Broken, inadequate, scared.
I am complete.
Sad, torn, gray.
I am vibrant.
Unworthy, unable, unnecessary.
I am loved.
Murky, unsure, wilted.
I am pure.
I am the beloved child
of my Father-Mother-God.
I am the pure expression
of life, love, joy - whole and complete.
I am able to face down the evil
that tries to destroy me, convince me.
I am the beloved child of God.
I can hold his hand.
Saturday morning was a nonstop soccer day! Three children playing in three games for three hours. We had already watched two of them, and were onto the third game. While my husband was helping the coach, I sat on the sidelines with two of our girls. Our youngest daughter, was getting hungry and a little cranky and all the snacks had been depleted. I told her we would get lunch when the game was over, but she just kept being fussy and pouty.
She is normally very cheerful and easy-going, but she had gotten to a point where she wouldn’t respond to anything I said to her. I told her to come sit down in front of me, pointing to the spot I designated for her. When she came around to sit down, she went for my lap, instead of the ground in front of me to which I had pointed.
My first thought was to say no to her sitting on my lap. She had acted ugly and I wasn’t going to reward bad behavior. Plus, I was frustrated and wanted space. Then I realized what was needed was for me to embrace her and let Love melt away the anger. As soon as she sat down, I put my arms around her and she melted into me. Her usual sweetness and patience replaced the previous attitude. I was glad I had yielded to an expectation that Divine Love would provide the change needed.
I saw that those unkind and disrespectful qualities were not a part of her being. I knew that as a child of God, she could only reflect good qualities. That left no room for anything unlike God, Good.
In the Bible, in the book of Genesis, it says, “And God saw everything he had made, and behold it was very good.” It says, ‘very good’ not sometimes good. As we reflect that goodness, we prove God’s all-ness and ever-present help.
Even though I wanted to be mad for a little bit as well, God got in front of me and said I needed to handle the situation differently. God gave me the answers I needed at that very moment and all I had to do was listen and be obedient to that message.
When I look on it now, as I write, it seems so easy to just listen and obey a right idea. At the time human wills try to collide in a conversation, its tempting to hold on to the anger and frustration that gets worked up. Its really just as simple as turning on a light switch to see in a dark room. I could have stayed angry, had a public, fretful conversation. We’ve all heard parents have those conversations out in public before. Whether its public or private, I don’t want to let frustration or sarcasm take over the way I speak.
There is a saying, “If you want to hear the way you speak, listen to your children.” So the conversations I have with them should be an example of how they are to speak to other people. Effective communicators, with good morals and motives can have a positive affect on the world around them.
Mary Baker Eddy writes in her book Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures, “Divine Love always has met, and always will meet every human need.” Its a sentence I grew up with that provides comfort with an expectation of good answers.
We spent the rest of the game time cheering on the team, laughing and talking with her sister and our friends. The bad attitude left quicker than it came, and lunch came right after!