Mondays: Angie and Ruth
Tuesdays: Caleb and MarthaWednesdays: Diana and Lolis
Thursdays: Martita and JosiahFridays: Jocelin and Fidel
Ana and Daniel don't get specific one-on-one time with me, yet, because they get more time alone with me as I get them ready each morning, do baths and get them ready for bed at night.
During each child's time they choose the activity that we will do together. During a single week activities can range from soccer games to playing with Barbies, from bike riding to laying on the bed and chatting, and from building robots to coloring.
Last Monday, after supper, Angie and I prepared to spend our time together. She asked me if I wanted my hair trimmed. She is a good hairstylist, and I had been meaning to have her trim my hair for some time, so I said: "Sure!" Well, that little trim turned into a full half hour visit at Angie's Spa right in her bedroom! It was great! I got my hair cut and braided, my toenails painted and an incredible face and neck massage! The whole time we chatted, laughed and enjoyed one another's company.
Well, while I was enjoying the pampering, Ruth came into the bedroom, anxious for her time with Mom to start! She observed closely as Angie lathered her hands with lotion and continued my face and neck massage. Ruth noticed my newly painted shiny toenails and asked if she could paint my nails during our time together. So, Angie's time with me drew to a close and Ruth gladly took over! Let's just say that the two spa experiences were slightly unique!
First difference? Ruth decided that the fingernails on one hand should be blue and the nails on the other hand should be a deep purple. "A rainbow!"
Then, Ruth grabbed the lotion, lathered it onto her hands and continued my face and neck massage. She had watched Angie massage around my eyes and decided to do the same. The difference? Ruth asked me to close my eyes, filled her hands with lotion and started massaging my eyes! I gently, yet quickly, asked her to stop, as my eyes were going to start stinging soon if she didn't get the lotion off my eyelids! With my eyes still closed (to prevent the lotion from getting in my eyes), I asked her to please wipe off the lotion from my eyelids. There was a moment of silence and she sheepishly continued: "Mom, I can't! My hands are filled with lotion!" That crisis past, we enjoyed the rest of our time together!
Thinking back on my Monday evening adventures, I was reminded of our relationship with the Lord! Ruth wanted so much to be like Angie, to do the same things as Angie, just like Angie does them! She tried her very best, but while her attempts resembled Angie's efforts, the results were not quite as effective. We are much the same.
We see our Heavenly Father through His Word and want so much to be like Him. We try our best, but our efforts seem so feeble and our results barely reflect the perfection of our Lord! His perfect love vs. our selfish attempts at the same! His holiness vs. our constant struggle with temptation and sin! His wisdom vs. our limited understanding! His strength vs. our weakness!
Yet, despite the fact that Ruth's attempts paled in comparison to Angie's expertise, Ruth will keep trying! She will spend time with Angie: watching her, listening to her, learning from her and, someday, I will be able to visit Ruth's Spa and come out with matching nails and eyes that aren't stinging from excess lotion! Like Paul reminds us in Philippians 3:12-14, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
If I concentrate on all the bad decisions and missteps I have taken in life, much like Ruth's mispainted fingernails, or if I concentrate on all the eyes that I have made sting with an excess of critical words, like the excess of lotion on Ruth's hands, I will become so down and distressed that I will not be able to press forward toward the goal that God has set before me - becoming like Him! "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." (Romans 8:29)
Just as I enjoyed my multi-colored nails and the feeling of Ruth's little hands massaging my neck, so our Heavenly Father rejoices in our daily hunger and desire to be more like Him! As we spend more time with Him in prayer, reading His Word and stepping out in faith to obey Him, we will become more and more like Him and people will no longer say: "Look at Julie!" They will say: "Look at Jesus in Julie!" and, eventually, simply, "Look at Jesus!"
May we step forward in the freedom found in His perfect love! His grace, mercy and forgiveness are big enough to take care of some mispainted nails and excess lotion as we learn to be more like Him and have the privilege of giving this world a makeover!
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