The Crooked Smile

The other night my daughter was coloring some pictures. She came to me and asked for some "empty pages". In other words, some blank pages. I was then to close my eyes and not peek as she drew me a picture.

I said I would not look and went about doing what I was doing. After a while I came back into the living room to find her very upset and wadding up her picture. She had "ruined" it and was not happy with it at all. There was the beginning of tears and some anger towards herself over the whole thing.

My mind instantly went to the thoughts of scripture. Such as James 4:11 and Proverbs 18:21. I knew that her mind was going the wrong way and I wanted to correct it. I took the picture and looked at it. I saw another "work of art" from my 5 year old. I saw the time and effort she put into it. I saw a picture of herself and her dad. I began to gush over how great the picture was and how much I liked it. She pointed out the "crooked smile". That is all she saw. The mistake she had made while attempting to show her dad love.
Honestly, I really worked at turning her thoughts by saying how much I liked it. I really tried. But she saw the crooked smile and then proceeded to say how small I was compared to her in the picture... We are going downhill here and I want to encourage her. What do I do?
Thank the Lord for the prompting at that moment. It is only by the grace and mercy of God that I had the thought.
I looked at my daughter and said... I do not believe it! You are beating me in a race in a picture now too!!! I can't even win in a picture? You just run so fast... That's why I have the crooked smile!

I made a huge deal about it and I saw her spirit lifting. She no longer saw the error, but a picture of her racing her dad to the door at church, which we do often. She saw that I loved her and was appreciative of the picture.

We ended the night by racing around the house and she once again betting me in every race. Oh the lessons God teaches us through our children.

How often do we look at our failures and mistakes (sins) in our lives and begin to beat ourselves up about them. How many times do we here God speaking to us through His words reaffirming once again how much He loves us (Hebrews 13:5) and will always be there.

I am not perfect. I fail often. But one step towards Him is success. So remember, we may only see the crooked smile, but God only sees the love He has for us and wants us to see it as well.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Continue to Strive

 We all have our own lives. For me, it has caused a stop in my posting anything for a long time. Many events have happened since I was last on here. I never forgot that I had this "blog". thank you to those who have read many of my past postings. Once again, I have something for your reading enjoyment. I may not be great at having the scriptures at hand to back my words, but I know they are scripturally sound. Combative Desires   The battle continues to rage in my mind A reprieve from this fight I cannot find Take stands for what I perceive to be true Have plenty of scripture for strength to endue But my mind I find is still on the proverbial fence The desires I have are not wrong and very intense   Examples around me seem to show a different story Lives I see being lived to give God the glory Taking a path that to me seems contrary To the truth of His word not being wary   I strive to seek guidance from a higher power And still no assurance in this present hour I ha...
Read more

Hiking and the path of life

Teen Camp 2019 @ Twin Bears Alaska. This is a place of "holy ground" for me. A place of many memories now both bitter and sweet. A place that has been used often in my life to bring about a time of God communicating with me through many of the messages. As tradition would have it, we once again hiked the Angel Rocks trail. As the years have passed, I must admit that the hike has become more of a challenge. Some would look at it and decide to stay behind and wait for the teens and "younger adults" to come back. Whether a glutton for punishment or a hard head that will not accept the passing of time, I once again headed out. Many young adults and teens sprinted off in order to be the first to reach the top. As I walked along the trail, most of the time alone, God started to pour some spiritual applications about the trail into my mind. In our spiritual walk with God, we are all heading in a direction to become more Christ-like. Just like the trail, it becomes mor...
Read more

Life's Ambitions

Prov. 16:9 A mans heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps. We can often plan out our day, week, month, year, or life. We set long term goals and dreams and either head in those directions or continue to plan to achieve the outcome. There is nothing wrong with the setting of goals. However, we must not "write them in stone". How often have the ideas and plans you have set have gone awry? The life events that has been handed you, end up derailing your dreams and ambitions? It can become something that emotionally brings you down to the point of depression. You can end up loosing your temper and becoming angry at people or situations that have interrupted or brought to an end your desires. How foolish we are to think that we are in control. God allows us breath. God keeps our hearts beating. God gives us strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. Oh we can plan. We can have hopes and dreams. But please remember that they are at the mercies of God...
Read more