Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Thank You For Obeying

I set the table for dinner. Maybe it's because eating at the table is sort of a new thing for us, but we don't really have assigned seats. This particular evening, Layna climbed up into the chair I often sit in and told me (nicely) to go sit on the bench which is one of her two favorite spots. I grinned and walked around to sit on the bench, switching our plates to our new seats. As we started eating, she said something I wasn't expecting: "Mommy, thank you for obeying".

My first thought was "well, yeah. She's saying what she hears me say." And moreover, she understands when I say it - I make it a point to thank her often when she obeys me with a right heart. My second thought (really even before I was done thinking through the first one) was "uh-oh - I've got a 2 year old that thinks I should obey her".

I clarified that God says children need to obey their parents but parents do not need to obey their children. And then as we ate, I started thinking... Should I not have sat here? Should I tell her no when she asks me to do something so that she can learn she doesn't make the rules? That seemed a bit silly - I will have to tell her no plenty of times, but there's no reason to say no just because she is the one who asked. Then the Lord brought this scripture to mind: "For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" Matthew 7:8-11

It clicked. I continued my explanation I started before. "Do you know why I sat on the bench? It wasn't because I have to obey you, it's because I love you. I love to see you smile. It makes me happy to give you something or do something that will make you happy. Sometimes I can't do what you ask because even though you think it will make you happy, it will end up hurting you. But because I love you so much, I do what you ask when I can."

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