Thursday, February 5, 2009

Who do we ask for help when we don't know which way to go??????

Have you ever seen Dora The Explorer? On every episode Dora and Boots need help solving some kind of dilema... So on every episode Dora asks Boots, "Who do we ask for help when we don't know which way to go?" And Boots answers, "THE MAP!"

Well...

I have had several moments with my small children lately where I find myself sitting on the floor wondering what in the world I am supposed to be doing in the situation that I find myself in...

For example... last night... I put the kids to bed... I gave VERY CLEAR instructions... They both acknowledged that they heard my instructions... then ten minutes later

this happened...

We were sitting down stairs and we heard all this ruckus going on upstairs... I went up to find out who the culpprit was and what on earth they were doing and since they made it very clear that they had heard my instructions... my expectations were that they would be QUIET and IN THEIR BEDS!!!

THIS WAS NOT THE CASE!!!! You know what I found when I went upstairs???? Josiah was not only out of his bed but he was casually playing a nice little melody on his piano!!! It was as if what I had told him a mere ten minutes earlier had gone in one ear out the other!! What in the world?? So he got disciplined and put back to bed...

Was that the end of that? Nope, it wasn't!

Five minutes later... Siah is crying upstairs... I go up (AGAIN) and ask him why he is crying? he says that he had a bad dream... then I remind him that he had not even fallen asleep, so how could he of had a bad dream... you know he says to me, "Oh yeah," Like he had an epiphany and realized that, Oh yeah, he really wasn't asleep... Then i said to him, "so you lied to me just to get me to come up stairs?"... His responce to this one was even better... "Yeah, I sure did." ( I should clarify here... His attitude is not snotty, instead it's very matter-of-fact) But still...

What???? "yeah, you sure did"?????
(what am I supposed to say to that?)


When this kind of stuff happens I turn into this Jeckle and Hyde who somehow live simultaneously in me at the same time... part of me thinks the whole situation is hilarious and is trying to keep that smile from creeping across my face... and the other part of me feels five seconds from completely loosing it on the kid who knows without a doubt that he just lied to his mother and doesn't really seem to care that much about it!

So I asked Siah a few more questions just to make sure that he was completely understanding what was going on.

M "Do you know what lying is?
S "yeah, it's when you don't tell the truth."
M " And what happens when you don't tell the truth?"
S "Mommy can't trust me."
M "And do you want mommy to trust you?"
S "Ya."
M "So why did you lie?"
S "I don't know"

He's smart... He knows... I think he cares... but following in the foot steps of his mother, he often finds himself wanting to do his own thing rather than asking the Lord to help him do the right thing!

I know buddy, I'm right there with you... A few weeks back I found myself lying to the checkout lady at Trader Joes.. she offered my kids a little package of nuts and I didn't want them to have the nuts... So I told her that they were allergic to the nuts... THE YARE SO NOT ALLERGIC TO NUTS!!!... For some reason it just felt easier for me to lie than it did to just say, "No thank you."
Dumb huh?

We need to find a way to not be stuck in our sin... I understand Siah's desires and where he is coming from but I love him to much to just let him stay in that sin... And the truth of the matter is that I can guide him and talk to him until i am blue in the face, and i believe with all my heart that those things are necessary, but what he really needs is the work of the Lord in his heart... Apart from the Lord we will always give into sin...

So I have been thinking about Dora's question lately... "Who do we sk for help when we don't know which way to go?" And I am realizing that the answer is, The Holy Spirit... apart from him we will just constantly find ourselves stuck in our flesh.... apart from him we will just continue in our own strength and find ourselves constantly coming up short... it's strange how we can know what to do, we can know the right thing to say... and yet we find ourselves (whether we are 30 or 3) making choices that don't please the Lord and don't bennefit us or anyone around us.

So we have a new plan in our home... each time we find ourselves struggling to do the right thing, we are going to stop and ask the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts and strengthen us to live beyond ourselves and in the grace and the power of the Most High God!!!

All because I am constantly finding myself in situations where I just don't know what to do...