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10 Minutes Peace
by Susan McGrath
Dear readers: I posted this column about a year ago, but it seemed appropriate for this week. I have been struggling with what direction to take in several areas of my life and having trouble being still enough to hear what God has to say on the matter. I hope this will bless some of you as well.
My kids think some of my ways are pretty mysterious. My five-year-old can't figure out how I know when he's trying to sneak out the door and ride his bike without a helmet. My 10-year-old is awed at the way I can predict which of his friends he is going to use next as he pleads "but he gets to do it".
Call it mom radar or eyes-in-the-back-of-the-head syndrome - what it comes down to is moms know their kids better than anyone else and it's in our job description to use that information to make them uncomfortable and even miserable once in awhile. Even when I try to use my "momsense" to help my children make a good decision or teach a lesson, it usually is perceived as being an evil plot to withhold from them the packed-with-fun-and-answer-to-no-one existence that all their friends have.
But when the tables are turned, it's not so amusing. Although God doesn't pin me to the wall with the dreaded parental scowl, sometimes His convictions come out of nowhere to stop me in my tracks - just as I'm about to ride without a helmet! I try to follow up the commands and demands to my children with a logical explanation of why I'm being mean or overprotective. God's methods are more subtle, yet infinitely more effective. They are even more mysterious than the ways of a mom.
A friend of mine wrote a song that says, "God works in mysterious ways. He needs no reasons, He makes no mistakes." How raw is that? It's not always what I want to hear or believe, but it always comes at a time when I need to be jerked to a halt and turned in the other direction or gently turned away from the cliff's edge. God knows which approach to use and the precise moment to move me. Sometimes He even reveals the reason behind it - in His time.
My kids don't always trust what I'm doing when it's not in their plans. (And just between you and me, why should they? I can offer all the logical explanations I want, but I still make mistakes every day. They see my imperfections.) God sees my imperfections too, but I can still trust Him to show me which way to go - and there will be no mistakes, at least on His part.
Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens - what can you do? They are deeper than the depths of the grave - what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea. - Job 11:7-9
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a recovering journalist trying to encourage others and glorify God through writing;
living the small-town life with husband Tim and sons Lincoln, 12, and Sawyer, 6;
completing a few put-off writing projects while using chocolate for therapy.
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