Spills.

Getting the kids settled for a meal is typically a production. I've realized - though I don't always put into practice - that it is most efficient to do things in an assembly line. Give each kid a serving of rice. Next, a serving of the entree. Then, the drinks. Pour water for each little one in their cups... And just as we're nearing the end of the conveyor belt, everything comes to a screeching halt. Why? Because almost as soon as I'm done pouring someone's drink, they knock it over. (and in all honesty, sometimes it's me!) This has got to be one of those small yet very frustrating moments for a mom like me for whom "efficiency and effectiveness" was drilled into the psyche as a business major in college. My viewfinder typically operates based on the parameters of "E&E"...

I ask myself, "What is the fastest way for me to get this done the right way?"
Hence the assembly line meal prep.

The spill scenario happened just the other day. Quite literally as soon as I poured my almost-2-year-old's water, she knocks it over and it spills all over the table. My sin nature response to this is to almost instantly get upset.
Well, of course, why not? This is just messing up the whole rotation...!

But God in all His goodness subtly intervenes in the background.

He knows exactly how my sin nature wants to react to the interruption and its inconvenience to the process. This was His teachable moment for me. This was a special moment in my day when He would speak to me right when I needed Him to... a moment that would evidence His constant presence in my life, in my days... the presence that faithfully nudges me along in this lifelong process of sanctification.

You see, I was playing worship music from my Chris Tomlin Pandora station at that time. And just as she had spilled the water and I was in the thick of building up my frustrated reaction, these lyrics float to my ears with divine timing:

"Everyone needs compassion.... A love that's never failing...Let mercy fall on me.... Everyone needs forgiveness..."

He was right there with me. And I looked at my baby girl and she said in her sweet, adorable almost-2-year-old way, "Sowwy Mommy". And God in all His compassion filled me with His compassion so that in that very moment, I would be the mother she needed me to be...and the mother God wants me to be.

"It's okay, baby...spills happen. I forgive you, I'm not mad at you."

Praise God for stepping in right when I needed Him to. It was all Him in that moment. He moved through me. He moved in me. The GOD of me used that moment to sanctify me so I can testify to the greatness of our God.

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Thank you, Lord, for molding me on a daily basis. I know most of the time I'm either a saggy lump of clay or a hardened rock in need of a good soak in the streams of Your grace. But You are there. You give me so many chances to learn and practice what it means to be who You want me to be. And even though many times I fail to do what You have called me to do, I thank You for always looking upon me with love and compassion, not condemnation. I thank You for loving me just as I am, wherever I am.
YOU are the GOD of me. Help me to go where You lead and be who You called me to be. In Jesus' name, Amen.