Repositories... not of bones, but of energy!

This afternoon and evening I had the rare privilege of babysitting two amazing little girls. One reminded the other to obey God and Mommy... they played well together and had superb imaginations, creating clues for a mysterious treasure hunt during a walk... they love each other and their baby sister, and are polite and sociable with strangers... they wanted to name my turtles John and Jude-- as in, 'his name is John,' and 'Jude and Revelation.' Wow. The solid training they've already received was so evident. It made me even more aware of the fact that I am not ready to be a parent. Of course, parents start out with a newborn and have opportunity to train up their children from Day One, whereas I was confronted with a 5- and 3-year-old. But I still don't know how to train children up well. It's such a huge task. I am certain, however unqualified I feel, that God provides the grace needed at every point of the endeavor called Parenting. Just like marriage, which requires supernatural intervention, being a parent teaches a person many things about themselves and God (I would gather this, not having personal experience of either, yet). Logan (with the cucumbers) is compliant and quite the conversationalist. Tori (pictured below) is quite a little monkey, climbing anything available, and hardly flinching at scraped knees and banged shins. They both have so much energy that I was exhausted after a few hours of keeping up with them. And their mom has them all the time, except for a few hours of kindergarten for Logan. What stamina!

You may be wondering why Logan is enjoying what appears to be spa treatment. Well, Cindy (their mom) dropped the girls off with me at the dorm, and tonight just happened to be a dorm slumber party... event... thing, so the little ones got to enjoy "dance dance revolution," cookie baking, face masks, a sauna room (just for a moment), and many willing playmates! It worked out pretty well, except for my attention being divided among too many things-- mostly trying to keep track of both of them at once. I think they enjoyed it also, so it was fun. They are both absolute packages of energy. I almost could not believe it.

Logan's "clues" -- special leaves or pine cones with messages instructing us that "up ahead" we would find our next clue-- reminded me of a list I made the other day, when I needed some "facts": truths of God that I needed to remember in my situation, simple thing that should be self-evident, but which I tend to neglect in the face of struggles.

Here's a rendering of 25 things I jotted down. :)

1. God has a plan.
2. God's plan is for my good.
3. God is capable of working out His plan (no plan of His can be thwarted).
4. God is sovereign.
5. God's plan is best.
6. God loves me, and has already given me everything I need for life and godliness.
7. I am not sovereign.
8. I do not know what would be best, nor do I know the future.
9. God is trustworthy.
10. Waiting patiently and willingly is worth it.
11. Life on earth is short; eternity is forever.
12. True contentment and peace are found in Christ alone.
13. God uses trials to perfect and mature me.
14. The daily choices I make do matter.
15. My goal in life must be to pursue Christ.
16. Submission of all of me to Christ is worth it.
17. God does not despise the sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart.
18. He protects me from evils of which I am not even aware.
19. Jesus persevered and obeyed; He is to be my example.
20. My life exists to glorify God.
21. The holy Spirit fills me, when I do not resist, and guides and comforts me.
22. He is my down payment, deposit, or guarantee that I belong to God.
23. No one can snatch me out of the hands of the Father.
24. Because of my knowledge and faith, along with complete reliance on the power of God, I can persevere. I will not grow weary in doing good. I will not give up, nor forget my goal and purpose: to KNOW CHRIST.
25. One day, I will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ and give an account for how I lived this fleeting life.

That's my list, and now it's beyond bedtime, if I am going to get up for Ultimate at 8... we'll see. J-sun called me last Saturday at 8:15 a.m. to see if I wanted to come... it was pretty funny, later, that he woke me up when I had no intention of playing Ultimate that day. Oh well.

God is so good. I say that so often, but I am continually blown away at His faithful sameness, even after I blow it. He never changes; He is 'the unlying God.' May my life reflect His glory in some small way.

M