I’ve been in a spiritual slump. Hungry and thirsty for a fresh move from God and in a season of difficult circumstances and pruning, I’ve been tempted to wonder if I had finally out-sinned the Lord’s patience and love for me and my family.
Four days ago on Easter Sunday, I was dreading the day. Weary and worn, the anticipation of disappointment my son might experience when he discovered that the Easter bunny had scaled back this year, was already stealing my joy. And sure enough, what my heart was dreading came to fruition.
I’ve learned that lectures don’t really produce a positive outcome when someone’s flipped their lid, so I reminded myself of that and urged my husband not to go there either. So as I sat with my child in his disappointment, I just reminded him that I understood and that his feelings mattered to me. As he lamented, he had questions. One question led to another and he decided he wanted to know the truth about the Easter bunny. Heartbroken that we were about to move into a different season of child-rearing and with as much transparency as I could offer, I told him the truth. I explained that all these years of excitement of waking up and finding treasures especially chosen for him and feeling known and loved was actually faith…believing deeply in something you couldn’t see with your physical eyes but knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that it exists.
He regretted saying that he wanted to know. We both cried.
Fast forward to today. It’s been a terrible week. The enemy has threatened to destroy so much for us and we are all bone-weary. As we backed out of the garage to go to school this morning, I mentioned something to my son that did not sit well with him. In my own fallen nature, I dove into a lecture. How quickly I forget! 🤦🏼♀️ The more I talked, the more exasperated he became. I realized I needed to stop. So I backed out and we rode to school in silence. Almost there, he asked “Mom, are you mad at me?” And I said, “ No, not at all.”
In the drop-off line, I grabbed his hand and reminded him about our conversation on Sunday when we talked about the Easter bunny and having faith and believing in something we can’t see with our physical eyes. I told him that today we are going to put our faith in God and I’m going to say a quick prayer and ask him to show up for us in a big way today because He says in his Word to ask him for what we need. So I did just that.
Right as I said amen we rounded the corner to the front of the school. Standing there were the players of our high school baseball team greeting students as they got out of the car. If you know my family or my son, you know what a big deal this was for him. I said, LOOK! The high school baseball team is here!!”His eyes lifted, a smile from the deepest part of him appeared on his face, and he exclaimed “YAY!” He jumped out of the car and made a beeline toward that group of boys who will never know that they were a huge answer to our prayers this morning.
I drove away tears flooding my eyes. I heard Him say, Girl, I’ve got you AND your kid who is more MY kid than yours.
God is real. He cares deeply about the things we care about. And He wants us to ask him for the things we need. I think I needed that reminder as much or more than my sweet boy who is just getting started in his journey of faith.
Lord, may we have the eyes to always see just how much you love us.
Four days ago on Easter Sunday, I was dreading the day. Weary and worn, the anticipation of disappointment my son might experience when he discovered that the Easter bunny had scaled back this year, was already stealing my joy. And sure enough, what my heart was dreading came to fruition.
I’ve learned that lectures don’t really produce a positive outcome when someone’s flipped their lid, so I reminded myself of that and urged my husband not to go there either. So as I sat with my child in his disappointment, I just reminded him that I understood and that his feelings mattered to me. As he lamented, he had questions. One question led to another and he decided he wanted to know the truth about the Easter bunny. Heartbroken that we were about to move into a different season of child-rearing and with as much transparency as I could offer, I told him the truth. I explained that all these years of excitement of waking up and finding treasures especially chosen for him and feeling known and loved was actually faith…believing deeply in something you couldn’t see with your physical eyes but knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that it exists.
He regretted saying that he wanted to know. We both cried.
Fast forward to today. It’s been a terrible week. The enemy has threatened to destroy so much for us and we are all bone-weary. As we backed out of the garage to go to school this morning, I mentioned something to my son that did not sit well with him. In my own fallen nature, I dove into a lecture. How quickly I forget! 🤦🏼♀️ The more I talked, the more exasperated he became. I realized I needed to stop. So I backed out and we rode to school in silence. Almost there, he asked “Mom, are you mad at me?” And I said, “ No, not at all.”
In the drop-off line, I grabbed his hand and reminded him about our conversation on Sunday when we talked about the Easter bunny and having faith and believing in something we can’t see with our physical eyes. I told him that today we are going to put our faith in God and I’m going to say a quick prayer and ask him to show up for us in a big way today because He says in his Word to ask him for what we need. So I did just that.
Right as I said amen we rounded the corner to the front of the school. Standing there were the players of our high school baseball team greeting students as they got out of the car. If you know my family or my son, you know what a big deal this was for him. I said, LOOK! The high school baseball team is here!!”His eyes lifted, a smile from the deepest part of him appeared on his face, and he exclaimed “YAY!” He jumped out of the car and made a beeline toward that group of boys who will never know that they were a huge answer to our prayers this morning.
I drove away tears flooding my eyes. I heard Him say, Girl, I’ve got you AND your kid who is more MY kid than yours.
God is real. He cares deeply about the things we care about. And He wants us to ask him for the things we need. I think I needed that reminder as much or more than my sweet boy who is just getting started in his journey of faith.
Lord, may we have the eyes to always see just how much you love us.
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