Happy New Year 2017

Raising our four kids who were born in five and a half years was anything but dull and certainly never boring. If I wasn’t pregnant and nursing, there were two in diapers at the same time – twice – the first three were born in two and a half years. Then along came number four three years later.

If you have multiple children, you might understand the challenges of the fighting and arguing. It wore me out – flat out.

I noticed when they were all in middle and elementary school a pattern was developing. It was as though whoever at the top of the food chain had a bad day or was in the mood not to be messed with, in turn passed it on to the next one down the ladder. Sometimes it started at the very top. Sometimes with me and so on down, down, down.

The unfortunate part of this pattern was that when it got to number four, he had no one to take it out on. Passing it back up the ladder didn’t work. He would never win that one.

One day, I caught him kicking the dog.

At first I was horrified. We don’t treat our animals like that. But the look of helplessness on his face betrayed the real motive. He didn’t have anyplace to take out his frustration. It had come down from the top and as the littlest, it became his.

That was a lot to ask of little man.

As I was reading this morning, I came across an interesting scripture.

Deuteronomy 4:7     

For what great nation is there

that has a god so near to it as

the Lord our God is to us,

whenever we call upon him?

 Is it an accident that many times I feel like my youngest son these days?

This world has become so mean. I don’t even have to share my list. Make your own. You know what is on yours. The things that make us feel helpless. angry and without options.

Many times, I hear the blame falling on God. What’s that about? Is everyone just mad because their situation didn’t turn out how they thought it should and there was no one else to be mad at so God gets the blame?

Much has become the fault of religion. It’s easy that way. It takes the blame off us.

How can we make God the scapegoat? Who do we think we are?

Because of God’s incredible love for us, He sent Jesus – His Son to walk and talk among us. He then sent Him to the cross as the ultimate sacrifice. FOR us. For our bad. The Redeemer.

We live in a great nation. A very broken one. But God is used to broken. He has been dealing with broken since Eve took that first bite in the garden. Broken doesn’t scare God.

He is God.

He stepped in and moved on to give us options. Options that restore the relationship between us. Options that keep the door of communication open and the hope and assurance of eternity with Him alive.

God is right there my friend. Standing there in the mess of our lives. No matter how bad my messes have been. No matter where I have been standing.

In the aftermath of Katrina.

In the midst of and aftermath of divorce.

In the midst of death – many times over – too many for my heart.

In the midst of continuing addiction and mental illness in my family.

I want(ed) to blame someone and I want(ed) to be angry. Really angry. But when I turn around, there lays my precious dog and it certainly isn’t going to be him.

We can take all our frustrations TO God.

So, what I have learned is to look around and find God and cry out to Him. I don’t have to kick the dog. (I love you Napoleon!)

And I love You, God.

Call on Him. Invite Him into your life. Change your patterns this year.

Let’s release it all to God and watch what He does with it.

Break the comfortable but ugly patterns of our pasts and begin new ones. Ones that include God – not as the scapegoat but as the healing, loving and all powerful God our Father He is.

Here’s to an amazing 2017.

Peace.

Janet