Laugh More...

One of my goals in life is to have my children obey me because they love me, not because they will get a lecture or grounded or some other form of curse if they don't.  I've tried biting my tongue and working cheerfully before them, but it only lasts a few hours.  Then I feel the need to make some snarky comment about what they could be doing to help.  I was really starting to believe that it just is not possible to be motivated by love.

This morning during church a good friend was walking in, with a line of small children in tow.  She was smiling walking straight down the aisle saying hello.  The line behind her was wavy.  One child stepped on the other child's foot, causing him to wobble to one side.  The child behind him was untucking his shirt and staring at his feet not noticing the child directly in front had stopped, so he ran right into him.  They were all smiles, and completely adorable.  It was a lovely picture of my family following Jesus.

We were given a man to follow.  That man came to Earth to fulfill the law that His father had written.  It is a law that we are all called to follow, and that we all fail to follow every day, but that was the point.  We can't keep the law perfectly, therefore we can't keep the law at all.  Not even the 10 summary laws.  We need a savior.  That savior came and fulfilled the law, and now we are called to follow him.  He walks before us in complete perfection, and we toddle and trip behind him.  He knows this, and he helps us back up, dusts us off, and sets us back in line.

As the mom in this story, I am supposed to follow my husband, who is supposed to follow Christ.  My kids are watching me and following me.  They are watching really well.  They see everything I do, and imitate it just like we are playing Simon Says.  I have taken to lecturing them about the law.  They watch my lips move, but they know that I don't keep the law, so why should they?  So there it is; the solution to my problem.  Quit trying to get them to follow the law.  I need to realize that I am the first person in front of them in line that keeps tripping over the carpet.  They keep running into me because I keep looking at the law instead of looking at the person in front of me.  What is Jesus doing?  Is He lecturing me on the finer points of the law?  Is he yelling at me to look happy?  Why am I doing that?  I need to listen to myself and lighten up.  Jesus died for me.  He covered my sins, which are many, and I should be skipping and rejoicing.  If I did that my kids would follow me.  I need to laugh more.  I need to follow Jesus with joy overflowing.  I need to make sure I am actually doing what I keep telling my kids they should be doing.

Sometimes the answer is so simple, so silly.  It can never work.  But that is where our faith gets real.  It has worked.  I have the book in front of me, now I just need to do it.  I need to believe in one who tells tall tales.  We are dragon slayers, children of the King.  I will teach my children to believe the story, follow Jesus, trust in Him.  Love conquered death, surely it can get a teenager to help with the dishes.