It Ain't My Fault

Sunday Morning, with less than ten minutes to spare before leaving for church, my youngest daughter comes in my room and asks for a band aid for her leg. Before moving to get her the requested item, I ask her what she needed one for. As a mom, we have to know everything about our kids, right! She responded by telling me that the razor that was sitting on the side of the tub, fell down on her leg and cut her. Hmmm, that just don’t sound right to me.
“Don’t lie to me,” I say.
“Mom, can you please give me a band-aid.”
Now I’m noticing the blood streaming down her leg from underneath the towel she had wrapped around her, and my psychic-mom abilities kicks in. I know that she has wanted to shave her legs, arms, and whatever else that she is too young to do. We’ve all been there—wanting to grow up too fast. My daughter and I have had many conversations on why can’t she wear make-up, and why can’t she shave, and why can’t she get her eyebrows waxed, and why can’t she stay up late “like her big sister”. “It ain’t fair,” she says. Anyhoo….. After she admits to trying to shave, I did what only a mother can do best. I scolded her.
“You had no business messing with that razor because; I have already told you that you can’t shave your legs. One- You’re too young. Two- You don’t know what you’re doing, and when you’re disobedient, things happens.”
Now, I must be honest with you, God got me good on this one. Let me see if I can show it to you like he showed it to me—there were three people in this situation at fault.
1. My oldest daughter- who is 19, out of disobedience, left the razor on the side of the tub- This was careless and irresponsible on her part, especially after I have gotten on to her about not putting things back in their appropriate places.
2. Me- I hardly ever go in their bathroom, but I went in there like two days prior to the incident and noticed the razor on the side of the tub. My first thought was, that I needed to move this razor before my youngest daughter sees it and gets tempted, but instead I left it there, because I wanted to fuss at my oldest daughter for leaving it there in the first place.
3. My youngest daughter- out of disobedience as well, she bothered something and did something she had been told NO about several times. Although my daughters were wrong, so was I, and I am thankful to God because He didn’t let me get away with it. So, the same way I fussed at my daughters, he scolded me. EVERYONE is at fault.
With my wild imagination, I can see my baby girl sitting in the bathroom on the first day, and the razor is saying, “C’mon girl, pick me up and use me. Nobody has to know.” I can see her fighting this temptation with all her might, and the first day, she beat it; but that second day, she wasn’t so strong because it came to her again with more enticing words. So what’s the message this week—I’m glad you asked.
1. Always be careful not to leave things out for other people to fall, to sin, to error. Be careful that you don’t cause another person to fall. Everyone is not as strong as you are, and what may not be a temptation for you, may be a temptation for others. Remember, you were not always at the place you are in today. If you do this type of thing, YOU ARE AT FAULT
2. If you see something out of order, fix it. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t create the mess; if you have the power to correct something—then do so. You never know whose life you may be saving, or what you may be preventing from happening. If you see something out of order, and leave it there because…. YOU ARE AT FAULT
3. Take heed to the teachings that are given to you. Be obedient, especially to the Word of God, because disobedience brings about consequences and repercussions. If you disobey what you know is right, guess what….YOU ARE AT FAULT.
Lord, please forgive us for being careless in our ways, careless with our words, careless with our actions. God I pray that we become mindful of what we are doing in front of others, and that we would be careful not to cause others to fall or to error by our actions. Lord I also pray that we will become more accountable for our brother and sisters, that if we see something out of place in their lives, that we will step in and do the necessary things to keep them from falling. That we won’t turn a deaf ear or ignore the signs to what’s going on around us. And Father, I pray that we will learn to follow instructions and be obedient to you and your word in all things, for we know that you wouldn’t withhold any good thing from us. Help us to remain humble, and to never try to be more than what you have created us to be. Thank you for the lessons of life. Thank you for a teachable spirit, and thank you for being the God over my life. We love you! In Jesus Name, Amen!

Stay Hopeful,

Clarissa

Get Your House In Order

Today was just one of those days where—I didn’t feel like doing much of anything.  For one, this sinus cold is really getting the best of me, and so I have been feeling kinda blah.  Anyhoo, my husband is the kind of guy that likes a clean house, and being that I don’t work, I try my best to honor his request in that matter.  It’s not spotless, but you know it’s enough to keep him from fussing.  **ha ha**

Well I played around doing a little bit of something, but a whole lot of nothing, and when I looked at the clock, I only had 15 minutes to wash the dishes, make the bed, and straighten up the living room—by taking coats and things, and throwing them in another room.  **LOL** 

As I was running through the house trying to get things in order before the hubby got in, I imagined, just for a moment, was this how we would be doing at the return of Christ.  Would we already have everything in order, or would we be running around like a chicken with his head cut off, trying to get everything ready at the last minute? 

My prayer today is…. that we will get ourselves prepared for the Lord’s return.  That we will be ready and prepared like the five wise virgins, for the hour that He will return, no man knows.  Have you accepted Christ?  If so, are you prepared?  If not, there's not time like the present. 

Stay Hopeful,

Clarissa

Take Heed to the Warnings!

Yesterday, as I was driving, I was stopped by the State Patrol. In this case, not to make an excuse, but I really didn’t know I was speeding. The speed limit at the beginning of this highway was 65 MPH, but when I went through one of the little cities, the speed decreased to 45 MPH. After I had passed the city, I pulled my speed back up to 65 MPH, not realizing that it had now changed to 55 MPH. Needless to say, I was going 10 MPH over the speed limit. Luckily for me, I was only given a warning instead of an actual ticket. WHEW! One thing I can’t stand is, giving my money away for something that could have been avoided or carelessness.

I am thankful because, the warning was all that I needed to correct the thing that I was doing wrong. So many times, we fail to take heed to the warning signs that are given to us, but had we—we could have prevented ourselves some major heartaches and headaches.

Warnings are good because it allows us time to prepare and get things in order—Look at Noah!
Warnings are good because it allows us time to get out of a dangerous situation—Look at Lot!
Warnings are good because it allows us time to make corrections or changes before we enter into a dangerous state—Look at Cain!

I am convinced that the warnings of God, are far better than the consequences of disobedience any day.

As we enter this new year, my prayer is that we take heed to the warnings that the Lord has graciously seen fit to send to us. I pray that we don’t have to endure the pains of destruction in order for us to get in line with His will and purpose for our lives. I pray that we all have a prosperous year!

Stay Hopeful,

Clarissa