Reason # 4,386 why 3 year olds are great

The other day my 3 year old son and I were wishing mom a fond farewell as she headed off to do some errands.
He was doing a typical kid thing: he didn't want to go back inside the house, so he was stalling with all his waskally ways.
In this case, he wanted me to sit down on the sidewalk, so he could sit on my lap and wave goodbye to mommy.

Fine.
Car pulls away, time to get up and go inside.

But wait, dad! Let's look at the clouds! (stalling technique #43 in the Kids Book of Parent Manipulation, 1,256th edition)

Now, here's what got me laughing.

He said - as he was looking up, doing the I-see-the-clouds-looking-like-something thing - "Look daddy! Mashed potatoes!"



PostScript: Every kid has something about them that makes you stop, and wonder what really IS going on inside that head. For Mr. 3 year old, it's the fact that I still don't know if he was innocently making the comment, and it turned out to be so lacking in guile that it was funny, or that he knew exactly what he was doing, and the joke was intentional. If it's the latter option, Yipes!

I am not worthy

As I've mentioned lots of times, I have four young sons. My love for them is an ache, not a warm, fuzzy thing. It is a fierce love. I have had the "Mr. T" attitude of protecting them: "I pity the fool who would try to mess with them".

So now, I am left standing here, realizing just how far my puny love falls short.

I read this, and realize, I am not worthy.

My puny love falls short when confronted with the mighty love of God - the depth and strength of that love, as it reaches out from a greiving mother to the man who killed her children, leaves me with no words worthy of that devine moment.

At times like this, when I see just how shallow I am, how far short I fall, I think of a phrase from a Bruce Cockburn song which sums things up in a visually rich metaphor: shipwrecked at the stable door.

Fascinating...

I stumbled across this, and I can't help thinking that a great novel or movie could be made from some of this.

Check this out.

The resting place of Noah's Ark...

A monestary struck by lightning...

In a nearby city, the tomb of Noah...

Jews, Christians, Muslems all with an interest...

There's a story here. Who will tell it?

Abraham's Test

OK, so here's my take on (one possible reason) why God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, and what we can take from it.

God didn't need the test. He is omniscient, he knows everything. He knew Abraham would do it. He wasn't testing Abraham to see if he would.

Abraham needed the test.

Specifically, he needed to know that he was willing to follow God anywhere, and do anything God requested.

Remember, Abraham had a habit of lying to save his skin, trying to short-cut around God to get a child, and generally taking the easy way out of most jams. By this time, he had probably changed, but how did he know he wouldn't bail again when things got tough? God gave Abraham a chance to prove it - to himself.

Abraham walked away from the mountain with a certitude set in stone that he would never run ashamed from God again. He would never lie to anyone to try and save his skin. He had really changed. This was the final proof.

Sometimes I wonder if God doesn't do this to us all - force us to face up to an issue, not because He needs us to, but because we need us to - to show us what we're made of, and what we're capable of. To show us that the change we think we see within us is, in fact, also manifest on the outside.

What do I need to know about myself? At this point, that's between me and God. I know that I am very good at running from conflict, and avoiding issues. I also know that when I do confront things I have been avoiding, things in my life open up.

I need to know what I'm made of.
I don't want to hurt enough to find out.