.
Amen.

Brother Brian

The Intersection of Faith and Life

Daily Guideposts

Acts 3:19 (NIV)
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped
out...

My son John was dawdling again, and I was getting impatient.
We needed to be at the subway soon if we wanted to be on
time for church. But the dead leaves and dry sticks at the
corner of the street were too fascinating to pass by
quickly.

"John, let's go," I said, reaching down to take his hand.

"No, I want to play!" John answered, avoiding my grasp.

"Now, John." I started to pull him toward me.

"No! No! No!" John shouted. He broke away from me and ran
toward his mother and his sisters, halfway down the block.
Julia turned to see what was going on; one-year-old Mary,
snug in the backpack, peered over her mother's shoulder and
smiled at the commotion. "Come on, John!" five-year-old
Elizabeth shouted encouragingly.

When I caught up with him, he was crying. He knew he had
done something wrong and was trying to figure out a way to
make it better. "Daddy, I have to go back to the corner," he
said between sobs. Then he turned and started running back
to where things had started to go wrong.

For the last few weeks, this has been a pattern for John:
When he misbehaves or makes a mistake, he wants to retrace
his steps to the place where the trouble started and begin
again from there.

I understand what John is trying to do. When I was a boy, I
hoped someone would invent a time machine that would take me
back to the point just before I'd talked back to my mother
or ignored my homework or been rude to Aunt Bess. But life
doesn't work like that; when I do wrong, I can't run the
film backward and play the scene again. I've got to face up
to what I've done, say I'm sorry and go forward from there.
It's a hard lesson for a three-year-old to learn, and even
now, when I'm all grown up, it's a hard lesson for me, too.

Prayer:

Lord, help me to make a new beginning by acknowledging, not
evading, the mistakes I've made.

--Andrew Attaway

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=====
--
Brian Masinick, "The Mas", mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/
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