Thursday, November 11, 2021
This has been a very interesting week of joy and frustration. Disappointment and frustration are a part of life. The question is not how to delete it from our lives, that just isn’t going to happen as long as we breathe on this earth. No. The question is; how do we deal with the disappointment and frustration in our lives?
This reminds me of a humorous situation when I was a Cubbies (AWANA) teacher. I want to share that with you now.
Four pairs of little eyes looked up at me as I asked the question in Cubbies, “Who’s having a good day?”
Lizzie and Silas immediately responded, with enthusiasm, “A good day!” Lizzy even emphasized it with a fist in the air.
“Abel? Weston?”
Abel didn’t respond. Weston gave me the look as if he had put both hands on his hips and muttered, “A bad day!”
Weston’s response was no surprise as he was upset with me at the moment. He had wanted to remain in a chair instead of sitting on the carpet, like the others, for reasons only he knew. When I asked him to join the others on the carpet he explained, as he fiddled with a bandage on his finger, “If I sit on the carpet, it will rub against my bandage and my bandage will come off.” He was practically tearing it off as he spoke!
“Weston, that is the most creative excuse I have ever heard, but I still want you to join the others on the carpet,” I replied. He obliged, totally unhappy about it.
“So…” I looked over the group, trying not to laugh. “We have two who are having a great day, one who is having a bad day, and one who is undecided, unless Abel, you have made up your mind. Abel, are you having a good day or a bad day?”
He glanced up at me then looked down at the carpet without a response.
“Ok, he is still undecided. Hopefully that will change during AWANA.”
In spite of his determination to have a bad day, Weston was very talkative and attentive during club, more so than he has been for many weeks. Furthermore, he had good answers to the questions. If I had let him, he would have answered every question, but Lizzy also wanted to be a part of the discussion. It was no surprise the other two kept quiet.
Later, during snack time, they all were pretty talkative. We went over the memory verse and one by one. Without prompting, each took a turn and said the verse perfectly. That was a first!
While sitting there, Abel started kicking me. It was unintentional so I made a comment and he quickly stopped. What happened next was unexpected. Lizzie proceeded to kick me… purposely.
“Lizzy…” I looked knowingly at her and she stopped. “Lizzy, when Abel was kicking me, he didn’t realize it, so it was an accident. When you kicked me, you knew it, so, it was on purpose. Was that being nice?”
She didn’t answer nor did she look away. It was a defiant look from my “sweet, bundle of joy!”
“Lizzy, you were being mean. Are we supposed to be mean?”
“No.”
“What should you say if you are mean to someone?”
“Sorry.” The word bounced off her tongue quickly but not necessarily contritely.
“Are you sorry?”
A look of surprise flickered passed her eyes. She hadn’t expected me to call her on it. Instead of answering, she smiled. What a smile.
Yes, even the sweetest child is born into sin. We know this is true because of Psalm 51:5: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Thus, we cannot say we have never sinned. Many people do. Nor can we use this as an excuse to sin. “I have a sinful nature and can’t help myself!” Many do that too.
Romans 6:12-14 exhorts us, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” We are not to give in to sin. We have a choice, every time we are confronted with temptation to do wrong. God wants us to chose to do what is right. Furthermore, He gives us grace to do so.
How is your day going?
Blessings, Mari
