The Father's Arms
Life with three small children, age’s two to six, can sometimes be hectic. Our days typically consist of school work, play dates, parks, and splash pads. But at 4:00 pm a mental alarm clock goes off in my head and I suddenly notice every room has toys in it, there are dishes still piled in the sink, and the laundry is still calling me to fold it.
Franticly, I will delegate a room to each of my children so the house doesn’t look like a daycare exploded in it when my husband comes home.
But, when I ask my children to pick up and care for what belongs to them, my six year old usually says, “BY MYSELF!?”, my four year old usually says that he is tired as he crawls under his blanket, and my two year old will usually say “OK!” but actually does nothing at all.
Most days are full of fun! But when 4:00 pm rolls around all of a sudden, “Life is unfair,” and, “No way, I can’t do that!” rolls off their cute little tongues.
Somehow, I manage to quickly prepare dinner, clean up the kitchen and fold a load of wrinkled clean clothes and now here I am telling my kids again, “Anything that’s left on the floor goes in a trash bag…”
After I follow them around, pointing out each toy individually to pick up, I know that it’s good for them. I know it is preparing them to do the things the Lord has asked them to do, even when they don’t want to.
As a mom it’s hard because I want their life to be easy and full of fun. But I know deep down in my heart that doing everything for them would be an injustice to their future success and even their future wives. :)
Life with the Lord is full of fun and excitement like splash pads and play dates but it’s also full of responsibility and doing hard things. It’s full of risks and rewards, mountains and valleys.
When my husband comes home from work and the kids run to him screaming with excitement, they don’t really know what he does at work all day. They don’t understand what life is like out there in the real world yet. They don’t know how committed he is and the integrity he pours into every area of his life.
I am the one that is going to mold character into their lives by making them clean up after themselves, brush their teeth and make their beds daily. But he’s the guy that is going to model perseverance and determination in their lives by showing them to never quit even when it’s hard.
I love how the Lord uses things in this world to reflect His kingdom principles. We have a father on earth but we also have a perfect Father in Heaven that is cheering us on, asking us to do really hard things and asking us to stick it out even when we want to quit. He promises that he will never leave us or turn his back on us. He promises us that he will wipe all our tears and hold us in His arms.
We play hard all day and we work hard all day only to be met with our Dad’s loving arms wide open telling us that he is proud of our work. He’s proud that we are brave and that we are doing things that make us uncomfortable.
What joy and comfort there is in the Father’s arms in this crazy world. I hope this encourages you to stick with an idea the Lord has given you or go after a big dream. He loves doing life hand in hand with us and he loves watching us grow stronger everyday!
Romans 5:3-5 New Living Translation (NLT)
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
Here at The Beautiful Basics, we are cheering you on! We love you guys!
