Category Archives: God’s character

Price of a Potty

Posted on by

It’s been 22 years since I potty-trained my youngest child. The details are murky, but I do remember two things: (1) candy was part of it, and (2) all 7 of them got it done.

Today my bathroom once again has a child’s potty in it. Emerald has shown signs of readiness, so Birgitta and I bought two, one for her home and one for mine.

IMG_5332The day I bought them, I stacked the identical potties inside each other on the store check-out belt. But when I got home, I’d been charged for only one. The checker must have swiped them simultaneously.

A 34-mile round trip separated me from the nearest Walmart, and I didn’t have time to head back, but I knew I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t straighten it out.

What bothered me most was knowing I’d have to convince Customer Service to take the $10 I owed. I’ve learned from past experience it’s not always easy to be honest. I considered dropping $10 into the church offering on Sunday to clear my guilt, but by the next day, I knew what I had to do.

While awaiting my turn at Customer Service I rehearsed my lines. “This may sound funny, but I owe you $10.” Or, “I never paid for this potty and want to pay now.”

Customer ServiceThen I thought about the receipt in my hand, knowing the check-out girl’s identity was encoded there. Would my desire for a clean conscience cost her her job? Maybe I should just walk through the aisles and place my potty back on the shelf, which would cancel my debt. Better yet, I could walk to a check-out counter and just buy it again.

No doubt God was getting a good chuckle watching me ride my moral merry-go-round.

Scripture teaches us to do the right thing, labeling it “righteousness.” We shouldn’t have to argue ourselves into it but should just practice it without pause, never worrying about the response of others. In the process, we’ll develop positive character traits that please God. Doing the right thing isn’t usually easy, but once we make it our default behavior, it takes less and less effort.

When it was finally my turn at Customer Service, the young girl there furrowed her brow as I stumbled over my words trying to land somewhere between criminal (shoplifter?) and saint (too honest). Bracing myself for resistance, I was thrilled when she simply said, “No problem.”

IMG_5331She swiped the potty, collected my money, and handed me a receipt. As I turned to go she said, “Good thing you came back and paid for it. If you hadn’t, your granddaughter might never have gotten trained.”

Didn’t think of that one.

 

“He who speaks the truth declares righteousness.” (Proverbs 12:17)

Waaa! Waaa! Waaa!

Posted on by

Last week I went shopping in search of a new pair of black slacks. I mentally prepared myself for the long process and the possibility of failure, being the halfhearted shopper I am. Starting at the sale racks, I took 6 pairs into the dressing room, and against all odds, the very first one fit perfectly. I never tried on the rest.

The following day, heading for groceries at a Meijer super-store, I felt like a million in my new slacks. But as I entered the multi-panel, slide-away glass doors, shrill alarms went off all over the place. Waaa! Waaa! Waaa!

Meijer'sThe store greeter waved me in with a smile. “Happens all the time,” she said, as I chose a cart. “It’s our malfunctioning sensors.” But I wasn’t so sure.

As I pushed my grocery cart up and down the aisles I began to think about getting out of the store. If the alarm sounded again, Meijer personnel wouldn’t be as inclined to wave me out with a cart full of merchandise.

That episode was a valuable picture of sin: easy to get into and difficult to get out of. As many pastors say, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”

Why is it so hard to be conscious of this when we’re on the way in? The only answer is that temptation is tantalizing. The positive here-and-now blinds us to the negative here-after. We say: “just this once,” or “everybody’s doing it,” or “I’ll leave it behind when I’m older” or “I won’t get hooked.”

God is well aware of our talent for rationalizing our way right into trouble. That’s why he established his own version of sensomatic barcode labels within each person. It’s called a conscience, and as we’re heading into sin, the alarm bells sound. Depending on age, experience, and desire, those “waaa’s” might be dim, deafening, or somewhere in between.

I hope my conscience-warnings stay on the loud side, so there’s a better chance I’ll heed them. As for the very loud alarms at Meijer, on my way out, the “waaa’s” sounded again, which is when I knew there had to be something wrong with my new pants. I figured this time I was headed for the back room and wondered if they’d let me refrigerate my milk while I was in custody.

Security tagStanding in front of a female employee, I reached down my pant leg to feel for a magnetic strip while telling her I’d just bought those slacks. When I invited her to reach in, too, she stepped back and said, “That’s ok. You’re free to go.”

 

And that’s what God says, too. If we stray into sin and long to get out, he’s always willing to help set us free.

“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” (Psalm 103:8)

Hand-in-Hand

Posted on by

Now that the weather is warming, Emerald and I have been sharing responsibility for taking Jack on his late afternoon walk. For quite some time now she’s been pleading with me to let her hold his leash, and this week she finally became the dog-walker.

Dog-walker

Since Jack doesn’t have the energy to sprint for squirrels anymore, the odds were good that Emerald wouldn’t be dragged down the road as she clutched the leash. Nevertheless, I kept a close eye. If Jack stopped, stiffened his tail, and perked up his ears, I quickly reach down and closed my hand over Emerald’s, adding the necessary strength needed if he should bolt.

Feeling capableIt’s true that Jack no longer wastes energy on little critters, but a nice big deer is another story. Recently he spotted one well before I did, but his body language told me he was about to run. In a split second I had my hand over Emerald’s and held on tight. Though he did try, we successfully held him back…. together.

Emerald’s toddler-strength probably couldn’t even hold a chipmunk back, but when our hands were locked together, she remained safe.

What a great parallel to how God cares for us. We might be drawn into a situation that’s too much to handle, whether willingly or unwillingly, so we cry to God for help. He is willing to cover our weakness with his strength the same way my hand covered Emerald’s.

One example from my own life came during my early days of widowhood. I remember being overwhelmed by sadness, and day after day I was stuck there, feeble in every way. If it hadn’t been for God’s strong partnership (or we could say his strength wrapped around my weakness), I think I’d be in that same place still.

Each day when Emerald and I walk Jack now, she expects to hold the leash herself, blissfully unaware of any risks. “Ewa hole it,” she says. She has no idea I’m watching carefully, trying to stay one step ahead of anything that might harm her.

God does the same thing. Sometimes we think we don’t need him to cover us with help or protection. But he says, “I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.” (Psalm 32:8) In other words, he’ll give us his recommendation, but if we insist on handling things our own way, he’ll step back and let us do it. All the while, though, he’ll keep an eye on us, watching for danger. I find that very reassuring.

Holding onWhere we get into trouble is when we ourselves become aware that danger is ahead but still say, “I don’t need your help, Lord.” Thankfully it takes only a few of those incidents (along with their often-difficult conclusions) to convince us that doing things hand-in-hand with him is always the better choice.

“I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” (Isaiah 41:13)