COOP'S CORNER -

 Life's Little Messes -

As a father of two wonderful kids I find that I often spend my time at home cleanning up the messes that my children so easily create. Messes such as: the toys that are scattered all over the floor, the spilt milk on the table, their coats and shoes that are lying by the front door, and the craft supplies that are sprawled out from one end of the kitchen table to the other.  All of these messes are created without my assistance but for some reason they insist that they cannot clean them up by themselves. 

I have found that there are times when I allow this clutter to get the best of my emotions. During these times I do irrational things. For example, on Christmas Eve my kids left Santa a very nice note with a glass of milk and cookies. After the kids were in bed I placed another note with theirs. It read, "Dear Santa, welcome to our home. Here are just a few rules that I expect you to follow.  First, take your shoes off so as to not mess up the carpet. Secondly, place the empty milk glass in the dishwasher and please start it for me. Thirdly, eat all the cookis and leave no crumbs lying around for me to have to clean up.  If for some reason you cannot do this then leave".  By the way, my kids were disheartened when the notes were openned but the milk and. cookies were still right where they had left them the night before.

I will admit to you that again tonight I found that I was becoming quite irritated by the clutter that I had to constantly look at.  I reached my breaking point when a box of wooden depression sticks broke open spilling one thousand of them all over the floor. It was then that I turned into a drill sergeant and began giving orders for my young kids to follow.  I'd had enough. I was ready to see the house clean and the floors swept.

I realize that I probably will not win the father of the year award due to my reaction tonight. I'm sure that my kids wanted to be anywhere except for around their daddy. They wondered to themselves when would this day ever end?  I did not tolerate a half hearted effort out of them because I had one goal to achieve - there was to be no more messes!

At bedtime, however, something happened that melted my heart and brought me back to the things that are really important. It all happened when I was giving my son his back rub at bedtime. As I sat on his bed and gently rubbed his back he fought to keep his eyes open so he could enjoy the moment. Each time that he would blink his eyes would struggle to reopen. As I continued to rub his back my son made his final mess of the day. He began to druel on his pillow. That back rub felt so good to him that he was forgetting to swallow.

This evening when the milk spilt I did not smile. When the thousand wooden sticks fell to the ground I did not smile. But as I watched him in bed I could not help but smile.  I did not rush to clean up his druel. I did not scold him for making a mess. On the contrary, I rubbed his back a little longer than normal until his eyes closed for good.  And it is that moment that will now define my day. It won't be the messes and my reaction to them. It will be memories of my son loving the time that he had with his dad.

As I sat there on his bed it occurred to me that my son received most of what he wanted for Christmas. And yet, it was not the toys in his room that made him struggle to keep his eyes open. It was not the thought of the homemade cookies that made him druel. It was those moments with me while he was receiving his back rub that caused him to resist the powerful urge for him to sleep. And better yet, I realized that he was able to fall asleep despite the evenning that was spent cleanning, which for him was not so fun.

How are you doing today?  Is life a mess?  Wondering how you will get it all straightened up?  Maybe today your wondering how your Heavenly Father is responding to the messes that are around you?  In all honesty, He is probably responding better than I did with my kids. And at the end of the day, when all is said and done, see if you will not be able to sense Him gently loving on you.  Your messes did not overwhelm Him. He did not send you to an orphanage because He couldn't take it any more. Instead, He is closer than He has ever been before.

So it's alright if you struggle to keep your eyes open. And this despite the fact that you belived this day would never end. Remember, life is messy. But as I learned tonight - not all messes are bad. So sleep well tonight because your Daddy loves you very much.

Have a great day!  Cpc