Babies' Cries and Clean Underwear and Life Lessons

I want to know God.

I'm convinced that there is no greater goal in life than to know the God who created us, who saved us, and who longs for us to know Him intimately.

I want to dig deep into God's Word, uncovering the precious gems I know are hiding there, just waiting for me to discover them.  I want to dive in and pick it apart and understand the meanings and the pictures and the mysteries.  I want to be able to say, "Oh, the book of Zephaniah?  Yep, I know what that's about.  Great little book.  There are some awesome truths about God in that book.  Let me break it down for you."  I want to know God's Word backward and forward.  I want to know God.

But...I can't seem to find the time to start digging in.  I'm barely able to squeeze out a few uninterrupted minutes each day to sit at Jesus' feet and put my day in His hands (the key word here being "uninterrupted"!).  And I don't think I'll find much more time in the foreseeable future.

But I'm learning...that I don't need hours upon hours of coffee-fueled, lamplit studying; or textbooks and notebooks and outlines and Greek meanings; or college-level classes with complicated-sounding names.

All I need is to keep my eyes open.  The lessons are right before me.  The classrooms are my home, my back yard, the playground, my car...every place I normally go.

And the teachers?

A blue-eyed, curly-haired almost-three-year-old.  And his brother, a brown-eyed, all-but-bald just-turned-one-year-old.

And the lessons?

Life-changing.

***********

God wants to be known.  Isaiah tells us that "The whole earth is full of His glory." (Isaiah 6:3)  He's plastered truths about Himself everywhere!  I like to think of looking for these truths as looking for His fingerprints.  Most thieves try to hide their identities, stepping gingerly so as to leave no clues, wearing gloves, carefully concealing their actions and purposes.  But the Lord, Thief-God who wants to steal my heart, has left His fingerprints everywhere!  He's dropped clues in strategic places for me to find, all pointing to who He is and what He has done--truths about Himself.

All I need to do is keep my eyes open.

And to help me keep my eyes open, I'm going to keeping track of some of the clues and fingerprints I'm finding.  Truths that come to light day by day, pointed out my two adorable little boys...

Like when my younger son was so very tiny and I fed him and changed him and swaddled him and rocked him and sang to him, and still he cried and cried and I cried and cried...and I wished I could understand his heart and know how I could comfort him.  And I was reminded that I have a heavenly Father who "understand[s] my thoughts from afar," who understands me better than I understand my own often-confused thoughts and longings and feelings.  This God knows better than anyone else how to comfort me...because He really understands. And I was comforted.

Like when I stepped in a tell-tale warm, wet spot in the carpet, and looked up to see a corresponding wet spot in my two-year-old's pants...after months and months of frustrating potty-training.  And I held my breath in an attempt to hold my tongue and hold back the frustration boiling up in my chest and trying to escape from my mouth in sharp words. Then came clean underwear and clean pants and a few less-than-gentle words and carpet cleaner and paper towels.  Then, a little later than ideal, I stopped to look for clues about God...and then I remembered my God's grace and His gentleness time after time in my own life, when I'd made yet another unforgivable mess of my life...and how again He forgave me, cleaned me up, and helped me learn how to do better the next time.  And my frustration fizzled...and I was humbled.  And grateful.

So I learn...about me.  About my kids.  About my God.

Will you join me in my journey?  You'll laugh at the crazy cute things my kids say and do, and maybe sigh and nod with me at those fall-apart days and unglued moments.  Maybe you'll learn something along the way.

And maybe...maybe you'll be encouraged to look for clues a little more often, too.  To look for lessons about God...taught by the most unexpected teachers.