Saturday, January 22, 2005
Romans 8:15-16
This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children.
This last week of work has reminded me of how God might look at us sometimes.
Monday through Wednesday the children played well together. Fights that would normally happen didn't. It brought proud sighs of relief. The children experienced a breakthrough in cooperative play. They were also listening well to direction.
Then came Thursday morning. Running, screaming, arguing, not listening (I mean them, not me). You know...full moon werewolf behaviour. It made me think that what happened earlier in the week was a hiccup in the universe of my daycare. But this morning, though there were some occasional tears and short tantrums, the children were considerate, responsive,and truly enjoyed being with each other. They're growing up.
I realize that human attributes can't totally be used to portray God, but that's what speaks to me most, so for this next part I will use them.
I can picture God looking at us individually and corporately. In my "vision" I see Him smiling sometimes and thinking "this is amazing". They're following my commands to love each other, and listening to my instructions. They're giving of themselves to one another. They're not being selfish. Then Thursday morning hits and He sees us running around wildly, ignoring the lessons that are best for our health, refusing to play nice. I can picture Him shaking His head. But He's not surprised, because He created us and He knows us. He knows our flaws and He knows our strengths. The next day id Friday. Sometimes we don't get our way with another person (or even with God) and we have a short temper tantrum. But not as long or as loud as we "usually" do. He smiles. We're growing up. Sometimes it takes a while to mature. Sometimes we have setbacks. But He keeps instructing us and demonstrating for us how to become more mature.
Hey...give me that dump truck. I had it first!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This last week of work has reminded me of how God might look at us sometimes.
Monday through Wednesday the children played well together. Fights that would normally happen didn't. It brought proud sighs of relief. The children experienced a breakthrough in cooperative play. They were also listening well to direction.
Then came Thursday morning. Running, screaming, arguing, not listening (I mean them, not me). You know...full moon werewolf behaviour. It made me think that what happened earlier in the week was a hiccup in the universe of my daycare. But this morning, though there were some occasional tears and short tantrums, the children were considerate, responsive,and truly enjoyed being with each other. They're growing up.
I realize that human attributes can't totally be used to portray God, but that's what speaks to me most, so for this next part I will use them.
I can picture God looking at us individually and corporately. In my "vision" I see Him smiling sometimes and thinking "this is amazing". They're following my commands to love each other, and listening to my instructions. They're giving of themselves to one another. They're not being selfish. Then Thursday morning hits and He sees us running around wildly, ignoring the lessons that are best for our health, refusing to play nice. I can picture Him shaking His head. But He's not surprised, because He created us and He knows us. He knows our flaws and He knows our strengths. The next day id Friday. Sometimes we don't get our way with another person (or even with God) and we have a short temper tantrum. But not as long or as loud as we "usually" do. He smiles. We're growing up. Sometimes it takes a while to mature. Sometimes we have setbacks. But He keeps instructing us and demonstrating for us how to become more mature.
Hey...give me that dump truck. I had it first!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
// posted by Annette @ 11:00 a.m. 