God shows up in our lives every day, however, it is up to us to pay attention because He is not always obvious. Not only is it rare for God to ‘shout’ in your ear or highlight what He wants you to see with a neon sign but sometimes when there is something really important He wants us to understand He has to sit by patiently waiting for us to humble ourselves, lower the wall of pride and with that gesture of choice the veil can be lifted and He is revealed.
On my way to taking my oldest to piano I looked over at his fingernails (which are normally filled with dirt and need to be clipped) and noticed they were clean. “Hey your nails are clean,” I said. He looked down and shrugged. Then I found myself saying, “But you know you could stand to clip them.” He curled his fingers into the palms of his hands so I couldn’t see his nails. “Yes, mom.” He said.
That is when the veil was lifted for me. God’s been giving me this message consistently for the past few weeks and there were moments where it began to take effect but then I shut myself off from hearing Him completely. My pride got in the way.
I nag and pick at my kids. 🙁 These past few weeks God has been bringing to my attention the fact that I might say “Are you using your facial wash?”…”Are you going to wear that? It doesn’t match.”… “Are you sure you want those because these look better.” And on and on. Each time I felt it, a little jab in my subconscious saying, “Hey, lay off, point out something nice every now and then.” I’d vow to myself to do better but with a new day came more nagging. Until the veil was lifted. I dropped Ryan off and on my way back home a flood of visuals came to me of Ryan in a few years not wanting to talk to me at all because I have nothing good to say to him. I could hear him tell friends that all I ever did was point out what was wrong about him or what I ‘thought’ he should like in his taste. How many times in my years of youth ministry did I hear teens complain about this very same issue in regards to their parents???
Granted, there is a point that we have to be a parent. I fully understand that I have a right to say, “Have you brushed your teeth? Put on deodorant? Taken a shower?” 😉 But I am now reminded of something I believe Maya Angelo once said about the first thing a child should see when they enter the room is your smile.
I’ve tried to be that mom…and I do believe I’ve done well but never understood how the nagging crept in without me realizing it! I told Ryan I needed help recognizing when I was being too much of a ‘nag’. If he can bring it to my attention then I can step back and discern ‘ is this an imperative issue for his health and well-being? Or am I pointing out these flaws because of my own selfish desire to have him be something that no one can be – perfect?’
When I picked Ryan up from piano I smiled as he got in the car, asked about his lesson and in God’s great fashion of ‘humor’ PINK’S new song “Perfect” came on and I sang the chorus to Ryan which made him laugh. 😉 But I meant every word.
PINK’S ‘Perfect’ chorus –
Pretty pretty please, don’t you ever ever feel
Like you’re less than, less than perfect
Pretty pretty please, if you ever ever feel like you’re nothing
You are perfect to me!Blessings
Shannon