As I am
sure, parents all around the world know, there comes a moment in the life of a
child when he/she steps beyond the boundaries of the permissible into the realm
of what is commonly known as “smart-mouth”
territory. Dylan is getting dangerously
close to that boundary. Therefore, Dan
and I have begun to express our discontent with his behavior and have started
to offer words of advice to him. Such
words are nothing profound or transcendental.
They include the usual, “watch your mouth,” “be careful with your
words,” “think before you speak,” and the iconic, “if you don’t have anything
nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”
I think our
words of wisdom may be having some kind of impact on restraining Dylan from
stepping out of line on the matter of speaking his mind too…freely. The reason I believe that is because during
the last few days, I’ve been noticing that whenever faced with an uncertain
situation that requires him to voice his thoughts, Dylan is becoming increasingly
hesitant and careful regarding what to say and how to say it.
More and more we are noticing that Dylan has
found a phrase that is certain to provide him with a smooth sailing into a safe
harbor. No matter, really, what the
situation is, my young son, when pressed for a comment on an uncertain topic,
is becoming very fond of replying, “I love my Mama,” to then quickly maneuver
out of the subject into safety.
Dylan’s
little getaway utterance has made me think about how sometimes, while we are
also maneuvering or attempting to, out of the storms of life, we find ourselves
at a loss for words. Often I have heard
myself saying, “I don’t know what to or how to pray, Lord…” Paul reminds me, however, how I am not alone
in this predicament. In Romans 8:26-27,
the Apostle tells us how, “in the same
way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray
for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind
of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance
with the will of God.”
The Spirit
comes to our aide always, particularly at those times, when our weakness of the
mind, body and soul leave us wondering what to say. At those times, the Spirit –inspired groans
serve as our act of worship for He, the LORD, our King and Father, understands
the unintelligible and deciphers the utterances of our hurting hearts. Dylan’s little safe phrase, however, also
makes me think that we too have a similar phrase which will take us to the
safety of our Savior’s arms all the time.
In those moments of total despair, confusion, fear, disillusion, sadness,
trial, and worry, we can always steer clear into His safe harbor with a simple
and heart-felt “I love you Jesus.” There
is power in His name. There is power in
our love for Him. Combine the two and we got victory over our circumstances and
over the plotting of the enemy.
Just like
hearing Dylan saying, “I love my Mama” puts a smile in my face and a song in my
heart, I can only hope and dream that the sound of my voice speaking from the
depth of my desolation may have a similar effect in my Savior’s heart.
I love my
Jesus…I love my Lord.
Therefore God exalted him to the
highest place
and gave him the name that is above every
name,
that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every
tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father… (Philippians
2:9-11 NIV)
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