Last Christmas while I was shopping with my family, our youngest daughter Mackenzie decided to spontaneously leap out of her stroller for an afternoon jog through the very crowded mall. At first I stood there in total disbelief at what just happened; it was almost surreal...I mean, even for a two-year-old, who just gets up and starts running for no reason with absolutely no warnings or signs.
For a few brief seconds it was silent like in a movie scene where a bomb goes off real close to someone and they can't hear anything and then slowly the volume comes back. Mine came back with my wife's voice asking me what the heck I was doing just standing there looking at an empty stroller.
So I start running.
Bobbing and weaving, ducking and jumping...I have to admit, it was kind of thrilling. I felt like I was invincible, nothing could stop me or intimidate me. I feared nothing. My goal was recapturing Mackenzie, end of story.
I finally did corner her in a store, or so I thought. After making some brief eye contact she dashed into the store's back office, you heard me. For those of you who don't have kids you might not be familiar with some of the "Unspoken Biggest Embarrassments List" of parenting. When your kid goes in the "back room" of a store, let's just say it's up there at the top. As I step into the small, low-lit room I see little Mack holding the biggest, sharpest pair of scissors I've ever seen. And she's grinning from ear to ear like she finally found what she was looking for, running for. Normal kids don't do this kind of stuff. My wife and I have just come to accept that our little Mack is special, and we wouldn't change one bit of her. She keeps us alive and ready for anything.
I can't help to think that maybe God encouraged her to run that day. Maybe He was whispering in her ear, just go for it. I'll take care of you - and dad for that matter. God teaches me so much through my kids, more than I ever imagined. They are truly a treasure that I would seek the ends of the world to recover if lost.
I think God is seeking out more Mackenzies in the world - those who won't run from the scissors but toward them. Did you ever read John 15? If you haven't lately, you need to. It's really good. It talks about how vitally important it is for us to stay close enough to God so that He's able to prune us. He relates us and our relationship to Him to a grapevine. We are the branches, Jesus is the vine, and God is the gardener. The trick to getting a great harvest of grapes from your vine is cutting away the branches that aren't producing and pruning the ones that are. It's through this process that offers the grapes the best chance to grow to their full potential.
The important thing to remember here is that it's not Jimbo the third doing the cutting, it's God. The same God who said He's for us and not against us. The same God who said he loves us so much that we'll never be able to fully comprehend or understand it. The same God who said that He knew us before a dot ever showed up on the ultrasound. And we're attached to Jesus who has given us everything to stay connected. All we need to do is accept it, believe it, and live like it's true.
Bottom line: God has the scissors, and we need to let Him do his job so that we can become the best and juiciest grapes. We can trust God, the One who holds all of this in the palm of his hand.
We tend to run from pain don't we? It's the natural thing to do. But we need to get over it, because many times it's only from the pain that the explosion of growth can happen. Pain is like a catalyst for change and urgency and movement.
So when you aren't getting your prayers answered just the way you think they should or in the time frame you allotted, what do you do? Do you stay still so the Gardener can do what he does best or do you sway a little to the left? If you were to ever lose your job or get cancer, will you just drop off the vine and roll away or will you cling tighter, move closer to the blades? The likelihood of us dropping or staying put lies in what we've been doing and allowing to that point.
I encourage you today, to get up and just run...right to the scissors.
I dedicate this post to my wild and crazy Mackenzie who has shown me that sometimes I need to occasionally throw caution to the wind and not let fear keep me in my stroller.
(At the time that I finished my last proof read, Mackenzie asked me if she could have some grapes. God, you are so good.)
For a few brief seconds it was silent like in a movie scene where a bomb goes off real close to someone and they can't hear anything and then slowly the volume comes back. Mine came back with my wife's voice asking me what the heck I was doing just standing there looking at an empty stroller.
So I start running.
Bobbing and weaving, ducking and jumping...I have to admit, it was kind of thrilling. I felt like I was invincible, nothing could stop me or intimidate me. I feared nothing. My goal was recapturing Mackenzie, end of story.
I finally did corner her in a store, or so I thought. After making some brief eye contact she dashed into the store's back office, you heard me. For those of you who don't have kids you might not be familiar with some of the "Unspoken Biggest Embarrassments List" of parenting. When your kid goes in the "back room" of a store, let's just say it's up there at the top. As I step into the small, low-lit room I see little Mack holding the biggest, sharpest pair of scissors I've ever seen. And she's grinning from ear to ear like she finally found what she was looking for, running for. Normal kids don't do this kind of stuff. My wife and I have just come to accept that our little Mack is special, and we wouldn't change one bit of her. She keeps us alive and ready for anything.
I can't help to think that maybe God encouraged her to run that day. Maybe He was whispering in her ear, just go for it. I'll take care of you - and dad for that matter. God teaches me so much through my kids, more than I ever imagined. They are truly a treasure that I would seek the ends of the world to recover if lost.
I think God is seeking out more Mackenzies in the world - those who won't run from the scissors but toward them. Did you ever read John 15? If you haven't lately, you need to. It's really good. It talks about how vitally important it is for us to stay close enough to God so that He's able to prune us. He relates us and our relationship to Him to a grapevine. We are the branches, Jesus is the vine, and God is the gardener. The trick to getting a great harvest of grapes from your vine is cutting away the branches that aren't producing and pruning the ones that are. It's through this process that offers the grapes the best chance to grow to their full potential.
The important thing to remember here is that it's not Jimbo the third doing the cutting, it's God. The same God who said He's for us and not against us. The same God who said he loves us so much that we'll never be able to fully comprehend or understand it. The same God who said that He knew us before a dot ever showed up on the ultrasound. And we're attached to Jesus who has given us everything to stay connected. All we need to do is accept it, believe it, and live like it's true.
Bottom line: God has the scissors, and we need to let Him do his job so that we can become the best and juiciest grapes. We can trust God, the One who holds all of this in the palm of his hand.
We tend to run from pain don't we? It's the natural thing to do. But we need to get over it, because many times it's only from the pain that the explosion of growth can happen. Pain is like a catalyst for change and urgency and movement.
So when you aren't getting your prayers answered just the way you think they should or in the time frame you allotted, what do you do? Do you stay still so the Gardener can do what he does best or do you sway a little to the left? If you were to ever lose your job or get cancer, will you just drop off the vine and roll away or will you cling tighter, move closer to the blades? The likelihood of us dropping or staying put lies in what we've been doing and allowing to that point.
I encourage you today, to get up and just run...right to the scissors.
I dedicate this post to my wild and crazy Mackenzie who has shown me that sometimes I need to occasionally throw caution to the wind and not let fear keep me in my stroller.
(At the time that I finished my last proof read, Mackenzie asked me if she could have some grapes. God, you are so good.)
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