Because I Said So

Luke 11:28 – “He replied, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.’”

image: naturalsobsessed.blogspot.com

Most people get to look forward to Saturday. After working all week there is that one morning when they can sleep in a little and spend time doing something fun or a little bit relaxing. But in my single mom days, Saturday meant doing all the chores that I was unable to do during the five days preceding. This could be a little tricky with a toddler in tow – but one could never say it wasn’t interesting. My little tot “helped” me do the dishes, make the beds, vacuum, clean the bathroom . . .  and let’s not forget the laundry.

Doing laundry in a little apartment without washer and dryer hook-ups was an adventure. It meant piling everything up and heading across the parking lot to the little facility where I got to spend about an hour or so in a poorly lit room with a bouncing baby boy doing everything he could to monopolize my attention. Once, I tried to start the machines, head back up to my apartment and then pick everything up when it was finished – but that little experiment ended with a trip to Wal-Mart to replace all the things that had been stolen out of the dryer.

It was during these adventurous Saturdays I learned to become master of laundry room entertainment. I would bring toys, books, crayons, little toddler board games – all in the hope that my two year old would be amused long enough for me to get the laundry finished. 

On one particularly bright and sunny Saturday morning, I allowed my little one to bring his ride-along push car. It was a wonderful thing. It was brightly colored with a horn and a seat that popped up to allow for the storage of small toys. I thought letting him ride it would keep him happy for quite a while. And it did. Until he discovered that mommy panicked when he attempted to ride it down the concrete stairs that lead into the parking lot. He found my reaction to be highly amusing and prompted it as often as possible.

With one eye on my dryer and my arms held up wide to block the stair-way, I kept telling little Brian that he could not ride his car down the steps. Naturally, he disagreed and began to test the strength in my arms. I’m sure we painted a bazaar picture for passers by – the battle of wits in the door to the laundry room. It might have even appeared amusing, until Brian took a running start in his car and pushed through my arms, nearly flying down the steps like Evel Knievel where he landed with his face firmly planted on the black-top.

"Fun time" ended with a bloody nose, busted up lips, and the loss of quite a bit of skin from forehead to chin - in one long bright red stripe down Brian's face.

In hind-sight, it probably wasn't such a good idea to allow Brian to ride his push car in the laundry room. The whole thing could have been avoided if I'd just left that little car at home. Then again, it could have been avoided if Brian had obeyed me when I told him "no".

It occurs to me that there are soooooo many times in my own life when pain could have been avoided had I simply obeyed God. How often have I pushed past His arms with grit and determination to do things my way, only to end up with my face planted on the pavement?

More times than I can count.

Luke 11:28 would appear to be a "no-brainer". Blessed are those that obey the Lord. It sounds simple enough. But how often do we really DO that? How many times do we accept "because I said so" and respect the authority of God?

I'm afraid I am often a little Brian - pushing to do the things I want to do only to be left needing spiritual medical attention and begging for my Father to help me pick up the pieces of a broken heart.