Messy Children

I have a child who is naturally messy. I wonder some days if she has a neat bone in her body; her nickname for many years was "Miss Mess." It is quite a contrast because my other child is fairly organized - at least when it comes to his room and his stuff.

Why am I telling you this? Not to stereotype my children so that they will spend the rest of their lives telling people, "I'm the neat one" and "I'm the messy one," but because I read something today that I wanted to share. It came from a book, which I will tell more about at a later time, so the thought is not original to me, though my additional comments are.

I said in a previous post how I imagine God wants us to come to Him with child-like faith; I even gave Bible verses about the Heavenly Father relationship we have with Him (it's all in this post). Today that theme came up again in a totally different way!

I remember when my children were toddlers, how every meal could potentially turn into something that necessitated a bath when it was over! I wasn't often one to do crafts with my children because of the mess, but I've had my share of cleaning up playdough, paint, and paper shreddings. Even now, when my kids help me cook, it often results in a mess of flour and eggs shells and whatever else we are working with. The messes they make aren't something that makes me abhor my children - in fact, sometimes a child covered in flour and with chocolate on her nose can be truly endearing.

Babies, toddlers, and children make other messes...aside from dirty diapers and spit up, there are messes caused by illness and injury. Have you ever had your child fall down and split their lip or cut themselves or worse!? I know as a mom the instinct is to grab up that "messy" child and hug them close without considering the blood and dirt, wanting only to make things right and clean again.

So, why all this talk of messes??! Because I imagine God, our Heavenly Father, wants us to come to Him when we are a mess!! He doesn't turn us away because we are dirty again. That said, He certainly doesn't leave us that way - and He uses His own methods of cleansing in our lives to restore us to His image and to remove the sins we have committed. But we don't have to wait until we are perfect (because that will never happen!) to come to Him or to even be used by Him. In fact, I've found the messes I make are valuable lessons that I use to help myself - and sometimes others - avoid the same bad situation.

For example, the lesson at Sunday School this past weekend was about "Overcoming Anger"...and I did my workbook, read my assigned Bible verses, and listened to the teacher. Tuesday, I had a situation come up that made me angrier than I have been in a long time ... and I didn't practice any of the principles I had learned or heard from my Sunday School lesson. Instead, I grumbled and I ranted and I complained and I indulged in self-pity and I was just an all-around MESS. I did make things right later on and realized how foolish I had been; however, that doesn't negate all the damage I had done by my actions. I am now forgiven and have learned (yet again) what NOT TO DO...and God and my husband who I was so mad at have shown me (yet again) grace, long-suffering, and mercy.

I am thankful that when I am a mess like I was on Tuesday that God, the Heavenly Father, works on my heart. He picks me up - and yes, He might have to let me learn a bitter lesson about my sin - but He restores me and cleans me up again to be able to continue serving Him. Just like a child who has fallen into a mud puddle or scraped and bloodied her knee, I am held close to a Father who still loves me even when I am a mess.