Of course, she was exactly what my daughter needed that morning to relieve the tenseness.
Isn’t it amazing what can totally change your mood for the day? Even a smile from a baby who can’t speak can change the mood of a parent.
Sometimes parents look so forward to the time their kids will leave the nest and it will be just the two of them. They enjoy the solitude for awhile and then they begin to miss having their kids around.
When they were growing up, did you ever notice how much closer you felt to your child when it was just the two of you? Another thing I have noticed is that children tend to open up and speak of their problems or wishes when they think they have your undivided attention. It seems you develop a deeper closeness to one another after you have shared those one-on-one conversations.
You know, I feel pretty sure God feels the same way with us, when he has our attention fully and it is “just the two of us.” After all, we are his children. Unfortunately, so often, when we give him our whole attention it is usually during times of a crisis. How often do we remember to thank him once our prayers have been answered?
As I write this, I am reminded of my mom. Whenever my family would get ready to go on a trip, she would make out a paper with the names of each member of my family and our ages, where we lived and left from home and where we would be travelling. She would tape this on the dashboard of our car on the passenger side, and when I was a child, I asked her one day why she did this and she said, just in case we have an accident, someone could identify us and get help for us. I always thought that was a great idea.
However, another thing she always did as we pulled out of our driveway was say a prayer aloud asking God to give us a safe trip and no harm come to us or bad luck. Then, as we pulled back into that same driveway on our return, I never remember her forgetting to thank God for our safe return. This was also said aloud.
I began to think of how many times we leave our homes in a week’s time and how often, if any, do we thank God for our safe return? Don’t we take a lot for granted?
I am looking so forward to Christmas this year. Instead of thinking about what we didn’t get for Christmas, let’s all think of what we have.
I hope everyone will make plans to spend special time alone with your family, maybe some friends and especially God with “just the two of you” either at Christmas or in the new year.
