You Didn't Tell Me That

Back at work after the Thanksgiving holidays is tough. (Sigh)...I was struggling!! I could not focus, did not want to be at work, thoughts of being at home, curled up on the coach with a cup of hot chocolate admiring my Christmas tree were dancing in my head. I watched as the clock ticked by ever so slowly all day long. About ten after three the phone rang. I glanced over and recognized the number as being my house.

"Hello?" I said.

"Uh, Momma, I’m home!" It was Gabe. He calls me every day when he gets off his bus to let me know that he made it home okay, had made it inside okay and we would "discuss" his day. I use the word "discuss" lightly because having a son and a daughter has really taught me the major difference in the way boys and girls "discuss" things. When Kristina calls me it takes her 30 minutes to just tell me what everyone had on that day at school and then the next 30 minutes to tell me what she ate for lunch. I have to save the rest of the details for when I get home or otherwise I would never get off the phone with her. But, Gabe, he’s different. He talks non-stop about nonsense but when it comes to important things, like, well, uh, school, he doesn’t give many details.

"How was your day?" I started with my normal questions.

"Good, good."

"What did you do today?" Staple question number two.

"Work" he responded. See...NO details!

"You got any homework?" Staple question number three.

"No ma’am." He said in a huff. He was ready to get me off the phone so he could go play his Playstation.

"How did you manage not to have homework today?" I asked.

"Momma, you just worry about you and I’ll worry about me" he said, all but snickering. I sat in silence for a minute and before I could say anything he said "Breathe, Mom, I was just kidding! I finished it already."

"Boy, you better be glad you said that over the phone because if I was at home right now I would..." He interrupted me with his laughter and our conversation continued on.

"Hey" I said "Do we have hot dogs in the fridge?"

"No ma’am" he answered without hesitation.

"Did you look?" I asked.

"Oh, no ma’am," he said "you didn’t tell me to look!"

Boys! They will wear you out most days! As the time slowly ticked on by I couldn’t help but snicker to myself about mine and Gabe’s conversation. I was telling the story to a co-worker when she said "Well, Lori, you didn’t tell him he had to look!" We had a good laugh and I returned to my desk.

Hmmm, I didn’t tell him to look. That thought kept going through my mind over and over. In Deuteronomy 4:29 it says "But if...you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and all your soul." It amazes me that God knew that he would have to tell us to look for him. We would not automatically seek him out. We know that God holds the key to everything, every answer to every question, every solution to every problem. We know way down in our knower that he is the Almighty but for some reason, we have to be told to seek to look.

Have you ever thought about a child's faith? A child doesn’t question the presence of God. A child doesn’t need God proven to them, explained to them, shown to them. We are born with the knowledge that God is all around us. But, as we become older we seem to question him and question what we know to be true. Or, that was the case with me. As I became a teenager, then grew into being a teenage mom and wife, and then on into being a selfish adult I began to question my life, my choices, my everything and as Shane and I began going to church and getting involved I kept being told about seeking God, searching for God, finding God and oh the day when I finally did that!

How ironic it is that we, as parents, get so frustrated that we have to spoon feed our kids with instructions and I, myself, have said numerous times that I should write a manual for my children with specific instructions on how to look for something without being told. God, the Almighty Father, did just that for his children! He gave us a manual with complete instructions and reminds us time and time again to seek him, to find him because he is right there just patiently waiting on us. Makes you wonder if some days he wants to slap his hand across our foreheads and say "You should have had a V8!" (heeheehee). Hope you have a wonderful day! Seek God today, find God today, love God today, love like God today! =)