Overflowing with No's

I know I tend to show off and brag about my kids a lot on this space.  What I try not to do is complain about them, because you don't want to read that and it's not necessarily fair to them.  So I'm going to vent a little tonight but connect it to Holy Week so maybe/hopefully there's a good message at the end of all this.

This little smiling devil makes my heart rejoice every day, but he also makes me want to bang my head through the wall on a regular basis (these words literally came out of my mouth tonight).  When Baby P was younger I realized that I needed to stop calling him "trouble" lest he begin to live up to the nickname.  So I did but it didn't affect his behavior.  As he grows, his capacity for getting into trouble also grows, much to my horror.  I don't think this is because I'm overly strict.  I'm actually impressed with how much I have loosened up since kids invaded my living space.  I'm also slightly horrified at the things I let the boys get away with in regards to their behavior to one another.  But some things I just can't compromise on.

"NO Baby P, you may not play with scissors."  Baby P is now strong enough to move the kitchen trash can and roll out and open the very heavy art bin that we keep facing the wall.  Is he old enough to be trusted with free access to art supplies yet?  Alas, almost but not quite yet.  It's just a matter of time until he cuts someone's hair folks, mark my words...

"NO Baby P, stop knocking the gate over!"  We have a baby gate that blocks the front and back halves of our house.  Baby P's super not even two year old strength has taken this gate down more times than I care to remember this week.  While I'm tempted to just let him learn the hard way that he shouldn't yet climb stairs without Mommy, knocking down that gate also gives him access to our desk, filled with files and paper clips and pens and receipts and can you see my head about to explode from the chaos he could cause in there?!

"NO Baby P, you cannot play with the plunger and toilet brush!"  No explanation needed here.

"NO Baby P, do not climb on Mommy's chair!" which definitely would have led to my dinner, the place mat, and the syrup bottle on the floor and probably endangered my flower vase and fruit bowl in the middle of the table (because once things within reach are on the floor, he just keeps reaching...).

"NO Baby P, do not bite your brother!"  Again, no explanation needed.

Hopefully you get the idea.  Saying no to this child is exhausting.  He bounces from one thing to another to another and somehow almost always ends up doing something that necessitates a "NO!"  So where's the connection to Holy Week in all this you might ask?  In the midst of all my NO-ing tonight, I began wondering what it would be like if God were to respond to my behavior as I was to my son's behavior.

"NO, Mama P.  Don't be self-righteous. "

"NO, Mama P.  Don't hold onto that grudge."

"NO, Mama P.  Don't be selfish."

"NO, Mama P.  Don't judge that driver or that person in the house across the street or what that person wrote on Facebook.  Just don't judge."

And this list could go on and on.  Yikes!  God must be even more exhausted than I am.

My devotion book has led with this verse the last couple days, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!" (John 1:29)  I've been dwelling on two parts of this.  First, the "sins of the world,".  This includes my sins, a small portion which are listed above.  Spend some time in prayerful confession and you can come up with your own list, then multiply that by all the people in the world today, plus the last two thousand years at least, and you may start to get an idea of what "sins of the world" could mean.  The sins of the world is no small thing.  But then I come back to the second part of the verse that has been dwelling in my mind, "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world."  God has every right to toss me and all of us aside in frustration, but never does.  Instead, God sent Jesus to take away our sins.  And that's what Easter is all about.  

I will celebrate Easter this year in much the same way I have for many years, and the message will be the same as it is every year.  Yet I still rejoice because God's love and forgiveness is an amazing message.  Although I mess up over and over and over again, I believe that someday I will be better, someday we'll all be better.  Because the Lamb of God is and will continue to take away our sins.  And someday, when all the sins are gone, God won't have to say "NO" to us anymore.  Alleluia.