Don’t you sometimes feel like a broken record?

(Do kids even know what records are anymore?)

It seems like I spend most of my time saying the same thing over and over again.

be nice

stop fighting

yes, you can do this

yes, you do need help with this

no, you can not have that… do that… take that…

It’s exhausting and I wonder why they don’t just get it the first time (or the seventh).  Why won’t they just listen?  Learn from me?  Do what I ask them to do?  I, after all, have been here longer… I know more… I love them more than they know… I have their best interests at heart.  I can see the mistakes they make… and I know where these mistakes will take them.

to sadness

to frustration

to confusion

to discontent

to trouble

If they would only listen the first time.

I read something.  The thought of it wouldn’t leave my mind.  Then I began to pay attention…

Watch the kind of people God brings around you, and you will be humiliated to find that this is His way of revealing to you the kind of person you have been to Him.  Now, He says, exhibit to that one exactly what I have shown to you.

Oswald Chambers

I began to pay attention… I found the people around me… six children!  I have been like 6 children to God… sigh.  Not one, or two, but six little children who are convinced that they know the way… bound and determined to do it their way.  Oh, boy.

I have been this.  To God.

I can do this by myself

I don’t want to do that

Why should I be nice?  Do you know what that person did?

I need (read… want) this, that, and that other thing, too

I will stop fighting when I win… I am right, you know

Humiliating is right.  I have behaved just like six young children.

I imagine my own words mirror His…

Why won’t they just listen?  Learn from Me?  Do what I ask them to do?  I, after all, have been here longer… I know more… I love them more than they know… I have their best interests at heart.  I can see the mistakes they make… and I know where these mistakes will take them.

Nothing will humble you more than seeing your own behavior embodied in a child, right in front of your eyes.

Then, a light… a child comes to me

I want to give Myrlande a gift

Is this a lot of money where she lives?

My daughter, only 9-years-old, thinks of her Compassion sister.  My heart swells.  The beauty, the joy… in the giving.  Maybe, this is something she listened to the first time.  Maybe, the opening of my eyes… have opened theirs a little bit more.

My baby, grabbing mama fingers, pulls herself up to take first steps.  Peels of laughter, squeals coming from this blue-eyed doll.  One.  Step.  At.  A.  Time.  Pure joy in her accomplishment.  This little one, knowing the strength comes from the hand that steadies her… as she ventures forward on her two feet.  Something I can learn from this little one right in front of me.

taking the Hand of strength as I venture forward on my two feet

The awareness.  Perhaps, the awareness of what you see in front of you, points back to your own ways.  The awareness is the first step in peeling just a few more scales from these eyes… revealing nuggets of wisdom.  Revealing… just one more reason to look around, just one more reason… to look Up.

John 13:14-15

Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.  I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.