Thursday, February 12, 2009

Coffee Talk

I would like to offer you some coffee, but I don't drink the stuff. How about some water, or a Diet Pepsi, maybe a nice cup of hot chocolate?

This has been another week of just keeping my head above the water. However, on Wednesday, I was DETERMINED to get my "small thing" in. Believe me, getting in a small thing was a pretty big thing this week! Anyway, Wednesday's assignment was to get to know someone a little better. I really planned on doing this assignment with Tigerfan, unfortunately ridiculous winds and uncooperative trees, buildings, etc. kept hubby from leaving his job with the phone company and so, on the way to church, I found myself "getting to know" my kids.

We actually had a blast playing a game where I would ask them questions like, "What is your favorite ______________?" or "If you could only go one place but there were no cost/time restraints, where would you go?" The kids had fun trying to figure out their answers and kept begging to play more.

The funny thing is, I really thought I would learn about my kids, get to know them more deeply, but what I discovered is that the vast majority of the time...I was pretty sure what their answers would be...and I was usually right. You see, as a home schooling mom, I spend A LOT of time with my kids. I know their likes, their dislikes, their friends, their interests, even the things they THINK they are keeping from me.

So, my first deep thought with that was that that is just how God knows me. I am His child and He knows my deepest self. The things I say don't surprise Him, He knows my thoughts, my dreams, my hopes, my fears. He knows the good...and the bad...and the embarrassing (I know that about my kids, too!) and He still loves me. He still desires to know me, to spend time with me, to have a relationship with me. Okay, not real profound, but so comforting.

But my next thought, well frankly, it bothers me a bit. Because that is how God wants me to know Him. He wants me to KNOW Him. To know Him like I knew the cries of my babies. To recognize His voice like I recognize my children's in a group of kids. To be able to read His hand the way I can read the writing of my child and know whose it is. To KNOW Him.

But really, I know about Him. I like to tell myself I know Him. I read my Bible, I go to Bible Study, I make my kids memorize scripture after scripture. I have a list of do's and don'ts that I just know He would approve of. But do I really KNOW Him? Do I really know that when I pour out my heart...he hears? Do I really believe that when I lay my requests out to Him, he cares? If He were to call out to me would I hear Him, would I recognize His voice, would I obey? The truth is, I don't know Him like that. But I want to. I want to be passionate for Him. I want to be hungry for His word. I want to mimic Him the way my daughter mimics me when she plays house.

Honestly, I will probably never know Him as deeply as I would like. I will never be able to comprehend all He is and does and says. I am not sure if I will ever totally embrace the fact that He knows MY name, knows the hairs on MY head. I am not sure that I will ever let go of my fears (and I have a lot of them) and just allow myself to be who He created without worrying about what others are thinking. I'm not even sure how to begin. But what I do know is that one "small thing" has got me thinking and hopefully it will change my relationship with my God forever.

So, I encourage you to go to Home Sanctuary and see what Small Things can do for you. I would love to put up the little button thingy...but it continues to elude me. I would like to KNOW about that too!

13 comments:

Kara @ Just1Step said...

A very nice post. I enjoyed. :) A good reminder of God's love and how well He knows me and also how I should yearn to know Him.

By the way, the way you get the little "button" thing is you go to Rachel Anne's site, then you'll see the little button on the side with some html code under it. Copy the code. Then when you're writing your own post, you'll notice you can be on the "Compose" tab or the "Edit HTML" tab. Click on the "Edit HTML" tab and insert the code for the button wherever you want the button to appear. Then go back to your "Compose" tab. TADA!! The button should be there. :)

CindyC said...

Thank you for your post this morning. I so want to KNOW Him as well.... Thank you for the encouraging reminder.

Cheryl said...

What a nice reminder of knowing God! His love is perfect!

secondofwett said...

thanks for stopping by.....I like how you took the time to 'get to know' your kids better (even though you knew the answers)...I find that w/my teens also and then they're amazed when I say..'I knew you'd react that way!' I'm glad that God knows me so well and I don't have to put on an act for Him.

What's next said...

I enjoyed your post. I have that same wish and feel like I will never know Him like he would want me to... have a great valentines.

Dani said...

I enjoyed your post today. I can't wait until I my kids get a little older...so I can see how well I know them. And yes, I agree. I definitely don't know God they way He wants me to, but I'm so glad that I'll get the chance to ask Him all the things I need to in heaven one day...that is going to be beautiful!

Growin' With It said...

"To know Him like I knew the cries of my babies." well that made me wanna blubber up like a baby and cry. beautiful post. seriously, beautiful post. it amazes me that we will never completely know him and that is what makes this relationship so incredible. there is always something more to learn about Him and His love for me!

Camille said...

Thank you for your post today. I need to know Him better also. I think on the surface it looks like I do, but the reality is not so great. This is an area of constant work for me.

Mommahen said...

Water with lemon--my drink of preference. Your words ring so true. Reminders of how much God wants to spend time with me. Thank you for the beautiful thoughts.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing. I'm glad you guys had fun with the questions. I like that one too.

Rachel Anne said...

What a great post! I'm like you: wanting to know Him more. Like I was sharing in the verse for the month...I can't trust Him because I don't know Him enough. I'm still working on that.

Your illustration with your kids was perfect :)

I don't know about blogger, but if you copy the code under the coffee cup (and you have to get all of it, most of it is kinda hidden) and put it into the html (typepad has a tab for this so you can see it) of your post, and then go back to how you normally compose......(?) Anyway, don't worry about it....it's just an easier way to find "oh THIS is where I'm supposed to be" for reader who stop by.

You've had a nice houseful of guests today, thanks for the refreshments! :)

Unknown said...

What an enjoyable post, I will definitely check out small things.

Lisa said...

That was my prayer this morning. God, I want to KNOW you. This was a great post, a good way to think about it.

I've enjoyed visiting from Home Sanctuary.