I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
PSALM 32:8
It was a typical evening in the Caine household: Nick was taking a moment to catch up on sports on ESPN; Catherine was upstairs tidying her room before dinner (she was not allowed to watch Dora the Explorer for the zillionth time until she completed this task); Sophia was contentedly playing in her room; and I was in the kitchen attempting to accomplish five things at once (as I said, perfectly typical).
I was trying to keep an ear out for what the kids were up to, cook dinner, set the table, talk on the phone, all the while making last-minute changes to a manuscript, when I noticed a strange silence upstairs — the kind that registers on a mother’s radar.
I scurried upstairs to take a peek in Catherine’s room, and there she was, sitting on the floor painting Sophia’s nails. Noting Sophia’s moussed hair, blue eyelids, and rouged cheeks, I could see my eldest was simply adding her finishing touches to my baby’s total makeover.
In my best “mummy discipline” voice, I said, “Catherine Bobbie, what are you doing? I told you to clean your room before dinner.” To this, she answered innocently, “But Mummy, I didn’t turn on Dora.”
Catie knew what she was not supposed to do — I’ll give her that — but she definitely didn’t clue in to what she was supposed to be doing. So many of us Christians live our lives just like Catherine did that day. We know exactly what we aren’t supposed to be doing, but we forget that we should be focused on the abundant, purpose-driven, passionate life adventure we have been called to live. If we maintain this focus, we will not find ourselves getting off track, doing things that we should not be doing. Instead our lives will move forward in the direction of God’s most perfect plan.
MOMENT OF REFLECTION
Do you think you focus on activities you are refraining from rather than on the things you should be participating in?
If so, why?